To anyone who bought ASM 121 & 122 off the stands...

[nmtg9]

As a teenager during the Copper Age i loved Kravens Last hunt and Gang Wars in the Spidey titles but i really enjoyed finding out the identity of the Hobgoblin.

 

Death in the Family was great as well because i didnt think they wold actually go through with it...

[rodan57]

It was very cool reading those issues when they came out, in a shocking way. Many of us were in love with Gwen, well as much as you can be with a comic character. It was hard to believe. ...

 

I never really thought of it that way ... but there's a lot of truth to this perspective. The title was still new and fresh and the characters were well-rounded enough that readers really cared about them. I wonder how many kids back then thought of the lead character as Peter rather than Spider-man. I did.

[500Club]

As a teenager during the Copper Age i loved Kravens Last hunt and Gang Wars in the Spidey titles but i really enjoyed finding out the identity of the Hobgoblin.

 

Death in the Family was great as well because i didnt think they wold actually go through with it...

 

Unless you've read 'Hobgoblin Lives', the 3 issue mini-series by Roger Stern, you still don't know the identity of the Hobgoblin.

[Bronty]

Were there any other issues that really shocked you when you were growing up?

The New Teen Titans #34 circa 1982/3?... when we learn that Terra/Tara Markov is a traitor, planted by the Terminator to learn their secrets.

 

I can remember reading to the end of the comic in absolute shock, as she was one of my favorite characters, and then waiting day after day for #35 to show up (which didn't resolve it anyway, as they teased the storyline out for another year or so).

 

yeah that's a cool comic book. didn't read it off the stands but was just as surprised

[500Club]

Although it doesn't register today, one character death I still remember is when Byrne killed off James Hudson/Guardian in Alpha Flight, especially the fall-out and tease about him coming back.

 

He was one of my fave characters from X-Men 109, 121-122, and I was pretty ticked they aced him.

 

Man I remember that. He burned up on the last panel it was pretty shocking. Loved the Alpha Flight run by Byrne.

 

The huge shocker for me was the end of New Teen Titans 34. Even Brad Meltzer has written that it was like a knife in the gut. For the Silver Age rack buyers who had had fanboy Gwen crushes, this issue was the copper equivalent for me.

[joe_collector]

[For the Silver Age rack buyers who had had fanboy Gwen crushes, this issue was the copper equivalent for me.

 

You mean when Vigilante/Chase's family was killed?

[the_Greatest]

ASM 122 was the very first comic book that I decided on my own to buy.

My father had bought me comics before, lots of Harveys, DCs and Marvels.

That Spring in '73, a friend of mine came over to my house and said, "You like Spider Man, don't you? You've got to come see this, you're not going to believe it." I remember asking my mom if I could go up to the drug store with him.

Still the only raw copy I own that I originally bought. Those were the days.

Put my 9.4 copy up on comiclink this weekend.

If one of you bought it, I'll be cleaning off the sticker residue on the back of the slab before it ships.

 

I owe you that much....

 

 

[thecollectron]

I bought ASM #121 off the stand and read it without skipping to the end and I was indeed surprised. I may have expected her to be in a coma or something, but....nope, #122 came out and she was really dead. Sad times for a Spider-Man fan back then.

[Rommin]

I bought Marvel Tales 99 off the stands, does that count? I remember reading and re-reading that many times over. Because of that issue though, when I got back into comics as a teenager (and actually had money to spend on them) ASM 121 and 122 were one of the first books I picked up at the Atlanta Fantasy Fair.

[Wally's Comics]

Great point: 119-120 Hulk, 121-122 Nuff said, 123 Luke Cage 124 1st Man-Wolf

 

ASM 119-150 is one of the best BA runs.

 

I agree. But don't forget one of the best ASM BA covers

was the very next issue after that...

 

Romita Crushed the cover for 151 and the story line and art wasn't that bad either

(except for the fact that the Shocker when through all the trouble of knowing what grid

to black out to spell his name)...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[500Club]

[For the Silver Age rack buyers who had had fanboy Gwen crushes, this issue was the copper equivalent for me.

 

You mean when Vigilante/Chase's family was killed?

 

Uh...yeah...

[Moondog]

How cool was it reading these two issues when they were released? Was it a big deal when you found out Gwen died? When you picked up 121 who did you think it was going to be after looking at the cover.

 

There aren’t many surprises with today’s comics. Pretty much everything’s been done, plus you can sometimes find out what’s going to happen online before they are even printed.

 

Were there any other issues that really shocked you when you were growing up?

 

I believe it was April 1973 and I was junior at Northern Illinois (about to get married in June). I was so shocked I called my old neighborhood friend Terry who was the biggest Spidey collector of us all. Terry was a senior at the University of Illinois.

 

We talked and talked for hours about Gwen's death as if she was a real person.

 

Terry quit collecting Spider-man with issue 122 and in 1976 sold his set 1-122 in an ad in CBG.

 

One other shocking cover (though much less important in a big picture sense) was Rick Jones revealing that Bruce Banner was the Hulk (issue 74?).

 

 

[esquirecomics]

How cool was it reading these two issues when they were released? Was it a big deal when you found out Gwen died? When you picked up 121 who did you think it was going to be after looking at the cover.

 

There aren’t many surprises with today’s comics. Pretty much everything’s been done, plus you can sometimes find out what’s going to happen online before they are even printed.

 

Were there any other issues that really shocked you when you were growing up?

 

I believe it was April 1973 and I was junior at Northern Illinois (about to get married in June). I was so shocked I called my old neighborhood friend Terry who was the biggest Spidey collector of us all. Terry was a senior at the University of Illinois.

 

We talked and talked for hours about Gwen's death as if she was a real person.

 

Terry quit collecting Spider-man with issue 122 and in 1976 sold his set 1-122 in an ad in CBG.

 

One other shocking cover (though much less important in a big picture sense) was Rick Jones revealing that Bruce Banner was the Hulk (issue 74?).

 

 

You're old.

[RockMyAmadeus]

How cool was it reading these two issues when they were released? Was it a big deal when you found out Gwen died? When you picked up 121 who did you think it was going to be after looking at the cover.

 

There arent many surprises with todays comics. Pretty much everythings been done, plus you can sometimes find out whats going to happen online before they are even printed.

 

Were there any other issues that really shocked you when you were growing up?

 

How about a SPOILER ALERT on this thread??

 

 

Darth Vader is Luke's father.

 

[Moondog]

How cool was it reading these two issues when they were released? Was it a big deal when you found out Gwen died? When you picked up 121 who did you think it was going to be after looking at the cover.

 

There aren’t many surprises with today’s comics. Pretty much everything’s been done, plus you can sometimes find out what’s going to happen online before they are even printed.

 

Were there any other issues that really shocked you when you were growing up?

 

I believe it was April 1973 and I was junior at Northern Illinois (about to get married in June). I was so shocked I called my old neighborhood friend Terry who was the biggest Spidey collector of us all. Terry was a senior at the University of Illinois.

 

We talked and talked for hours about Gwen's death as if she was a real person.

 

Terry quit collecting Spider-man with issue 122 and in 1976 sold his set 1-122 in an ad in CBG.

 

One other shocking cover (though much less important in a big picture sense) was Rick Jones revealing that Bruce Banner was the Hulk (issue 74?).

 

 

You're old.

 

Sheesh it was only 36 years ago, you young whippersnapper!

[namisgr]

 

One other shocking cover (though much less important in a big picture sense) was Rick Jones revealing that Bruce Banner was the Hulk (issue 74?).

 

This was big in it's day, and a SA first:

 

 

[Moondog]

 

One other shocking cover (though much less important in a big picture sense) was Rick Jones revealing that Bruce Banner was the Hulk (issue 74?).

 

This was big in it's day, and a SA first:

 

 

Still freaks me out everytime I see that cover!