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What comic got you serious about "back " issues?

Started by porcupine48,

81 posts in this topic

lb jefferies

lb jefferies

Posted
Posted

First comic I ever read was MTU 42. Story opened with Spidey chained to a wall during the time of the Salem witch trials. Needless to say I had to go back and try and figure out just what the hell happened. It took years.

 

The first back issue that blew me a way was Hulk Annual 7. I discovered a coverless copy in an old bookstore and I read it until the pages were loose. Pure joy for a little 9 year old.

 

The first back issue I remember being excited by seeking out and buying was Avengers 177. I bought it about 10 years after reading 176. For those who remember the Korvac saga, 176 finished up with one hell of a cliffhanger.

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mystrymachine

mystrymachine

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While gowing up in the early seventies some kid came by my house with some of his older brothers comics. Most were coverless but he had heard I was into the Hulk and he brought over issue 102 for me to look at. Even though it had no cover I was really impressed with that book. lol

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Lazyboy

Lazyboy

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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?

 

???

The reason letters pages have been (mostly) eliminated from comics? You're reading my post on one right now.
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JazzMan

JazzMan

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The thing that got me into back issues originally were the Marvel Treasury sized books, specifically the Holiday Grab Bag from 1974...or was it 1975. That triggered the need to look for the original books which made for a nice quest challenge. I still don't have all of them from that grab bag (missing FF 24, 25) but it's always fun to go back to the original Treasury book and reminisce about my childhood.

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Theagenes

Theagenes

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For me it was Star Wars 16 with the first appearance of Valance the Hunter which I bought on the stands at about age 7 or 8. I had the movie adaptations, but got really excited when I saw that there were new SW comics. At that time everyone was rabid for any new Star Wars material (Splinter of the MInd's Eye, the Holiday Special and the comics were about all there was). Anyway it was kind of a weird read as it didn't feature any of the main characters from the movie and had the weird green rabbit, but it was Star Wars and I so I started looking for more. I started buying the new issues as they came out and I picked up 3-packs of 8-10 and 13-15, but 7, 11, and 12 eluded me for several years. I had bought plenty of comics before that, but it was with Star Wars that I really started paying attention to the fact that they were numbered and starting try to complete a run. That was when a became a comic collector and not just a reader.

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tortoise

tortoise

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Venom lethal protector # 1 got me started. I was told it was going to be one of the most important books in recent history (I was 9).

X-men 12 got me hooked on back issues saved up for almost a year to spend $200 on a VGish copy doh!

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CycleGirl

CycleGirl

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I remember taking the bus down to the comic book store in the Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle with my older brother and his friend, a collector named Gary (who introduced me to collecting). I remember Gary showing me the Comic Price Guide and how an Action #1 sold for $300! I was fascinated that a comic book could be worth so much money.

 

Anyway, I had decided to buy that X-Men #2 in the display case. The X-Men were in reprints at the time. (OMG, that really dates me.)

 

I don't remember how much I paid, but it seemed like a lot of money at the time, either $10 or $20. No, I don't have that particular book anymore. Of course, I would have really liked to have had an X-Men #1, but couldn't afford it. I dreamed of the day when I would have a good paying job and would be able to afford whatever I wanted. Maybe even an X-Men #1... :cloud9:

 

 

 

 

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porcupine48

porcupine48

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Does anyone still have books they bought of the spinner as a young'un?

Post em if you got em!

I remember buying this at a "Pinto" convenience store from

a Hey Kids COMICS rack.Pinto stores have been gone in

Ontario for over 20 years now!

I remember buying a Sgt.Rock comic that day as well,but it seems to be lost

to the ages...

A1177.jpg

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rjrjr

rjrjr

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For me it was Star Wars 16 with the first appearance of Valance the Hunter which I bought on the stands at about age 7 or 8. I had the movie adaptations, but got really excited when I saw that there were new SW comics. At that time everyone was rabid for any new Star Wars material (Splinter of the MInd's Eye, the Holiday Special and the comics were about all there was). Anyway it was kind of a weird read as it didn't feature any of the main characters from the movie and had the weird green rabbit, but it was Star Wars and I so I started looking for more. I started buying the new issues as they came out and I picked up 3-packs of 8-10 and 13-15, but 7, 11, and 12 eluded me for several years. I had bought plenty of comics before that, but it was with Star Wars that I really started paying attention to the fact that they were numbered and starting try to complete a run. That was when a became a comic collector and not just a reader.

 

 

Star Wars was definitely my gateway into comics collecting as well. Star Wars #26 was the start of my monthly habit, and whenever I read the earlier Marvel issues, I get a huge nostalgic feeling. I love the water world storyline, the Wheel storyline, and my favorite cover is on issue #15 with Han Solo and Crimson Jack shooting it out with a Star Destroyer serving as a backdrop. My favorite 2 issues are #28 (The Jabba-only-its-not-Jabba issue) and #29 (the wrapup to the Valance storyline.)

 

These days, I'm enjoying collecting foreign edition of the Marvel issues, as I long ago completed the Marvel U.S. run (including the news stand/direct edition versions, but not all of the 1-4 news stand $0.35 variations as the prices exceeded what I'm willing to pay for them.) I'm close to completing the run with the Canadian price differences, the U.K. weekly issues, the French Titans issues with the Star Wars covers, and the German issues.

 

My collecting habits are all over the map though (I'll buy just about any science fiction title I can which adds up to quite a few different titles), so I'll probably never be focused enough to actually finish any of these foreign runs. Heck I'm not even focused enough to finish the Marvel Logan's Run title, which only has 7 issues.

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500Club

500Club

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Posted
Before CGC we all paid too much for overgraded comics. Now we pay too much for a number on some plastic.

 

Funny and true. ;)

 

Wellllll...half true. (shrug)

 

True if the number starts with 9. Otherwise, as a rule, the book in the plastic would have cost a lot more pre-CGC, especially if bought as a typically overgraded copy. (i.e. a 7.5 being sold as NM)

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Theagenes

Theagenes

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For me it was Star Wars 16 with the first appearance of Valance the Hunter which I bought on the stands at about age 7 or 8. I had the movie adaptations, but got really excited when I saw that there were new SW comics. At that time everyone was rabid for any new Star Wars material (Splinter of the MInd's Eye, the Holiday Special and the comics were about all there was). Anyway it was kind of a weird read as it didn't feature any of the main characters from the movie and had the weird green rabbit, but it was Star Wars and I so I started looking for more. I started buying the new issues as they came out and I picked up 3-packs of 8-10 and 13-15, but 7, 11, and 12 eluded me for several years. I had bought plenty of comics before that, but it was with Star Wars that I really started paying attention to the fact that they were numbered and starting try to complete a run. That was when a became a comic collector and not just a reader.

 

 

Star Wars was definitely my gateway into comics collecting as well. Star Wars #26 was the start of my monthly habit, and whenever I read the earlier Marvel issues, I get a huge nostalgic feeling. I love the water world storyline, the Wheel storyline, and my favorite cover is on issue #15 with Han Solo and Crimson Jack shooting it out with a Star Destroyer serving as a backdrop. My favorite 2 issues are #28 (The Jabba-only-its-not-Jabba issue) and #29 (the wrapup to the Valance storyline.)

 

These days, I'm enjoying collecting foreign edition of the Marvel issues, as I long ago completed the Marvel U.S. run (including the news stand/direct edition versions, but not all of the 1-4 news stand $0.35 variations as the prices exceeded what I'm willing to pay for them.) I'm close to completing the run with the Canadian price differences, the U.K. weekly issues, the French Titans issues with the Star Wars covers, and the German issues.

 

My collecting habits are all over the map though (I'll buy just about any science fiction title I can which adds up to quite a few different titles), so I'll probably never be focused enough to actually finish any of these foreign runs. Heck I'm not even focused enough to finish the Marvel Logan's Run title, which only has 7 issues.

 

Interesting that Star Wars seems to have been the gateway drug into comic collecting for a number of us. Maybe someone needs to do a "continuing adventures" of Harry Potter comic book to try and attract some new blood into the hobby.

 

Those stories between SW and ERB have always been special to me and always will, green rabbits and all. I was very excited to get the Dark Horse reprint trades of those when they came. You mentioned the Waterworld and Wheel arcs, and I think the Tagge family saga is good too. I even think the much derided Roy Thomas story arc from 7 to 11 is much more Lucasian than people realize. After all it's a space-western based on a Kurasawa film (Seven Samurai) and that's exactly what Star Wars was. Even the green rabbit-headed alien was just following the lead of Hammerhead, Walrusman, etc. Someday I need write a piece in defense of Jaxxon the rabbit. :)

 

 

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rjrjr

rjrjr

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For me it was Star Wars 16 with the first appearance of Valance the Hunter which I bought on the stands at about age 7 or 8. I had the movie adaptations, but got really excited when I saw that there were new SW comics. At that time everyone was rabid for any new Star Wars material (Splinter of the MInd's Eye, the Holiday Special and the comics were about all there was). Anyway it was kind of a weird read as it didn't feature any of the main characters from the movie and had the weird green rabbit, but it was Star Wars and I so I started looking for more. I started buying the new issues as they came out and I picked up 3-packs of 8-10 and 13-15, but 7, 11, and 12 eluded me for several years. I had bought plenty of comics before that, but it was with Star Wars that I really started paying attention to the fact that they were numbered and starting try to complete a run. That was when a became a comic collector and not just a reader.

 

 

Star Wars was definitely my gateway into comics collecting as well. Star Wars #26 was the start of my monthly habit, and whenever I read the earlier Marvel issues, I get a huge nostalgic feeling. I love the water world storyline, the Wheel storyline, and my favorite cover is on issue #15 with Han Solo and Crimson Jack shooting it out with a Star Destroyer serving as a backdrop. My favorite 2 issues are #28 (The Jabba-only-its-not-Jabba issue) and #29 (the wrapup to the Valance storyline.)

 

These days, I'm enjoying collecting foreign edition of the Marvel issues, as I long ago completed the Marvel U.S. run (including the news stand/direct edition versions, but not all of the 1-4 news stand $0.35 variations as the prices exceeded what I'm willing to pay for them.) I'm close to completing the run with the Canadian price differences, the U.K. weekly issues, the French Titans issues with the Star Wars covers, and the German issues.

 

My collecting habits are all over the map though (I'll buy just about any science fiction title I can which adds up to quite a few different titles), so I'll probably never be focused enough to actually finish any of these foreign runs. Heck I'm not even focused enough to finish the Marvel Logan's Run title, which only has 7 issues.

 

Interesting that Star Wars seems to have been the gateway drug into comic collecting for a number of us. Maybe someone needs to do a "continuing adventures" of Harry Potter comic book to try and attract some new blood into the hobby.

 

Those stories between SW and ERB have always been special to me and always will, green rabbits and all. I was very excited to get the Dark Horse reprint trades of those when they came. You mentioned the Waterworld and Wheel arcs, and I think the Tagge family saga is good too. I even think the much derided Roy Thomas story arc from 7 to 11 is much more Lucasian than people realize. After all it's a space-western based on a Kurasawa film (Seven Samurai) and that's exactly what Star Wars was. Even the green rabbit-headed alien was just following the lead of Hammerhead, Walrusman, etc. Someday I need write a piece in defense of Jaxxon the rabbit. :)

 

 

A Harry Potter comic would definitely bring in new, younger blood, but the big 2 are more interested in the older crowd. More money I guess. ;)

 

I have mixed feelings about the Roy Thomas arc. I love the general attitude the population take toward robots in the comic and the atmosphere is one I wish the movies had explored more. I didn't mind the Luke Skywalker replacement and the other characters (including Jaxxon for the same reasons you mention.) I just didn't like the art in the earlier issues for that arc. One issue, Amazia looks old and the next she is young. The delegation from the village look Asian in one issue and then Caucasian in the next. The art inconsistencies was a little jarring.

 

I too liked the whole Tagge family saga. The highlight for me was Luke's return to Tatooine and running into his old friends. Honestly, there were so many great arcs in the issues before ROTJ, I named just a few that I remembered fondly off the top of my head. After ROTJ, many of the characters (Hiromi - ugh!) and situations they introduced later in the series were just bad.

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