FSC: MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #1

First of all, it's got to be said: at a time when a regular issue of a new comic book cost 60 cents, the fact that this first MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL was priced at $5.95 was almost intolerable. Yes, it was 64 pages long by a top creator, yes it was on far better paper … Continue reading FSC: MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #1

BHOC: THOR #286

This was the issue that put me off of reading THOR, at least for a short while. I already wasn't all that interested in the ongoing plotline involving trying to paste Jack Kirby's Eternals into the Marvel Universe--I'd sampled ETERNALS and not found it much to my liking, so bringing all of this baggage into … Continue reading BHOC: THOR #286

BHOC: MARVEL TREASURY EDITION #22

I had started to pick up the quarterly MARVEL TREASURY EDITIONS as a part of my comic book buying pattern. By this time, they had shifted from something that felt pretty special at the outset to just another regular publication, but they gave me a way in which to catch up on stories that I'd … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TREASURY EDITION #22

BHOC: DOCTOR STRANGE #35

Having purchased DOCTOR STRANGE the previous issue, and being a relatively simple-minded kid, I went ahead and scooped up this issues well. This despite the fact that I'd only been lukewarm on that prior issue. But it was easy to get me into the habit of following titles, and even when I'd drop something--THOR on … Continue reading BHOC: DOCTOR STRANGE #35

FSC: DAREDEVIL #181

Going into 1982, there was no comic book series that was of greater interest to me and my small collection of comic book reading friends as DAREDEVIL. The title had been gaining momentum ever since newcomer artist Frank Miller had been brought on to pencil it a year or two earlier. Miller's storytelling chops were … Continue reading FSC: DAREDEVIL #181

BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #236

This latest issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA brought to a finale the long-running six-part Doctor Faustus storyline, one that seemed to amble and move along herky-jerky as though the specifics of the plot were being made up issue to issue. But this final installment made me re-evaluate the entire story, and in fact go back and … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #236

BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #195

I was very much enjoying AMAZING SPIDER-MAN at this point. Under writer Marv Wolfman, the character's harsher, more anxiety-ridden bad behaviors had been toned down to a level where it was easier to connect with him. Part of this, no doubt, was that I'd by this time read the earliest Spider-Man stories and so felt … Continue reading BHOC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #195

BHOC: SHOGUN WARRIORS #7

I really liked the SHOGUN WARRIOR Marvel comic when I was younger. But today, I find that I can recall little about it. I remember the broad strokes of the series, the premise, the individual characters. But the specifics of any given issue haven't stuck with me. In the case of this issue, i remembered … Continue reading BHOC: SHOGUN WARRIORS #7

BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #54

The Project: P.E.G.A.S.U.S. is rightly remembered as a high-water mark in the 100-issue run of MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE. And yet, it wasn't a perfect story. There was a choice or two made that is perhaps a bit regrettable. And for one of those story decisions, this issue tells the tale. That said, it was still the … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #54

BC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #136

This issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN was another one that I read courtesy of my grade school friend Donald Sims, who lent me his copy for a day or two. Already by this time, the Green Goblin had become somewhat legendary as Spider-Man's greatest foe, his reputation somehow enhanced due to the fact that he wasn't … Continue reading BC: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #136