In a time before the British Author Invasion and the rise of Vertigo titles, this issue of GIANT-SIZE MAN-THING was quite possibly the most literate and literary comic book as-yet published. A heartfelt, emotion-driven Steve Gerber story concerning a dead, bullied schoolkid anchors the issue. Gerber experiments with using huge blocks of text on certain … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1975
A new issue of what was rapidly becoming my favorite comic book turned up at my local 7-11, and at this point I was clearly an avowed FANTASTIC FOUR reader, if not truly a full-on Marvel convert quite yet. (That event would take place in a few weeks.) A lot of that had to do … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #188
SUPERMAN #276 gave the comic book reading world something it had been lusting for since around 1940, a battle between the Man of Steel and his publishing arch-rival Captain Marvel. Except that this issue cheated--despite having recently licensed the Big Red Cheese from Fawcett for the new SHAZAM series, here an equivalent stand-in, Captain Thunder, … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1974
1973 was the first year in which i was reading comic books, and only for the back half of the year. But I think i can be forgiven for that--I was only six years old. For the purposes of this survey, however, I've taken into account the entire output for the year, not just those … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1973
So, having enjoyed the three issues of FANTASTIC FOUR and the three issues of MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS that I had sampled, I then took the next obvious step: I bought the latest issue of FANTASTIC FOUR to see what was going on with the group now. I purchased this issue in Valley Stream while on … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #187
I had skipped the previous two issues of DC SUPER-STARS–#10 I passed up after being challenged by the owner of the short-lived candy store in which I found it, and #9 had contained only a single Superman story backed up by other war, western and science fiction tales focusing on firearms–not enough to make me … Continue reading BHOC: DC SUPER-STARS #11
Quite possibly at the same time that my brother Ken got yesterday’s copy of G.I. COMBAT, I bought this issue of DETECTIVE COMICS, thus beginning a short stint of regularly buying the title. Some of it, I’m sure, is that I knew the Signalman from a reprint in an issue of BATMAN FAMILY. Can you … Continue reading BHOC: DETECTIVE COMICS #466
For whatever reason, after Len Wein did the Justice League/Justice Society crossover that brought back the Seven Soldiers of Victory, somebody–Julie Schwartz maybe–seemed to decide that it wasn’t enough to simply bring these two venerable teams together, there needed to be a third group. So this year, that group would be comprised of the heroes … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #135
I had seen the cover of the first chapter of the “Bat-Murderer” serial in ads, so I was aware of it at least in theory. But for some reason, when I saw this issue of DETECTIVE COMICS, I figured that somehow the entire story would be contained herein. In this I was off-base–while this was the … Continue reading BHOC: DETECTIVE COMICS #448
Now this is a comic that’s near and dear to my heart, so much so that I still have the tattered remains of my original copy. The fact that I had missed the previous issue with its advertised JLA/JSA crossover was mitigated by what awaited me within these pages. Purchased at my local 7-11, as … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #114
The Tom Brevoort Experience 