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Comics That Brought You Back

Started by joe_collector,

43 posts in this topic

shrunkenhead

shrunkenhead

Posted
Posted

I started collecting in 1980, at the ripe age of 4. I still have some of those first books I bought at the flea market, torn to shreds and all.

 

By the time I was 13 I had my own "flea market vending booth," which was like a 3-day a week gig. From the age of 4 until about 18 or so I was a comic junkie. Then I, well, you know, got laid.

 

Returned to comics as a married man with the purchase of some pre-codes horror books that I couldn't afford as a kid but always loved. My flea market operation was almost strictly one and two dollar books. Sometimes I had a ten dollar book, which was a big deal. I had a couple of VG- pre-codes as a teen that I thought were just about as amazing as the Hope Diamond. So it was fun to get back into the funny books years later with a little bit of dough in my wallet, and pick up some books that I would have never dreamed I could own as a kid.

 

Now that I've done that, I've managed to retool my collecting goals into something focused, something else I could never do in my youth. And I continue to focus even further...

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squidmo2000

squidmo2000

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I had stopped reading and collecting comics around 1990.In 2000 I heard the buzz about the Spidey movie, with the Green Goblin(my favorite).I thought it would be cool to have a copy of ASM #14(which I never owned as a kid),so I went on ebay.While checking out the prices,I noticed some of the books were in cool plastic cases.I finally won a VG+ 4.5 CGC copy for $330,the most I had ever paid for a comic in my life.Well,that opened the floodgates for me,I went on to buy the first 50 issues(all in those cool plastic cases) wink.gifFunny thing is,that first CGC ASM #14 I got arrived cracked in the back,from one side to the other. 27_laughing.gif.It's the only cracked slab I own,but I'm keepin it cause its got personality. headbang.gif

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davidking623

davidking623

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Well, I stopped buying comics actively in 1976 (post Incredible Hulk #181), and I have to say what brought me back in 2002, was when I saw what the Hulk #181's were selling for. So I rolled up my sleeves and pulled my books out of the basement, and sold my two Hulk #181's . . . and the rest is his_story grin.gif

 

Thanks for bringing that up! Hulk 181 is the reason some guy Wolverine and his Origin series got me in full swing and making money on comic books.Now I have some 20000 back issues, dont know if ill will ever sell it all but hey it doesnt matter its all paid for! thumbsup2.gif

 

Davidking623

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tth2

tth2

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Peter David and Todd McFarlane on Incredible Hulk. They turned the entire series around.

Same here! I had stopped buying comics (new or old) for several years and this caught my eye at the newsstand and got me hooked all over again.

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wormboy

wormboy

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I quit collecting when I went to college.

 

Sandman #8 was the book that brought me back. A buddy gave me a crumpled up copy that the LCS gave him. It was the free version with the Karen Berger editorial that went on to fetch $500 and up when Sandman was really popular.

 

I loved the story and the art (and it only got better). I still have the book.

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Darthdiesel

Darthdiesel

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ASM 300. In 1999-2000 I was already active on eBay selling and buying SWEP 1 figures and Playstation games. I came across a short box of comics I had under my bed back at my parents' house on Staten Island. I was looking up prices of what they were selling for on eBay and I thought it'd be fun to sell these and pick up more loot for Playstation games foreheadslap.gif I had 5 ASM 300s in really great shape, 3 with the jagged "newstand" cut edge, however. I had some Fall of the Mutants x-men, Mcfarlane Spiderman run and early defenders. It all snowballed from the slabbing and sales of the ASM 300s...

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Inhuman Fiend

Inhuman Fiend

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I collected avidly from 1978 - 1983 and then sold almost all of them when I went away to college. After that, for more than 20 years my comic gene was in remission. Every once in awhile I would wander into the bookstore and thumb through an Overstreet Guide to lament about all the comics I sold for a fraction of their current value, but hey, I needed the money for college so I shrugged my shoulders and moved on. Then in 2002 I started buying and selling various stuff on eBay and found myself browsing the comics to see what my old books were actually selling for. I sort of followed them casually online until last summer when dusted off a short-box of random left-over comics that I had not sold back in 1983. I went through them and found that some of the then-worthless books had actually become collectible! While going through that box, something clicked and the next thing I know I was on eBay every day looking to rebuild my old collection and the nostalgia bug still has me going strong. Funny thing, I really have no interest in reading anything new...maybe because with a wife and two small children, I barely have the time to collect old stuff let alone anything new. I get my reading pleasures out of rediscovering the bronze and silver books of my youth...I just turned 40 and the joy of re-reading a favorite comic for the first time in 25 or more years is a cool thing indeed (although the wife just doesn't get it and thinks I'm wasting my time...sigh)

 

Greg

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Fan4Fan

Fan4Fan

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I collected avidly from 1978 - 1983 and then sold almost all of them when I went away to college. After that, for more than 20 years my comic gene was in remission. Every once in awhile I would wander into the bookstore and thumb through an Overstreet Guide to lament about all the comics I sold for a fraction of their current value, but hey, I needed the money for college so I shrugged my shoulders and moved on. Then in 2002 I started buying and selling various stuff on eBay and found myself browsing the comics to see what my old books were actually selling for. I sort of followed them casually online until last summer when dusted off a short-box of random left-over comics that I had not sold back in 1983. I went through them and found that some of the then-worthless books had actually become collectible! While going through that box, something clicked and the next thing I know I was on eBay every day looking to rebuild my old collection and the nostalgia bug still has me going strong. Funny thing, I really have no interest in reading anything new...maybe because with a wife and two small children, I barely have the time to collect old stuff let alone anything new. I get my reading pleasures out of rediscovering the bronze and silver books of my youth...I just turned 40 and the joy of re-reading a favorite comic for the first time in 25 or more years is a cool thing indeed (although the wife just doesn't get it and thinks I'm wasting my time...sigh)

 

Greg

 

893scratchchin-thumb.gif I'm wondering if I have a split personality with one of the shards being named Greg, as this sounds almost exactly like something I'd write.

 

Thanks,

Fan4Fan

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Elvis

Elvis

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From the age of 4 until about 18 or so I was a comic junkie. Then I, well, you know, got laid.

 

lol. Good one!!

 

Somehow the same thing happened to me. After that was over (marriage), I started again.

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tilleycs

tilleycs

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I stopped reading comics in the late 80's toward the end of high school. I looked at a few comics in the 90's but didn't buy anything (I'm also thankful that I missed that entire decade). My mom sent me an article about the Death of Superman since it was such a media event. Other than that, I had no clue what was going on in the industry.

 

A few years later I was hanging out at a friend's house and he had the Death of Superman TPB. I picked it up and read the whole thing in one sitting. It didn't bring me back per se (it would be 10 more years before I got back into collecting), but I really enjoyed the story - probably because I was able to read the story apart from all the hype, the speculation, and the aftermath stories (some of which I've read recently and didn't enjoy at all).

 

When I stopped collecting comics in the late 80's, I was certain (in my 18-year-old wisdom) that I'd never be interested in them again. The DoS TPB showed me that I could still sit down and enjoy a good story. It planted a seed, I guess.

 

There's no one issue in particular that brought me back this time. I wanted to get back into collecting, period. I found a cheap copy of the DoS TPB sometime last year, and I doubt I'll ever get rid of it. I like the story too much.

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jordanscott

jordanscott

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it was more of an experiment for me really....

 

i'd stopped collecting in the early 90s (seems most did) but a friend of mine showed me her Preacher TPBs...a year or so later i went into my local (where i also fed my gaming addiction) and picked up Preacher TPBs vol 1, 2 and 3.

 

while i was there....i just had to know...had the x-men returned to glory? did DC find its way again? were the indy titles still as good as when i left? did image still suck?

 

over the course of the last year i've started to put together SA JLA and GL runs as well as rediscover comics in general....

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jimjum12

jimjum12

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My first return to comics was in the early 80's with a 7-11 copy of FF # 244( John Byrne) and my second return to comics was in the early 90's with Spider-man # 1 (Todd McFarlane).It's kind of a shame that 7-11 doesn't carry them anymore.GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) thumbsup2.gif

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