BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #184

Another book that came to me out of a 3-Bag, this issue of FANTASTIC FOUR would have been the reason I bought the 3-Bag in question, regardless of what other titles might have been inside it. FF was, by this point, my favorite comic book series, and so an opportunity to fill in another missing … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #184

BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #170

This was another issue that I purchased in a 3-Bag, the most readily available source of recent back issues in 1978. In that time before widespread comic book stores and trade paperback collections, these plastic bags containing three recent books (typically about nine months old) could be found in the toy departments of department stores, … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #170

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #193

As usual, it was an exciting day when a new issue of FANTASTIC FOUR turned up on my 7-11's spinner rack. We were in the midst of an extended "FF breaks up" storyline, one that had been running virtually since I began buying new issues, and I was very much invested in what was going … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #193

BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #222

This next book is something of a forgotten classic, a really strong and memorable single issue story hidden in the middle of a run. It was bought for my brother Ken, who was still a big Hulk fan based mostly on the television show (and the fact that he was more of a "monster" kid … Continue reading BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #222

BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #212

This is another book that I got out of a 3-Bag, and one that was probably of more interest to my younger brother Ken. He was more of a Hulk fan than I was, at least in these days. I never had a great affinity for the Hulk, in the same way that I was … Continue reading BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #212

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #183

It was always the most exciting thing when a new batch of 3-Bags would show up somewhere, and you'd suddenly have access to issues that you had missed. In those days before there were comic shops, this was the only way one could find back issues (apart from mail order--and I was never confident enough … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #183

BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #169

I can distinctly remember looking at the cover to this issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN when it first came out, through the window of a candy store near to where my Grandmother lived. At that time, I hadn't yet taken the plunge into buying Marvel books--but this cover, very much in the DC style of the … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #169

BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #179

I almost did it the previous month. That issue had a 1960s DC-style cover that promised an impossible situation for the wall-crawler to get out of, and it piqued my interest seeing it on the racks--though not quite enough to pick it up. Which is good, as it turns out, because as would happen again … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #179

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #192

It would have been shortly after Christmas that I found this next issue of what was then my favorite comic book title, FANTASTIC FOUR, on the 7-11 spinner rack. This is another issue that I'm sure my younger brother Ken also had a copy of--he would mimic my purchases a week or so later for … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #192

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #182

I can remember finding the 3-Bag in a Kay-Bee toy store in a mall outlet that my family didn't typically frequent. It was an exciting moment, for there, wrapped in plastic, was one of the issues of FANTASTIC FOUR that I had missed between those found in the drug store's bin of affidavit returns and … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #182