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Your First Comic Book

So I was writing a paper for a class last night and I started it with the intro below. I then thought about how the CGS guys ask each guest what his/her first comic was and thought that would be something fun to do for all the forum.

Rules: Wax poetic about your memories surrounding your first comic. Try not to make it too long. Then, if you can, post a picture of said first comic.

I remember walking into the truck stop hotel store hoping to pick up something, perhaps something I could read, that would tide me over until we finally arrived to our destination. I had had enough of my brother and sister as they sat beside me for the past eight hours in the back of my family’s station wagon. I approached the magazine section of the truck stop hotel’s convenience store and felt the gravitational pull from a white spinner rack about a foot or two taller than my 11 year-old self. I casually gave the wire frame a push and it groaned. I had to manually turn it; I thought that it must not get a lot of visitors. I looked up and down the rack at all the various titles, finally spying one that might help fight the war of boredom I was losing since we had left home. The colors were vibrant and the action sang to me like the Sirens in that old Greek poem. I left the book and ran outside to plead with my dad for a dollar so that I could make that purchase. After he hung up the gas pump handle, he reached into his pocket and gave me a small assortment of coins. I ran back inside and stood, heaving in front of the rack. I slowly, but deliberately, liberated the comic book from it’s white, wire holding cell. I don’t remember how many times I read that sixty-seventh issue of Web of Spider-Man or if I even read it at all, I just knew that I found something that spoke to me on a level that few things previously had. I can’t remember if it was my first actual comic book, but it’s the first one I can remember.

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Comments

  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,736
    I've posted this on the Comic Book Cover a Day thread, but I'll do it again. I’m pretty sure my first comic was Tweety and Sylvester #39. I say pretty sure because the cover eventually fell off, so I’m having to rely on my memory. I was four years old when I got it, and even at that age I was a little disappointed by it. I had seen the Looney Tunes cartoons on TV by that point, and this comic wasn’t as funny nor did it look anywhere near as good as those cartoons. It didn’t stop me from reading it many times though.

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  • I honestly don't remember what my first comic book was -- I was reading from a very, very early age as a toddler, so my recollections fall back into a very hazy period. The first one I can recall was Jacky's Diary, which was taken from a short-lived newspaper strip and is something of a cult item today. But it's more likely that my first comics were some cartoon books like Atomic Mouse or Walt Disney's Comics & Stories.

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  • GregGreg Posts: 1,946
    The first comic I ever read.
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    First comic I ever had before being able to read, bought for me on a family road trip to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
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  • Eric_CEric_C Posts: 263
    edited January 2013
    Captain America #25 - Director's Cut
    Seems like a strange first comic, but the impact it had on me influenced how much I love comics and more importantly Cap. The comic was perfect and Cap was perfect. I was hooked.
  • Mr_CosmicMr_Cosmic Posts: 3,200
    I can't say for certain that is is my very first comic but Fantastic Four #270 is the earliest issue I remember owning.

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  • wrecking_crewwrecking_crew Posts: 33
    edited January 2013
    Driving from California to BC, Canada for World Expo '86... at a gas stop my Gran has me raid the spinner rack for things to keep my occupied on the long, long drive... Snagged every Marvel book I could find. Don't remember the particular titles save Elfquest #2 (Epic), GI Joe, Transformers, and a Conan annual, but it was an eye opening (and lifetime wallet destroying) "whole new world" moment.

    I had watched tons of superhero cartoons up to that point, but to read the "real" stories was one hell of a treat ;)

    EDIT: actually, that was a lie. I had dozens of Marvel Star Wars comics, but never connected them to the medium, it was just more Star Wars...
  • Royal_LanternRoyal_Lantern Posts: 291
    edited March 2014
    The first comic that I remember reading was a Return of the Jedi issue #1 with a purple cover and it had Jedi knight Luke, Skiff Guard Lando, and Slave Leia on the cover. I got it in a bag of 3 comics at a toy store. I don't remember what the other comics in the pack were, but they were not Star Wars comics. I read it many times because it had my favorite section of all of Star Wars, the Jabba Palace stuff and battle over the Sarlaac.

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    The first comic that I remember buying with my own money was the John Byrne Ganthet's Tale because I loved Green Lantern from the Super Friends when I was a little kid. I remember really enjoying the story and I still have the issue today.

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  • FlagwaverFlagwaver Posts: 140
    edited January 2013
    I don't remember the very first comic I read but these two issues stand out in my mind. I got them for Christmas of '77 in a two pack. My parents had bought me a desk and when I opened up one of the drawers, this was inside. I read them so many times that they eventually came apart.

    Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

    Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
  • phansfordphansford Posts: 221
    The "First" was probably Batman #183. I would have been 5 years old and probably talked my dad into getting it for me at the local newsstand. The Batman Show was hot and I remember my brother (who would have been 9 yrs old) and I having these books around. My Dad read comics as a kid and he was happy to buy them for my brother and I.

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    When I started to collect comics and read them seriously.... my first books was ASM #151, which I bought off a spinner rack. I was a freshman in high school.

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  • dubbat138dubbat138 Posts: 3,200
    Mine was some late 70s issue of Richie Rich. Don't remember much about it. First I remember buying with my own money was Uncanny X-men 101.
  • kfreemankfreeman Posts: 314
    edited January 2013
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    This is the first issue I recollect owning. I am sure I had some Richie Rich and stuff like that when I was younger, but this one is very vivid in my mind.
  • WebheadWebhead Posts: 458
    I've told this story on previous incarnations of The Comic Forums but I do not mind retelling it.

    I was about seven and we were moving out of town. On the way out of town my father stopped at a liquor store for snacks. After a few minutes my mom sent in to "hurry my father up" After we got the snacks my dad started to talk with the clerk so I started to wander around the store when I came across a spinner rack of comics and magazines. After awhile my dad called me over to take back the snacks to the rest of the family. A few mins. later he came out with another bag. After he removed his adult beverage he handed me the bag and I found some comics. I guess he noticed me looking at them and he got the for me.

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  • RedRight88RedRight88 Posts: 2,207
    It was a comic based on the MadBalls line of toys...Do not ask me who published it or what issue it was because that book has looonng since vanished.
  • luke52luke52 Posts: 1,392
    I used to read loads and loads of Beano comics when I was kid. But I can't remember my first issue of that. For those if you who don't know, Beano is a long long long running kids comic in the UK, featuring several short stories in each weekly issue. Characters like Dennis the Menace, The Numskulls, Roger the Dodger and The Bash Street Kids were regulars. I used to get these until I was around 10 and outgrew them. But at the time I read these things constantly and loved them.

    Now the first US comic I read was about four years ago and eventually opened me up to the whole world comics to me. The comic was The Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born issue 3. I got this because I loved the Dark Tower novels and needed more. Seeing there were loads of comics out there I decided to get an issue off eBay. Not having a clue what I was in for. Peter David on writing duties and Jae Lee on art. Not a bad team to say the least! I remember thinking the art was perfect for the Dark Tower universe and I quickly bought the first six volumes of Dark Tower series. Which I also love. I soon found a (my only) local comic book shop, a tiny tiny shop that was selling 'lucky dip' stacks of six random comics. I got a couple of these packs that had some batman, Spider-Man, green lantern, Thor and several others in. While there was stuff I hated (moon knight and some shadowland books) I lot of it intrigued me. And from there I just kept buying and reading and loving comics more and more.

    Unfortunately I'm not sure how to add pictures onto the forums, but you can always do a search on google for some Beano covers or dark tower cover if you want.
  • dubbat138dubbat138 Posts: 3,200

    It was a comic based on the MadBalls line of toys...Do not ask me who published it or what issue it was because that book has looonng since vanished.

    Madballs was published by Star comics. Which was Marvel's kids line of comics. I am slowly collecting every issues of the Madballs series.

  • dubbat138dubbat138 Posts: 3,200
    Webhead said:

    I've told this story on previous incarnations of The Comic Forums but I do not mind retelling it.

    I was about seven and we were moving out of town. On the way out of town my father stopped at a liquor store for snacks. After a few minutes my mom sent in to "hurry my father up" After we got the snacks my dad started to talk with the clerk so I started to wander around the store when I came across a spinner rack of comics and magazines. After awhile my dad called me over to take back the snacks to the rest of the family. A few mins. later he came out with another bag. After he removed his adult beverage he handed me the bag and I found some comics. I guess he noticed me looking at them and he got the for me.

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    Love that Tales of Voodoo cover. A few years back a DVD company used some of those covers for the covers of a series of horror film two packs. The covers were the best part. Cause the films were obvious sourced from old vhs. One of the ones I own has both Greek and what appears to be Japanese subtitles on the bottom of the screen.
  • First comic I remember flicking through was a friends copy of Amazing Spider-man (the one with the photo cover with Spidey unmasked if I'm remembering it correctly).

    The first one I bought and read (and ultimately started my 5000+ collection) was X-Factor 1 in 1986. Started my love of Jean Grey and all things 'X'.

  • My first comic is one I can't find the cover for... It featured Superman or Superboy, and he was on a spaceship, with a guy with a skull for a face. I assume it was Atomic Skull, but searching for that brings up nothing familiar.

    Anyway, I was about 5, which would have been in 1973.

    I also remember reading a Little Lulu Digest, which was a halloween special, featuring a story called "Hollow Weenies", wherein she tells Arthur the bogus (of course) origin of Halloween. This one may predate the Superman one.
  • CageNarleighCageNarleigh Posts: 729
    edited March 2014
    The first comic I read was the second issue of a two issue crossover between Nexus and Magnus the Robot Fighter. I have no idea where I got it from but I was entranced.

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  • Tonebone said:

    My first comic is one I can't find the cover for... It featured Superman or Superboy, and he was on a spaceship, with a guy with a skull for a face. I assume it was Atomic Skull, but searching for that brings up nothing familiar.

    Anyway, I was about 5, which would have been in 1973.

    That's a tough one. The first Atomic Skull didn't debut until 1978; his alter ego, Albert Michaels, first strolled through the series as head honcho of STAR Labs in 1976.

    Perhaps the 'skull-faced' villain was either the Space Golem or the Persuader (of the Fatal Five)? Another possibility might be that whatever comic it was might have been an older book that you came across, from a year or two before?

    If it helps, you can search through the covers at the Comic Book Data Base at comicbookdb.com/.

  • Tonebone said:

    My first comic is one I can't find the cover for... It featured Superman or Superboy, and he was on a spaceship, with a guy with a skull for a face. I assume it was Atomic Skull, but searching for that brings up nothing familiar.

    Anyway, I was about 5, which would have been in 1973.

    That's a tough one. The first Atomic Skull didn't debut until 1978; his alter ego, Albert Michaels, first strolled through the series as head honcho of STAR Labs in 1976.

    Perhaps the 'skull-faced' villain was either the Space Golem or the Persuader (of the Fatal Five)? Another possibility might be that whatever comic it was might have been an older book that you came across, from a year or two before?

    If it helps, you can search through the covers at the Comic Book Data Base at comicbookdb.com/.

    it's funny... I keep looking at that Superboy 198 cover from @Webhead 's post above... and think that fits my vague memories, somehwat.

    I remember the cover having a "box", with Superboy/Superman on one side, and the skull-faced guy on the other with some other folks. And It took place on a spaceship or space station (which would jive with the future of the Legion stories). That one could by my comic. THAT would be a weird coincidence, wouldn't it?
  • JersenJersen Posts: 39
    By the time I was in 2nd grade in 1988, I was already obsessed with superheroes. My mom made a Superman cape for me that I wore all the time and my Dad and Uncle Tim would fly me around. I watched any superhero cartoons I could catch, and had even seen the first two Superman movies. Once I learned that superheroes came from comic books, I asked Dad if I could get one sometime.

    A few days later, Dad walks in from work, holding his lunch box, and tells me that he has a surprise in it for me! I opened his lunch box, and in it was a brand new copy of Superman #22! Dad read that comic to me every night for a looooooooong time; and even though it didn't make complete sense to us because it was the final chapter of John Byrne's final story on the title, it was still awesome to have a real Superman story!

    That one issue has been read so many times that the cover has fallen off and I taped it back on. Whenever I can find a good replacement copy at a reasonable price, I will finally be able to retire my old, worn out copy and frame it.

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  • HexHex Posts: 944
    I love this thread. Makes me yearn for the innocence of childhood, and cherish the moments I spend reading funny books with my kids now.

    I had plenty of Richie Rich, Archies and Hot Stuff on the obligatory family car trips. My older brother had a good start on a decent collection of Marvel and DC and he let me read most of what he got.

    The first issue that started my collecting craze (that I paid for with my own allowance) was Micronauts #7. I was lucky enough to have Golden sign it a few years back.

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  • I remember getting a $1 allowance for the first time ever and that Sunday when I went with my dad down to the corner store to get the newspapers, I ended blowing the whole thing on 4 comic books. This was one of them. I can remember being fascinated by the look of Iron Man and Yellowjacket, plus the Vision in the upper left corner. This was my gateway into comics in general, and the Avengers in particular. I never looked back.

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  • bralinatorbralinator Posts: 5,967
    I'm not sure which of these was my first comic book. I remember somehow being given someone else's reader copies of some books. Many without covers, usually of the Harvey Comics line. I remember a House of Secrets #122 that I read and reread hundreds of times, along with early issues of Chamber of Chills, Adventure Into Fear (Man-Thing issues) and more.

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    Another early book I remember featured what was soon to be one of my favorite characters, the Flash #213 (a reprint) featuring the JSA!

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    From the Marvel pile, my earliest known issue (stored between my baseball cards and my Six Million Dollar Man toys) was a copy of Marvel's Greatest Comics #46 (which was another reprint, this time of Fantastic Four Vol 1 #63)

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    The first comic I bought off the spinner rack was Spider-Man #166. It featured the Lizard as well as Stegron, the Christmas season, and dinosaurs that came back to life. What more could any 9 year old want?

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    Spidey became my go-to hero. From the Electric Company to any comic book I could find. I think the next one I bought was a Marvel Team Up #59 that same year.

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    A melodramatic cover featuring the Wasp and a "dead" Yellowjacket? How could I keep that money in my pocket? Been loving these floppies ever since :)
  • TorchsongTorchsong Posts: 2,794
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    This was one of the first comics I remember reading. It was not mine. It was my older sisters. I also seem to remember this one:

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    Now the first comic I ever bought for myself with actual money?

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  • bralinatorbralinator Posts: 5,967



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    I always love a good floating heads cover
  • Hex said:

    I love this thread. Makes me yearn for the innocence of childhood, and cherish the moments I spend reading funny books with my kids now.

    I had plenty of Richie Rich, Archies and Hot Stuff on the obligatory family car trips. My older brother had a good start on a decent collection of Marvel and DC and he let me read most of what he got.

    The first issue that started my collecting craze (that I paid for with my own allowance) was Micronauts #7. I was lucky enough to have Golden sign it a few years back.

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    Strangely enough, Micronauts #7 was one of my first two comics as well. Purchased within days of X-Men #123, which started my obsession...

  • HexHex Posts: 944

    Strangely enough, Micronauts #7 was one of my first two comics as well. Purchased within days of X-Men #123, which started my obsession...

    I like your Style! Must have been that awesome Michael Golden cover. How could a kid resist a muck monster battling toys!?!
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