I've got Daredevil #62 and Sub-Mariner #24, both acquired some time later (1993?) since in January, 1970, my age was still being given in months.

Marvel  January 1970:

No Marvel's Greatest Comics for me this month because the latest issue contained a reprint of Fantastic Four #34, and I already had the original comic. At the time #34 was my oldest FF back issue, the crown jewel of my back issue collection. So this month only three new Marvels for me, my usual slate of team books.  And this month I got two surprises, one welcome and one very much a shock.  



Avengers #74: As promised last issue, John Buscema was back as the penciler. But I was unprepared for the way his work looked paired with Tom Palmer's inks. Frankly I disliked all the zip-a-tone and shading effects Palmer used. It worked when Palmer was teamed with Neal Adams over on the X-Men book, but IMO Buscema didn't need such enhancements. And I didn't care for all the Palmer faces (he tended to elongate faces). I preferred Buscema inked by people like George Klein (who had recently passed away), or by inkers such as Frank Giacoia, Dan Adkins or Sal Buscema. It would take me a while to get used to the Buscema-Palmer team. But there was exciting news in the letter column: an announcement that there would be a line-up change in the very next issue! As I have mentioned I found the current roster of Hank as YJ, the Wasp, Clint as Goliath, T'Challa, and the Vision pretty boring. I hoped the new roster would include Wanda and Pietro, who'd been AWOL from the team for a couple of years now, since Avengers #53. 

Fantastic Four #97:  Another perfunctory issue by Lee and Kirby. Yes, I am aware of the goings-on back then, how disgruntled Kirby was, the fractured  Lee-Kirby relationship, blah blah blah. Well, it certainly showed. Plus Joe Sinnott was still on vacation so Giacoia stepped in as the inker. He was not a great inker for Kirby at this stage, at least not on the FF. 

X-Men #66: The best of the bunch for me this month. No Neal Adams (and Palmer was busy with the Avengers), but there was some solid work by Sal Buscema and Sam Grainger. And now that Scott and Jean were an established couple (read: boring), I was pleased to see some panels focusing on the Iceman-Lorna-Havok triangle. It's too bad the three of them sat out the story's main action, fighting the Hulk, but whatever. Anyway I was hopeful that the inclusion of tension between the three of them meant that Alex and Lorna would be used more in the book. Then I turned to the letter column and got a huge shock: there was an announcement that the book was being canceled! WT--??  Just when it was really getting good! Professor X had just returned, and Roy Thomas was building up the new characters Alex and Lorna! If Neal Adams couldn't return or be the book's regular artist, well, Sal would've been great as the regular artist. WHY was it being canceled?? Yeah yeah I know, something about sales, etc. But what would happen to all those characters?   

Of course we know what happened, and then some. But by the time the X-Men made their triumphant return, I was long out of comics. 

Bought that month
Green Lantern 76

Bought years later

Adventure comics 392
Avengers 75
Flash 196
Marvel Superheroes 26
Marvel Tales 26
Superman 225
Thor 175

On sale in February 1970 

My DCs:  You know, I think the only DC I had upon publication in Feb. 1970 was Adventure #392, and that was because it was part of my subscription.  I flipped through a copy recently and I remember nothing about the two Supergirl stories in it. As has been the case for some time now, one story was illustrated by Schaffenberger (yay!) and the other one by the Mortimer-Abel team. 

Compare the Swan-Anderson cover (which undoubtedly was created first, as per Weisinger's MO) with the Mortimer-Abel panel in the story. Talk about following a tough act! I've said it before but no one could draw the viewer/reader into preposterous scenarios quite like Curt Swan could. The Anderson inks aren't too shabby either.  




Now, as for the elephant in the room back in February 1970:  I didn't pick up the epochal Green Lantern #76 that month. But I did know about it, thanks to the DC house ads and Direct Currents. I know the Marvel Bullpen Bulletins get all the ink but I enjoyed the Direct Currents just as much and relied on it to keep me up to date about what was going on in DC, since not too many candy stores in my neighborhood carried a whole lot of DCs (except for some Superman comics).  Buying DCs was always hit or miss for me; for example, I missed this month's Wonder Woman, a book I was trying to follow on a regular basis. 

Anyway, a few months later I managed to pick up GL #76 as a back issue.  I know, I know--after all these years it's dated and overwrought and it may not seem like such a milestone, but believe me--and as others here have already noted--it was something very special.  

Avengers #75: I have to say, I like Pietro’s light blue costume better than the green. It never made sense to me that someone called Quicksilver would have a green costume. It seems like it should be, you know, silver. At least the light blue seems a lot closer to that (to me, anyway) and a definite step in the right direction. The first time I saw Pietro (a reprint of X-Men $35 in Marvel Triple Action) he had the green uni, but I’ll still go with the blue sa my preference. I’m also generally a fan of Palmer’s inks, though your criticism may be with merit, but I still like Palmer’s work a lot, overall. Also, I am a sucker for Arkon. Something about that guy is pretty cool.



Fantastic Four #98: I just read this last night. As you say, definitely a perfunctory effort. Two guys phoning it in, I think.



Adventure #392: I do like the artwork in the Swan-Anderson cover quie a bit more than the Mortimer-Abel panel you’ve shown. However, I do think the facial expressions in the Mortimer-Abel panel are quite good. If looks could kill!



January 1970 looks like a pretty light month for you. I was only one year old, so no purchases for me!

Right, I get why the costume color was changed, for the reason you state: the light blue is more "silvery" so in that regard it definitely makes more sense.  And also perhaps because by now (#75) there was another character in the book whose costume was primarily green, the Vision. Back in those days traditionally characters in a series didn't look look too superficially similar (haircolor, costumes, etc....except of course for siblings or teams that wore the same uniform such as the FF).  Mustn't confuse the colorists or the 10 year old readers !   So Pietro's new blue costume did more than fit his name; it also provided a visual contrast on the team (then-core members were Vision, Pietro, Wanda, Clint as Goliath, and the Panther).  

The blue seems to have become the preferred color for Pietro in ensuing years; most of his subsequent costumes were primarily blue, even if not light blue. 

Yes, my monthly new comics buying was typically pretty lean. I was buying a lot of comics...just not off the stands. By this time, the majority of my comic book buying was for back issues. Luckily there was collectibles store right on my block, and over a few years I bought a ton of old FFs, Avengers, Adventure (for the Legion), Lois Lane, Wonder Woman, JLA, Teen Titans, Sub-Mariner (1968 series) and other superhero comics. So I had a lot of comics--just not a lot of new comics !

I hear you. When I was a kid buying back issues, the collectibles store I went to sold back issues for 35 cents apiece, and Giants/Annuals were $1.05.  However, these were still pretty hefty prices for me (in contrast, new comics only 15 cents, during this timeframe).  IIRC my allowance at that time was a mere fifty cents or a dollar at most a week! So I became adept at saving lunch money to augment my discretionary income.