| Posted: 05 August 2025 at 10:32pm | IP Logged | 8
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In the mid-80s, I think the only info I had about what was coming up in comics was what was featured within the comics themselves. If memory serves, there was nothing within FF #293 to inform readers it was JB's last issue, and I was stunned to not see his art inside #294. I think it was first announced in the letters column of #295 that he was leaving to take over Superman. I remember thinking that was utterly bizarre because for me, JB simply WAS Marvel. I hadn't read DC for years. Around age 7 & 8 I had eagerly consumed titles like Super Friends, Superboy and Superman. The first Marvel comic I purchased though just seemed so much more..... sophisticated. The characters were more 'real' and engaging. I was a Marvel Zombie from that point. Much as I loved JB's art, I had no intention of following him to DC.
Then came the fateful day..... While queuing to make a purchase in a newsagent, I noticed they had a small selection of American comics, including 'Man of Steel' #1. The art on that wonderful cover instantly reached out to tickle the pleasure centre of my brain and, I swear, the comic itself spoke to me. In the most seductive of tones, it said, "buy me, buy me, BUY ME!" I had to obey. I can honestly say, it was the best purchase I ever made! I loved the art and story in MOS #1. I read it again and again. I hadn't known it was possible for a Superman comic to be that good. It was a proper thrill to see JB's art in this new context, and I loved how he'd made Clark a 'real' person and not just a disguise. I became a regular reader from that point. The JB halo effect made me give lots of other DC titles a try, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover I loved many of them too. Ah, happy days! (Well, at least for me as a reader. I'm obviously sad to learn it wasn't a happy working experience for JB, but the quality of those Superman stories was never less than sublime.)
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