The Weird lived up to its name, The Question was awesome and Captain Atom was one of my favorite superhero comics of the period. I was jonesin on all of the Charlton stuff, except Blue Beetle. I had just missed so much of it I kind of let it pass by; which I later discovered was to my detriment. The Peacemaker mini, though, was a disappointment. I kept wanting to like it and just didn't. The first appearance of Checkmate, in Action 598 was pretty darn good and the first issue of their own series was pretty darn disappointing. I tried it for a few issues, then bailed, though I did pick up the Janus Directive issues, to continue the story from the other books (mainly, Suicide Squad). Suicide Squad was all kinds of awesome sauce, especially with Black orchid making an appearance (I hoped she would be a regular; but, alas...). I was done with Doom Patrol; but, picked up the special, due to the Suicide Squad. The Mark was a really good series that deserved better; but, had a short life here, plus one mini-series and the equally short-lived Mayhem anthology (which was dominated by The Mask). It seems to be one of the forgotten Dark Horse titles. I can't even recall if the mini-series resolved the storyline. The American was another that seemed to burn brightly, briefly, with the Lost in America mini-series picking up where the short-lived series ended; but not leaving much to the future. I always felt it greatly influenced Grant Miehm on Legend of the Shield, for DC/Impact.

I was also buying Lone Wolf and Cub, as it was coming out, which began this year.

Dec 1987

Action 598
Amazing Spider-Man 439
Avengers 290
Badger 35
Batman 418
Blackhawk 2
Capt America 340
Capt Atom 13
DP7 18
Daredevil 253
Detective 584
Doom Patrol 7
FF 313
Firestorm 70
Flash 11
Gi Joe 70 
GI Joe Spec missions 10
Green Arrow 3
Grim jack 45
Iron Man 229
JLI 12
Justice Machine 12
LOSH 45
Nexus 44
Question 14
Shadow 9
Silver Surfer 10
Space Ghost 1
Star Trek 49
Star Trek Next Gen 2
Suicide Squad 11
Superman 16
Thor 390
Warlord 128
X-Men 228
Weird 1
West Coast Avengers 31
WW 15

January 1988 age 26 and making very good money as Union certified Butcher/Meat cutter at the local grocery chain. Starting up my 8th year and now journeyman butcher working full time hours but as part time help (bosses know a good thing when they see it) so plenty of spare change for my addiction. Lots to enjoy and collect!

Action 599
Adventures of Superman 440
Amazing Spider-Man 300
Avengers 291
Badger 36
Batman 419
Blackhawk 3
Cap America 341
Cap Atom 14
Cerebus 106
DP 7 19
Detective Comics 585
Doom Patrol 8
Dreadstar 36
FF 314
Firestorm 71
Flash 12
GI Joe 71
Green Arrow 4
Grimjack 46
Hulk 343
Iron Man 230
Justice Machine 13
LOSH 46
Ms Tree 44
New Teen Titans 43
Nexus 15
Psi Force 19
Punisher 8
Question 15
Silver Surfer 11
Silverblade 8
Solo Avengers 6
Star Trek 50
Star Trek NG 3
Strikeforce Morituri 18
Suicide Squad 12
Superman 17
Thor 391
Warlord 129
Weird 2
West Coast Avengers 32
WW 16

It's February 1988, looking forward to my first spring break of my university career and I am cuting way back on comics because I am running out of money living on campus...

here's what I did pick up as it came out...

Action Comics 600
Amazing Spider-Man 301
Batman 420
Detective 586
Flash Gordon 1
JLI 14
Martian Manhunter 2
Phantom 1
Suicide Squad 13 (JLI x-over)
Superman 18
Weird #3
Wonder Woman 17

I was trying to cut my pull list down to 10 titles a month, but there were 2 minis that started this month (Flash Gordon & Phantom) that I broke the rule for.

-M

Spending gone wild and buying lots of stuff. 

Action 600
Adv Superman 44
Amazing Spider-Man 301
Avengers 292
Badger 37
Batman 420
Capt America 342
Capt Atom 15
DP7 20
Detective Comic 586
Doom  Patrol 9. Not even close to original DP fun but at least new DP!
FF 315
Firestorm 72
Flash 13
Flash Gordon 1: was okay but not Flash as I knew him. Adequate update but nothing special.
Gi Joe 72
Gi Joe Special Missions 11
Green Arrow 6
Grimjack 47
American Flagg 2
Hulk 344
Iron Man 231
Justice League 14
Justice Machine 14
LOSH 47
Marshall Law 3: judge dredd on steroids and out of control
Nexus 46
Phantom 1: classic style Phantom for the new generation.
Punisher 9
Question 16
Silver Surfer 12
Silverblade 9
Silverhawks 6: so sue me, i liked the cartoon even if comic was crap
Solo Avengers 7
Spectacular Spider-Man 139
Star Trek 51
Star Trek Next Gen 4
Suicide Squad 13
Superman 18
Sword of Atom 3
Thor 392
West Coast Avengers 33
WW 17

Guess which was the big book of the month?

Wanderers looked cool, in The Great darkness Saga; they weren't, here. I was crazy enough to stick it out, though. Manhunter was 10 kinds of awesome, with wall-to-wall action, setting up what should have been a great series, which quickly turned into a great 4 issues and then a lot of good ideas and a lot less action than we were led to believe (for Doug Rice, too). Scout began his new direction, now with his two sons. Power Girl was a waste of money (I hadn't quite learned that Paul Kupperberg's writing didn't do much for me). Nick Fury had Steranko back, on the cover, and I bought the awesome poster. Too bad the actual story was not as good as the one suggested in Steranko's image. JLI: Manga KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Flash Gordon continued to disappoint, as it lacked the swashbuckling you expect; and, Flash as Larry Bird didn't work for me. Thankfully, we had Joe Orlando drawing the Phantom! The Batgirl Special was one last hurrah, from Barb Kessel, before Alan Moore gutted her. Thank Kirby for Kim Yale and John Ostrander! Sky Wolf was the catalyst that drew me into the Airboy world and I quickly hunted down the back issues. The Sky Wolf back-ups, taking him from Korea, up to Vietnam and beyond, were the best part, as they examined the US' less than stellar international actions, outside many of the headlines. This one has Tom Lyle on the art, just before he was snapped up for DC.