What comic cover do you most remember as a kid?

[dekeuk]

We've all seen 10,000 comic covers, but there are a few that you remember so vividly that you recall the exact place and time you were when you first saw a certain cover. The cover I most remember is Limited Collectors Edition C-51, the first Neal Adams cover I ever saw.

 

I had just started collecting Batman in 1976 and went to the corner store in early 1977 (exactly 30 years ago) with $1 to buy up to 3 comics (for 30 cents each), and then maybe a pack of sports cards with the 10 cents that was left.

 

And then I saw it !!!!

 

A massive comic book with Batman on the cover, the biggest comic book I had ever seen. I had no idea they made these Treasury sized comics.

 

I had to have it. The only problem was it was $2 and I had only brought $1 to the store, and there was only one single copy. I was terrified someone else might buy it and I would never see another copy again (in the times before comic stores). So I ran home at record speed to get more money, then ran back to the store.

 

I was back in less than 10 minutes to buy the comic, it would have normally taken me 30 minutes to cover the distance at walking speed. But I had my prized comic, and it did not disappoint, with 4 Batman reprint stories, including art by Adams on 3 of the stories, and an original cover gallery with 3 Adams covers.

 

And I still have my original copy today that I bought exactly 30 years ago, it's not really in bad shape considering I was 8 years old when I bought it and it has never been in a comic bag:

 

 

 

So what is your similar story? What comic cover did you see as a kid that you can remember vividly today, including what was on the cover and the situation.

[aardvark88]

I went to my neighbor's birthday party when I was about 6 yrs old. He was older and had a 1970 Steranko Capt America poster taped to his wall. A year later, I did my 1st comic trade. Swapped my Amaz Spidey 121 straight across for a vg Capt America 110 classic Steranko cover that reminded me of that poster image engrained in my fragile, young mind!

[comicdonna]

I remember a childhood friend having some comics. The one comic I remember, was an ASM #1 That was about 34 years ago. I wonder if he still has it?

he seemed pretty proud of it. I had no knowledge of comics back then.

[innocuous]

Flash #300. That's also a wrap-around cover. I still have it.

[deathlok]

2 comics that I can remember as kid really liking are these two.

 

 

 

[juggernaut]

I remember three covers!! One is not really a comic book!!

 

 

 

[kidcolt]

For me it was all Archie and Uncle Scrooge comics.

[Jeffro.]

 

 

GREAT issue. One of my favorites.

[Jeffro.]

For me it was all Archie and Uncle Scrooge comics.

 

Some Uncle Scrooge for me too as well as Richie Rich and DC war.

[Timulty]

You guys are going to hate me but the cover I remember most is this one:

 

 

 

I remember picking this up from a liquor store in Huntington Beach California back in the day.

[Wally's Comics]

 

seeing that oversized cover

reminded me of an old classic spidey one shot

that I thought was awesome growing up.

 

 

 

 

[jools&jim]

One of the first comics I ever bought at the local 7-11 in Camp Hill, PA -- VERY memorable cover for me:

 

 

And this one, from a few years later:

 

 

I still have my original copies of both of them (images are from comics.org): the Cap is a VG at best, and the Batman is now coverless.

[moloch]

I thank Bill Sienkiewicz for forcefully drop-kicking my young mind out of the JohnByrne/GeorgePerez/pretty art = Good art mentality with this cover and issue of New Mutants 18. It truly boggled me that all my friends thought it was krap.

[dekeuk]

One of the first comics I ever bought at the local 7-11 in Camp Hill, PA -- VERY memorable cover for me:

 

 

Wow, that Batman issue you posted was the very first BACK ISSUE I ever bought. I was on vacation in 1981 in Rochester, NY area and it was the first time I had ever been in a comic shop. I didn't even know such stores existed, we certainly did not have comic shops anywhere I lived.

 

Imagine my surprise to see all these old Batman comics. That Spook cover was the first one I bought, little did I know I would not be able to ever stop buying...

[Karma23]

I clearly remember a friend pulling this one out of a brown paper bag one summer day at the park

[jools&jim]

One of the first comics I ever bought at the local 7-11 in Camp Hill, PA -- VERY memorable cover for me:

 

 

Wow, that Batman issue you posted was the very first BACK ISSUE I ever bought. I was on vacation in 1981 in Rochester, NY area and it was the first time I had ever been in a comic shop. I didn't even know such stores existed, we certainly did not have comic shops anywhere I lived.

 

Imagine my surprise to see all these old Batman comics. That Spook cover was the first one I bought, little did I know I would not be able to ever stop buying...

 

I know what you mean. And have you noticed how most of the older covers listed here have clear, but dramatic, images, lots of primary colors/contrast, bold logos, and (on balance) focused, tight layouts? Unlike most of the washed-out, incoherent drivel cluttering up the racks today. For example:

 

 

With today's built-in audience of pre-ordering fan-people, cover design--which was supposed to grab your attention and make you want to buy the comic--is a long-lost art I'm afraid. It just doesn't matter anymore...

[thedude]

Action Comics #500

 

note: I have every one of those covers on the front backround, except of course Action #1, and Action #100 which is shown on the back cover, it was great fun as a kid trying to make out which issues are on the background.

 

[deathlok]

I know what you mean. And have you noticed how most of the older covers listed here have clear, but dramatic, images, lots of primary colors/contrast, bold logos, and (on balance) focused, tight layouts? Unlike most of the washed-out, incoherent drivel cluttering up the racks today. For example:

 

With today's built-in audience of pre-ordering fan-people, cover design--which was supposed to grab your attention and make you want to buy the comic--is a long-lost art I'm afraid. It just doesn't matter anymore...

 

I truly believe today's cover artists have lost the art of creating a simple but effective cover. As you say many of the covers today are very busy or are not very balanced in content. Even when covers are simple by design they fail to effectively communicate the content of the book.

[arexcrooke]

2 spring to mind:

X-Men 67

X-Factor 1

[BlowUpTheMoon]

I remember waiting for this issue to come out and can distinctly remember seeing a dozen copies on the rack at Fay's Drugs. I think that's the reason I now own so many copies.