Your Fondest Comic Book (Reading) Memory

[PovertyRow]

My fondest was my first memory of comics. Was about 5 or 6 years old in 1955 or 1956. Found a metal box in the cellar. Opened it. My oldest brother's hidden comic stash. Some war stuff I glossed over. Some EC's that held me prisoner! I couldn't read much of the EC phraseology but the pictures alone, with whatever words I COULD glean left me paralyzed with frigt (literally). Finally made my way up the cellear stairs like one going to the gas chamber. Had nightmares many days thereafter. Was a gas! Probably explains my precode horror proclivity today.

[clobberintime]

The first Marvel comic I ever looked at - Defenders #1. It was in 2nd grade and the home room teacher was friends with a 7-11 guy and used to bring in the coverless unsold books for school. I had no idea who any of the people in the book were but was completely absorbed. Why was Hulk green was my big question. The story was slightly scary as they were fighting some sort of demon cult but it really got my attention - the good guys were not the saps I knew from DC cartoons. I also loved those Marv. treasury editions. That was a great idea by Marvel and probably led to me collecting old comics. I thought Kirby's art was the best stuff I had ever seen - I could not get enough. His stuff was instantly recognizable. My favorite collections were the FF 25/26 issue and 2 Thor issues - one with the 125 to 130 stories and the Mangog story arc.

[Smokinghawk]

"Blood: A Tale" by Kent Williams, read as a teenager at night with Bauhaus music playing in the background.

 

Reading "Elektra: Assassin" while I was very young and just KNOWING there was something very, very special about Bill Sienkiewicz's art. I even pretended to understand the story.

 

Conan, around issues 145-155, and Savage Sword with Buscema and ERNIE CHAN on inks (nobody else). I don't know why, but I always had a special fondness for these. Conan 145 was the first comic book I ever bought, and it was at a drug store on a trip to Ontario. I kept buying them after that until my mom said they were too violent.

 

Peter Parker, SSM: I hated Al Milgrom's art. But my best friends loved this title, and I bought it too, so during the summertimes out of school we could talk comic books for HOURS in the pool or while riding bikes.

 

Fantastic Four Big Little Book: a paperback b/w reprint of the first issues. I read it in a tent while camping as a little kid. It was the first "comic book" I ever read.

 

[chrisco37]

Great memories from everybody! I have many "fondest" memories, but I'll share my younger ones.

 

Fantastic Four #57 - Still, my single favorite issue ever. The very first back-issue I bought. One of the few SA books that survived the "comics for beer money" college era.

 

Fantastic Four #75-77 - "Worlds within Worlds". Great story that my Uncle had remembered from his youth and bought for me the same day I got the FF#57! (My Uncle is the person that got me into comic books!)

 

Marvel Masterworks Vol. 1 - As AK said, no way could I have ever read those classic Spidey stories without this book. I think I read the entire book the first day I bought it! Must've read it 100 times, and still pull it out occasionally. I loved issue #10 w/ Big Man and the Enforcers!

 

Chris

[chrisco37]

Fantastic Four Big Little Book: a paperback b/w reprint of the first issues

 

Man, am I glad you mentioned this! I had a similar book (still have it, and it is dogged!) that reprinted Fantastic Four #'s 1-6, in color! This is actually my first memory of comic books (Another present from the above mentioned Uncle). I was only like 5 or 6 at the time, but I remember my best friend and I acting out the issues. We Were the FF!!!!

 

BTW - Hey 'House! Were you ever able to dig a copy of this up?

 

Chris

[blowout]

For me a few issues stick out:

 

X-Men (V1) #28.

First comic book I was given. First app of Banshee, saw it lying on a bookshelf at a relatives house and was intriged by the cover, got so excited that my relative gave it to me. I must have read the book cover to cover around a hundred times the first week I had it.

 

ASM #33.

First Spidey book I ever read, also given to me by the same comic collecting relative in the mid 70's. Still remains my favourite ever Spider-Man book.

 

ASM Ann #3

Spidey gets the chance to join the Avengers and turns them down! They were my favourite super team and Spidey was my favourite character and boy did I want him to join. The book made me realise that Spidey was meant to be a loner.

 

ASM #161

The first comic book I can remember buying with my own money as a kid. Loved the Nightcrawler guest character and the spurred me to pick up the new X-Men books. At this point I became hooked on collecting comic books.

 

 

[ArAich]

This is by far my fondest reading memory that also sparks childhood memories of when I would vacation in Maine at my aunt & uncles farm. I remember reading this book over & over because I loved when Boomerang would chuck those metal disks at the Hulk or destroy the army guys guns...

By far this one book is what sparked my interest in comics and why the TTA books are my favorite Marvel run...

 

[seank]

Not a childhood memory, but one of my fondest comic book reading memories:

 

At Wondercon 91 or 92 I found a mispriced Four Color 275, Donald Duck in Ancient Persia, in BTC, true POS condition. The sticker said $5 and the book was worth maybe two or three times that at best. The dealer recognized the mistake and sold be the book anyway for $5. That evening in the hotel room, I read it and immediately upon opening the book I felt like a little kid discovering the magic of Carl Barks's work for the first time. That POS Donald Duck is more valuable to me than many of the NM comics in my collection.

[Foolkiller]

The first comic book I ever picked up was Captain America 286 with that awesoe Deathlok cover by Mike Zeck... I gotta reread that story when i get home!

I used to buy comics at the bookstore or off the newsstand and it wasn't until the Infinity Gauntlet that started going to comic book stores... that's one of my favorite stories of all time!

 

And the first trade paperback I ever bought was The Trial of Galactus, which remains to this day, my favorite of the John Byrne FF stories.

 

 

[chrisco37]

The first comic book I ever picked up was Captain America 286 with that awesoe Deathlok cover by Mike Zeck

 

There was a 9.8 of this book up on eBay yesterday. I haven't browsed eBay today, so I don't know if it's still available or not. Only reason I remember is that cover kicks major .

 

Chris

[greggy]

Ooops, the CGC 9.9 just ended! Yep, cover looks great!

 

Captain America 286 CGC 9.9

[Foolkiller]

I saw that auction too... I'd love to own that book (not at that price) I own my original beat to hell copy that was read 1000 times and a nice NM/NM- copy that is just fine for me.

 

As a side note... even though I collect mid/high grade (VF and above of pre 1975 books) and NM books post that... I still keep books that I bought off the newsstand or early on... how many others keep the old books they bought as kids even though they've upgraded?

[davidking623]

Giant Size X men 1 was a great read for me.

 

First spidey I bought was 138

 

My first 2 back issues that I ever bought were Marvel team up 1 and Spectre 1

 

Greatest reads are Alan Moore's Swamp Thing with 34 leading the list.

 

Davidking623

[FlyingDonut]

When I was a kid, we used to "summer" in north central Minnesota (think Lake Wobegon) where my grandparents had a cabin on the lake (actually, think "On Golden Pond'" and you're pretty much there). The store at the end of the road carried comics, and my brothers and cousins and I would go down there and buy ALL of them. I'm thinking summer of 74 - 100 page super spectaculars, giant size Marvel issues (I distinctly remember reading GS Spider-Man 2). I started collecting in 1975 - first books I bought as a "collector" was Fantastic Four 161, and then GS X-Men 1. Not a bad start!

[Titan777]

Avengers Annual #10........Rogue smashing captain America through a park bench unconscious.

 

X-men #133.............wolvwerine solo against the hellfire club (wolverine clinging to the ceiling in the opening scene I thought that was awsome)

 

X-men #142.........Colosus rage after storm is killed by the sentinals.....a few seconds later he is dead also.

 

Marvel 2 in 1 #50.......thing going back in time to confront himself and his past self not recognizing his future self.

[shadroch]

As a young boy,before I could read, The Legion enthralled me. I learned to read with those great Tales of Suspense issues-Cap,Ultimo,The Mandarian, and the evil of AIM. Capain Marvel 29- my all time all time .Introduced to Marvell,Jim Starlin, and Thanos all in one issue.Star Reach#1- Starlin,Chaykin,breasts,acid-to a 15 year old this was as close to perfect as it getsBut mostly, my fondest memories are of those who bought me these books, most of them long gone

[joe_collector]

That Captain Marvel reference bought back memories of an old beat-up copy of Captain Marvel 32 (who could resist that cover?), the only Starlin issue I bought as a kid, and still one of my favorites.

 

It was quite a difficult issue to follow for the era, but that last panel with Thanos walking out of the flame was tres cool.

 

I managed to pick up the tail-end CA #34 in a multi-pack, but that was it, This was also one of the very first runs I completed when I got a bit older, and it was a real blast to see how it all started and ended.

 

The ASM Clone Saga was also a real treat, and something I remember as being one of the coolest runs out there (the Jackal gave me the creeps), along with the oft-mentioned MTU Cotton Mather run, and the subsequent Claremont/Byrne run a bit later on.

[Foolkiller]

for those of you who were fans of the starlin captain marvell... how many of you equally enjoyed his first run on Warlock? For some reason, most of the people I've run into prefer the marvell run... I'm partial to the Warlock series partially because the art seemed more developed.

[joe_collector]

Thanos was a [!@#%^&^] in the Warlock series, though the art was killer.

 

The Captain Marvel run was a real rush, with a ruthless villain, plenty of guest-stars and the entire Universe at stake. Much, much better story.

[Foolkiller]

I really liked the played up religion angle and the Magus from the Warlock series... but the Captain MarVell line was a great straight super hero action story... one of my favorites as well...

The Infinity Gauntlet was my favorite Thanos story... and subsequent revisitations to that storyline have been overdone... but the original Infinity story was fantastic (and one of the best post 1990 stories I can think of)