What comic got you serious about "back " issues?

[porcupine48]

I

 

The one thing that's etched into my brain was seeing blurbs in some issues referring back to a particular back issue. There would be an asterik in a word baloon and then at the bottom of the panel it would tell you which back issue it was referring to. That, more than anything else, made me want to seek out back issues.

I sought out many a comic for the same reason!

[letsgrumble]

I

 

The one thing that's etched into my brain was seeing blurbs in some issues referring back to a particular back issue. There would be an asterik in a word baloon and then at the bottom of the panel it would tell you which back issue it was referring to. That, more than anything else, made me want to seek out back issues.

I sought out many a comic for the same reason!

 

That is definitely one thing that's amiss in today's comics. The days of Roy Thomas and Jim Shooter are long gone.

[Jeffro.]

I

 

The one thing that's etched into my brain was seeing blurbs in some issues referring back to a particular back issue. There would be an asterik in a word baloon and then at the bottom of the panel it would tell you which back issue it was referring to. That, more than anything else, made me want to seek out back issues.

I sought out many a comic for the same reason!

 

That is definitely one thing that's amiss in today's comics. The days of Roy Thomas and Jim Shooter are long gone.

 

Plus, there's no continuity anymore. Apparently, that's a burden on modern comic writers.

[letsgrumble]

I

 

The one thing that's etched into my brain was seeing blurbs in some issues referring back to a particular back issue. There would be an asterik in a word baloon and then at the bottom of the panel it would tell you which back issue it was referring to. That, more than anything else, made me want to seek out back issues.

I sought out many a comic for the same reason!

 

That is definitely one thing that's amiss in today's comics. The days of Roy Thomas and Jim Shooter are long gone.

 

Plus, there's no continuity anymore. Aparently, that's a burden on modern comic writers.

 

Marvel and DC ought to hire a librarian-archivist, if not proper editors, to maintain all this "continuity." That would be great for the readers but, for the publishers, what does it matter? It doesn’t translate into dollars. It's all about selling the book now. There's no money for the publishers if readers want to seek out back issues. The same characters from yesteryear are being recycled and reincarnated into storylines that have very little connection to what has happened before. That was part of the Marvel magic in the 60's and 70's - the persistence of maintaining continuity. The Marvel universe was much better when it was smaller and managed by only a few. Now Marvel's no more than DC's ugly little step-sister.

 

[Rommin]

I

 

The one thing that's etched into my brain was seeing blurbs in some issues referring back to a particular back issue. There would be an asterik in a word baloon and then at the bottom of the panel it would tell you which back issue it was referring to. That, more than anything else, made me want to seek out back issues.

I sought out many a comic for the same reason!

 

That is definitely one thing that's amiss in today's comics. The days of Roy Thomas and Jim Shooter are long gone.

 

Asterisks, checklists and letters pages .. ahhh, I miss the good ol' days

[Bill Robinson]

For me it was the big two; Spider-Man and Batman. Specifically, I started collecting in 1989 and had to have all the Todd McFarlane Spideys. On the Batman side, I went back and got the Starlin issues and then it snowballed from there.

I remember paying $20 for a first print of the Killing Joke and thinking it would be worth hundreds some day. It hasn't even doubled!

[Senormac]

Johnny Romita

[Hepcat]

For me it was Silver Age Green Lanterns.

 

What was the first Green Lantern you bought off the rack then, which storyline spurred your interest in back issues and what was the first back issue you ended up buying?

 

[Hepcat]

Plus, there's no continuity anymore. Apparently, that's a burden on modern comic writers.

 

Marvel and DC ought to hire a librarian-archivist, if not proper editors, to maintain all this "continuity." That would be great for the readers but, for the publishers, what does it matter? It doesn’t translate into dollars. It's all about selling the book now. There's no money for the publishers if readers want to seek out back issues. The same characters from yesteryear are being recycled and reincarnated into storylines that have very little connection to what has happened before. That was part of the Marvel magic in the 60's and 70's - the persistence of maintaining continuity. The Marvel universe was much better when it was smaller and managed by only a few. Now Marvel's no more than DC's ugly little step-sister.

 

I agree. For characters to constantly change unmindful of their prior histories is an outrage! The continuing saga within their carefully built up universes was the major reason why I found comics so magical in the Silver Age.

 

[binarysunrise]

For me it was Adventures of Superman #500. A dealer sold it to me for just over cover price. Haven't gotten around to checking it's value these days, but I'm sure it'll at least cover college tuition for one of my children.

 

 

[porcupine48]

Plus, there's no continuity anymore. Apparently, that's a burden on modern comic writers.

 

Marvel and DC ought to hire a librarian-archivist, if not proper editors, to maintain all this "continuity." That would be great for the readers but, for the publishers, what does it matter? It doesn’t translate into dollars. It's all about selling the book now. There's no money for the publishers if readers want to seek out back issues. The same characters from yesteryear are being recycled and reincarnated into storylines that have very little connection to what has happened before. That was part of the Marvel magic in the 60's and 70's - the persistence of maintaining continuity. The Marvel universe was much better when it was smaller and managed by only a few. Now Marvel's no more than DC's ugly little step-sister.

 

I agree. For characters to constantly change unmindful of their prior histories is an outrage! The continuing saga within their carefully built up universes was the major reason why I found comics so magical in the Silver Age.

 

I can't believe they have not brought back the Porcupine..

[Fedoraman]

I was visiting my Grandparents in Omaha backi in the early 80's and we happend to go to a mall where a guy was selling comics out of long boxes near the food court. I was big into Conan the Barbarian and even had a subscription.

 

I found a Conan #27 - The Blood-Jewel of Bel-Hissar (where did they come with these names ). It was the first comic I owned that was almost as old as me Ha-Ha!

 

The back issue bug really bit me when I joined this place.

[ss5rmp]

i grew up with 90s comics and grew tired of them quick but a couple of years ago i caught a couple of comic covers from michael turner and got back into comics. after that i gravitated to flash, especially infantino and turner art and geoff johns writing and havent looked back since unless its to find another silver age flash

[rodan57]

When I read of those who favour Mary Jane as a character over Gwen -- all I can think is that they have not read many issues from 31 to 121.

 

Nah, even then I thought MJ was a flighty skank and would have preferred Gwen's clone over her.

 

Plus, I had scenes like this from the old MT reprints to go by:

 

Gwen was cool from Day One.

[chrisco37]

The very first back issues I ever bought were:

 

Peter Parker (PPTSSM) #5 and #21.

 

#5 was a reprint of an MTU book with the Torch and Morbius.

 

#21 was a battle with the Scorpion.

 

 

[Conan_Aficionado]

I can't pinpoint which issue was the one that got me into buying back issues, but probably the one that turned me into more of a collector was a copy of Web of Spider-man #1 in vf+ to vf/nm.

 

It's so hard to find a decent condition copy of any back issue once it's gone into long boxes and I couldn't believe the condition that the WOS(is that the correct abbreviation?) was in.

 

Up to that point I would buy the cheapest copies. If there were two and one was $5 and the other $2, I would buy the cheaper one. I had no notion of what it meant to own a High Grade comic. Take into account, I was only 11 or 12. What kid really cares about grades at that age.

 

 

[thehumantorch]

Mid 60s Fantastic Fours.

 

Interesting thread idea Jimmers.

[Comicopolis]

I

 

The one thing that's etched into my brain was seeing blurbs in some issues referring back to a particular back issue. There would be an asterik in a word baloon and then at the bottom of the panel it would tell you which back issue it was referring to. That, more than anything else, made me want to seek out back issues.

I sought out many a comic for the same reason!

 

That is definitely one thing that's amiss in today's comics. The days of Roy Thomas and Jim Shooter are long gone.

 

Asterisks, checklists and letters pages .. ahhh, I miss the good ol' days

 

Me too (thumbs u

[Comicopolis]

Plus, there's no continuity anymore. Apparently, that's a burden on modern comic writers.

 

Marvel and DC ought to hire a librarian-archivist, if not proper editors, to maintain all this "continuity." That would be great for the readers but, for the publishers, what does it matter? It doesn’t translate into dollars. It's all about selling the book now. There's no money for the publishers if readers want to seek out back issues. The same characters from yesteryear are being recycled and reincarnated into storylines that have very little connection to what has happened before. That was part of the Marvel magic in the 60's and 70's - the persistence of maintaining continuity. The Marvel universe was much better when it was smaller and managed by only a few. Now Marvel's no more than DC's ugly little step-sister.

 

I agree. For characters to constantly change unmindful of their prior histories is an outrage! The continuing saga within their carefully built up universes was the major reason why I found comics so magical in the Silver Age.

 

I can't believe they have not brought back the Porcupine..

 

They did - turned he into a she

[Hepcat]

Asterisks, checklists and letters pages .. ahhh, I miss the good ol' days:(

 

Me too (thumbs u

 

I wonder why letter pages were eliminated? They were good. Could it be that Marvel and DC have been getting nothing but letters of complaint for over twenty years?