Marvel's long-running line of reprint titles was slowly diminishing as the 1970s reached the end of the decade and the mainstream newsstand outlets that were the lifeblood of comic book sales began to steadily be replaced by a greater reliance on the nascent network of comic book specialty stores. The idea behind such reprint titles … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TALES #106
This issue of INCREDIBLE HULK was another book where my household wound up with two copies. Once again, my younger brother Ken had picked up his own copy of this particular issue for some reason. He'd always been a big fan of the Hulk television series (and monster movies of all sorts) so it wasn't … Continue reading BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #238
The latest issue of AVENGERS came out around this time, the second part of a three-part story that would redefine the background and history of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. it was a series that I liked during this time, although it never quite rose to the status of my favorite book at any point; … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS #186
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
The Tom Brevoort Experience 