Sadly, my first OA is gone, but the story may entertain. The very first piece of art I bought was a Sunday section of the Phantom (NOT Phantom Stranger). I had seen an auction for illustration art in NYC advertised, and in the auction was the soft cover for a Spirit section newspaper insert (a good one, too, from around 1947). That interested me, so off I went.
Never having been to an auction before, I was curious what it felt like bidding. Before the Spirit section came up, the Phantom was offered. So, I put in a bid. No one else did afterward, so that became my first win. I also bid on and won the Spirit section.
Years later, a flood in my basement destroyed part of my little collection. The flood damaged the Phantom section and destroyed the Spirit. About 4-5 years ago, I gave away the Phantom section to another collector in a trade who thought he could get it restored. He had unloaded something on me he didn’t want, and which I still have, so I decided to reciprocate. I hope he had it fixed. It used to pretty nice.