Your 102nd Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast.

Hey, what's up Comic Fans!

Welcome to the 102nd Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast. For this edition of the B'Cast, I'm going to talk about a comic book I bought a few years ago, well more than just a few years ago.  

I'm trying to recall if I bought this issue first before I started buying the back issues of this title. I'm trying to remember which came first and having no luck whatsoever recalling which is which. 

I have this weird habit of reading a comic book out of sequence. Happened to me a long time ago when I walked into a real comic book shop and saw Secret Wars # 12 (the first limited series) and read it from cover to cover. After that I went and found the other 11 issues. It's a weird thing to do, I know. 

Being in a place that doesn't have a shop that sells comics makes it hard for anyone to keep track of their favorite titles. I bought my comics sporadically. I missed out on so many great titles over the years. 

Okay, here's the issue I'm talking about. 

This is the cover to Daredevil # 270 (published in September 1989) by John Romita Jr and Al Williamson. 

I saw this issue in some book store and I immediately bought it.  I was a huge John Romita Jr fan and I loved his work on the Uncanny X-Men. So seeing his artwork here, I grabbed it. 

This issue is also significant because it also featured The Amazing Spider-Man, a character Jr. Jr worked on. 

Second, he was working with writer Ann Nocenti and ultra talented penciled/ inker Al Williamson. They made a great creative team on Daredevil.

Third, this issue featured the first appearance of Blackheart. 

Blackheart was created by Ann Nocenti and Jr. Jr.  This issue marked his first appearance in the Marvel Universe?  Now, just who is Blackheart? 

Well, he's the son of Mephisto.  Actually Mephisto created a son from the energy of evil. 

In his first appearance, Blackheart attempts to corrupt Daredevil and then Spider-Man who helps him out. 

I love how this issue starts out. Ann Nocenti weaves a tale about a brutal murder on a hill which becomes a site for many crimes and atrocities. 

 Eventually the hill becomes a place filled with myths and rumors and eventually become a place to be fearful of. It becomes evil.

I won't spoil it for you, in case you haven't read this issue, try and find it.

Meanwhile, Daredevil is feeling like his old self again after he was put through a blender for the past few issues. He's been through quite a few ordeals. As DD gets his body back into top form,  perhaps his mind will follow. I was really intrigued by this page by Jr. Jr and Al Williamson. As I said I've always been a fan but this was the first time for me seeing their artwork. 

And I absolutely loved it.  If I'm not mistaken, I decided that I need to buy the back issues of this title as soon as possible. I did. Never regretted it. 

On this page DD mentioned Inferno and how his life was shattered and how he had to leave Hell's Kitchen. I knew I had to get those issue. Okay back to this issue. 

As DD thinks about his life and how he's going to put it back together again, he notices a scent,  something burning,  something foul with a hint of Rose incense.  He detects movement but no heartbeat, that's when Blackheart attacks!

And as luck would have it, Peter Parker happened to be riding a bus nearby and Pete's spider sense goes off. 

Spider-Man shows up in the nick of time to save DD and they quickly team up to defeat Blackheart. 

As DD and Spider-Man attempt to defeat Blackheart, DD is slowly being possessed by Blackheart whose plan was to have the hero kill him as a way of corrupting the hero. 

Despite his best effort to corrupt DD, Blackheart was not able to do so thanks to Spider-Man. As a crowd gathers round, Blackheart realises that the crowd's eyes are draining his powers.

Blackheart retreats as more people gather around the scene. 

If you get the chance, pick up this issue. It was this issue that got me to buy the back issues of Daredevil especially the Ann Nocenti/Jr.Jr and Al Williamson's run on Daredevil.

I was really disappointed when Jr. Jr left the X-Men. I really enjoyed his work on that title, so I was really happy to see his work here on Daredevil. 

Oh I'm sure you know that this wasn't Blackheart's only appearance on Daredevil. He would return to bug DD again and even returned to bug The Punisher, Ghost Rider and Wolverine in a one shot which was also penciled by John Romita Jr.

Hey, thanks for dropping by and joining me as I reminisce about Daredevil # 270. My copy of this issue is in bad shape as I must have read it a few times... Well more than a few times. 

This was to me a great time to be a comic reader as the stories and artwork were top notch. TThanks again for dropping by. 

I'll see you again next time for another B'Cast. Until then, take care Comic fans! 

Your 94th Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast.

When I was growing up many many many moons ago, one of the things I always looked forward to was the school breaks, especially the year end school breaks. After the final exams, it would be a couple months of relative freedom and I had a ritual the day after final exams whether I passed or not. More often than not I failed.  Anyway, the ritual.
I would sit down and look over a catalog from a comicbook shop and start writing down what titles and what issues I wanted. Those days, we didn't have the Internet, so all orders were done by hand and sent via snail mail.
This whole process would take almost 6 months.  Those days comics were not delivered via airmail, no air.  Comics were shipped from the United States to overseas destinations via sea mail. Let that sink in for a while.
Sea. Mail.
Yep and it took a long time for comics to be shipped anywhere in the world. It isn't as expensive as the airmail of today but it meant having a lot of patience. A lot of patience and there's always that chance they would lose your package of comics.
Since I did this once a year, I would save up some cash for the comics and of course for the shipping costs. It would take me a while to save up the money but to me, it was worth it.
So I've write to stores in the United States and ask if they sell and ship comics overseas, some said no, a few said yeah, sure.
And I'd buy in BULK. I mmean a number of titles and issues. Comics I couldn't get locally, favorite issues and just titles I really wanted to read.
Up until this point, I had been a fan of the Uncanny X-Men and the artist at the time, John Romita Jr.
I loved his work.  Followed the issues he drew religiously.
I was disappointed when he left The Uncanny X-Men. I followed him as he started drawing Star Brand and other titles.
Now, it was nearing time for me to buy my comics and I wrote everything down in great detail. I had read through news letters than John Romita Jr was now drawing Daredevil. Up to that point, I had only read a few issues of DD but now that Jr. Jr is the regular artist, I decided it is the perfect jumping on point. So I found out which issue he drew and ordered them. Remember I bought comics in bulk so I could read all these issues.
Well, sometimes these stores ran out on the issues I wanted and I'd miss out on getting a complete run of a particular title.  It was disappointing.
Well, I ordered Jr. Jr's issues of Daredevil and unfortunately I only got a few issues of Daredevil. I remember reading each issue voraciously. I loved the artwork.  Jr. Jr collaborated with veteran artist and inker Al Williamson on Daredevil and the result was something I loved.
One issue that always stood out for me was Daredevil # 252. It was a double sized issue and it was also a Fall of the Mutants tie in. I loved the issue.  I read that issue from cover to cover.

Here's the cover. Beautiful artwork by John Romita Jr and Al Williamson.

There was a sense of realism to the artwork that really stood out to me.  Here's the splash page from issue # 252.

This issue also featured an appearance by the Black Widow. Here's a few pages from this issue.

One thing I love about Jr. Jr's art is how good he is at drawing battle scenes. I guess after drawing the X-Men for so long, he can draw pretty much anything.

Daredevil # 252 was and still is a favorite issue of mine. I believe my copy of this issue is still in my collection. Hope it's still okay.
Now because the store didn't have all the DD issues I wanted, I missed out on a few issues of Daredevil and that was very disappointing.
I was lucky that there were other issues which were available. Like this one.

Daredevil # 259 where Typhoid Mary and the Kingpin gathered a bunch of Daredevil's "friends" and attacked him. Which brings us to another favorite of mine.

The final triumph of Typhoid Mary.  This was Daredevil # 260. Another beautifuly drawn issue. The more I read Daredevil, the more I loved the art of John Romita Jr and Al Williamson.
I could get issue # 261 though. The store didn't have that issue in stock. Never knew what happened in issue # 261. Don't tell me.  I don't wanna know. I figure I'll read it. One day I'll buy a copy. Somehow.

Here's another issue I couldn't get.  Issue # 257 guest starred the Punisher. It was rare in those days to have a guest star and whenever that happened, it was special.

So I didn't get to read this issue. One day.
Thanks for spending your time on the Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast. Appreciate any feedback you might have or comments.
I haven't been updating my blog on a regular basis But I'm trying my best to update this site as often as possible.
Thanks for dropping by, see you next time comic fan!