Your first comic?

[Lady Jaye]

I'd been buying comics since I was a kid, bus trips and what not early on, but I read em and throw em away!! Then came both GI JOE and Teansformers comics that I read and collected. So I've known about the Marvel U from the old Bullpen Bulletins, but it wasn't until Fantastic Four #305 that I seriously got hooked!!

 

I got it at a convenience store and was just drawn by the cover, and the caption; Thing vs Torch 'nuff said!! It was bright and colorful, and I grabbed it, not knowing I was about to embark on a lifelong fascination with this Marvel Universe!!!

 

The story came in where Reed & Sue had left the team, and Grimm was in charge! In this issue he picks Crystal, a former member and ex to Jonny, to join!! Of course this irks Torch who recently had wed Ben's supposed ex; Alicia!! They have words and a nice lil fight!! And with that I was grabbed by the real life situations and arguments!

 

After that came more comics, and eventual gravitation toward the comic store!! It was all downhill from there!!

[CaptainPowerWasher]

I think i was 5 when my aunt stopped in to say hi to the family and i remember her reaching into her purse/handbag and pulling out a "Beretta" comic book.Don't ask me how in the heck i remember but i just do.Technically that was my first comic.I really got into comics when Secret Wars came out and then i stopped right about the time Wolverine got his own book.I bought a couple of those and then stopped for good after that.

[CaptainTriumph]

The frist comic I got was a Flash book somewhere in the early 200's. I read him religiously after that.

 

He was my boyhood hero after all!

[Crimson Twins]

Spiderman 1-5 (the McFarlane ones). I actually picked these up as a bundle set at a Wal-Mart when I was in my early teens. I was hooked and needed the rest of the series. Lucky for me, those were also in bundle packs at WM, too. At least through the Morbius storyline with the return of the black suit.

 

Somehow I got sucked into X-Force at that same time, and when the two lines crossed over, with their sideways issues no less, I was doomed to love comics for the next five to six years. Then I just let it all slip away and sold it all for ridiculously low amounts just to move on. Kicking myself for that to this day.

[Marvel_Joe_Spider]

I remember it was a Spider-man comic book with Dragon Man. I still have it in my box of comics. I just got so into it cause since I had trouble reading due to my ADD I would look at the pics and ask my Dad what was going on, and he told me you have to read. So because of this my love of the comic world grew

[Lady Jaye]

I think my reading comprehension was so well in school because of comics!!! I mean I was really good in elementary before, but it stayed well I think because of comics!!

 

Another one of my early convenience store comics, and one I still treasure is Avenger Annual 15, I think!! The one where both East & West Coast Avengers square off against the forces of Death!! It's a game of chance set up by the Grandmaster in order to rule Death's realm!!

 

It introduced so many characters for me, and had such a great story that it'll always be a fave of mine!!!

[BigBot84]

I think my first comic was one of the issues of Maximum Carnage. I played the hell out of that game for SNES, and I was interested in getting the comics to see if it was like the game.

[recidivist]

Iron Man 98 was the first comic i bought for myself. A family friend sold it to me for a buck (pretty sure he ripped me off).

Have yet to read it as i got this during a period in my life where i just looked at the pictures. Remember loving the cover, seeing Sunfire vs. Iron and

thinking Iron Man is going to die for sure against a guy who can melt metal.

 

The first comic i got that got me appreciating that there were words in these things was Uncanny X-Men 173. I clipped out a coupon, got my dad to write a check and sent it to Marvel.

#173 was the 1st issue of my 1 year subscription. Had a month before the next issue would be in my mailbox so i finally broke down and read it. It was awesome

[CaptainTriumph]

The frist comic I got was a Flash book somewhere in the early 200's. I read him religiously after that.

 

He was my boyhood hero after all!

To continue....

 

My first Marvel comic I remember was Fantastic Four #106....it had Submariner and Magneto in it.

 

Though I read more D.C. than Marvel, I did pick-up Marvel books that struck my fancy.

[Dragon66]

The earliest ones that I remember were Avengers 236-7( a two part story guest starring Spider-Man), X-men 167( great shot of Cyclops holding Prof. X's body), and the Amazing Spider-Man issues featuring the Hobgoblin. There was a drug store that had a handwritten sign that said "all comics $.50" so I thought I was getting such a great deal saving $.10 a book. I started getting into the stories and heroes in those books and it was all over from there.

[HellHound]

My 4th grade teacher was selling some old comics for 10 cents a piece , so I bought Avengers #195 & #196 (First app./origin of The Taskmaster) .... of course I was hooked.

[Devilbat]

I think my reading comprehension was so well in school because of comics!!! I mean I was really good in elementary before, but it stayed well I think because of comics!!

 

First of all, great topic Lady Jaye! I've been leaning towards getting back into comics recently, and it just so happens I just read about the new Ultimate Spider-Man on MSN. Have you guys seen him yet? Wow!! I absolutely love the new costume!! Spider-Man has always been one of my favorite characters. And the guy's not Peter Parker:

 

Meet Miles Morales, a half-black, half-Hispanic American teenager who, inspired to do good after the death of Parker at the hands of the Green Goblin, takes flight and has his first fight in the pages of Marvel Comics' "Ultimate Fallout" No. 4, in comic shops on Wednesday.

 

Here's the article:The New Ultimate Spider-Man

 

Now I've not read Spider-Man in years, and I wasn't too upset when they recently killed him off. I knew it was one of those publicity stunts comic companies do from time to time to boost sales, and that they would bring him back somehow, just like they always do. But for them to come up with a completely new Spider-Man like that is bold and creative. I'm definitely interested. It's so much fun to think of the average person being so inspired that they take on the mantle of a fallen hero they admire. It's a great idea and I'll have to actually buy an issue or two. I'm just curious to know how he gets his powers...

 

Concerning your reading comprehension comment Lady Jaye, I have made that argument myself many times also, even in my college English courses. I too feel as if reading comics from an early age enhanced my vocabulary; I may have not always known some of the words I read as a child, but I was exposed to them in context. Then later, when I would be exposed to them again, I'd have some background knowledge, so I would learn them more quickly than if I had never seen them before.

 

As for the first comic I ever read, gosh...I really can't say. My dad always had comics around ever since I can remember. He used to read G.I. Combat, Conan the Barbarian, The Warlord, Weird War Tales, The Unknown Soldier, Swamp Thing, Tales from the Crypt, House of Mystery, Jonah Hex, King Kull, Sgt. Rock...those are just the ones I can remember. He would bring home a stack of them from the grocery store, and we would lie around reading them all afternoon. Wow...what a great memory of my late dad. Thanks for reminding me Lady Jaye...

 

We read the stuff my dad liked, but my brothers and I were mainly superhero fans. We read Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, and X-Men books, and we also liked Star Wars, G.I. Joe, and Transformers. However, the earliest book I remember actually owning myself was some obscure issue of Batman. I have no clue as to which one it was, but after I learned who Neal Adams was years later, in retrospect I think it was his artwork in it. I just remember Alfred or Commissioner Gordon being a key character in it, and I remember Batman was crashing through a window on the cover. A few years later I remember my fourth-grade teacher used to have this big box of old Gold Key and Harvey Comics in the back of the classroom, and when we were finished with our classwork we were allowed to go back there and get some comics to read. It was great and probably fueled my love for comics in general.

 

A few years later, my older brother had bought the Spider-Man issues where Kraven the Hunter "kills" Spider-Man (I can't remember the name of the storyline just now...Kraven's Last Hunt? Shoot, I can't remember...). Anyway, that's when I considered myself a true fan. That storyline just showed me how dramatic comics could be and how they could actually be literary as well as visual works of art.

 

I didn't become a serious comics collector though until high school; I had switched from a rural school to the local huge county high school, and in one of my first drafting classes I met this guy that had a comic in a plastic sleeve and backboard. I had never seen a comic preserved like that and thought it was strange and over-the-top. (lol) That's how I was introduced to serious comic collecting. Later I began to pick up Todd McFarlane's issues of Amazing Spider-Man; that really got me excited about collecting, along with anything Jim Lee did. I expanded my reading to X-Force, Ghost Rider, X-Men, X Factor, and many other titles. I was hooked.

 

I collected pretty seriously up until around 2002 or so. My collecting had become more sporadic as the cover prices rose over the years, along with the action figure boom of the early-to-mid 90s. As my interest in collecting toys took off, my interest in comics equally waned. I simply couldn't afford both, and I wanted to devote more time and money to toys I guess. I now go long stretches, even a year or two, where I won't buy a book, then I'll go to the local comic shop just to browse, and a book or two will catch my eye. But to buy an entire run or storyline in completion? I've not done that in years and years. But like I said, if this new Ultimate Spider-Man proves to be as interesting as I think it will be, I may have to start buying semi-regularly again.

 

Gosh...I'm starting to feel like a teenager again. I'm getting excited. (lol)

[Toysniper]

One of my first comics was an Incredible Hulk were he was fighting Doc Samsom and I had no idea who he was and why could he fight the Hulk and not die? I was curious about his green hair also. This same comic had a mini powerlevel list on some characters and me and my little buddies constantly referred to it.

[joenubb]

Wow Lady Jaye, great topic! Like you, I read some GI Joe comics as a kid as well as Marvel's Star sub-line (Heathcliff, Top Dog, Ewoks). However I didn't start collecting until 1989 with Uncanny X-Men #242. Staying home sick from school one day my mom was running to the store and asked me if I wanted anything. Now in reading Star comics, there were always ads for other Marvel books featuring characters like the Spider-Man, Punisher, and the X-Men. Besides Spidey, I had no idea who these other guys were. They seemed so out of my league as a kid. The fact that these comics were numbered into the hundreds was so overwhelming for a twelve year old kid!

 

However that day I made the leap and asked Mom to pick me up an X-Men comic. It didn't matter which one, any X-Men comic would have done. She came home with the copy of Uncanny #242, which was part of the Inferno crossover, and I was blown away. The cover featured nearly every member of both X-Men and X-Factor at the time, so it was an engaging image for a newbie like me. Flip to the first page of Wolverine and Jean Grey making out. Whaaaaat?! Again, as a twelve year old kid, I was blown away at the adult subject matter being depicted.

 

The issue was great! I had no idea what was going on, but I loved every page. You had demons, super heroes, and half naked women all over the place...I loved it!! Marc Silvestri's pencils were perfect to capture the mood of the darker story line, and I was instantly hooked. Several years ago, I sold my collection of twenty long boxes, and besides a few key issues, #242 still is in my possession. Make Mine Marvel!

[Wolverine042]

I remember my uncle giving me an Avenger comic book. and by the time I grow up and became an avid comic book reader, I realized that it was the first appearance of Rouge. and now I couldn't find it.

[Rollo Tomassi]

I remember a bunch of different comics I had when I was very young that I read and reread until the covers were falling off. I had an old Superman comic where he was fighting Titano the SuperApe.

I had an issue of Flash where we was fighting the Golden Glider.

An issue of DC Comics Presents where Superman and Starman fight Mongul the Merciless.

An issue of Marvel Team Up with Spidey and Nomad against Taskmaster.

Star Wars 50, where Luke gets Crimson Fever.

Transformers 8 with the Dinobots and Ratchet fighting Megatron.

Transformers 20 where Skids fights Ravage.

GIJoe 45 where Ripcord parachutes onto Cobra Island against orders and fights Zartan.

GIJoe 61 where SnowJob, Outback, Stalker, and QuickKick get trapped in some Eastern Bloc country when a mission goes bad.

 

But the first issue I got where I actually started collecting on a monthly basis was Transformers 41. It had a cover with just about every single TF on it, and inside it was the big battle between Grimlock and Blaster over who was going to lead the Autobots, and halfway through the battle, the Decepticons attacked!!!

My first regular "Marvel Universe" book that I collected on a regular basis was Punisher 14, where Frank is undercover as a substitute teacher at a high school.

My first regular "DC" book was the Detective Comics 598-600 huge 50th anniversary story. And also the "Many Deaths of the Batman" story in Batman by John Byrne.

After that, it all snowballed. Now I have over 30,000 comics.

[CaptainTriumph]

I remember my uncle giving me an Avenger comic book. and by the time I grow up and became an avid comic book reader, I realized that it was the first appearance of Rouge. and now I couldn't find it.

That would be Avengers Annual #10.

[Lady Jaye]

Devil Bat, I'm glad my topic was able to bring back some great memories of your father!! Those are the memories we need to cherish!!!

 

I guess my memories tie into my mom as well since it was she who I would tag along with to pick up her then boyfriend from work! We'd always stop by a store and I would grab a comic instead of candy or snacks!!

 

It was her that would take me to my first comic book store, Austin Books & Comics!! Such a strange world to enter to as a kid! Kind of dark place with adults all over the place?? Best part were the stacks and stacks of new comics and rows of old ones!!!

 

I'll always have those memories too!!

 

Joe Nubb, glad u liked the topic too!! I remember that issue quite well!! I was already into the Marvel U and the whole comic book world by the time that crossover came out!! But you are right, Silvestri was fabulous, his Sinister will never be topped!! Guess that's why Mr. Sinister is one of my favorite villains!!

[recidivist]

Small world. I remember Austin Books when i went to UT.

 

Its usually pretty fun reminiscing about your early experiences with something. I still remember when there really werent comic shops and your primary source for books were gas stations and those twirly shelves.

I remember my first comic shop then first comic convention (actually Star Trek headlined the convention). If cursing were more acceptable back then i would have been grounded upon first setting foot.

 

Sadly its never the same once you grow up and take on more responsibilities but its what you reflect on when you continue with the hobby and stave away those notions of completely 'growing up.'

[I AM SCI-FI]

MARVEL G.I. JOE #32

After that, I started getting back issues of the series. Then, I worked my way into X-MEN and Batman.

The thing is with #32, I cut out one of those adds to order a remote control flying eye. My parents wouldn't let me waste my money though, so, I cut it out for nothing.

My senior year in high school, a fellow classmate revealed that he too was into comics and invited me over to see his collection. He had #32, and I told him my story about the issue. He then gave it to me for free. Great guy.

[Lady Jaye]

Recidivist, what years did u attend UT??

 

Yup Austin Books was a comic institution!! Soon after Dragonslair Comics came onto the scene!!

 

But before all that, those spinning wire racks was where it was at!!!

[recidivist]

Recidivist, what years did u attend UT??

 

Yup Austin Books was a comic institution!! Soon after Dragonslair Comics came onto the scene!!

 

But before all that, those spinning wire racks was where it was at!!!

 

 

91 to 95 and stuck around austin another year after that.

 

Austin books was (is) a great shop but it was the farthest from campus. I hung out at Dragon's Lair when i dabbled in gaming. Liked the dogs most.

Funny Papers was the one i went to most of the time since it was right off campus. We kinda joke about that place since Ricky Williams would be there sometimes

and if you know about him then you know what kinda funny papers he had in his pocket

[Lady Jaye]

Wow, small friggin world!!!! Born and raised in Austin, and the drag was a fave hangout!! And yes, Funny Papers was another spot for comics!! But it wasn't my main scene for comics!!

 

So where u at now?? What shops around you, if any??

 

You know, this one shop in far North Austin, whose name eludes me, was a Dave of mine too!! They always had artists and other famous people signing!! Probably one of my favorite signings was Clive Barker!!! He was very down to earth, and talked a lot!!!

 

Also got my Death of Superman comic signed at another signing!

 

It brings back great memories of taking a bus way down there with friends and making a day of it!! Shopping for Toy Biz figures at Target and K-Mart, catching a flick, and having lunch!! Oh and some comic signings and some video game playing at the arcade!!! Good times, good memories!!!

[recidivist]

In Houston now. Lots of shops here but not like the old days. Dimly lit shops with musty books in yellowing comic bags. Everything is so bright, well organized and clean now

 

Havent been to Austin in quite some time. Everyone tells me its not the same especially the drag. Barnes and Nobles took over the coop when i was leaving and i hear all the arcades are gone. Soo, soo many quarters spent.

Dont think i went to any other comic shops save those three. Loved taking the bus all over town but Austin Books was the farthest stop i ever made when comic hunting.

 

Wanted to go last year and check out WizardCon but too much work. Seeing if i can make time this year. A lot of my college friends stayed there and some are even back in school. I've got a lot of fond memories of Austin

just like i do for Iron Man issue #98, the first comic i paid a premium for (staying on topic)

[Wolverine042]

I remember my uncle giving me an Avenger comic book. and by the time I grow up and became an avid comic book reader, I realized that it was the first appearance of Rouge. and now I couldn't find it.

That would be Avengers Annual #10.

 

yup! exactly! I remember she looks way different than what she looks now. she looked like a villain. too bad i couldn't find it.