Comic Book Stories of Your Youth or Wax Nostalgic Time

[Spider-Variant]

We have a lot of great threads about collecting focusing on value, rarity, and character appearance but what I enjoy is just some simply collecting stories.

 

I'll be honest, I didn't really search for any existing threads on this subject, so if there is one, just point me on my way. I chose the bronze age because that was my youth, but feel free to add any age you collected in.

 

I'll start with the earliest story of my collecting youth that I can remember:

 

In the summer of 1974, I was seven years old and living in Hawaii. My father was in the army stationed at Schoffield Barracks. My older brother was a long time comic collector and started me down the path. For some odd reason, the first comic I officially owned was Giant Size Man-Thing #1. (Insert bad puns here). And wanting to be a thorough collector, my brother told me that the next issue would come out in a month. So, I marked my calendar and exactly one month from the purchase date I told my parents I needed to go to the store. Well, as luck would have it, my aunt and uncle were flying in to visit us, and my parents didn't have time to take me. And of course, the next day, the issue was no where to be found. I was livid. Well, as livid as a seven year old could be. I never found that second issue on the stands. Probably why I shifted to Spider-Man and put together a 40 year run on it (but that's another story for another post).

 

It was several years later before I found out that Giant Size Spider-Man was a quarterly (think I have that right) and probably 15 years later before I finally got Issue #2. I still have both.

 

Anyway, thanks for letting me Wax Nostalgic. Please add as you see fit.

[NoMan]

My parents rarely bought me anything. One day in 1978 I was in Safeway with my dad. While he shopped I spun through the old metallic spinner rack and dad asked me what one I wanted. I picked Avengers 172. When I sold all my comics years later I stupidly sold this one, too. Of all the rare comics I sold that are worth a fortune now, Avengers 172 is the only one I truly miss. I've since replaced it but it's not the same. My dad is dead and I wish I had that comic he bought me

 

 

I do still have a comic divider he made me for the wooden comic box he made. Still has the faded tape with the word "Avengers" on it.

 

Sure do miss you, dad

[Mercury Man]

Iron Fist #11. Probably the fourth comic I ever owned as a kid. Danny was on the ropes with the Wrecking Crew, when he took off to Avengers Mansion to enlist the help of Iron Man. Went to 7-11 a little while later but I never found issue #12. I tracked it down many years later. Turns out Iron Man was busy but Captain America was available. Still one of my favorite covers, and the Wrecking Crew will always be one of my favorite bad guy teams.

 

[Spider-Variant]

My parents rarely bought me anything. One day in 1978 I was in Safeway with my dad. While he shopped I spun through the old metallic spinner rack and dad asked me what one I wanted. I picked Avengers 172. When I sold all my comics years later I stupidly sold this one, too. Of all the rare comics I sold that are worth a fortune now, Avengers 172 is the only one I truly miss. I've since replaced it but it's not the same. My dad is dead and I wish I had that comic he bought me

 

 

I do still have a comic divider he made me for the wooden comic box he made. Still has the faded tape with the word "Avengers" on it.

 

Sure do miss you, dad

 

Man, I'm brushing back a tear right now. I can so relate to this story. Miss you too Dad.

 

 

[porcupine48]

Hugs guys..made me misty as well.Still have that first Conan my Papa bought me..

[HouseofComics.Com]

I still remember my panic when I realized that it had been a long time since I'd purchased Untold Legend of the Batman #2 and that I was in serious danger of missing the final issue and never having the rest of the story. Never saw it at my usual store so I pedaled what felt like forever to the edge of town and blessedly, they had it. This is a year or two before any local stores opened or I'd even been in a comic book store.

[bababooey]

Good timing for this thread, I almost forgot my anniversary, my first Spidey off the rack.

 

 

 

[Gatsby77]

Seems I'm about 10 years younger than some folks.

 

Shared this before, but my dad took me to my first comic book store the summer of 1989 and said I could pick any new issue I wanted.

 

It was the middle of Batmania -- Atlantis Attacks Marvel Annuals dominated the racks and the wall books included Batman 426-429, The Cult, and Dark Knight Returns.

 

Out of every book on the rack, I picked What If? # 7 (What If Wolverine Had Been an Agent of SHIELD), with a great cover by some dude named Rob Liefeld.

 

That copy is long gone, but I've bought several more since due to that memory.

 

A few weeks later I started comic collecting in earnest with Batman: Year 3 and Acts of Vengeance.

[bababooey]

Seems I'm about 10 years younger than some folks.

.

 

There's a whole copper forum for you "kids" to wax nostalgically about crappy books.

 

 

[Spider-Variant]

Seems I'm about 10 years younger than some folks.

.

 

There's a whole copper forum for you "kids" to wax nostalgically about crappy books.

 

 

 

Nah, I put a disclaimer in about "age" not mattering. Waxing Nostalgic welcomes all.

 

[bababooey]

Seems I'm about 10 years younger than some folks.

.

 

There's a whole copper forum for you "kids" to wax nostalgically about crappy books.

 

 

 

Nah, I put a disclaimer in about "age" not mattering. Waxing Nostalgic welcomes all.

 

 

You wouldn't be saying that if he responded to you with that first line, Mr. '74.

 

 

[makeminemarvel]

Here is my first comic book purchase. Off the rack at Keg, Crate & Barrel in O'Fallon, IL at age 11. And just scanned. Our next door neighbor at the time was a young serviceman at nearby Scott Air Force Base and let me borrow a stack of Spidey's to read. I was hooked. I remember his books going back to pre #100. Wonder where they are now....

 

[jools&jim]

 

Here's a nostalgic story I posted a year or so ago in another thread:

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showthreaded&Number=9045416

 

Sorry for the link, but it's kind of wordy...

 

 

 

[Spider-Variant]

Here's a nostalgic story I posted a year or so ago in another thread:

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showthreaded&Number=9045416

 

Sorry for the link, but it's kind of wordy...

 

 

 

Beautiful story, thanks for sharing it.

[HouseofComics.Com]

My first ASM as well. Purchased for me as a gift because my parents had to go on a day long trip and leave me with babysitters. Possibly my first Marvel Comic, if you don't count the 1974 Spider-Man treasury.

 

 

 

Here is my first comic book purchase. Off the rack at Keg, Crate & Barrel in O'Fallon, IL at age 11. And just scanned. Our next door neighbor at the time was a young serviceman at nearby Scott Air Force Base and let me borrow a stack of Spidey's to read. I was hooked. I remember his books going back to pre #100. Wonder where they are now....

 

[Hudson]

My parents rarely bought me anything. One day in 1978 I was in Safeway with my dad. While he shopped I spun through the old metallic spinner rack and dad asked me what one I wanted. I picked Avengers 172. When I sold all my comics years later I stupidly sold this one, too. Of all the rare comics I sold that are worth a fortune now, Avengers 172 is the only one I truly miss. I've since replaced it but it's not the same. My dad is dead and I wish I had that comic he bought me

 

 

I do still have a comic divider he made me for the wooden comic box he made. Still has the faded tape with the word "Avengers" on it.

 

Sure do miss you, dad

 

 

 

I appreciate you sharing this story about your Dad.

 

Great thread.

 

I have a lot of things I could write about here (and may later), however, for right now, let me say this.

 

My parents did not typically buy me comics, however, I remember one day i was home sick from school and my Dad came home from the store and handed me some comics (maybe 3 - 5 total books). I cannot tell you which titles they were or which issues. To be honest, it didn't really matter. What mattered was that my Dad had gone to the store and bought me some comics (totally unexpectedly). At that time in my life, my Dad and I did not always have the best of relationships, yet he knew i loved comics and he made a special effort that day to make me feel better. As life moves forward, my mind has selectively tossed out many memories from my childhood, however, this is one memory I retained and cling too.

 

I miss you, Dad. Even through all the difficult times, you were always there, and I would give up every comic I own to have you here again.

 

[Michael Browning]

My dad started buying comics for me off a spinner rack at the Taylorville Supermarket in Taylorville, W.Va., around 1976. I had a brother who was 10 years older than me and he wasn't a big comics fan, but, my dad never wanting to make a difference in us, always bought two comics - one for me and one for my brother. Rarely ever did he buy two of the same comics, so I'd run in and grab which comic I wanted and my brother would get the other (he didn't care). But, being a comic book fanatic at an early age, I would always try to get his, too. So, my mother started writing our names on our comics in the logos - "Mike" on mine and "Steven" on his.

I was a comic trader early on. I'd take my comics to my neighbors' houses and me and the other kids would trade around. That meant a lot of the comics I had with my name on them ended up in other kids' collections.

One of the comics my dad bought me was Shogun Warriors 4 and, as usual, my mother wrote my name in the logo. I ended up trading it and a few others away to a schoolmate.

Flash forward about 30 years later and I'm in Page 3 Cards and Comics in Pikeville, Ky., and they had just gotten in a huge collection of junk comics and they said I could get anything I wanted out of the numerous long boxes for 50 cents a comic. I went through every single box, finding a few reader copies of comics I needed for my collection.

In one of the last boxes, I spotted the top inch of a ragged Shogun Warriors 4 and, sure enough, there as my name, written in green ink by my mother in the logo. I was so overwhelmed that I nearly cried.

It's hard to tell how many people had that comic in their collection and how many hands it went through. It had at least gone from my collection in southern West Virginia to my neighbor's collection to someone's longbox in Kentucky, before it made it to the shop and then, thankfully, back into my collection.

Over the years, I have put the comics that were bought for me by my parents and my grandparents into short boxes and marked them with my name. Inside one of those short boxes is my Shogun Warriors 4 that found its way back home to me and that's where I hope it stays until long after I'm gone.

[Gatsby77]

My dad started buying comics for me off a spinner rack at the Taylorville Supermarket in Taylorville, W.Va., around 1976. I had a brother who was 10 years older than me and he wasn't a big comics fan, but, my dad never wanting to make a difference in us, always bought two comics - one for me and one for my brother. Rarely ever did he buy two of the same comics, so I'd run in and grab which comic I wanted and my brother would get the other (he didn't care). But, being a comic book fanatic at an early age, I would always try to get his, too. So, my mother started writing our names on our comics in the logos - "Mike" on mine and "Steven" on his.

I was a comic trader early on. I'd take my comics to my neighbors' houses and me and the other kids would trade around. That meant a lot of the comics I had with my name on them ended up in other kids' collections.

One of the comics my dad bought me was Shogun Warriors 4 and, as usual, my mother wrote my name in the logo. I ended up trading it and a few others away to a schoolmate.

Flash forward about 30 years later and I'm in Page 3 Cards and Comics in Pikeville, Ky., and they had just gotten in a huge collection of junk comics and they said I could get anything I wanted out of the numerous long boxes for 50 cents a comic. I went through every single box, finding a few reader copies of comics I needed for my collection.

In one of the last boxes, I spotted the top inch of a ragged Shogun Warriors 4 and, sure enough, there as my name, written in green ink by my mother in the logo. I was so overwhelmed that I nearly cried.

It's hard to tell how many people had that comic in their collection and how many hands it went through. It had at least gone from my collection in southern West Virginia to my neighbor's collection to someone's longbox in Kentucky, before it made it to the shop and then, thankfully, back into my collection.

Over the years, I have put the comics that were bought for me by my parents and my grandparents into short boxes and marked them with my name. Inside one of those short boxes is my Shogun Warriors 4 that found its way back home to me and that's where I hope it stays until long after I'm gone.

 

Ok - that made me mist up.

 

Thank you for sharing.

 

 

[Brian48]

No special stories that I can remember from my childhood. Closest thing I can think of is maybe Batman 242. Talia Al Ghul may have given me my first boner.

[porcupine48]

My parents rarely bought me anything. One day in 1978 I was in Safeway with my dad. While he shopped I spun through the old metallic spinner rack and dad asked me what one I wanted. I picked Avengers 172. When I sold all my comics years later I stupidly sold this one, too. Of all the rare comics I sold that are worth a fortune now, Avengers 172 is the only one I truly miss. I've since replaced it but it's not the same. My dad is dead and I wish I had that comic he bought me

 

 

I do still have a comic divider he made me for the wooden comic box he made. Still has the faded tape with the word "Avengers" on it.

 

Sure do miss you, dad

 

 

 

I appreciate you sharing this story about your Dad.

 

Great thread.

 

I have a lot of things I could write about here (and may later), however, for right now, let me say this.

 

My parents did not typically buy me comics, however, I remember one day i was home sick from school and my Dad came home from the store and handed me some comics (maybe 3 - 5 total books). I cannot tell you which titles they were or which issues. To be honest, it didn't really matter. What mattered was that my Dad had gone to the store and bought me some comics (totally unexpectedly). At that time in my life, my Dad and I did not always have the best of relationships, yet he knew i loved comics and he made a special effort that day to make me feel better. As life moves forward, my mind has selectively tossed out many memories from my childhood, however, this is one memory I retained and cling too.

 

I miss you, Dad. Even through all the difficult times, you were always there, and I would give up every comic I own to have you here again.

this choked me up...comics were a big bond between my Papa and I,I miss him everyday as well.