A Little Bit of History
So, a couple of days ago, I was merrily checking out Adam's daily post over at "Comics Make No Sense", when, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but THIS cover.
Well, to put it mildly, I was hornswoggled. Gobsmacked. Nostalgic, even. You see, this was the Very First Comic Book that I ever bought with my own hard-earned babysitting money.
Back in the 1970's it was, and I was a much much younger and thinner Sallyp. In fact, I wasn't a Sallyp then, but a Sallyf. They didn't even HAVE Comic Book stores yet, you had to go down to the drug store, where hopefully, the books would either be on a spinner rack, or jumbled in with the regular magazines. There was no such thing as back issues. Books cost 25 cents. They were 20 cents, but had recently gone up. They had a letters section in the back of the books, where people who wished to comment on the most recent comical opus actually wrote in, and prayed that their letter would be printed and commented in turn upon, by an editor. An awful lot of current writers wrote fan letters back in the day.
I didn't really care much about the Avengers, but I DID have a burgeoning crush on Thor. I just loved his hair. It didn't hurt that I was on a Norse Mythology kick at the time, and had learned the Runic alphabet, and stuff like that. Hey, I was a teenager! And John Buscema drew such nice looking people. Although even at that tender age, I thought that Wanda was pretty useless.
It was a short two-parter, and a fairly decent story, all things considered. For example, I learned thatHawkeye was able to survive his poisoning, because he had a glass stomache. Exactly HOW he gained such a surprising organ was not explained, and I did wonder how he managed to survive being punched, but it did catch my attention. So, I started collecting Thor, and Avengers, and even X-Men, when it was being written by that Claremont fellow, and drawn by that Cockrum guy. Turns out, they did some pretty good stuff together.
Then I graduated, went to college, got married, had babies, and moved onto other things for a while. Didn't collect comics anymore (but still kept them) until a few years went by and I suddenly realized that they were a lot more visible, and readily accessible than they used to be,and all that pent-up longing and desire for brightly-clad men and women in tights came flowing back. Only this time, it was DC and not Marvel that held my attention. Funny how that works out.
Anyhoo...can you all remember the very first comic book that jumped out at you, and you had to...HAD to buy it right then and there, and hold it in your trembling hands?
Because, I imagine that you always remember your first.
posted by SallyP @ 6:17 AM
17 Comments:
I read the Thundercats comics first. I found them on tv, then was amazed that they had their own comic. They were wondrous!
I got number one through to about number 100, when they got a bit shit, and the Power Pack back up strip had stopped.
My dad threw out my whole collection when we moved house when I was 10/11 and I remained furious for years.
Then I discovered ebay and have bought back pretty much every copy, plus the entire Power Pack run. Thundercats #1 still brings me out in goosebumps when I read it.
I still don't think that i've quite forgiven my dad though.
I was lucky in that my dad was/is a major geek and used to buy me comics all the time. He started off with funny-animal books (the Road Runner was a favorite of mine). Then he got me copies of the original Magnus Robot Fighter. And THEN he bought me Batman and Green Lantern-Green Arrow -- when they were being drawn by Neal Adams. I've been a super-hero comic book geek ever since.
The first comic book I ever bought with my own money was X-men #101 (Phoenix's debut), if you can believe that. :-) I bought it just because I thought Phoenix looked cool.
I honestly don't remember the first comic I bought with my "own" money. My parents had, as long as I can remember, bought me comics by the dozens; I was an only child, and the comics kept me quiet and out of their hair. The earliest ones I remember owning include Justice League of America #101, Iron Man #59, and Marvel Team-Up #6.
The first comic book I ever bought was Fantastic Four 176 at a local drug store when such things were still sold on racks.
Oh, I still have that copy of FF 176 although it's not in very good shape. Folks always look at it (and me) funny when I say it is among with my valuable books.
One of the Bart Simpson comics, waaay back when. It was, in fact, the first thing I ever bought with my own money, period. (It was also the last comic I would buy until years later, when I began reading Sailor Moon. And I didn't really start COLLECTING anything until I discovered I could find Japanese versions of manga on eBay. AND, I didn't start collecting AMERICAN comics until about two years ago. My comics life is a true soap opera.)
It doesn't really matter if the story was any good, or if the book is in good condition, it was YOUR first book, and is therefore incalculably valuable.
Batman #251, "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge".
Scip, what a great place to start!!!
The first I bought with my own money was Superman #78, with the Cyborg Superman on the cover holding a tattered American Flag. I remember seeing in on the magazine stand at the deli and thought it was the coolest looking thing ever! That then brought me into the Reign of the Supermen, and I've been collecting ever since.
It was the Young Avengers hardcover. I was raised on manga and didn't care for superhero comics, but then I realized "oh shit I like boys" and was all sad and started reading yaoi and was like "dude wtf is this BS?" and started flipping through the Young Avengers HC at a comic store and realized that hey, two teens and they're gay and they're actually guys and I've been hooked ever since.
-takes a deep breath-
Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD v2 #19
A forgettable first.
It was the cheapest thing in the bargain bin.
But heck, you still remember it.
I remember calling for my mom to come to the window of our 2nd floor apartment and toss me down my allowance so I could run to the candy store and get the last copy of Uncanny X-Men #137. It was clearly not in mint condition, & I think it came out while I was on vacation. I wanted to get a copy of it in better shape, but it turned out to be the last copy I would ever see on sale for cover price.
The first comic I ever bought with my own money was Action Comics#441.
Here's a link with more details:
http://stars-and-garters.blogspot.com/2009/03/well-since-you-asked-sally.html
I remember that issue, too...and I also remember taking Hawkeye's "glass stomach" remark literally, and wondering how he got it. I wasn't until much later that I realized he was just an extremely odd way of saying he had a weak stomach. I don't remember who the writer was, but with that bizarre turn of phrase, I'm guessing it was Roy Thomas.
With my own money was DC Comics Presents #59, starring Superman, the Legion Subs and Ambush Bug. The rest is history.
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