Martinex1: Tuesdays sure come around pretty quickly (every seven days) and here at BitBA we play a game of Follow the Leader on most Tuesdays.
We've talked about everything from favorite comic arcs to favorite country music, from musicals to comic strips... what will be the topic today?
The baton is in the hand of the first commenter! Let's get the conversation started!
19 comments:
G'morning comic lovers everywhere! We discussed the first come you recall reading. What is the first one you consciously made a decision to acquire (purchase, "borrow from a cousin," etc.) and do you still have it?
For me it was Amazing Spider Man 86. My grandmother gave me a quarter and I (9 - 10 years old?) rode my bike to the Beach Cafe Pharmacy in lovely Gary, IN and bought Spidey. Why? Only because I knew him from the Saturday cartoon. The story was not a great one for a youngin' b/cause it had a lot of talk and introspection going on (Spidey appeared to be losing his powers) and not enough "whoops upside the head!" action.
I do still have the issue, though I colored in the eyes with blue ink. And, it'll always be a keeper since it was my first.
I'm curious to hear... Especially from you younger Bronzers b/cause you may not have yet been born when I bought that Spidey.
Nova #12.
I was getting Spider-Man's autograph at our local shopping centre (a huge fan thanks to the Electric Company and the 60s cartoon).
After he took off and jumped on top of a passing car (awesome!) all us kids had nothing to do, so we browsed a convenience store that happened to be there selling comics (convenient indeed). I got my mom to buy me Nova #12, thinking it was a Spider-Man comic, since he was on the cover. Don't know when I clued in as to who was the star/guest star/villain, etc., but I enjoyed the issue very much.
Better still, my older brother revealed to me that he already owned TONS of Marvel, and introduced me to every character under the sun.
Thus was a hobby/obsession/passtime/warm source of future nostalgia born.
Still have the comic, and about a decade later got the follow-up of the two-part story (which was in an actual Spider-Man comic, #171). Quite the thrill.
david p.
It was early 1973, and it was the 1973 Spiderman Special ish 9 (the Goblin reprint story). It was in a town drug store and it sat on the shelf, next to the Fantastic Four Wedding reprint special (ish 10).
And it was one of the most difficult decisions I ever faced, up to that time. Which would be my 'official' first step into the Marvel Universe..?
For the FF Special, it was EVERY star I could imaging (including Cap and Hawkeye..); for Spidey..? Who could turn down a fantastic Spidey-Goblin fight.
Sooo, I went with Spiderman. A few months later, it got lost in the newspapers at my Grandma's house and unfortunately was tossed out. I was soooo peeved. A few decades later I ended up buying both of 'em. So nope, I didn't retain the original, but it was the first I personally bought and was lost out-of-my-control.
But it was 'one of those very tough decisions'...
It was the 1968 Amazing Spider-Man annual, the one that reprinted his first battle with the Sinister Six, the time he tried to join the FF and the time he gatecrashed the Human Torch's party and got into a totally gratuitous fight with him.
I got it from an open air market in the city centre, called the Rag and Tag. It was 1972 but the market hadn't changed since the 1930s, meaning that entering its portals was like passing into a time warp.
From what I can remember, I wanted the comic because Spider-Man seemed so weird, freaky and inhuman on the cover. Once I'd got it, it introduced me to a whole new world of people in bright costumes doing impossible things and was a genuinely mind-expanding experience that gave me an instant love of super-hero comics.
It also introduced me to the phrases, "Cold feet," and, "Bury the hatchet," meaning it wasn't just entertaining, it was educational.
At one end of the market was a woman with a giant set of weighing scales. If she couldn't guess your weight correctly, she'd give you money but if she did guess your weight, you had to give her money. Apparently, she'd been there and doing it for decades, which implies she was either incredibly good at guessing people's weight or there was something dodgy about those scales.
Charlie Horse, you recently asked if anybody knows about the 'Blimey' blog - I do and I've been reading it for about four years !
Though I became a huge fan of the Thing (and the rest of the FF) from their 1967 H-B cartoon, I didn't realize they were in comic books for 7 years. I went to Kroger's with my Mom to get groceries and, as we waited in the checkout line, I noticed the Thing was on the cover of 3 comic books in the spinner rack!
All the wonderful memories of those Saturday morning FF cartoons came flooding back and I had to have all three books: Avengers #127 (part one of the wedding of Crystal & Pietro - took me well over a year to finally get FF #150 for the conclusion), Marvel Two-in-One #4 & #5 (the two-part team-up of the Thing with Captain America and the Guardians of the Galaxy).
I think I read them in that order, so I guess Avengers #127 is my first. And, yes! I definitely have all 3. The covers for these books still remain some of my favorite Gil Kane covers!
Cool beans, Colin J! I am enjoying it too! Don't know how folks find the time for running blogs. Must be a labor of love!
Great topic, Charlie, and a lot of fun memories being shared.
The very first comic I ever bought was an issue of Casper. Don't recall the specifics, but it was a 25 cent giant with a yellow cover. Summer of 1967, so I'm trying to pin that down. I'm thinking it was a "Casper's Ghostland". At age 7, my folks were still limiting my exposure. My first superhero book was Superman 203. The cover showed rays shooting out of Superman's chest killing Lois and Perry. I had to find out why. Still recall finally getting Mom's permission to buy a superhero book.
Both original books were lost in time. I have reacquired the Superman issue, and will pick up the Casper if I can identify it...
I can't remember that far back, but it was probably something with Spider-Man in it.
Hiya,
. . . nervously looks around . . .
The first comic book I ever bought was a copy of Dell's adaptation of "Hogan's Heroes."
DON'T JUDGE ME, MAN !!! DON'T JUDGE ME !!
For some reason I was at a hospital with my parents and I picked it up at the gift shop.
Years later I purchased, at the same location the infamous "tow Manhattan out to the sea' issue of Marvel Team-Up which was very nearly the last comic book I ever bought.
Seeya,
pfgavigan
From Terry in Virginia:
Hi, gang
The earliest comic I know that I owned was a DC 80-page Giant featuring World's Finest reprints with Superman, Batman, and Robin ... all from the 1950s. The publication date was October 1965, which means I must've gotten it in the summer between 2nd and 3rd grade. Being only 7 and a half years old, my weekly allowance was a quarter, so my choice was a 25-cent Giant or two 12-cent mags and a piece of bubble gum (which also came with a comic in the wrapper).
Other early comics:
Avengers #20 (Kooky Quartet vs. Swordsman), Amazing Spider-Man #62 (vs, Medusa), Justice League of America #56. That last one was part 2 of DC's annual Justice Society crossover and included Hourman, Mr. Terrific, Wildcat, and the grown-up Robin of Earth 2. I got part one several years later as a teenager.
Prior to my own purchases, my two older sisters had many Archie comics and various Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, Legion, etc. stuff that was at my disposal....
The first comic of my own choosing that I can remember getting was World's Finest #203, the June, 1971 issue with Superman teaming up with Aquaman. I think what grabbed me about it was that I had watched both of them on Saturday morning cartoons. Before that, when my mother would go to the grocery store, she'd bring me back various Superman, Batman, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Richie Rich, etc....comics. I'm pretty sure this was the first one that I picked out for myself.
After that, I got a giant-sized Batman the next month (reprint issue), then I picked up Justice League of American #91 (the annual JLA/JSA team-up) and there was no turning back after that.
The earliest comic I remember buying (roughly age 5) was an issue of the Incredible Hulk circa 1978, and I have a dim recollection of the splash page involving Bruce Banner carried along wearing an oxygen mask. Via a Google search, I just figured out it was issue 225... amazing how the internet can round out memories for you.
Almost undoubtedly it was acquired alongside a Dixie Cup of ice cream (with a wooden paddle spoon) from a convenience store next to a laundromat in Springfield, MA.
Not too long after was my first subscription (Amazing Spider-Man, around issue 200), after which I was hooked for years.
Mine was a german reprint of Fantastic Four 15.
I was on a long train trip with my mother and she bought me a Tomb of Dracula reprint for the ride. And at the back of the comic was a preview of all the covers of the next month. That was the first time when I saw a Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Avengers, Thor or Hulk cover. For hours I contemplated who these costumed heros might be and what their foes were up to. I was hooked for a lifetime. And first thing I did at home was to gather all my pocket money and go to the neighboring newspaper shop.
The back with previews from Germany
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uXIl3CU-oi9kSuXIrv87LMBCJT9VZcMYGA/view?usp=sharing
I know I got many comics when my family lived in Japan from April 1967 to December 1969 when I was between 4 to 7 years old but they got lost amidst our many moves and by the point I started collecting more regularly on a weekly basis in 1973, the oldest comic in my collection was a ragged copy of Amazing Spider-Man #98, wherein Spidey beats the Goblin and re-unites with Gwen, from 1971. The cover was missing but was otherwise intact. I also remember once having ASM 72 or whichever one had Spidey fighting Quicksilver.
PFG- fear not, no judgment from this corner! Those Dell/Gold Key tv adaptations were a big attraction on the racks back then. I had a couple issues of "Partridge Family"...
Terry- you had great taste in comics early on! That's quite an impressive list of books.
Kent- hope you were careful with your ice cream. Don't you hate moisture rippling in a comic?
Chim- many thanks for posting that photograph! Always fascinating to see comics from other locales. Interesting how that ad featured stories from all over the Marvel Age...
@Redartz - In Germany 1974 a publisher restarted printing marvel comics from their beginnings. The line-up was Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Avengers every 2 weeks and Hulk, Thor, Dracula and Frankenstein every month.
So Frankenstein and Dracula were quite recent (they started originally 1973 and 1972). But the others were more than 10 years old in the beginning. Because of the 2 week print schedule the gap closed step by step. But sadly the publisher stopped at 1979. I more or less collected all those 5 years and they were able to print the whole Lee/Kirby FF run and Spider-Man up to the death of Gwen. So I read the important silver age stuff as a child in the 1970s in Germany. And I am glad I did!
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