If there's one thing that DC has loved to do over the years, it's to explore strange story avenues and then abandon them. In some ways, that's become their history ever since CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS--it feels that you can't go but a few years anymore until everything you've read is thrown out and they … Continue reading 5BC: Would You Believe Five More Forgotten DC Retcons
Comic books are a petty business, it must be said. And the same freedom to imagine and play that allows for the creativity in conceptualizing new stories about characters who, let's face it, were designed to appeal to children also somehow invites the darker side of itself--the version where grown-ups behave like petulant children on … Continue reading 5BC: Five More Mean Caricatures of Comic Book Creators
Picking things up where we left off last week, above is the cover of FANTASTIC FOUR #186, the second of two issues that I bought on an unexpected trip to Heroes World in 1979. With the acquisition of this and the previous issue, my run of FF now stretched unbroken back to #181. #180 had … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #186
The next issue of MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE turned up at my 7-11 this next week, with what would be the final chapter of a story that had been running for three issues now. This part is written by Roger Slifer, who had not worked on the preceding issues and it goes off in some strange directions--enough … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #39
Just as with DC, Marvel also had a history of introducing new super heroic characters in the pages of their stories. Some of these went on to long and storied careers. Others faded after only a few, or even one, appearances. Here are the five best forgotten Marvel heroes. RAZORBACK: The creation of writer Bill … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Forgotten Marvel Heroes
I bought this issue of DEFENDERS from out of the local drugstore's Big Bin of Slightly Out-Of-Date Comics, one of my usual haunts for picking up books and the closest thing I had to a ready source of back issues in 1977. I can't say what drew me to in in particular, apart from simply … Continue reading BHOC: DEFENDERS #30
I bought this issue of DAREDEVIL out of the local drugstore's Big Bin of Out of Date Comics, a place that I was visiting with increasing regularity. I had previously seen the following issue, #143, in the bin as well, but when I went back for this one, all copies of #143 were gone, so … Continue reading BHOC: DAREDEVIL #142
Now, this was a weird one. Give writer/editor Marv Wolfman credit for trying something different. And by a fluke it featured two Marvel characters whose series i was actively following so it made it a no-brainer to pick up at the 7-11 on the day it came out. Like MARVEL TEAM-UP, MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE during this … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #37
As I mentioned yesterday, on this particular forage into the drug store's Big Bin of Slightly Older Comic Books, I came upon two issues of DAREDEVIL that I bought. The first, covered yesterday, introduced the Torpedo. This second issue also featured the Torpedo, as well as Spider-Man's old enemy the Chameleon--the first time I'd run … Continue reading BHOC: DAREDEVIL #134
As I've mentioned previously, all throughout this period I would semi-regularly check back in at the Big Bin of Slightly-Older Comics that my local drugstore chain kept, pretty much any time my family went there. The way this would typically work is that I'd have developed an interest in a particular title, and so I'd … Continue reading BHOC: DAREDEVIL #126
