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What do your childhood faves say about you?

Started by rjpb,

34 posts in this topic

rjpb

rjpb

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I was thinking about the reasons why we have the favorite comic characters we do as kids, and there are many reasons, including quality of writing and art, popularity and happenstance of introduction to a character, and influence of parents and peers, but identification with a character can play a big role as well, either as an ideal of who you would want to be if you were a comic book character ( a normal consideration when you are a kid ), someone whose powers you would want (with a subtext a s to why), or someone whose persona or alter-ego reflects in someway how you see yourself. When we are young and still looking to define ourselves, these sorts of influences play a bigger role than they do later, even if we retain a fondness for characters due to nostalgia.

 

When I was 11-13, my favorite Marvel title was X-Men, even though the title was discontinued around that time. I realized then that it generally wasn't as compelling a read as ASM or FF, even though there were some cool Kirby, Sterenko and Adams back issues. It was the outsider aspect of the team that appealed to me, as at that age in particular I felt some disconnect from the larger society around me, combined with an early adolescent distain for those that tried to "fit in". That the book wasn't all that popular with comic fans in general at the time probably added to the appeal in that it was a non-conformist choice.

 

By the time I was 15 my favorite comic team were The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, for reasons I probably don't need to explain. lol

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Dr. Balls

Dr. Balls

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When I first started reading and collecting seriously (as serious as a 11 year old can be) I was definitely into Daredevil, Wolverine and Moon Knight. I was also into ninjas and Sho Kosugi movies, so all those things kinda jived together.

 

As I got older, I definitely gravitated to the anti-hero concept, as some of my favorite films are anti-hero and revenge/retribution flicks. I love reading a variety of things like X-Men and cosmic books, but the books I truly enjoy are flawed hero-type stories. Even Thanos, who is patently a bad guy - is what I would call a flawed villain, and his stories are some of my long-time favorites.

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Porter

Porter

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...Even Thanos, who is patently a bad guy - is what I would call a flawed villain, and his stories are some of my long-time favorites.

 

Silver Surfer #50, Thanos Quest and Infinity Gauntlet were the first comics that actually peaked my attention and started me collecting. I had read comics previously, but Thanos is/was a character which I have always gravitated towards. As Balls stated above, a complex, flawed villain. Following his exploits often feels like reading a Shakespearean tragedy. The character is compelled by insatiable ambition and a hunger for power. Once he has his goal within reach (or on his hand), he always finds a way to lose what was so highly sought after.

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Dr. Balls

Dr. Balls

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...Even Thanos, who is patently a bad guy - is what I would call a flawed villain, and his stories are some of my long-time favorites.

 

Silver Surfer #50, Thanos Quest and Infinity Gauntlet were the first comics that actually peaked my attention and started me collecting. I had read comics previously, but Thanos is/was a character which I have always gravitated towards. As Balls stated above, a complex, flawed villain. Following his exploits often feels like reading a Shakespearean tragedy. The character is compelled by insatiable ambition and a hunger for power. Once he has his goal within reach (or on his hand), he always finds a way to lose what was so highly sought after.

 

Yep. Thanos' is all about "the chase is better than the catch".

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Collect0r

Collect0r

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I started with GI Joe. Loved the toys as a kid and still have several snake eyes figures. I have fond memories as a child reading the comics; but, truth me told, I have very few in my current collection-nostalgic purposes only. Several years later I developed a fondness for Doctor Strange and the dialect/story writing of Thor.

 

I returned to collecting a few years ago working on the aforementioned characters. Completed the simonson thor run last summer and picked up several keys along the way. Currently working on doctor strange. The eternity saga and the whole Brunner run is just good story telling and art.

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Darkowl

Darkowl

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Cool post!

 

I got into X-Men in the early 90's when I was 8. You can blame the arcade game and the FOX cartoon for that one. Nightcrawler was my favorite character to play on the arcade game, so In turn he became one of my favorite comic book characters (welcome to the rationale of an 8 year old). I absolutely loved Nightcrawler's mutants abilities. Teleporting, sticking to walls, master acrobat, expert in sword-fighting, totally awesome to me!

Beast also became one of my favorite characters, because I loved how bulky he was, yet he could keep up with Spider-man in terms of agility and acrobatics(they dont call him the Bouncing Beast for nothing). He was also very brilliant. That kind of contrast was somehow appealing to me, because usually the characters that are nothing but muscle are just that, muscle. Beast kinda has the best of both worlds. Not to mention (and a lot of people don't know this) that Beast has a feral side, (and a healing factor) much like Wolverine, where he can be pushed off the deep end, and go totally berserk. I love that about him.

I'm 30 now, and these characters are still my favorites. Call it arrested development.

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Jeffro.

Jeffro.

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Spider-Man has always been my favorite superhero. I attribute that to two things. My first ASM issue (and possibly my first superhero comic) was 177. In addition to that, I was a big fan of the 60's animated series and watched it religiously whenever it was on TV.

 

Of course, before superhero comics, I was into DC war, Uncle Scrooge, Sad Sack, Richie Rich, and other Harveys.

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telerites

telerites

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I started with Marvel BA books in the early 70s (1972 at the age of 8) - Defenders, Thor, Spidey, MTU, etc. Never did and really never have been a DC guy although I appreciate some of the late SA and BA DCs much more now. Always a superhero fan but also was a fan of the Marvel horror reprint titles too. I remember the Marvel covers being so colorful and exciting and really grabbed my youthful eyes - still do.

 

Every time I see some of the Marvel BA books that I bought off the stands, it brings back some good memories.

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HarveySwick

HarveySwick

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So, um... yeah... Daredevil. :D

 

When I was a kid in the mid to late 80's, obviously Spider-man was the biggie. Wolverine was just starting to take over. But for some reason, Daredevil appealed to me. I thought he was :cool: that he was a "devil" and his costume was all red. And he was blind yet would just jump off buildings no problem. :o And I remember seeing what a bad @ss he was - Bullseye shoots a gun at him. *bam* he deflects the bullet with his billy club. He takes on groups of ninjas no problem. He was just a bad @ss mofo. No real "superpowers" other than just heightened senses.

 

My other favorite as I started to get a little older was the Dan Ketch version of Ghost Rider. I just loved the book and thought the character was awesome - a motorcycle rider with a black leather coat with chains and spikes and a flaming skull for a head. This was the Ghost Rider I knew because the Johnny Blaze version ended by the time I was reading comics. I thought his penance stare was awesome.

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Darkowl

Darkowl

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So, um... yeah... Daredevil. :D

 

When I was a kid in the mid to late 80's, obviously Spider-man was the biggie. Wolverine was just starting to take over. But for some reason, Daredevil appealed to me. I thought he was :cool: that he was a "devil" and his costume was all red. And he was blind yet would just jump off buildings no problem. :o And I remember seeing what a bad @ss he was - Bullseye shoots a gun at him. *bam* he deflects the bullet with his billy club. He takes on groups of ninjas no problem. He was just a bad @ss mofo. No real "superpowers" other than just heightened senses.

 

My other favorite as I started to get a little older was the Dan Ketch version of Ghost Rider. I just loved the book and thought the character was awesome - a motorcycle rider with a black leather coat with chains and spikes and a flaming skull for a head. This was the Ghost Rider I knew because the Johnny Blaze version ended by the time I was reading comics. I thought his penance stare was awesome.

 

:headbang:

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Kevin.J

Kevin.J

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I always liked the scifi and horror stuff, Mystery in Space, Space War, Space Adventures, Journey into Mystery, My Greatest Adventure, Strange Adventures etc.

My favorite characters were Adam Strange, Superman, Batman, Spiderman

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kav

kav

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The first book i picked up was superman so i only bought DC and paid no attention to Marvel whatsoever

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