A little corner of the UK 2 2

[Whizzer]

This raises a question to my fellow UK'ites.

 

What got you into comics?

 

 

- Being given a copy of Fantastic 1 to read when I was 4 years old  (the British reprint comic).  Introduced me to the X-Men, always my favourite team from then on.

 

- Reading the Marvel UK comics in the early 70s. Got quite a buzz and I first realised there was something special about this for me.

 

- 8 or 9 years old, going on the local market each week with my parents, then afterwards often being handed 50p to sod off and buy some comics from the nearby bus station newsagent- basically to get half an hour or so of respite from my annoying, brattish, clinical hyperactivity by going for a coffee.  This was the Golden Age for me, the time of DC 100 pagers.  

 

Hell yeah!

[Anfield Fox]

Has anyone ever tried asking for comics at this site?

 

http://uk.freecycle.org/

 

It's a site where people post stuff they want to give away and people post stuff they need hence it gets "recycled" instead of thrown away. Everything has to be free.

 

It's split into 540 different areas around the UK. I tried a couple of my local areas but no luck. Just passing it on incase someone has better luck. Who knows you could find the UK equivalent of the Church collection

[Kevin.J]

Has anyone ever tried asking for comics at this site?

 

http://uk.freecycle.org/

 

It's a site where people post stuff they want to give away and people post stuff they need hence it gets "recycled" instead of thrown away. Everything has to be free.

 

It's split into 540 different areas around the UK. I tried a couple of my local areas but no luck. Just passing it on incase someone has better luck. Who knows you could find the UK equivalent of the Church collection

 

Hey Matt ,

I am glad you decided to come back to the boards, I have been reading a bit about you lately for one reason or another.

I had never heard of Freecycle, I just joined and posted wanting comics, like you say, you never know. 3 other people in my area with the same idea though

Anyway, welcome back. Kev

[Anfield Fox]

Cheers Kev,

 

Good luck with the hunt

[PulpCultureComics]

Might have been, it was so long ago and i was only 11 at the time

 

It was a very significant show in British fandom history, but because of its location it lost money, and it was never brought back. But it did get a lot more people into U.S. comics.

 

This raises a question to my fellow UK'ites.

 

What got you into comics?

 

For me it was Batman (1989) that got me into mainstream DC. Upto then the only comic I read was UK Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

 

Although the OCD collecting bug hit me with trading cards. I still have them in a folder in the loft somewhere

 

 

Annual caravan holidays on the South Wales coast...you could pretty much guarantee it would rain for three or four days at a stretch. The local newsagent stocked DC and Marvel comics so it was something to read when waiting for the sun to make an appearance.

 

Would always look out for the following:

 

DC: Superman, Batman, Green Lantern and The Justice League of America.

Marvel: X-Men, Avengers, Defenders and The Invaders.

 

Happy memories!

[Waylander]

Might have been, it was so long ago and i was only 11 at the time

 

It was a very significant show in British fandom history, but because of its location it lost money, and it was never brought back. But it did get a lot more people into U.S. comics.

 

This raises a question to my fellow UK'ites.

 

What got you into comics?

 

For me it was Batman (1989) that got me into mainstream DC. Upto then the only comic I read was UK Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

 

Although the OCD collecting bug hit me with trading cards. I still have them in a folder in the loft somewhere

 

I cannot honestly remember when I started reading comics (ah it was more like looking at the pictures and making up my own stories - pre-reading) - I have always had them around. I remember reading both Marvel and DC and swapping with school friends. However, I did not start collecting properly until my late twenties and I went crazy - and not stopped

[Arsenalherd]

1st comics were beano's then Transformers, onto Real Ghostbusters and Punished. Then I discovered American comics

[Whizzer]

I think it's really sad that the days of going into a dingy newsagent and finding a pile of cheap, random comics (or even better a spinner rack) are long gone. I used to pounce on that stuff and the excitement of going through those colourful pamphlets, trying to decide which to buy and which to regretfully leave behind due to limited funds was truly palpable.

 

I know I sound like a but as someone else said earlier, that really was a golden age.

 

Oh and I definitely have those 100 pagers to thank for my love of comics.

[PulpCultureComics]

I think it's really sad that the days of going into a dingy newsagent and finding a pile of cheap, random comics (or even better a spinner rack) are long gone. I used to pounce on that stuff and the excitement of going through those colourful pamphlets, trying to decide which to buy and which to regretfully leave behind due to limited funds was truly palpable.

 

I know I sound like a but as someone else said earlier, that really was a golden age.

 

Oh and I definitely have those 100 pagers to thank for my love of comics.

 

Couldn't agree more!

 

I forgot before my introduction to "hero" comics I used to have Whizzer and Chips bought for me by grandad.

[Arsenalherd]

The people doing the sun dream team league, don't forget transfers before game starts tonight

[gaz2810i]

I started with Beano and Dandy on a weekly basis with Batman and Superman whenever I went on Holiday. The UK holiday camps we went to a few times a year used to always have grab bags of DC comics which I would by and read

 

I started collecting X-men and therefore seriously (back issues) with the release on DVD of the original X-men.

 

Scrap that I was reading X-men with the release of the film but I started with Back issues a year or so later when I saw a friends collection and said I want that

[Comicopolis]

Fantastic Four Annual #3.

 

It was my older brother's and I just loved the cover. It was about 5 years after it was published and I was 5 or 6 at the time.

 

Unfortunately I took a pair of scissors to it and cut out all of the characters inside so I could play with them.

 

It took me more than 30 years to get a replacement copy.

 

[Whizzer]

Yeah, older friends or siblings had a big effect on lots of younger comic fans. My parents would often go round to dinner with friends who had two teenage sons ( I would have been eight or nine at the time). The eldest son had a box full of British Marvels and a decent run of JIM's and Thors, while the younger one had stacks of DC's, Charltons and Atlas/Seaboards. I spent many a happy hour delving through those boxes while my parents were socialising.

 

It was the first time I had seen people actually keep comics together in any sort of collection and that definitely made me want to do the same.

[bane]

Scrap that I was reading X-men with the release of the film but I started with Back issues a year or so later when I saw a friends collection and said I want that

 

And now you dont want that

[PulpCultureComics]

Fantastic Four Annual #3.

 

It was my older brother's and I just loved the cover. It was about 5 years after it was published and I was 5 or 6 at the time.

 

Unfortunately I took a pair of scissors to it and cut out all of the characters inside so I could play with them.

 

It took me more than 30 years to get a replacement copy.

 

 

Thats just a great cover

[Waylander]

Fantastic Four Annual #3.

 

It was my older brother's and I just loved the cover. It was about 5 years after it was published and I was 5 or 6 at the time.

 

Unfortunately I took a pair of scissors to it and cut out all of the characters inside so I could play with them.

 

It took me more than 30 years to get a replacement copy.

 

 

Thats just a great cover

 

Very cool book

 

And I wonder how many books succumbed to the same 'violent snip snip' ending

 

I confess - I murdered a few books

[gaz2810i]

Scrap that I was reading X-men with the release of the film but I started with Back issues a year or so later when I saw a friends collection and said I want that

 

And now you dont want that

 

Now that I have a collection of over 3000 books and nice large runs of most X-men books and a mess loads of moderns I have decided that, for now, I would rather have some rather nice keys...

 

I have told the wife that I will most likely re-start a collection or run of books in the near future but with clearer focus on quality rather than quantity

[bane]

Scrap that I was reading X-men with the release of the film but I started with Back issues a year or so later when I saw a friends collection and said I want that

 

And now you dont want that

 

Now that I have a collection of over 3000 books and nice large runs of most X-men books and a mess loads of moderns I have decided that, for now, I would rather have some rather nice keys...

 

I have told the wife that I will most likely re-start a collection or run of books in the near future but with clearer focus on quality rather than quantity

 

I wish I could go back in time and have that conversation with myself

[gaz2810i]

Scrap that I was reading X-men with the release of the film but I started with Back issues a year or so later when I saw a friends collection and said I want that

 

And now you dont want that

 

Now that I have a collection of over 3000 books and nice large runs of most X-men books and a mess loads of moderns I have decided that, for now, I would rather have some rather nice keys...

 

I have told the wife that I will most likely re-start a collection or run of books in the near future but with clearer focus on quality rather than quantity

 

I wish I could go back in time and have that conversation with myself

 

It's never too late

 

Plus I want a collection I will be proud to hand down to my kids when they are older and not just a large number of funny books they won't care about or understand the importance off. X-Factor 56, or what ever, just to maintain a complete run may make me happy but it will probably just murky the waters for them. If you get what I mean.

 

Man I am only 30 and I am already thinking about my kids inheritance

 

For the record I have two little boys, Noah, who is 5, and Jonah, who is 18 months,

[gaz973]

I find it interesting how many people are keeping their collections to pass onto their kids. I always liked the idea of my kids having my collection but figured that the chances that any of them would be interested enough to keep the collection were very slim so I left instructions with my wife on how to best sell the collection if I died and none of the kids were interested in keeping it. One of my daughters is interested in Spider Man and Hulk (and other characters that I show her) but it's still a long shot that she'll end up as a serious collector in the future.

 

It's a bit of a moot point now that all my books are up for sale but I'm interested in how others see the idea of handing down a collection to their children.