What "Comic Time" Do You Look Back To With the Most Fondness?

[joe_collector]

While going through some of my back issue trove this weekend, I was thinking about this question, and which time in my life I look back with the most "comic fondness".

 

I always thought the answer would be my childhood, as I had a very nice upbringing, just outside the city, complete with corner store, baseball diamond, outdoor rink and lots of community spirit. We'd be out all day and night, then up early the next. I even had a paper route as a little tyke, and my Dad was always free with the cash if I wanted some comics or hockey cards.

 

But as I looked over the books, I started to think back to when I "returned to comics" after a hiatus in my teens. I remember walking into a 7-11 and seeing a copy of ASM 261 on the stands and thinking "who the heck is that guy?" (Hobgoblin) and buying it, along with X-Men 189, mostly on a lark just to see what they were like. Both of these comics brought back some nice memories, and later that week, I discovered that a comic book/sportscard store had just opened up nearby.

 

 

I was like a kid in a candy store, and in addition to picking up a few Moderns each month, I used a PT job income to buy just about every nice-looking BA book in the shop. Lots of cool stuff at very low prices, and I especially liked buying back some of the old books from that infamous camping trip. As a kid, I never had the money or the access to do this, and it was a blast rediscovering the hobby in the mid-80's - incidentally a very cool time to hit a comic shop.

 

I also met a bunch of people I knew in high school (mostly hockey card collectors), and we'd meet up at the shop on Saturday morning, buy some stuff, then head off for a pick-up basketball at the local court. What a summer that was - I was in such great shape and so tanned that I probably wouldn't recognize myself today.

 

I look back at that part of my life and it's so far removed from today, yet it was a perfect, almost idyllic time. I had a small apartment with no TV and just a small stereo, but that didn't matter because I was always out, either at school or out with my friends or whatever girl I was seeing that week. At that time in my life, I was in perpetual motion - always going somewhere or coming back from somewhere else - and an apartment was somewhere to sleep and nothing more.

 

The renewal in comic collecting was like the cherry on top, adding something familiar to the new experience of starting life outside my parent's home, and when you add in my first real comic shop "haunt" and the 80's and killer stuff like DKR and Watchmen, it slightly edges out my childhood for the favorite comic memories.

[JohnT]

Mine was as a kid in the early 70's, my parents used to let me hop on a bus to downtown (Columbus) to an old store called simply "The Book Store." In the basement they had boxes of old comics for 12, 15, 20, 25 cents (60's books). I loved the smell of all the books, and I could spend hours flipping through them, just to pick out the four or five that I could afford with my allowance.

 

It was a thrill to find "ancient" comics that were only 12 cents when they were new! And every once in awhile you'd come across a ten center (gasp!) and if I really wanted to blow some money I'd buy one for 30 or 40 cents.

 

Later on the store moved the comics upstairs, and they started carrying new books, which was a lot of fun. But there was nothing better than those first visits and being exposed to those back issues for the first time. To this day I still covet 10 cent DC's because they were the gems of those old boxes.

[MightyBeanComics]

Mine was gong to my Nana's for lunch after church.

 

She would cook a huge meal and to keep me occupied she had a drawer full up old books and 2 comics. They were titled "Starscream"

 

I still have them. I will have to scan them some day.

[Shadow]

For me, it was still the beginning of my collecting in the late 70's/early 80's. I can still remember riding my bike to a couple of drug stores when new comics came out. (Not all stores carried the same books.) The quandry was what could my few dollars get me. There were 50 cent DC's and then the DC Dollar books. I couldn't wait to get home and read what I had bought. Even bad artwork and storylines didn't dissuade me like it does now.

 

A trip the the Comic Shop in Toledo was like a visit to Oz. So little time and money and so many comics. How I longed for taking $100 to it when I was lucky if I could save and scrounge $10 for my every other month visit. (Mix in pleading to Mom to drive me there.) I used to count out change in my bank for the trip. 20 nickels would get me a book, yes sir.

 

I guess it was the magic of innocence back then. The world seemed simpler and the pace slower. (Sheesh, now I sound old... ) But part of that was true. There wasn't video games or cartoon channels to come home to for the most part. TV wasn't geared for kids except on Saturday morning. So I found I had more time to read, draw, play outside, etc. I never give today's kids too much grief because they have so many more options and distractions to deal with. I'm not sure I could've resisted the temptations. When Atari did arrive in the early 80's, I was hooked like every other kid. The only exception was that we didn't have one (until Intellivision in 1983) so I could only play it at friends. And video rentals didn't come into play until around 1982 for us.

[40sJohn]

Early '70s when all of my comics were purchased off of spinner racks at 7-11's. For me, DC was king with Superman, Batman, Flash and JLA being the titles I bought the most. I had a great childhood and comics were a part of it.

 

My next most "fondest" time was mid '70s when I moved onto mostly Marvel titles. At that time I could hardly wait for each new issue so that I find out what came next in these stories - Marvel's story arcs seemed to be at their zenith.

 

 

[Davenport]

I have great fondness for childhood comic book memories, but the 'most fondness'? It would probably be what I think of now as the "2nd golden age" of comics.

 

I would shop at Fantastic Worlds owned by Bob Wayne (later he became DC Comics VP Sales). Man, that store was so clean and well organized. But the new comics coming out weekly were just jaw-dropping. I was in heaven through those years leading up to Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and beyond. Swamp Thing, Camelot 3000, Batman/Detective, Doom Patrol, Crisis on Infinite Earths. Discovering works by Dave Stevens, Tim Truman, Brian Bolland, Alan Moore, and on and on. The quality of material was stunning.

 

I walked into that store hoping to find some childhood back issues, but became one happy reader and born-again fan.

[skinny_white_boy]

It would have to be the time I started collecting as a wee lad in about 1985 up until 1991 when Marvel cancelled my beloved Transformers.

 

I still collected after that for a couple of years, but it wasn't the same. All the junk and gimick covers of the early nineties didn't help to make me want to stay in the hobby either.

[Boozad]

When I was a kid my mom always used to buy me comics - X-Men, Punisher, Secret Wars, Batman etc - and to this day I can't thank her enough for getting me into comics. I still don't understand why she did it as she has absolutely no interest in them whatsoever, but God bless you mom!

 

When I got into my teens the comics from my mom had stopped coming in and I sort of left the loop. But by the time I was 16 I got back into them and found a few LCS's (they were quite plentiful in the UK back then) and jumped back into Batman.

I'm not sure whether it was the creative teams that I was reading then - Nolan/Dixon, Moench/Jones/ Ennis/Dillon and so on - that still holds the magic for me or what I was getting up to at the time. We'd kicked off our first band and outside of work it was just comics and partying.

 

The trips to the LCS would be magical, the drummer in my band also collected comics so we'd be in there for hours talking to the owner and browsing back issues looking for any bargains. Hell I didn't even know what the bargains were in those days! Then it would be a marathon pub session after spending about 40% of my wages on comics.

 

I miss those days quite a lot, but my collection's a damn sight better now than it was back then. But I still get that tingle whenever I pick out a Knighfall book.

[shiverbones]

for me 1978-1985 is the fondest in terms of nostalgia. House of Mystery, Ghosts, Unexpected, Secrets of Sinister House, X-men, Spidey, Jonah Hex, Contest of Champions, Secret Wars, that sort of stuff. Not necessarily my favorite comics of all time, but the ones I look on most fondly.

[Kramerica]

1981-1986 "Era I" of comic collecting for me. Atlantis Bookshop in Santa Monica...finding and then working at Hi De Ho Comics in Santa Monica....The Creation Cons in Anaheim...TTA #83 & FF #81 my first back issues...MMC #36 - my first Timely....DD #1 - my 1st #1....loving everything Jim Starlin.....the Paul Smith X-Men years, um, year....New Teen Titans...Camelot 3000...lots of good memories from those 5 years.

[Guest Grails]

1980. I was a 10-year-old Army brat and looked forward to those base PX visits. The comics were just stacked up with the magazines. Occasionally I would tiptoe to try to reach the top shelf mags. You know, like Better Homes and Gardens.

[nmtg9]

1978-1981. Dring this time my Dad was a policeman and when he worked nights he leave the comics on top of the TV for when i woke up for school the next day. i wouldnt read them till i got home later in the day, but those days always went on for too long.

 

Then 1986/7. I satarted reading again and loved the 'maturre' stuff that was coming out like DKR and Watchmen. When i got DKR i had never seen anything like it.

 

Happy days

[djpinkpanther67]

Portland, Oregon: 1976/(77?)

I lived in Portland off SE 37th street between Hawthorne and Division.

Serendipity Books, Armchair Books, Apache Books & Comics, Powell's Books, Excalibur Books, Future Dreams. And a few others that I can't remember the name. All were my LCS's as a kid in the late 70's. I had been collecting a couple of years and had already passed the 2K mark of comics I owned...

Each store had it's own appeal, though Armchair sticks most in my mind. Had some of the sweetest books at great prices, but with the following problem - They used to shrinkwrap seal the books in cellophane wrap and write the price on the cover with a huge black felt tip marker. Unfortunately the ink soaked through the cellophane and onto the comic cover. All those HG books

 

I remember always going to the park on a summer day and going swimming. I remember the Portland Trailblazers winning the NBA championship. I remember Mowing 4-5 lawns a day to buy comics. Helping my mom pass out Avon flyers for extra allowance.

I remember playing wiffleball in the streets and seeing Grease and Star Wars when they came out. I remember Kung Fu cinema and Monster Matinee on Saturdays.

I remember The Organ Grinder Pizza, Farrels Ice Cream Parlour, Shakey's Pizza. I remember going to LLoyd Center to watch the ice skaters. I remember the first girl I ever kissed (Kathy Sullivan) and the first girl I ever fell in love with (Theresa Genarro) - of course she never knew I existed.

 

Funny how you remember obscure things when you start thinking about it

 

 

[lizards2]

Portland, Oregon: 1976/(77?)

I lived in Portland off SE 37th street between Hawthorne and Division.

Serendipity Books, Armchair Books, Apache Books & Comics, Powell's Books, Excalibur Books, Future Dreams. And a few others that I can't remember the name. All were my LCS's as a kid in the late 70's. I had been collecting a couple of years and had already passed the 2K mark of comics I owned...

Each store had it's own appeal, though Armchair sticks most in my mind. Had some of the sweetest books at great prices, but with the following problem - They used to shrinkwrap seal the books in cellophane wrap and write the price on the cover with a huge black felt tip marker. Unfortunately the ink soaked through the cellophane and onto the comic cover. All those HG books

 

I remember always going to the park on a summer day and going swimming. I remember the Portland Trailblazers winning the NBA championship. I remember Mowing 4-5 lawns a day to buy comics. Helping my mom pass out Avon flyers for extra allowance.

I remember playing wiffleball in the streets and seeing Grease and Star Wars when they came out. I remember Kung Fu cinema and Monster Matinee on Saturdays.

I remember The Organ Grinder Pizza, Farrels Ice Cream Parlour, Shakey's Pizza. I remember going to LLoyd Center to watch the ice skaters. I remember the first girl I ever kissed (Kathy Sullivan) and the first girl I ever fell in love with (Theresa Genarro) - of course she never knew I existed.

 

Funny how you remember obscure things when you start thinking about it

 

 

I was there for most of that..., missed Kathy and Theresa though...., although there was Janice up the street..., and Cathy from Colton....,

 

Armchair had that wonderful little cubby of comics, and that wonderful little cubby of naughty stuff as well...., I remember working all day, mowing lawns, painting, etc., to make money, and then taking bus trips around to all the comic shops around Portland that you mention to buy comics....,

[Cimm]

mid-eighties... It was a time of all kinds of self-published comics (the "black and white explosion" as it was called then)... comics were being written for more and more mature audiences... First Comics with their line of Baxter papered fresh heroes and new takes on comics... DC's Swamp Thing, Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns... the birth of Dark Horse... 200 dollars worth of new books every week, at .75 a pop... Those were the days!

[thehumantorch]

Mid 70's for me. I was about 13 when I stumbled across a beat up copy of FF50 in a second hand bookstore. I was hooked and spent most of my Saturdays for years riding the bus around town to the local bookstores looking for second hand comics. I still get a rush of memories when I see a store stamp from one of my haunts.

 

I still remember one store on the north side. The owner hated comic collectors because they would buy the comics and never bring them back to trade 2 for 1. Grumpy spoon. I took a buddy along and I warned him before we went in but my buddy got excited about a great book and we were tossed out the door.

 

Good times.

[Jeffro.]

There's really one two periods for me. Early to mid 70's, reading Richie Rich, Sad Sack, and Uncle Scrooge with a couple DC war comics thrown in. I have fond memories of going away on weekends to a little summer cottage my parents owned in Coventry CT. I kept comics there and read them every summer.

 

My dad also had a huge stack of Playboys but I was too young to notice.

 

The other period started in 1981 when I heavily got into superhero books and really started to take care of my comics. 1981 to about 1988 is my all time favorite era for comic reading.

[MisterX]

I got into collecting in 1983, sold my collection in 86, and went to work in a comic book store in 87, my first job.

 

In 1987 I was kind of disillusioned with comics, especially the stuff coming from the Big Two. More Marvel soap-operas and DC cornball stuff. There were a few gems, like the indies Grendel and American Flagg!, but DKR was finished, Watchmen was running late, and the X-Men made no sense at all.

 

One day in the shop along comes this magazine called THE BEST OF 2000AD. And it was awesome! My faith in comics was restored and I was born again!

 

Sure, I had read a few of the Judge Dredd reprints put out by Eagle, but the artwork was shrunk and colored like mud, so I tended to stay away.

 

These stories were reprinted in close to the original size and in the original black&white. Most of the charcters were completely new to me as well.

 

There was old Stoney Face fighting Rex Peters, the Man who Drank the Blood of Satanus! And Nemesis the Warlock, Rogue Trooper, Strontium Dog, Judge Death and Slaine...so many great characters.

 

The writing was edgy, almost punk, unsentimental and cool, the perfect thing for a seventeen-year-old with issues! And the art--Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, Kevin O'Neill, (and Ron Smith) all drawing like there was no tomorrow.

 

Of course, these were reprints of material that had come out several years before, but it was new to me!

 

So 1987 was my favorite comic time. No goofy events, no speculation, just the joy of discovering new charcters and stories that really spoke to me, like the way the Byrne X-Men and the Miller Daredevils had four years before.

 

 

 

 

[MightyBeanComics]

Great thread Joe!

[Zonker]

There are several ways to think about the question. The first way is as a back issue collector, and there are a number of highlights-- my first comic con (bought Kirby's New Gods #7), my first discovery of a LCS, first wholescale mail order purchases (Rogofsky, Camelot, Sparkle City, BEA come to mind), and then the windfall associated with the early days of eBay and exposure to relatively inexpensive Golden Age material for the first time.

 

But most people are interpreting this as the experience of buying new issues, and in my case there are two such periods that stand out above all others:

 

The period I almost missed: 1970-1974. I got a few of the Neal Adams Batman books (#234, #255), but missed most of them as new issues, and only heard about them through their mention in the letter columns of the issues I did get. This added to their mystique and probably explains why I'm still upgrading and buying duplicates of these books 35 years later. The tail end of this period I did get new off the stands, the highlight being the Goodwin & Simonson Manhunter series in Detective #438-#443 (I missed #437 until later as a back issue).

 

The second period was one of those high-water marks in quality that frustratingly enough coincided with DC almost going out of business: 1977-1978. During this period, Steve Englehart was writing terrific runs of Detective Comics, Justice League, and Mr. Miracle, joined by Marshall Rogers on Mr. Miracle and Detective. Michael Golden was illustrating some nice stuff as well (on Batman Family for instance). Paul Levitz was doing his first run on Legion. Mike Grell's Warlord was in its prime.

 

There are some latter-day highlights as well... Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Denny O'Neil's Question, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, James Robinson's Starman, Grant Morrison's JLA, but for me, those particular highlights stand out because the surrounding titles were pretty mediocre by comparison.