Comic books are a petty business, it must be said. And the same freedom to imagine and play that allows for the creativity in conceptualizing new stories about characters who, let's face it, were designed to appeal to children also somehow invites the darker side of itself--the version where grown-ups behave like petulant children on … Continue reading 5BC: Five More Mean Caricatures of Comic Book Creators
There was a little store in one of the mini-malls where my Mother regularly shopped--I can't recall if it was a candy store or a stationary store or what. But the important bit here is that it carried a tiny selection of comic books. Tiny--just a few titles at any given time. So each time … Continue reading BHOC: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #140
After a few false starts and doglegs, Dave Sim found his footing as his long-running Church and State storyline began to build up steam. Now paired with Gerhard, whose elaborate and expressive environments made the Earth-Pig's world more fully realized than ever, Sim was more free to focus on plot, character, world-building and even the … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Comics of 1985
After my new experimentation with the Fantastic Four and Marvel Comics, things got back to normal with my next purchase: the final installment of the “Atom’s Quest” saga that had been running in SUPER-TEAM FAMILY. In this final part, the Atom finally got to take headliner billing (albeit behind Wonder Woman, an acceptable compromise) rather than … Continue reading BHOC: SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #14
I bought this issue of WORLD’S FINEST COMICS while on a visit to my grandparents’ house–not a typical purchase for me, as I had come to realize that WFC was one of those DC super hero titles that read “wrong”, and so I would avoid it if there were other options available. In this instance, those … Continue reading BHOC: WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #246
I picked up this issue of WORLD’S FINEST COMICS, despite its dollar price tag, because its lead story was going to wrap up the ongoing Martian Manhunter storyline that I had been following in recent issues of ADVENTURE COMICS, and that I liked quite a bit. So this was my first encounter with the phenomenon … Continue reading BHOC: WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #245
Another subscription copy of the giant-sized JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA turned up next. This one featured a rare cover by interior artist Dick Dillin, here inked clunkily by Jack Abel. Dillin’s figures were always just a little bit peculiar, but he was the iron man of JLA, illustrating issue after issue and even handling the … Continue reading BHOC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #143
In January of 1977, I turned ten-years-old. And around that time, I would up getting my second book collection of vintage comic book stories–a book that, up until that point I didn’t even know existed. We found it in the remaindered section at Two Guys, a regional low-rent department store chain, kind of like the … Continue reading BHOC: THE GREAT COMIC BOOK HEROES
It was an unimaginable 41 year ago today, on Christmas day of 1976, that I finally got my hands on this much-desired beauty, a gift from Santa Claus. And actually, having asked for it specifically on the Christmas list that my mother would demand that each child write (usually sourced out of the Sears Christmas … Continue reading BHOC: SECRET ORIGINS OF THE SUPER DC HEROES
THE NEW ORIGINAL WONDER WOMAN television series was regular viewing in my household. It was one of the very few representations of a comic book super hero on the screen, and while it was sometimes limited by its budgets and the crude special effects of the time, it made up for it through the appeal … Continue reading BHOC: WONDER WOMAN #228
The Tom Brevoort Experience 