Posted: 24 October 2019 at 7:25am | IP Logged | 4
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Reminiscing on fifty year old memories is not so easy and before I continue with my next entry, I thought some visual stimuli would entice some memories to the surface. Using Mike's Amazing World of Comics Newsstand (http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/index.php), I reviewed what was on the market from January 1969 to December 1972. I was exposed to many titles, but with very little consistency. I did not get to make my own purchases and I recall giving what money I might have to my older brother with instructions on what to buy, with some disappointing results. He could only purchase what was available on the racks and I dimly recall, my cost exceeding the purchase price. I think he convinced me to be quiet about it by allowing me access to his comic books. The comic book exchange was still going on with friends and relatives and many books were read out of sequence and probably months after sale date. Books from Harvey composed most of these exchanges and included titled characters, such as: Casper, the Friendly Ghost; Hot Stuff, the Little Devil; Wendy, the Good Little Witch; Little Dot and Richie Rich. And since these characters had multiple ongoing series, there is no way to identify individual issues I might have read. Archie comics of various titles were also in these exchanges and various comics of similar disposition. I can identify some individual issues of Adventure Comics and the 100-Page Super Spectacular DC-14 by DC and the Avengers and X-Men from Marvel, but I don’t recall the circumstances. During the three years my brother either purchased or was tasked to purchase titles like: Captain Marvel, Conan the Barbarian, Kull, the Conqueror; Silver Surfer, Thor and Warlock by Marvel: Green Lantern, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen; Demon, Forever People, Mister Miracle, New Gods and Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth by DC: and many Sad Sack titles, because they were popular with all the siblings and my Dad. My older sister would sometimes get new comics or claim comics from the exchange as more appropriate to her and not allow me access to them. But I did manage to read some. I do recall reading some Wonder-Woman comics which were published during the time. Western comics were always a easy purchase because the self-contained stories were a big appeal to the whole family. I think I learned to choose comics with this in mind. I remember Billy the Kid from Charlton; The new and reprint titles from Marvel including; Gunhawks, Outlaw Kid, Ringo Kid and Marvel Western Gunfighters. The same appeal also included some jungle adventure titles like the Gold Key published Tarzan of the Apes, Jungle Twins and Turok, Son of Stone. When DC started publishing Edgar Rice Burroughs characters I was on board for Tarzan and Korak, Son of Tarzan. I can identify some spot issues of Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel Spotlight, Marvel Team-Up, Marvel's Greatest Comics, Sub-Mariner, Werewolf by Night, Aquaman, Flash, Justice League of America, Our Army at War, Teen Titans, World's Finest Comics and specifically Fantastic Four Annual #8, I would have impulse purchased off of the racks. My most consistent purchases (through my brother) during the period were Captain America and The Incredible Hulk. My memories of both series are punctuated by the issues missed and are more distinctive than the issues captured. I must have been very disappointed at the time.
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