BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #226

Another week and another trip to the 7-11 brought me another stack of brand new comic books. Among them was this issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA, a title that I was buying regularly despite the fact that it had been listing badly for a while. With the departure of Jack Kirby, who had written and drawn … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #226

THE X-MEN COMPANION #2: Chris Claremont Interview

There was a bit of a delay in the publication of the second volume of THE X-MEN COMPANION. Part of the hold-up, apparently, was that Neal Adams was meant to do the cover, but he wound up not turning anything in. I can't speculate on whether this was due to some other issue between himself … Continue reading THE X-MEN COMPANION #2: Chris Claremont Interview

FOOM #2

This was the second issue of FOOM, Marvel's fan magazine for its in-house fan club of the same name. Established in the early 1970s, the initial four issues of FOOM were produced by Jim Steranko and so contained a variety of graphics from him seldom seen elsewhere. By the fifth issue, production of FOOM was … Continue reading FOOM #2

THE X-MEN COMPANION #1: Chris Claremont Interview

Even by 1982, there was no figure more associated with the growing success of the X-Men than writer Chris Claremont. While Claremont hadn't come up with the book or any of its characters, he joined the series as its regular writer in very early days, and continued onward for an unbroken 16 year stint in … Continue reading THE X-MEN COMPANION #1: Chris Claremont Interview

BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #75

As usual, I also picked up this issue of MARVEL SUPER-HEROES, the regular reprint series that dusted off stories that had appeared in INCREDIBLE HULK a few years earlier and put them in front of a contemporary audience. Marvel kept up a full reprint line for most of the 1960s and 1970s, with these earlier … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #75

5BC: Five Times Super Heroes Met Real People

Crossovers among characters originating in different comic books have become by this point so commonplace as to not even be worthy of notice, and crossovers between characters from different publishing entities have similarly increased to the point where, while they've still got a bit of built-in excitement to them, they're still relatively commonplace. But the … Continue reading 5BC: Five Times Super Heroes Met Real People

BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #13

The arrival of this Annual gave me my first inkling that something was about to go wrong, although I didn't quite realize that at the time. I bought it not at my usual 7-11 but rather at a Card Store in some other mall that my Mom had gone to for some shopping. It turned … Continue reading BHOC: FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #13

WC: STRANGE TALES #117

This was another book that came my way in my Windfall Comics purchase of 1988. As I've mentioned before, the common factor that all of the books in this assortment had was that they were all Silver Age books, but none of them were keys in any way. So while the chunk of STRANGE TALES … Continue reading WC: STRANGE TALES #117

THE X-MEN COMPANION #1: Dave Cockrum Interview

It's more of the same here, another interview conducted by Peter Sanderson in 1982 for the first of Fantagraphics' X-MEN COMPANION books commemorating the creation of the new series and its meteoric rise to popularity in the early Direct Sales market. This one was a bit more expansive a piece than the last two because … Continue reading THE X-MEN COMPANION #1: Dave Cockrum Interview

BHOC: DEFENDERS #63

I bought this issue of DEFENDERS on my regular trip to the 7-11 as well. This was the middle chapter of what is perhaps the greatest Defenders story ever told (for all that I acknowledge that any number of characters are a bit out of character in order to make it work.) It was three … Continue reading BHOC: DEFENDERS #63