By now, I imagine that you all know the drill here: this was another book that I got in a 3-Bag purchased from either a department store's toy section, or a toy store proper. SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN was very much a series without a mission statement in these early days (apart from selling more Spider-Man comic … Continue reading BHOC: PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #11
In the latest issue of the fantastic magazine THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR published by TwoMorrows Publications (and available at this link: ) https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_57&products_id=1562&zenid=b1816d55c0c77183a6dd6e0571fa38f5 ...writer and comics historian Will Murray contributes a piece taking a closer look at INCREDIBLE HULK #1. Murray's contention is that the character of the Hulk originally had a different name, which … Continue reading Lee & Kirby: The Mysteries of INCREDIBLE HULK #1
Here we go, yet another book that I bought in a 3-Bag at either a department store or a toy store, and definitely the reason why I would have picked up the 3-Bag in question. FANTASTIC FOUR was by this point my favorite comic book series, and so an opportunity to get in on this … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #73
One of the things that I tell people when we're talking about the history of Marvel Comics is that one of the amazing things about what those earlier pioneers created is the fact that, if you wait long enough, even the failures become successes. It was true of the Hulk, it was true of the … Continue reading WC: TALES TO ASTONISH #37
This issue of MARVEL TEAM-UP was another book that came out of a 3-Bag, those plastic sealed wonders that were sold in department stores and toy stores. And in fact, this issue was likely the reason I bought that particular bag in the first place. You see, ever since first becoming aware of him in … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TEAM-UP #62
This issue of MARVEL TALES was yet another book that came to me in a 3-Bag bought at either a Toy Store or a Department Store, and like the other books I've covered, it would have been about nine months old when I purchased it. It contained a reprint of an issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TALES #84
This is a very simple cover by Russ Heath, but very effective. The duochrome approach of limiting all colors to just red and yellow is arresting to teh eye--that red background is a like a stop sign when placed on a magazine rack among other publications. And the use of stats to have Harry's figure … Continue reading Great Covers: UNCANNY TALES #48
This issue of IRON MAN was another book that I got out of a plastic 3-Bag being sold either in a department store or a toy store. Like the other recent books I picked up under similar circumstances, this issue had initially gone on sale before I'd started to follow Marvel comics, and so the … Continue reading BHOC: IRON MAN #103
Now here was a beauty! This issue of TALES OF SUSPENSE features only the 4th appearance of Iron Man, the super hero who took over the title, ushering it into the Marvel Age of Comics. Like every book covered in this feature, I acquired this issue as part of my Windfall Comics purchase, where through … Continue reading WC: TALES OF SUSPENSE #42
This was another issue that came to me fresh out of a 3-Bag of nine month old comics purchased at a department store or a toy store. I had just transitioned over to buying INCREDIBLE HULK for myself--prior to that, it was a series that my younger brother Ken had been following for a while, … Continue reading BHOC: INCREDIBLE HULK #216
The Tom Brevoort Experience 