How did you get into collecting comic books?

[vaillant]

"How did you get into collecting comic books" is an all-encompassing invitation.

SA is OK, but so are all the other eras in which one could have begun, I guess (also because these eras are pertinent to US comics: each country has its own culturally defined ones, in general).

[jimjum12]

This is a SA forum so I will focus on my SA origin. After I got hooked on then-modern ASMs, Star Wars and Sgt. Rock, GI Combat and Unknown Soldier as an eight-year-old in the Fall of '77 (and I would rip out those pesky ad pages), when I was maybe 10 I remember visiting relatives in Queens. My older cousin (may he rest in peace) knew I liked comics and he took me to the home of one of his friends in Flushing because that friend of his (in his late teens) collected comics. I arrived into this home and the friend brought down a long box and it was a nearly complete run of ASMs. The copy I still have a mental image of holding was ASM 10, the one with the Enforcers on the cover. I had never been to a con, and my local dealer didn't have many Ditko-era ASMs, so my only reference point for old ASMs was the OSPG. I was FLOORED with what I saw and held. It was treasure. From that day forward I was a collector.

 

I noticed that too but I saw alot of other posts about Copper so I thought it was ok.

 

I started lightly collecting SA a couple of years ago. I have a few issues that I really enjoy owning even though I was not born yet in the 60's. I like being able to look at my favorite characters origins in the original form(not trades or reprints). I really find it a special experience to read books from the pre-modern era.

 

.... in many ways, separating comics by ages is almost a disservice...... me, I would have trouble having to choose between Wolverton's Spacehawk, Kirby's Captain America, Baker's BABES, Everett's ghouls, Boring's Superman, Infantino's Adam Strange, Kubert's Hawkman, Ditko's Spideys, Adams Batmans, Wrightson's Swamp Thing (or Moore's for that matter), Byrne's FF, Schultz's Cadillacs, Quitely's ANYTHING, BWS's Wolverine, etc., etc...... I just categorize by "like" and "not like"....... GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[vaillant]

Quitely's ANYTHING…

 

Although when some writers are at the helm it's harder…

[H0RR0RSH0W]

That's cool.

[zosocane]

I started lightly collecting SA a couple of years ago. I have a few issues that I really enjoy owning even though I was not born yet in the 60's. I like being able to look at my favorite characters origins in the original form(not trades or reprints). I really find it a special experience to read books from the pre-modern era.

 

This. It's refreshing to hear a younger generation collector recognizing the importance of collecting the actual Silver Age source material that is canon to the overall mythology of a long-standing character. Trades and reprints (at least reprints not on cheap pulp paper) don't cut it.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Saw Batman in 1989 when I was 17. Visited a used book store in Willits, CA, and saw they sold comic books. There was a 50 cent bin. I looked through, and saw comics with cover prices of $2.50 and $2.95...for 50 cents!

 

I thought I could resell them for cover price.

 

Oops.

 

Still have them, by the way, all of those original comics I bought in August of 1989.

 

Man, those were the days.

 

Anyhoo....I wanted a way to make money. I was into coins, but the 80's were bad for coins, and I was just a kid. So, I figured, why not comics?

 

Along the way, I fell in love.

 

[01TheDude]

My first encounter with comics was through my cousin Eddie who had a pretty amazing collection. I remember looking at his X-men comics from before I was born and was in awe. I was probably around 6 or 7 years old and these books were less than 10 years old at the time. It really stands out as one of my early memories though it did not get me started collecting.

 

I was around 8 or 9 when I noticed most of the kids in the neighborhood had small collections of comics. Nothing huge-- like 30 comics or so. My next door neighbor and friend Jimmy was a year older. He had the treasury size Hulk (#5) along with other Marvels. We would read them and found others in the neighborhood also had some-- so trading started a bit. I still didn't own any myself so I bought one of those Marvel multi-packs with FF 161, Thor 238, Hulk 190, and ASM 147. I still have some of them though most were replaced by better copies.

 

Right around that time, I started doing a paper route--eventually adding two more routes to expand my income. That money went to buying comics mostly (and a new Schwinn 36x36 chrome plated BMX bike). Each time I did monthly collections, I would bee line across town (about 2 miles) to the 7-11 and would buy a copy of everything off the rack. I also bought some at the Jewel (they were good for magazines and multi packs- though I tended to avoid those after a while).

 

One other thing Jimmy had was a beat up copy of TOS 63. I coveted this book as I was into Captain America. Eventually I ended up getting all of his books including this one. I only recently sold it (replaced it with a better copy not long after I got it). I also found a Journey Into Mystery 122 (also beat up) which for quite a while was my oldest book. I always thought to myself-- "this comic is older than I am". It was also replaced a few years later and only sold recently.

 

I kept at it for the next few years until I had amassed about 1500 books and my attention went more into sports. But I held on to them and still have almost all of the books I acquired as a kid. 35 years later, I got back into the hobby and have been focusing hard on getting some of those silver age books I could rarely find/afford.

[RockMyAmadeus]

I love TOS #63. Cap Origin!

 

Underappreciated book.

[H0RR0RSH0W]

I started lightly collecting SA a couple of years ago. I have a few issues that I really enjoy owning even though I was not born yet in the 60's. I like being able to look at my favorite characters origins in the original form(not trades or reprints). I really find it a special experience to read books from the pre-modern era.

 

This. It's refreshing to hear a younger generation collector recognizing the importance of collecting the actual Silver Age source material that is canon to the overall mythology of a long-standing character. Trades and reprints (at least reprints not on cheap pulp paper) don't cut it.

 

I have dreamed all my life (or at least as long as I could consciously recognize and remember) of owning the original comics starring my favorite hero's. To wait so long and to finally hold one of those books in my hands makes me glow.

[01TheDude]

I started lightly collecting SA a couple of years ago. I have a few issues that I really enjoy owning even though I was not born yet in the 60's. I like being able to look at my favorite characters origins in the original form(not trades or reprints). I really find it a special experience to read books from the pre-modern era.

 

This. It's refreshing to hear a younger generation collector recognizing the importance of collecting the actual Silver Age source material that is canon to the overall mythology of a long-standing character. Trades and reprints (at least reprints not on cheap pulp paper) don't cut it.

 

I have dreamed all my life (or at least as long as I could consciously recognize and remember) of owning the original comics starring my favorite hero's. To wait so long and to finally hold one of those books in my hands makes me glow.

 

one of the problems with Chernobyl pedigree books....

[PT]

I started lightly collecting SA a couple of years ago. I have a few issues that I really enjoy owning even though I was not born yet in the 60's. I like being able to look at my favorite characters origins in the original form(not trades or reprints). I really find it a special experience to read books from the pre-modern era.

 

This. It's refreshing to hear a younger generation collector recognizing the importance of collecting the actual Silver Age source material that is canon to the overall mythology of a long-standing character. Trades and reprints (at least reprints not on cheap pulp paper) don't cut it.

 

I have dreamed all my life (or at least as long as I could consciously recognize and remember) of owning the original comics starring my favorite hero's. To wait so long and to finally hold one of those books in my hands makes me glow.

 

one of the problems with Chernobyl pedigree books....

 

[Jeffro.]

My earliest recollection of comics was in the early 70s. My parents and my aunt and uncle owned a summer shack about 45 minutes away from where we lived. A really cool place (re: a dump Hey, I was a kid. That place will always be connected to some of my favorite childhood memories.) that was surrounded by woods and a sand pit. (we always called it the quarry) Nearby was a river that for some reason we always referred to as The Lake.

 

Anyway, my dad and I kept a small stack of comics there and I looked forward eagerly to re-reading those comics every time we went there the first time in the next spring/summer. Those comics were primarily Richie Rich, Uncle Scrooge, and DC war comics, mostly Our Army At War.

 

I would occasionally get a used comic at a local second-had bookstore, or a new one at the local supermarket. ASM 176 and Flash 258 in particular. It was many, many years later that I was finally able to get a Flash 259 and see how he survived being "killed" at the end of 258

 

In the late 70s, my dad took me to a comic con (my first one!) and I can still remember buying a handful of DC war comics.

 

When we moved to a new town in 1979, we discovered another used book store that had a big pile of Richie Rich comics for 20 cents each (those were the days). My dad graciously bought them for me.

 

One Christmas soon after that, I got as a gift, the Fireside book, America At War.

 

I also found, and bought, my very first OPG and I think that was the catalyst that moved me from simply reading comics to actively collecting them. I started buying superhero comics new and trying to keep them in the best shape possible. I heard about a neat comic shop in a nearby town, begged my parents to take me there and I was off. Been collecting ever since.

 

So basically it comes down to having comics around me from a very early age and that eventually grew into actively collecting beginning in the early 80s

[H0RR0RSH0W]

I started lightly collecting SA a couple of years ago. I have a few issues that I really enjoy owning even though I was not born yet in the 60's. I like being able to look at my favorite characters origins in the original form(not trades or reprints). I really find it a special experience to read books from the pre-modern era.

 

This. It's refreshing to hear a younger generation collector recognizing the importance of collecting the actual Silver Age source material that is canon to the overall mythology of a long-standing character. Trades and reprints (at least reprints not on cheap pulp paper) don't cut it.

 

I have dreamed all my life (or at least as long as I could consciously recognize and remember) of owning the original comics starring my favorite hero's. To wait so long and to finally hold one of those books in my hands makes me glow.

 

one of the problems with Chernobyl pedigree books....

 

 

[BuscemasAvengers]

My brother got me into collecting when one day back in the early 70's he came home with a collection of about 300 books he bought from a friend; most were G's/VG Spideys, the earliest being #24 (one of my favourite Ditko covers); about a year after that, I begged my parents to loan me $10.00 to buy a comic that was on display at a book store in Belleville, Ontario ... that book was Journey Into Mystery #85 (first Loki) in what I believe was a 4.0 ... yes, $10.00!!!! I still remember the look on my brother's face when I showed him that book ... I was hooked from that point on ...

[H0RR0RSH0W]

My brother got me into collecting when one day back in the early 70's he came home with a collection of about 300 books he bought from a friend; most were G's/VG Spideys, the earliest being #24 (one of my favourite Ditko covers); about a year after that, I begged my parents to loan me $10.00 to buy a comic that was on display at a book store in Belleville, Ontario ... that book was Journey Into Mystery #85 (first Loki) in what I believe was a 4.0 ... yes, $10.00!!!! I still remember the look on my brother's face when I showed him that book ... I was hooked from that point on ...

 

So what happened to the JIM #85?

[divad]

I used to go to Sunnyside Market when I was 6 or 7 to buy chewing gum and baseball cards. They started to carry comic books around 1963-4, and I occasionally would buy one or two. By the time I was 11, and working my paper route, I was a full-time addict. I saw an ad in the Rockville Reminder for a comic collection for sale. I found a ride over to Rockville with one of my older brother's friends and bought 4 boxes of books (Marvels from 1963 through 1966) - about 600 books for $150.

 

When I got home, my parents went absolutely nuts on me. "You spent $150 on COMIC BOOKS!!!" They did all but ground me, and just shook their heads. (They never understood me . . . ) This was the cornerstone of my "Tomato Box" collection, assembled from 1966 through 1975.

[goldust40]

I used to go to Sunnyside Market when I was 6 or 7 to buy chewing gum and baseball cards. They started to carry comic books around 1963-4, and I occasionally would buy one or two. By the time I was 11, and working my paper route, I was a full-time addict. I saw an ad in the Rockville Reminder for a comic collection for sale. I found a ride over to Rockville with one of my older brother's friends and bought 4 boxes of books (Marvels from 1963 through 1966) - about 600 books for $150.

 

When I got home, my parents went absolutely nuts on me. "You spent $150 on COMIC BOOKS!!!" They did all but ground me, and just shook their heads. (They never understood me . . . ) This was the cornerstone of my "Tomato Box" collection, assembled from 1966 through 1975.

 

At last, the Origin Of The Tomato Boxers!

[catrick339]

When I was a youngster (Early Sixties) Comic books were EVERYWHERE. Well, except my house. If I didn't keep them hidden or at least very neatly stored, they got pitched. Sigh...those damned moms....

 

But in my neighborhood that just meant that I had to go one or two houses in either direction, and Brad, and Rocky, and Sue, and Jimmy all had stacks of comics, all genres. I read everything out there except the romances, and if I was bored I'd sample those too.

 

Little Lulu, Turok, Fantastic Four, Archie, GI Combat, Twilight Zone, Jimmy Olsen, Wonder Woman, X-Men, Sergeant Fury, Uncle Scrooge, you name it.

 

I started buying them around 1970, both new and garage sale, when I got my first job and had a little spending money in my pocket, and continued to do so into my mid-20's. By then Mom had given up on trying to civilize me, and I had a rock solid Sixties collection....which I sold when I hit a bad patch in the mid-70's.

 

Thought I was done, and then I wandered into a bookstore, more or less by chance, read a few books off the rack and damned if I wasn't hooked again. Bought Cerebus 1 and Fantasy Quarterly 1 off the rack for cover price, and got sucked into the black and white explosion among other indulgences, and started rebuilding my SA Marvel and DC collection, and sampling 50's books here and there to boot.

 

I've wavered away from comics once or twice since then, and gave up on new books entirely some years back, but I'm always seduced back by a new pile of oldies, or scoring a missing book or an upgrade.

 

Recently I've lucked into huge stacks of PCH and precode Romance, and have had a mighty nice time educating myself about books that I've never owned before.

 

I'm hooked until I die,

[catrick339]

....and here's the thing.

 

If I could have gone to the library to check out all the great stories back then, I doubt if I'd have become a collector.

 

I just wanted to read, and reread, all the great stuff I'd seen as a kid. The only way available back then to get a complete story was to buy and own it.

 

Nowadays tremendous amounts of material is in print (or out of print but still available through online resources)

 

I don't expect that modern collectors and readers understand what a boon that is to the hobby.,

 

Much like the Flash story above, I had a couple similar things happen.

 

I read Justice League 21 off the spinner rack as a kid, didn't get a chance to read the second half of the story for about fifteen years.

 

Got Fantastic Four 45 at a garage sale for a nickel, the first book I ever bought with my own money, and it was at least a dozen years before I managed to find a copy of issue 46 to see what was up with Black Bolt and the Inhumans.

 

This is a GREAT time to be a comic book reader.

[BuscemasAvengers]

Unfortunately the JIM 85 was part of what he sold ...