As I've mentioned here before, having become aware of the fact that my father's place of employment was located right in the vicinity of the Levittown Heroes World location, the only real comic book shop I yet knew of, I would regularly plead for him to stop by the place and pick me up some … Continue reading BHOC: AVENGERS ANNUAL #2
These days, the concept of a crossover between two different fictional characters has become so entrenched in popular culture that it's difficult to come across a pairing that is truly noteworthy. In a world in which everybody is exploring a Multiverse, it seems strange to think that there was a time when the idea that … Continue reading 5BC: 5 Most Unlikely and Unprecedented Crossovers
MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE was a title in a serious deadline crunch at the time this issue was put together, which is why new editor Roger Stern asked staff member Ralph Macchio for ideas for stories to fill it. This two-parter was Macchio's first writing credit, though he'd work for Marvel for over 35 years as an … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #43
There were more than a few early issues of SGT FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS in that box of about 150 Silver Age comics that I purchased for fifty bucks back in 1988. And the reason for that no doubt was that it wasn't a super hero series. While all of these books have appreciated … Continue reading WC: SGT FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS #10
I picked up this issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA on my usual weekly Thursday sweep of the spinner rack at my regular 7-11. But before that, I'd gotten to have a noteworthy though frustrating experience. The weekend before, my father had learned that Stan Lee was going to be making a personal appearance at the Cartoonerville … Continue reading BHOC: CAPTAIN AMERICA #225 and Stan Lee at Cartoonerville
STAR WARS #9 was the third issue contained in that specialty 3-Bag of plastic-wrapped comics that was bought for my brother, who had become a big fan of the film and its characters. We've spoken already about how voracious demand was for these early STAR WARS books in a time when there really wasn't any … Continue reading BHOC: STAR WARS #9
This was the second of three consecutive issues of STAR WARS that we got as a special 3-Bag set months after they had initially seen print. The early STAR WARS books were all reprinted and reissued in tremendous numbers, and it seemed as though every kid of a certain age had at least a few … Continue reading BHOC: STAR WARS #8
The Marvel revolution of the early Silver Age took those toiling in the field entirely by surprise. That's entirely due to the fact that, prior to 1961, Martin Goodman's publishing enterprise, whether it was known as Timely or Atlas or Marvel had been producers of enormous amounts of shlock. Goodman's professed publishing strategy was to … Continue reading The First Spider-Man Parody
The popularity of STAR WARS hadn't even slightly begun to abate, and so even after the run of issues of the Marvel comic that adapted the entirety of the film over six issues had been reprinted as special 3-Bags, the program continued on beyond that, with the next STAR WARS 3-Bag containing issues #7-9. These … Continue reading BHOC: STAR WARS #7
This was a cool surprise to greet me at the 7-11's spinner rack that Thursday afternoon. I had taken to following MARVEL SUPER-HEROES regularly by this point, but a story that guest-starred the Fantastic Four was incredibly welcome. Even though I'd never experienced one firsthand, the concept of a Thing vs Hulk fight being something … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #74
The Tom Brevoort Experience 