Barber shops and my mom. No matter what town we were in every barber shop seemed to have comic books; usually Archie, Richie Rich, Casper, but also some war comics like Weird War Tales, Sgt Rock, and the Unknown Soldier. Mom would buy my younger brother and I comics from time to time. She read comics when she was little and encouraged us to do the same. The first comics that I can remember her buying us was a three pack of Star Wars #7, 8, 9 at the PX when I was 8.
I'd have to say it was a combination of things, mostly because I don't remember what happened first: the black-and-white Superman TV show, the 1966 Batman TV, and my dad bought me a few comics before I started buying them on my own.
In the early 70's, my parents would buy my brother and I comics when we were sick or when we were going on trips. And whenever my mom would take us to the grocery store, my brother and I would hang out in the magazine area and read comics while she shopped! I read a lot of Harvey, Archie, and DC comics that way.
when i was a kid in the mid-70's my grandparents had a small wastebasket full of my aunt's old comics for the grand kids to read. Lots of mid-late 60s harveys and archies primarily (no superheroes). Every time we visited my grandparents, I would pull out that trash can and read books. I still have a soft spot for 60's and 70's archies today!
My dad would supplement with a comic from the drugstore every once in a while, and I would spend the whole time in the drugstore going through the spinner rack just trying to pick one. Looking back as a parent, I'm sure my dad was just trying to keep me busy. :) Back then I would favor Cap, Power Man and Iron Fist, and the Spidey Titles (ASM and Marvel Tales).
Then when I was about 10 my friends all started to get into comics, particularly X-Men and Avengers. This was the dawn of the direct market. The dad of one friend was a collector and had a subscription at a shop in Indy that had been open a couple of years. He would take the bunch of us in the summer every thursday (i think new comics were on thursday then). And I would spend a couple of dollars on comics. He used to get a stack of books for about $10-$15 and I would just stare in awe at how many books he bought! :)
By the time I was 12 we had discovered a little used bookstore a couple of miles from our neighborhood that dealt primarily in paperbacks but had a bunch of boxes in the back of old comics. That summer we would dig up any old paperback we could find, haul them to that store, and come home with a stack of comics. That's probably when I became a collector. I bought my first Overstreet then and used to look through it for first appearances and dream about owning those books plus wonder how anybody could afford them! I mean, AF15 was going for $1200 in NM!! :)
I used to sit across the kitchen table from my Dad in the mornings while he read The Washington Post, and I would read along upside down. Back in the sixties, the Post had a world-class comics page: Pogo, Lil' Abner, Steve Canyon, great stuff.
My Grandmother ran a used bookstore, and brought me the comics that came in, especially Classics Illustrated & Uncle Scrooge.
It was my dad for me. When he came to Canada he didn't speak english at all once I was born and I started school he bought me my first comics because of my love of Superman 2. Oddly enough the comics he got me were Hot Stuff and Richie Rich. I would read the books to him to help me to read and help him learn English. To this day reading comics with my dad is one of my favourite memories.
My addiction to comics began from my Fathers addiction for cigarettes. When I was 3 years old, my father would walk to the corner liquor store in our small town and buy a pack of cigarettes every night or two. Since he wanted to get me something too, he'd pick up one comic that was on the magazine rack. At that time, my Dad smoked about a pack a day so I acquire quite a large reading selection. He quit smoking decades ago, but I haven't stopped reading comics.
My uncle had a dresser drawer full of old comics from the 70's that he left at my grandmother's house. I remember first looking and then reading them from my first memory. They were all kinds of stuff, I remember more Marvel than DC; Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Spidey of both types; but there were plenty of DC too; JLA, Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Superman, Flash. My uncle also was in to the horror books like Tomb of Dracula, Werewolf by Night, Ghost Rider, and Son of Satan along with the horror reprint books. It was a great way to get a basic primer on comics! The first comic I ever bought myself was GI Joe 15, what a great cover!
I was 7 years old, it was 1982 and Mom stopped at the Circle K for gas on the way to Sears to go buy some clothes. I convinced I was going to be bored (and annoying) if she didn't get me something to keep me occupied. She let me pick a comic... and I picked this one I think I read it 10 times there in Sears between sitting outside the dressing rooms and being drug thru the mall... I've loved Lantern ever since. The G.I Joe and Transformers TV shows got me reading those books soon thereafter.
Growing up in Pittsburgh in the early 70's, I used to walk to the local drugstore with my brother and buy a Richie Rich or two. Soon moved on to super heroes and my childhood love of history drew me to Captain America. First issue I picked up was #174 towards the end of the Secret Empire story arc.
It's been a while since I told my origin story, but for a new forum I think I can throw out a reprint. Way back in my wee little life (I was 5 at the time) a cousin gave me a bunch of comics for Christmas. So my mom got to read the covers off the XMen Mutant Massacre to me, along with some Spidermen comics. Today the anniversary hero border covers are still some of my favorite comics ever.
Does anybody remember those 'collector' kits you could get from the Sears catalog? I bought one with some birthday money when I was 11 or 12. My first purchase of supplies . . .
When I was young, maybe 5 or 6, my great uncle used to give me comics every once in a while... I remember early 70's Legion of Super-Heroes and Superman, in particular. He would ask me to read them to him and would sit through the whole thing. I thought he wanted to see how well I was learning to read. Years later, I understood that my uncle suffered from a form of mental retardation and was illiterate. My dad was actually his legal guardian. Turns out, he wanted me to read them to him so he could know what was going on. I just figured this out in the past few years.
From then on, I remember picking up comics at garage sales, thrift stores, those polybagged Gold Key 3 for ones at the supermarket, etc. I was hooked on Dennis the Menace, Richie Rich, Little Lulu, Super Goof, and pretty much any superhero I could find.
My dad used to get my brother and I issues of the Beano or the Dandy when we were kids, and this progressed into issues of Marvel UK's the Transformers, because we both were big fans of the toys. After dropping out for the vast majority of my school years, I was interested in the Knightfall storyline and from there I was hooked.
When I was young, maybe 5 or 6, my great uncle used to give me comics every once in a while... I remember early 70's Legion of Super-Heroes and Superman, in particular. He would ask me to read them to him and would sit through the whole thing. I thought he wanted to see how well I was learning to read. Years later, I understood that my uncle suffered from a form of mental retardation and was illiterate. My dad was actually his legal guardian. Turns out, he wanted me to read them to him so he could know what was going on. I just figured this out in the past few years.
From then on, I remember picking up comics at garage sales, thrift stores, those polybagged Gold Key 3 for ones at the supermarket, etc. I was hooked on Dennis the Menace, Richie Rich, Little Lulu, Super Goof, and pretty much any superhero I could find.
Great story about your Uncle. I have a friend that is legally blind but loves comics. So back when we lived near each other I would go over and read his new comics to him. Then after I moved away the LCS owner would sit down every Friday and read the new comics to him. Funny story he is who I got the Double/Dubba T the legally blind referee nickname from. His name is Tory Tate and he was a referee for a local indy wrestling fed for a few years. So back in 1997 when I first got online I created the nickname in tribute to him.
Those Gold Key/Whitman 3 packs introduced me to so many comics and are another thing that helped turn me into the massive comic geek I am today. I still have some Super Goof issues i got outta those packs. I have read them so much that by the time I was 9 I had my Dad staple the covers back on.
The main thing would be comics themselves. Seeing them in grocery and convenience stores where I spent a fair amount of time at a young age. Also movies and tv such as the Capt America tv movies, Superman1-2, 60s batman and superfriends, spiderman cartoons etc.
The main thing would be comics themselves. Seeing them in grocery and convenience stores where I spent a fair amount of time at a young age. Also movies and tv such as the Capt America tv movies, Superman1-2, 60s batman and superfriends, spiderman cartoons etc.
I can remember being so excited for the second Captain America tv movie. Then I saw it and even as a very young kid I was very very disappointed.
The old Adam West Batman show and the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man cartoons. Also the Superman/Justice League hour or whatever that was. Since spinner racks were in practically every store, the conduit between the shows and the comics was pretty hard to avoid, I think. ALL kids had a few comics (early seventies). They were like candy.
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He bought me Richie Rich, Casper and Spider-Man Classics off Spinner Racks. (In the 90's)
And then one day he brought me an X-Men issue. (Apparently the one where Sinister drops hints about a third Summers brother)
I had no idea what was going on, but was hooked. And my fandom exploded.
My dad would supplement with a comic from the drugstore every once in a while, and I would spend the whole time in the drugstore going through the spinner rack just trying to pick one. Looking back as a parent, I'm sure my dad was just trying to keep me busy. :) Back then I would favor Cap, Power Man and Iron Fist, and the Spidey Titles (ASM and Marvel Tales).
Then when I was about 10 my friends all started to get into comics, particularly X-Men and Avengers. This was the dawn of the direct market. The dad of one friend was a collector and had a subscription at a shop in Indy that had been open a couple of years. He would take the bunch of us in the summer every thursday (i think new comics were on thursday then). And I would spend a couple of dollars on comics. He used to get a stack of books for about $10-$15 and I would just stare in awe at how many books he bought! :)
By the time I was 12 we had discovered a little used bookstore a couple of miles from our neighborhood that dealt primarily in paperbacks but had a bunch of boxes in the back of old comics. That summer we would dig up any old paperback we could find, haul them to that store, and come home with a stack of comics. That's probably when I became a collector. I bought my first Overstreet then and used to look through it for first appearances and dream about owning those books plus wonder how anybody could afford them! I mean, AF15 was going for $1200 in NM!! :)
I used to sit across the kitchen table from my Dad in the mornings while he read The Washington Post, and I would read along upside down. Back in the sixties, the Post had a world-class comics page: Pogo, Lil' Abner, Steve Canyon, great stuff.
My Grandmother ran a used bookstore, and brought me the comics that came in, especially Classics Illustrated & Uncle Scrooge.
...and the rest is history!
He quit smoking decades ago, but I haven't stopped reading comics.
Way back in my wee little life (I was 5 at the time) a cousin gave me a bunch of comics for Christmas. So my mom got to read the covers off the XMen Mutant Massacre to me, along with some Spidermen comics. Today the anniversary hero border covers are still some of my favorite comics ever.
That actually got my older brother into comics. Once he started to buy them from the lcs, he let me read them. That's how I got into them.
From then on, I remember picking up comics at garage sales, thrift stores, those polybagged Gold Key 3 for ones at the supermarket, etc. I was hooked on Dennis the Menace, Richie Rich, Little Lulu, Super Goof, and pretty much any superhero I could find.
Great story about your Uncle. I have a friend that is legally blind but loves comics. So back when we lived near each other I would go over and read his new comics to him. Then after I moved away the LCS owner would sit down every Friday and read the new comics to him. Funny story he is who I got the Double/Dubba T the legally blind referee nickname from. His name is Tory Tate and he was a referee for a local indy wrestling fed for a few years. So back in 1997 when I first got online I created the nickname in tribute to him.
Those Gold Key/Whitman 3 packs introduced me to so many comics and are another thing that helped turn me into the massive comic geek I am today. I still have some Super Goof issues i got outta those packs. I have read them so much that by the time I was 9 I had my Dad staple the covers back on.