What got you hooked on comics? 1 1

[Jeffro.]

Not really sure what hooked me on comics however, it was probably my dad. As a kid, he was a comic fan and that continued into adulthood. At a Summer cottage my family owned, there was a stack of Sad Sack, Richie Rich, Uncle Scrooge, some DC war comics, and a few other odds and ends. The first visit to that cottage every year, I would devour those comics. I still have them somewhere. I was also likely influenced highly by the 60s Spider-Man cartoon.

There was also a stack of Playboys there but I was too young at that time to be interested. 

[Dick Pontoon]

11 minutes ago, Jeffro. said:

Not really sure what hooked me on comics however, it was probably my dad. As a kid, he was a comic fan and that continued into adulthood. At a Summer cottage my family owned, there was a stack of Sad Sack, Richie Rich, Uncle Scrooge, some DC war comics, and a few other odds and ends. The first visit to that cottage every year, I would devour those comics. I still have them somewhere. I was also likely influenced highly by the 60s Spider-Man cartoon.

There was also a stack of Playboys there but I was too young at that time to be interested. 

You mean the Playboys were actually at the cottage, not in a fort in the woods?

[Ken Aldred]

On 8 June 2017 at 4:21 AM, Larryw7 said:

Pretty much all of the above for me too. I'd also have to add the 100 Page Super Spectaculars. I really loved GA stories as a kid. 

 

On 8 June 2017 at 4:59 AM, HouseofComics.Com said:

I only had two, Tec 438 and a Tarzan, but read them relentlessly. Lucked into two 100-page OAAWs when I was about six years older. Read those a lot too.

 

On 8 June 2017 at 5:31 AM, Ken Aldred said:

The DC 100 pagers from 73 to 75 were the first American comics that I got really thrilled about as a kid, looking forward to the new arrivals each month. 

The first time I had an opportunity to read Golden Age material.

I was terribly disappointed when the format was discontinued.

 

 

On 8 June 2017 at 5:33 AM, kav said:

they were great so much reading material

 

On 8 June 2017 at 5:34 AM, Ken Aldred said:

So much variety.

Memorable stories from just three of the DC 100 page titles; Brave and Bold, Detective Comics and JLA...

Kubert Hawkman and Viking Prince, Dr Fate / Hourman / Green Lantern vs Solomon Grundy from Showcase 55, Manhunter, Sandman and Newsboy Legion by Simon and Kirby, Plastic Man by Jack Cole, Eclipso and Green Lantern by Alex Toth, the early, dark adventures of Dr Fate and The Spectre from More Fun Comics, The Creeper by Ditko, Starman by Burnley and Meskin.

We were very lucky to have such an exceptional introduction to GA and SA stories, month in, month out. A great time to start reading comics as a kid.

[Comics4All]

On 6/12/2017 at 0:20 PM, KEY ISSUES Comics said:

As a young child, my grandmother used to bring me home garbage bags full of Bronze Age comics from her weekly church bazaar/rummage sale. I fell in love with Tomb of Dracula, Godzilla, Werewolf By Night, Unknown Soldier an Sgt. Rock. Superhero books were surely present, but it's those war and horror books that hooked me. Later during my pre-teen years I started picking up whatever caught my eye at the local corner store; the monthly selection always varied. It consisted mostly of Sgt. Rock, Team America, Rom, Iron Man, Star Wars, and miscellaneous Charlton titles.

Then one day I picked up Uncanny X-Men #202, and the rest, a they say, was history. From that day forth I became a Claremont X-Men junkie because--as a loner and bit of an outsider--I could relate to the problems mutants dealt with. I then scrambled to find back issues, whether they be in English or in French. 

Claremont! I think his xmen run was a large part of why I stuck with comics in the 80s

[Comics4All]

On 6/12/2017 at 0:45 PM, Pontoon said:

You mean the Playboys were actually at the cottage, not in a fort in the woods?

Playboys! That can be a whole different thread!

[Andahaion]

As a kid at some point in the 80s I watched Superman: The Movie.  It was lights out thereafter.  Which is ironic given the landscape of today's comic book movies.  For example, I had a few friends over this past weekend and couple of their kids were wearing superhero apparel.  I asked if any of them read comics, to which their answer was some version of "no, but I love the movies."  I went from movie to comics, seems today's kids may be just movie oriented.  Small sample size though, I'm sure it goes both ways (that's what she said).

[Ken Aldred]

4 hours ago, Andahaion said:

As a kid at some point in the 80s I watched Superman: The Movie.  It was lights out thereafter. 

When I watched Superman Returns at the cinema it was lights out for me for about 15 minutes during the actual film itself.

[Jeffro.]

On 6/12/2017 at 0:45 PM, Pontoon said:

On 6/12/2017 at 0:32 PM, Jeffro. said:

Not really sure what hooked me on comics however, it was probably my dad. As a kid, he was a comic fan and that continued into adulthood. At a Summer cottage my family owned, there was a stack of Sad Sack, Richie Rich, Uncle Scrooge, some DC war comics, and a few other odds and ends. The first visit to that cottage every year, I would devour those comics. I still have them somewhere. I was also likely influenced highly by the 60s Spider-Man cartoon.

There was also a stack of Playboys there but I was too young at that time to be interested. 

You mean the Playboys were actually at the cottage, not in a fort in the woods?

The fort came later

[01TheDude]

4 hours ago, Andahaion said:

As a kid at some point in the 80s I watched Superman: The Movie.  It was lights out thereafter.  Which is ironic given the landscape of today's comic book movies.  For example, I had a few friends over this past weekend and couple of their kids were wearing superhero apparel.  I asked if any of them read comics, to which their answer was some version of "no, but I love the movies."  I went from movie to comics, seems today's kids may be just movie oriented.  Small sample size though, I'm sure it goes both ways (that's what she said).

it is just the way things are geared these days-- somewhere along the way, comics stopped being something made for kids and turned into something for adults. I'm not referring just to the content but also the distribution outlets available. When many of us were growing up- we could find comics in grocery stores, 7-11s, drug stores, and other retail outlets. Now they seem only available in comic book stores and the content is well beyond PG most of the time-- not to mention they cost more money than most kids have easy access to - unlike the change we could buy ours for up until the early 1980s.

[zosocane]

This story arc.  I had just started 4th grade, I had more awareness, and I knew how to read for real.  It was on the spinner racks and that was it, hooked.  I still have my OO copy.  I had to learn who Flash Thompson was.  How Peter became Spider-Man.  Who was Gwen Stacy?  The entire mythology.  Then that opened the door to Captain America.  FF.  Daredevil.  War comics from DC like Sgt. Rock.  

Edited June 14, 2017 by zosocane

[Comics4All]

1 hour ago, zosocane said:

This story arc.  I had just started 4th grade, I had more awareness, and I knew how to read for real.  It was on the spinner racks and that was it, hooked.  I still have my OO copy.  I had to learn who Flash Thompson was.  How Peter became Spider-Man.  Who was Gwen Stacy?  The entire mythology.  Then that opened the door to Captain America.  FF.  Daredevil.  War comics from DC like Sgt. Rock.  

This was the 1st story arc I read! I still have my coverless ASM 178!

[tv horror]

I agree with some of the other members about the availability of comics, however here in the U.K they are still available in local newsagents (convenient stores) and the kids still look through them so there is hope there for new fans. However I tend to think that you should encourage the younger generation, the movies are great but the history is greater. My grand nephew can tell you who the Marvel and DC heroes and villains are by seeing their images and he is 10 why because I told him stories from memory of the stories I read growing up in the 60's (GREATEST TIME EVER). As his interest grew I bought him the comics or let him read mine and it gave him a new found respect for reading in general, his grades improved and even his knowledge all round. Yes I made one fan and hopefully he might pass that on to others as he has already told me, case in point he was talking to his friends in the play area and one of them mentioned Thanos, he was able to inform them all about the character and now they are excited about the gem stones. 

[ComicConnoisseur]

On 6/13/2017 at 8:24 PM, 01TheDude said:

they seem only available in comic book stores and the content is well beyond PG most of the time-- not to mention they cost more money than most kids have easy access to - unlike the change we could buy ours for up until the early 1980s.

I think digital comics is the way of the future,and it is starting to happen now.It is amazing how convient it is. If you want to read a trade paperback for under $5 and one click it is on your Kindle Fire or iPad.A lot of people don't realize that Comixology is owned by Amazon.

That is huge to have the number one internet retailer to own the number one digital comics distributor. I see Kindle Fires and iPads as the new newstands.

 

 

Edited June 15, 2017 by ComicConnoisseur

[bluehorseshoe]

 Well I would say at first it was because of my girlfriend at the time, she was really into it, and she made it seem so cool, and I was just head over heels in love with her.   So then with her, I started hanging around people that seem to also be into it, and I certainly didn't see anything wrong with the social aspect of it. After that, we agreed that I would try it, so she had a cousin that gave us what he said was his really high-quality stuff, And although I was nervous, it felt really good at the time. Day by day, week by week, we just started doing more and more, and again, neither of us really saw anything wrong with it, we were getting along really well, and everything just seem to click. I can't remember  exactly it started going wrong, but I started missing classes, missing work, and really withdrawing from everyone and everything around me except her. And then one night she ended up in the hospital because of it, and all I can do to cope with that was to use more. 

Oh wait, that's the story about how I got hooked on drugs, not comics. My bad on that folks.

[catman76]

When I was a kid I was obsessed with old junk and was always looking for old toys and magazines and stuff, but finding old comics in junk shops and flea markets blew my mind. Just the thrill of finding these obscure comics I had no idea existed and I became obsessed with searching for them. Before stumbling upon old comics in junk shops I really never thought about comics being anything other than superheros since that's all I ever saw around as a kid. The staggering variety of types of comics blew my mind. I never was stuck on one type of comics, I bought and loved everything and loved that decaying newsprint smell and these crude, strange comics that seemed from a different world. This was when I was like 10, I was a weird kid. Not that I have changed that much since then.