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Richard Fisher Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 1222
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Posted: 27 February 2021 at 10:23am | IP Logged | 1
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OK,let me explain this title. I recently stumbled on a website that had the covers of Marvel comics and got a rush of nostalgia when I saw an Amazing Spider-man comic that I had as a child. I starting thinking about how as a kid I bought them in a pack of 3 in the grocery store (we didn’t have a comic shop or newsstands that sold comics) So I went thru this website looking at covers and re-created the three packs I bought as a kid. (yeah, I know. Not a good use of mytime. But it’s my time and I use it as I please.) So here are the first 45 comics I bought to the best of my knowledge. These 3 packs were in a clear plastic bag with two covers facing outward on each side. But the one in the middle… you could never tell what you would get. Looking thru these covers Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Thor and Conan were the comics I gravitated towards. I remember them being my favorites at the time. When ROM shows up in my collection it was always because it was the middle comic. Even though I didn’t know it at the time I see a few Roger Stern and John Byrne stories. Still a fan of both these men because of these comics. But this also explains to me why I never liked the X-Men as a child. These two issues just confused me, I had no idea who anybody was or what was going on in the stories. All of these comics (except for ROM ;-p) still hold a special place in my heart. What about everyone else? Do you have memories of the first comics you owned?
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Brian Miller Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004 Location: United States Posts: 30897
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Posted: 27 February 2021 at 10:40am | IP Logged | 2
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The first actual comic I remember owing is AS-M 229. Part one of a two-parter featuring Spider-Man against Juggernaut. By Stern/JRjr. It’s still my favorite single issue of a comic ever. I got it in a trade at school. Took me over 20 years to get part two.
Sometime after that, I got X-MEN SPECIAL EDITION 1. The GSX-M 1 reprint. Never knew how I got it, but down the rabbit hole I went.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 132282
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Posted: 27 February 2021 at 10:45am | IP Logged | 3
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This sent me to the Grand Comicbook Data Base on a quest to see how many covers I could remember--and, of course, it turned out to be a reminder of how wretched was the distribution in my part of Canada when I was a kid.The first American comic I bought off the rack was BATMAN 119 (Cvr Oct 1958). Next BATMAN was 122 (March 1959), followed by 124 (June 59) and 127 (Oct 59). So, a whole year, and only four issues--pretty miserable pickings, even allowing that BATMAN was a twice-quarterly book (8 times a year). SUPERMAN did about as badly, starting with 132 (Oct 1959), followed by 134 (Jan 1960) and 134 (Jan 1960), 135 (Feb 1960) and 138 (July 1960). As you can see, it would take a LONG time to count up my first 45 comics! (It's a testament to the captivating power of those old comics that I even became a fan at all!!)
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Joseph Gauthier Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 11 March 2009 Posts: 1414
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Posted: 27 February 2021 at 12:38pm | IP Logged | 4
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I really love this topic, Richard, thanks for posting it...and the really, really strange thing is that I literally just came to the sight to post a very similar topic! There was a discussion in another thread about an in-house ad Marvel ran announcing JB's arrival on the X-Men. It got me thinking about how so many of my first comic book purchases were driven by such ads. As such, I used Mikes Amazing World of Comics to identify all the comics I bought off the spinner rack during my first six months of comic book reading (two pharmacies and one book store in my home town). My list is exactly forty comics (sorry), and I'm not sure that they are exactly the first forty--I quickly learned that you could find back issues at garage sales and flea markets--but they are the first forty I bought off the rack! And just as I recalled, many of my purchases were indeed driven by really cool in-house ads...I'm sure many of you can identify which ones I'm talking about! I also remember which store I bought which comic from, where I read it etc. I even recall the agony of not having enough lawn-mowing money to buy each comic that caught my eye, and the agonizing choices I had to make as a result. For instance I had no idea who Matt Wagner was, but I desperately needed to know what he did to the Demon...I just didn't have enough money to find out!
Firestorm 53 DP7 1 Firestorm 54 Justice 1 Web of Spider-man 21 Cosmic Boy 1 DP7 2 Action Comics 584 Cosmic Boy 2 DP7 3 Legends 3 Marvel Tales 3 Superman 1 Batman 404 Cosmic Boy 3 DP7 4 Fantastic Four vs The X-Men 1 Firestorm 56 Legends 4 Action Comics 586 Batman 405 Captain Atom 1 Cosmic Boy 4 DP7 5 Fantastic Four vs The X-Men 2 Fantastic Four vs The X-Men 3 Firestorm 57 Legends 5 Strange Tales 1 Superman 3 X-Men vs Avengers 1 Action Comics 587 Batman 406 Captain Atom 2 DP7 6 Firestorm 58 Justice League of America 261 Shazam 1 Superman 4 X-Men vs Avengers 2
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Peter Martin Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 15797
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Posted: 27 February 2021 at 12:40pm | IP Logged | 5
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First comic I bought with my pocket money (as opposed to first comic that someone bought for me):
First Marvel comic I bought (it was a UK reprint):
First few American imports I remember buying (these three I picked up at a newsagents):
This was the first comic I remember buying from an actual comic shop:
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Paul Kimball Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2006 Location: United States Posts: 2166
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Posted: 27 February 2021 at 12:43pm | IP Logged | 6
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wow Peter, that Daredevil cover is just amazing.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 132282
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Posted: 27 February 2021 at 12:46pm | IP Logged | 7
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See, I deliberately skipped the British comics I bought when still living there. ROBIN and BEANO have little to no meaning for most readers outside that country.
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Richard Fisher Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 1222
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Posted: 27 February 2021 at 12:54pm | IP Logged | 8
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Funny, so far except for JB we all started in the 80s. (If the books bought were current)Ah, what a time to be reading comics (for me anyway)
Doing research on the 3 packs, it seems these books were about 9 months after they were first released. So I bought all of mine in 1983-84.
Oh, and you're welcome Joseph.
Edited by Richard Fisher on 02 March 2021 at 5:55pm
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Peter Martin Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 15797
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Posted: 27 February 2021 at 1:00pm | IP Logged | 9
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Yeah, I skipped out a lot of British comics.... They used to come out weekly and I collected Eagle and Battle Action Force for a few years before I started getting into Marvel. Marvel UK had Secret Wars and Spider-Man going for a while, which both carried back-up tales (notably the first few 9 issues of Alpha Flight appeared in Secret Wars). That's why when I walked into a newsagents in late 1985/early 1986 and saw Alpha Flight #29, I bought it. The timing was rotten though -- just as JB left!
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Paul Reis Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 919
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Posted: 27 February 2021 at 1:15pm | IP Logged | 10
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i've tried, many times, but i cannot come up with my 1st "purchases" - early on i just read what my older brother and the neighbor kid across the street bought.
i distinctly remember Fantastic Four #3 in there - i liked it a lot, they didn't
i also remember Amazing Adventures #2 with Manoo - this is when i started my love of Kirby (i'm sure this was well beyond when it was sold at the newstand)
after i did buy my own comics i remember: Spider-Man #20(Scorpion), Captain America #105(Batroc/Swordsman/Living Laser), Strange Tales #135(1st SHEILD) mostly because these were read and reread and reread in the back seat of the car during the 8 hour trip to see "family" that was usually called "vacation".
i only started buying by collecting pop bottles and milk jugs and cashing them in at the grocery store - i never got an allowance.
Edited by Paul Reis on 27 February 2021 at 1:17pm
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Doug Centers Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 February 2014 Location: United States Posts: 5467
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Posted: 27 February 2021 at 3:07pm | IP Logged | 11
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Memory is a funny thing. Until a few short years ago I had not seen "my" comics since they were sold off back in '82. Yet, after discovering Mike's Amazing World, I could spot those comics I had bought off the rack immediately and without doubt. Though I had comics received during that same period from friends and neighbors the ones bought off the rack triggered a different sort of memory response, smell, touch. Maybe just the process of making my way to the drug store and making that decision on how to spend my quarter burned those comics into my brain differently.
Atlas: Brute #2 Destructor #3 Phoenix #3 Cougar #2 Tiger-Man #3 Wulf #4
DC: Brave and the Bold #118 Beowulf #2 Superman #288,289 Tarzan #238 Batman #265 JLA #120
Marvel: Giant Size Avengers #4 Fantastic Four #159 Marvel Tales #59 Hulk #188 Iron Man #75 Power Man #25 Frankenstein Monster #17 Giant Size X-Men #1 Werewolf by Night #31 Spider-Man #147
What a great time it was to be a kid!
Noticing how I must have been "taste testing" back then. This is about 3 months worth and I only bought one title twice (Superman)!
Edited by Doug Centers on 27 February 2021 at 3:11pm
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James Woodcock Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2007 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 7617
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Posted: 27 February 2021 at 3:08pm | IP Logged | 12
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Mine were definitely Marvel UK comics in the ‘70s.
We started @ Mighty World of Marvel 1 & bought all of them from there on in.
I remember that when they released the comic (THE SUPER- HEROES) that had both Silver Surfer & the X-Men, I asked for the X- Men & one of my brothers asked for the Silver Surfer.
None of us realised it was one comic split in two. The argument that caused was spectacular. No one argues like under 10 year old brothers.
We bought American comics when we went to the seaside, but I didn’t buy them monthly until the mid ‘80s (& yes, those Mazzuchelli Daredevils were incredible).
We also bought a lot of the British comics like Battle, Action (the most violent comic written - it made national tv for its depiction of violence in stories such as Hook Jaw - essentially Jaws but with a great big hook sticking out of it), occasionally some humour comics such as Buster.
Our house had a ridiculous amount of comics, up there were four boys.
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