Collecting 1973 to 1976

[joe_collector]

Since Beyonder has 1977-up covered, I thought I'd delve a bit deeper into the Bronze waters. To start, here are two of my childhood grails, - basically the first comics I owned, and books that I just recently decided to get nice copies of.

 

The first is Marvel's Greatest Comics # 46, which I remember an uncle of mine buying for me at the end of summer. I was just a little guy at the time, and he asked me if I wanted something at the store.. since the comic rack was nearby, the cover must have caught my eye.

 

 

I don't even think I could read at that point (at least not very well), but I definitely looked at the pictures more than a few times. One of the reasons I remember this so vividly was because the next day I went to get it, and found the poor book nearly shredded on their magazine rack. When I asked what happened, my aunt stated "You're lucky I didn't throw it out!!".

 

I was royally ticked, and even then I knew that answer sucked (I remember thinking, "you'd better not leave any magazines at my house..."), but I have gotten good use out of it since then as family joke material.

 

As for the story, it had Blastaar and Sandman duking it out against the Fantastic Four. A pretty wild issue, and I remember being very surprised when Blasty lambasted Triton with his first punch, and then later when he laughed as the Human Torch covered him with flame. Freaky stuff at the time.

 

My second book was Marvel Tales # 49, and I count this (along with ASM 130 the following month - although that's a different story) as one of the main reasons I started asking for comics. Like many of the comics I bought then, I'd look at the pics and pick up a few words, but usually not get the whole gist of the comic.

 

 

This book was different and very visual - it had a wild villain Mysterio, and not only included a nice make-up scene with Gwen, but had Peter busting open a door, and as Spidey, ripping up some corregated metal (I thought "How strong is this guy anyway?) and an appearance by some whacko named the Green Goblin, who was apparently Peter's friend's Dad (WTF?).

 

And that killer ending panel? Even a little kid could understand that Spidey was shrunk down and helpless at the hands of a madman. I never did get the next issue, but I did see how it ended through the Spider-man cartoon series.

[nearmint]

Great stuff. I certainly remember buying comics before I could read, just to look at the pictures.

 

35 years later, I still thumb through my comics when I get home from my LCS and before I read them.

[VintageComics]

Man, that Romita is just mind blowing....speechless....

I posted this earlier but i'll repeat...i bought my first comic (that i can remember) when i was about 5 or 6....ran to the store with a doller...(got in big [embarrassing lack of self control] for it later) and bought 2 Batmans and something else...couldn't really read at the time as i barely knew english, buti was so excited i bought two of the same Batmans!! Still scanning covers trying to recollect which issue it was...'75 or '76...i kinda remember lots of purple and black on the cover....

[THE_BEYONDER]

 

 

As for the story, it had Blastaar and Sandman duking it out against the Fantastic Four. A pretty wild issue, and I remember being very surprised when Blasty lambasted Triton with his first punch, and then later when he laughed as the Human Torch covered him with flame. Freaky stuff at the time.

 

That was the 1st FF story I ever read. I was completely blown away....and FF soon became my favourite title.

 

 

 

I also remember reading that Marvel Tales book...and being creeped out by the eerie amusement park stuff. I gotta see if I can find my copies.

 

Thanks for jolting my memory.

[the blob]

more, more, more, more clobbering time!

 

yes, I did sign up for a one year subscription to "The Thing" in the early 80s!

[awe4one]

Crypt of Shadows #15 is one of my grails...

 

 

One of the stories involved a prison escape. A prisoner arranged with another guy to sneak into a dead-man's casket and be taken out of the prison while it's being transported to the cemetary. The other guy was to dig him out of the plot after burial. He climbs into the casket, containing a dead body, and wakes later to find he has been buried. When he lights a match, he discovers that the dead body is that of the other guy who is supposed to dig him out.

 

I don't know what it was about the story but it stuck with me for years. When I re-entered the hobby in the mid-80s, I seriously searched for the issue but didn't know which one of the Marvel horror reprint titles the story was in. After nearly completing a set of all the horror reprints Marvel produced, I finally found the story in a set of horror comics bought from Shadroch. It was one of the shining moments of my collecting endeavors...