BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #202

The next week, a new issue of FANTASTIC FOUR was released, thus reassuring me that my having missed the much-coveted issue #200 was a fluke. This was during the period when a new Fantastic Four cartoon series was running on NBC on Saturday Mornings--this was the version that replaced the Human Torch with HERBIE the … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR #202

BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #117

It's interesting how time will change your perspective on something. When this run of UNCANNY X-MEN was coming out, nobody reading it thought that they were following a stint that would become an acknowledged classic. As a reader, I knew that I liked the series, but if you'd asked me then, I don't think it … Continue reading BHOC: UNCANNY X-MEN #117

BHOC: NOVA #23

In the space of just a few issues, I had really connected with NOVA. From the original house ads that I had seen and the name of the series, I had assumed at first that it was some science fiction thing, like JOHN CARTER, WARLORD OF MARS, in which I'd have little interest. But when … Continue reading BHOC: NOVA #23

WC: STRANGE TALES #129

This was the last issue of STRANGE TALES that I had gotten in the box of Silver Age comics that made up my Windfall purchase in 1988. As we've spoken about before, the series felt more and more like an afterthought, one that simply wasn't as important to the line as books like FANTASTIC FOUR, … Continue reading WC: STRANGE TALES #129

BHOC: MARVEL TALES #99

I'd been waiting for this one, the second half of the Death of Gwen Stacy storyline, a saga that was already legendary by 1978 when I first got to read it. With Stan Lee having retired from scripting AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, incoming writer Gerry Conway and plotter and artist John Romita were looking to do something … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TALES #99

BHOC: INVADERS #36

This week brought a new issue of INVADERS to the spinner rack in my local 7-11, a series that I was still quite a fan of, even though its quality had been dipping in recent months. Artist Frank Robbins had departed the title, and despite the fact that many fans of the era would cheer … Continue reading BHOC: INVADERS #36

BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #231

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, INCREDIBLE HULK went through a consistent pattern with me: it would start with some storyline that I was interested in, then segue into a bunch of issues that left me cold, to the point where I'd be on the verge of dropping it, then a story would come along … Continue reading BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #231

BHOC: DEFENDERS #67

As a series, DEFENDERS had never entirely hooked me. I didn't really entirely click with any of its cast of characters, particularly in a team setting, and its supposed "non-team" format didn't appeal to me. Frankly, I barely understood it, as the members of the Defenders seemed to spend an awful lot of time hanging … Continue reading BHOC: DEFENDERS #67

WC: STRANGE TALES #128

This was one of the better issues of STRANGE TALES that I got in my Windfall comics purchase of 1988. While typically the series felt like something of an afterthought, here editor Stan lee appears to be trying to bring a bit more attention to the Human Torch feature by having Johnny and the Thing … Continue reading WC: STRANGE TALES #128

BHOC: AVENGERS #179

I bought this issue of AVENGERS on one of my regular weekly Thursday trips to my neighborhood's local 7-11, whose spinner rack was my primary source of new comics at this time. Having wrapped up the Korvac Saga a few months earlier, AVENGERS was pretty clearly in a scheduling hole, and so editor Jim Shooter … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #179