Your Personal Comic Book Timeline 0

[Ogami]

I am enjoying reading your personal stories, gentlemen.

 

Keep em coming!

[Smokinghawk]

Okay, here's an addendum:

 

Age 15: now that Conan is contraband, I'm as addicted to it as ever. I find a copy of #100 at a comic book store in London, Ontario. To sneak it home, I keep it literally bootlegged, rolled against my shin in my sock, all the way from Canada to Alabama, in a polybag. Conan himself would have been proud.

 

Ages 13-15: D&D games with best friends, Allen and Denis. This trio would later be documented in the show "Freaks and Geeks," which I am 100% convinced was based on us.

 

Age 16: Denis and I mow lawns to raise money to buy Daredevil #1 fn.

 

Age 18: Denis is killed by a drunk driver. Daredevil #1 becomes my most valuable book, in a way no Overstreet can ever measure.

 

Age 29: birth of first son.

 

Age 35: First trip to LCS with son. He's hooked.

 

Age 35: track down Allen after 16 years, finding him working for Amazon in Seattle. He remembers every detail of our friendship since 2nd grade. We finally openly grieve Denis together.

 

Age 37: The legacy of Allen, Denis and I lives on, ready to pass to my younger generation.

 

[Senormac]

I am enjoying reading your personal stories, gentlemen.

 

Keep em coming!

 

Me too !! This is a great thread idea. Its like People magazine for comic collectors

[Senormac]

cool thread idea (thumbs u i'll give it a try

 

born october 12, 1970 same time this book was on the stands.

 

 

Wow !!! Beer was only 5 cents when you were born.

[rjpb]

1959 - born

 

1965 - reading Sad Sack in the back of my Dad's '64 Dodge Dart - waiting somewhere - back when parents left small children in the car while they ran errands.

 

1966 - 72 My Grandfather sends me Tin-Tin books from the U.K. on my birthdays.

 

1967 - My Mom buys multi-packs of coverless comics for me and my sister to read - Harvey's rule - Marvel's too turgid.

 

1967 - meet my soon to be step brother (he's two years younger) - he's a DC dork.

 

1968 - Mom buys me and my tomboy friend Lucinda comics - I pick Sad Sack - she picks Kirby Captain America 104 - Marvel's starting to look cooler.

 

1969 - buy used Steranko Caps from the nickel box at the corner carry-out - am converted to Marvel Zombie - convince my step-brother that all DC's must be sold to buy more Marvels.

 

1970 - corner soda shop owner gives me free comic for running errand - I pick Conan #1

 

1970 - read R. Crumb's Head Comix at house of some of my Mom's hippie friends.

 

1971 - Get Steranko's history of Comics for birthday - realize the awesomeness of the Gilden Age.

 

1971 - go to first comic-con with $10 - buy beat up early X-men and pre-code Blackhawks ( then and now among the cheapest "Golden Age" books)

 

1972 - get paper route - flush with cash I briefly decide to collect every non-romance DC and Marvel book being put out - including to my eternal embarrassment the Rudolph Treasury Edition. I also start buying early Marvels at cons. Start picking up Crumb books - though 50¢ for a black and white comic seems expensive.

 

1973 - start selling collection at cons - start buying 'real' golden Age - a few Timelys and random cheap stuff.

 

1974 - sell off Marvels to buy Sci-Fi EC books. start smoking weed - great memories of sitting in my friend Dana;s bedroom reading Freak Bros. and laughing uncontrollably.

 

1975 - Lose interest in mainstream comics - buy undergrounds exclusively.

 

1979 - 1982 Sell off remaining collection except undergrounds, Steranko Nick Fury books and Wrightson Swamp Things.

 

1983- belatedly discover Miller Daredevil. Start buying some "mainstream" books again.

 

1987 - start picking up pre-code crime books for $5 at Forbidden Planet. Go to first con in years in NY - buy more pre-code crime.

 

1991 - start collecting pre-code crime and some horror in earnest - but with $50 dollar limit on any one book.

 

1992 - Go to first San Diego con - buy esoteric classic cover books - and more pre-code.

 

1993 - Abandon $50 limit.

 

1996 - spend $750 on file copy of Black Cat #50 in SD - the most for any one comic by far.

 

1997 - Go crazy for L.B. Cole - spend too much money on classic covers. Buy VG Captain America #74 for $1500 - a new high for me.

 

1999 - discover ebay. Spend more money - but look mostly for cheap stuff.

 

early 2000s - realize that "new" comics are are starting to pile up. Never got that far into "mainstream" books - but start cutting back on indy/vertigo etc. purchased at LCS.

 

2006 - spend $2000 on decent copy of Captain America #46 - new personal record.

 

2006/2007 - starting to burn out - sell most of superhero GA books - still buying old stuff now and then- but spending very little these days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Scrooge]

1996 - spend $750 on file copy of Black Cat #50 in SD - the most for any one comic by far.

 

Richard, do you still have that book? I can't recall.

[PokerKid]

 

 

1971 - Get Steranko's history of Comics for birthday - realize the awesomeness of the Gilden Age.

 

1971 - go to first comic-con with $10 - buy beat up early X-men and pre-code Blackhawks ( then and now among the cheapest "Golden Age" books)

 

 

 

Steranko's two volumes are still the best books I ever read on comic history. The first book better than the second.

 

Those Quality comics are an incredible value. Art superior to most publishers - especially the interiors - and writers/stories as good as any.

[innocuous]

1969 - born

1980 (early) - discover Archie comics

1980 (late) - discover Flash

1981 - purchase comics from this 7-Eleven

1982 - family moves near Ralph's Comic Corner, heavy buying of DCs and independents

1982 - Attend my first San Diego Comic-Con

1983 - Spent a lot of money on a Flash #108, split spine

1984 - Comic buying slows as I get into high school

1989 - Attend San Diego CC again with my future wife in tow

1990 - out of the hobby

2005 - my Mom moves and I find 3 long boxes, I'm back!

2006 - I create ComicSeeker.com

2007 - More than 25 years after starting, I complete Flash 105-350

2008 - Showcase 4 and bit by the Golden Age bug

[rjpb]

1996 - spend $750 on file copy of Black Cat #50 in SD - the most for any one comic by far.

 

Richard, do you still have that book? I can't recall.

 

yes

[Scrooge]

1996 - spend $750 on file copy of Black Cat #50 in SD - the most for any one comic by far.

 

Richard, do you still have that book? I can't recall.

 

yes

 

(thumbs u

[swapto]

1967...born

1973...dad buys me Silver Surfer #1 for 25 cents at a flea market...my first comic...

1973-1987...buy and casually read comics

1988...start buying "seriously"....DC Silver agefirst

1988-1990...completed the entire Marvel and DC silverage super hero's (that's right, every issue)

1990-introduced to golden age by buying an OO Action 1 for $18K (took a year to pay for it)

1991- bought same OO Action 2-14 (another year to pay)

1992-1995...completed action 1-100 and Batman 1-100 and various other books, mutiple SA keys, etc

1995....sold EVERYTHING (just about) to expand my business

1995-2005....worked on our business, no major comic purchases

2005-current...buying like a madman

 

best story ever!

[He11blazer]

Mine is exactly the same apart from some minor adjustments:

 

1972- born.

 

1978- my oldest comic book still in my possession. I assume that by 77-78, I was reading, and this sounds right. It's a coverless WDC&S with Scamp on the splash page. early issue of 2000AD.

 

1978-1983- read funny animal books exclusively. Primarily Gold key and Whitman 3 packs. Duck books were my favorite, by far, but loved Popeye, Richie Rich, Little Lotta, etc. 2000AD and Beano

 

1984. Bought my first superhero book. Power Pack. Followed closely by Secret Wars II etc. , Amazing Spider-Man 269 and 270. To this day, I love the black costume, love Spidey, love superhero books.

 

1987-Found Ronin, DKR, Lone Wolf and Cub, Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and Teeneage Mutant Ninja Turtles. A watershed year for comics to me, and to this day, a highlight year for comic books, as far as I'm concerned.

 

1988-1990- Graduated high school in 1990. Was a full on Marvel zombie, buying back issues. My collection grew from a few hundred to a few thousand. Was regularly collecting Spidey, Groo, Justice League (Geffen), TMNT, Usagi, Hulk, X-men titles, and all sorts of one shots, minis and collector's editions.

 

1990- bought 33 three McFarlane Spidey 1's. Roguhly that many X-Factor 1's and about 20 5 Lee X-Men 1's. Not counting all the duplicates, and chromium covers. In other words, with college money to burn, I was at the center of the perfect storm that was the 90's boom/bust.

 

1992ish- Found Nexus Vertigo. Was a happy soul.

 

1993-college got more expensive, and with only 1 job, times were tight.

 

1995-got married twitterpated. nuff said.

 

1993-2006- lean comic book collecting years. My collection was in about 6 long boxes (roughly 2-3k comics) and I was proud of them, but wasn't sure what their future held for me. No active moderns from 1995ish to 2002 ever again.

 

2007. Found ebay. Started looking at ASM comic books. realised that now, as never before, a peson could actually fill holes in their runs and not be dependent on getting lucky at stores and taking decades to complete runs. Finished DD in early 2003 (IIRC)

 

2006- Finished Amazing Spider-Man run.

 

2007-2008- bought lots and lots of comics as well as keys to continue my goals in this hobby.

 

2008- my thirtieth anniversary of reading comic books.

 

Really, amazingly similar story!

 

[namisgr]

Oldtymer here, born in '54.

 

Read comics in the early sixties, but saved none.

 

The moment the comic bug really hit: early 1972

 

The event: Senior in high school, got tight with a friend who had been reading and saving comics since age 10. Convinced me they were now mature and cool, so I bought a month's worth of Marvels: Avengers 100, Thor 200, FF 123, ASM 110, Hulk 153, Marvel Premiere 3, Conan 16. Good month! Started reading them regularly, hooked essentially ever since. So nut-crazy for new comics, we used to drive to far-away 7-11s on the rumor that there might be a store one week ahead of our local ones in the distribution chain.

 

1972-76, the college years: bought and saved all things Marvel and some things DC, from a news agency on Penn's campus on 38th (no longer there); discovered undergrounds, starting with Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers #2; bought undergrounds and vintage rock concert posters on a pilgrimage to San Francisco.

 

1974-75: attended first comic cons, the Phil Seuling NY show; met Kirby, Adams, Steranko, Wrightson, Windsor-Smith, Thomas. Those were awesome shows. Started subscribing to The Buyer's Guide for Comic Fandom, and purchased first mail-order back issues.

 

1976-81, graduate school (the Chicago years): too busy and distracted for comics; got PhD, made lifelong friendships, fell in love, got married.

 

1981-85, the postdoctoral years in the land of milk and honey (California): bought and saved (the local Circle K), reinvigorated by the new creators like Miller, Perez, Simonson, Byrne, Cockrum, and such.

 

1985: stopped buying new comics

 

1992: making a decent living, I began buying high grade SA, which I've been doing ever since! Rediscovered the comic con with the '93 Philly show. Been doing those ever since, too!

[joeypost]

Born in 1963

 

1973 Introduced to comic collecting while recovering from a broken orbit and cheek bone.

 

 

First book I read was this issue (not the same book)

 

 

 

 

1976 lost a piece of original artwork I was given from Mike Esposito

 

Sold first collection in 1985 to pay for my wedding and all the other stuff associated with getting married.

 

1988 started collecting again and bought heavily until 1994.

 

Moved back down to Florida in Dec/1994 and sold second collection to buy my house.

 

1999 started collecting again.

 

Cannot remember the year but bought a Hulk 137 CGC 9.4 off of Pedigree the first month they were open for business. I think Doug had about 20 books listed then.

 

2005 my son starts reading books with me

 

2006 my daughter starts reading and collecting.

 

2008 found lost piece of artwork from Mike Esposito.

 

 

[Ogami]

Mine is exactly the same apart from some minor adjustments:

 

1972- born.

 

1978- my oldest comic book still in my possession. I assume that by 77-78, I was reading, and this sounds right. It's a coverless WDC&S with Scamp on the splash page. early issue of 2000AD.

 

1978-1983- read funny animal books exclusively. Primarily Gold key and Whitman 3 packs. Duck books were my favorite, by far, but loved Popeye, Richie Rich, Little Lotta, etc. 2000AD and Beano

 

1984. Bought my first superhero book. Power Pack. Followed closely by Secret Wars II etc. , Amazing Spider-Man 269 and 270. To this day, I love the black costume, love Spidey, love superhero books.

 

1987-Found Ronin, DKR, Lone Wolf and Cub, Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and Teeneage Mutant Ninja Turtles. A watershed year for comics to me, and to this day, a highlight year for comic books, as far as I'm concerned.

 

1988-1990- Graduated high school in 1990. Was a full on Marvel zombie, buying back issues. My collection grew from a few hundred to a few thousand. Was regularly collecting Spidey, Groo, Justice League (Geffen), TMNT, Usagi, Hulk, X-men titles, and all sorts of one shots, minis and collector's editions.

 

1990- bought 33 three McFarlane Spidey 1's. Roguhly that many X-Factor 1's and about 20 5 Lee X-Men 1's. Not counting all the duplicates, and chromium covers. In other words, with college money to burn, I was at the center of the perfect storm that was the 90's boom/bust.

 

1992ish- Found Nexus Vertigo. Was a happy soul.

 

1993-college got more expensive, and with only 1 job, times were tight.

 

1995-got married twitterpated. nuff said.

 

1993-2006- lean comic book collecting years. My collection was in about 6 long boxes (roughly 2-3k comics) and I was proud of them, but wasn't sure what their future held for me. No active moderns from 1995ish to 2002 ever again.

 

2007. Found ebay. Started looking at ASM comic books. realised that now, as never before, a peson could actually fill holes in their runs and not be dependent on getting lucky at stores and taking decades to complete runs. Finished DD in early 2003 (IIRC)

 

2006- Finished Amazing Spider-Man run.

 

2007-2008- bought lots and lots of comics as well as keys to continue my goals in this hobby.

 

2008- my thirtieth anniversary of reading comic books.

 

Really, amazingly similar story!

 

HB,

 

that is fantastic! I love it. I especially love the 1987 comparisons and the first superhero book (Power Pack).

 

Eerily similar, but I love the differences also.

 

Nate

 

 

so you wrote off moderns for good, huh?

[Ogami]

Nice idea! (thumbs u

 

1971- first exposure to comics. My dad buys us some on a beach trip. The one I remember is Batman 234 (damn Neal Adams, ruined me for the next 37 years of inferior Bat-artwork! ). Book gets wet, grandmother dries it out in the oven in our motel's kitchenette. Partially explains why I never became a high-grade collector.

 

1974- heavily in to comics collecting, despite the vague feeling I've missed all the really cool stuff from DC in the early 1970s. Manage to get most of the Goodwin/Simonson Manhunter series in Detective new off the stands.

 

1978/1979- first local comic-con. discovered back issue comics store within bicyling distance. Discover Grell's Warlord as a recent back issue. Pick up the Englehart / Rogers Detective Comics new off the stands.

 

c 1980- begin to mail-order back issues. Picked up my copy of GL #76 from Howard ("Tape is not considered a defect") Rogofsky. I did inquire about whether it had any tape beforehand though!

 

1981- go to college. simultaneously distracted by other things, but also discovered my first big-time comics shop: the Great Escape in Nashville. Silver Age collection balloons as a result. Back issues collect in my dorm room until periodic trips back home transfer them to the main collection. Discover Alan Moore's Swamp Thing from the Great Escape's 25 cent boxes.

 

1985- graduate, move to small town. Post Crisis on Infinite Earths, pretty much lose interest in mainstream new comics. Do get Watchmen and Dark Knight as new issues.

 

1989-1991 graduate school in Boston. Haunt the Million Year Picnic, New England Comics, Comicopia. Pretty much down to Neil Gaiman's Sandman as a new issue.

 

1992- back to North Carolina. Sandman and James Robinson's Starman keep me dabbling in new issues throughout the 1990s.

 

1998- Grant Morrison's JLA relaunch gets me interested in mainstream super-hero comics again. Start buying on eBay, where I find for the first time in my life low-grade Golden Age books to be available and somewhat affordable.

 

2001- Buy a new house with a decent-sized basement. Mom & Dad finally liberate their own basement from my old comic book collection. My entire accumulation together for the first time, I find a) lots of duplicates I need to sell and b) lots of beaters I need to upgrade. My buying starts to focus on the upgrading the truly low-grade examples.

 

2002- Discover these forums. Wife files first of several missing persons reports on me.

 

2005- Find myself buying way too many new comics leading up to Infinite Crisis. Dramatically cut back when it becomes clear all those mini-series are a cash grab not really tying in to the main story, which itself wasn't all that great.

 

2008- Very selectively buying new comics, primarily those written by Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison. Upgrading back issues, selling off undercopies, down to a dozen or so back issues I'm still actively pursuing, apart from upgrades. Most of the remaining wants are Golden Age going for more $$$ than I want to spend, so no particular hurry.

 

2009- :banana:

 

 

cool story, Zonk. Nice to see that Vertigo kept you in the comic book loop for the lean years.

 

Even though they are recognized now, I think in the future, the Vertigo line is going to be recognized as another huge watershed event in comic book history as a line that saved the industry by giving adults quality books to read at a time when the industry as a whole was in the tank creatively, artisticly, financially.

[Ogami]

1978 - Used my mom's typewriter to type up a list of every comic book I owned. I listed the title, issue number, cover price, artist, inker, and current Overstreet value. I still have that typed list.

 

 

1983 - Attended my first comic book show, a Chicago Minicon in November. Met my first comic book pros: Len Wein, Mike Baron, Joe Staton, John Ostrander and Timothy Truman.

 

1984 - Attended my first big comic book convention, the Chicago Comicon. Met Jack Kirby and got 3 books signed by him. Also bought an Amazing Fantasy #15 for $50. I would attend the Chicago Comicon/Wizard World Chicago ever year thereafter.

 

1986 - Met Stan Lee for the first time at the Chicago Comicon. He signed my Amazing Spider-Man #7.

 

 

1978- I still have my first lists also. nerd.

 

1983-1986 wow. those were good years for you too.

[He11blazer]

 

so you wrote off moderns for good, huh?

 

Weeeelll... OK, so am picking up Hellblazer, and I've asked for the Invincible trades for xmas (sounds like a fun read), so the slippery slope is beckoning..

[Ogami]

1967 - Hatched

1979 - Tell dad I want to collect baseball cards, he convinces me I want to collect comics (The $50 he gives me to buy first batch of books from Mile High seals the deal).

1979-1983 - Huge collection built up with dad. Understand history of comics, memorize price guide, give John Verzyl enough money he can have a couple kids. Tec 28-30, Military #1, 60 GA Mile Highs, complete Showcase/Brave&Bold/JLA runs highlight collection.

1983 - Dad meets new girlfriend who thinks comics are stupid. I quickly find out "our" collection was "his" collection. He dumps it for pennies on the dollar. I am left with the "junk" I didn't care about - SA marvels and up.

1983-86 - I try to collect a bit, but buying a $5 modern just didn't give the same rush.

1989 - Go to college, decide to sell leftover books because I don't have place to store them and don't want to collect any more.

2007 - Goofing around on eBay, put in a thrill bid on a Batman #11 CGC book that will fit in with my poker collectibles. I win the stupid thing. A couple months later I buy a second comic and I get started with my niche collection.

2008 - Figure out how to pay bills.

 

great story, Poker Kid. I always wonder how niche themed collector's get started or why. So basically, you loved comics, fell out of the hobby, fell in love with the game of poker, and found a way to combine the two?

 

I'd like to hear how Paratrooper decided to collect paratrooping covers. Is there anyone else around here doing themed collections? I seem to recall someone wanting to do human heads on a mantle and I think Mark is doing courtroom related covers now.

[Ogami]

 

so you wrote off moderns for good, huh?

 

Weeeelll... OK, so am picking up Hellblazer, and I've asked for the Invincible trades for xmas (sounds like a fun read), so the slippery slope is beckoning..

 

content wise, there's a lot of good stuff still being written/drawn.

 

format wise, I understand the decision to not buy.

 

 

I wish I had more money to buy moderns in trades, cause there's quite a lot I'd like to read. But, for me, they take a backseat to the vintage stuff.