BHOC: MARVEL TALES #104

MARVEL TALES continued to carry on, reprinting stories from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN that had originally been published only a relatively few years prior. But as I was still in the process of filling in the gaps in my Marvel knowledge, these reprints were invaluable to me, and I followed them as avidly as any new comic … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TALES #104

CANCELLED COMIC CAVALCADE #2

In 1978, plans for a massive expansion of DC's publishing line, which were being promoted as the DC Explosion, crashed and burned as an unusually heavy winter took its toll on comic book sales. The DC line was slashed rather than expanded, and a bunch of staff members were laid off. This became known as … Continue reading CANCELLED COMIC CAVALCADE #2

BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #167

The change in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA wasn't quite so pronounced as what I was experiencing over on THE FLASH, but it was there as well if one were to look for it--which I didn't at the age of twelve. As with FLASH, the book had moved into the hands of a new editor, its … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #167

BHOC: THE FLASH #274

I picked up the latest issue of what had once been my favorite comic book series of all on my weekly excursion to the 7-11 on Thursday. My interest in THE FLASH had started to waver a bit of late, as I'd become more enamored of the Marvel books that were then occupying a lot … Continue reading BHOC: THE FLASH #274

BHOC: MARVEL TALES #103

Marvel had begun to phase out its line of reprint titles, with only MARVEL TALES (starring the ultra-popular Spider-Man) and MARVEL SUPER-HEROES (featuring Marvel's TV Sensation, the Incredible Hulk) making the eventual cut. I can understand why this was done--the marketplace was changing and there wasn't the same need to both establish a large beachhead … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TALES #103

MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part Two

Continuing back with our look at this 1973 release that explained elements of filmmaking storytelling and composition by using visual examples selected from contemporaneous Marvel comic books. This was a volume that could be found in many an artist's drawing space during the 1970s. A sequence illustrated by Larry Lieber. Here are two sequences by … Continue reading MOVIEMAKING ILLUSTRATED: THE COMICBOOK FILMBOOK, Part Two

BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #166

As we mentioned yesterday, this issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA was the first in the title's long history not to be edited and overseen by Julie Schwartz. Julie had innovated the series in 1960 and had stayed with it for 19 years. But for the first time, somebody else was at the wheel. That … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #166

BHOC: THE FLASH #273

This issue of THE FLASH is where new editor Ross Andru's vision for the title really crystalized. In essence, this took the form of bring on board a new regular penciler. Longtime FLASH artist Irv Novick had departed one issue after outgoing editor Julie Schwartz, and while Ross had stopgapped for two months, here he … Continue reading BHOC: THE FLASH #273

BHOC: MARVEL TALES #102

This issue of MARVEL TALES reprinted the story where the series concluded its transition from the Silver Age into the Bronze Age. The book had been there for several months already at this point, with writer Gerry Conway taking over for Stan Lee. But this was the first issue in forever not illustrated by John … Continue reading BHOC: MARVEL TALES #102

BHOC: THE FLASH #272

It had happened again. I had missed another issue of THE FLASH. Having never seen nor bought #269, now #271 proved elusive to me. And honestly, ever since my subscription had lapsed with issue #261, I was having the devil's own time following the book regularly. You might think this would have prompted me to … Continue reading BHOC: THE FLASH #272