***This is the ANY COMIC BOOK version of a thread over yonder in the Long Live the Legion forum .***

First time you bought a comic book, most recent time, or somewhere in between....
An issue you loved, an issue you didn't, or one that was ho-hum....
A shopping trip that was unusual in some way or one that was routine....

The circumstances don't matter. So go on, tell your purchase story!

Other methods of acquisition OK too!

PLEASE NOTE: the story of you enjoying the comic book is welcome in addition to OR in place of the purchase details!

2002.

Planned stop at the CBS, unplanned purchase. I didn't follow X-Force, but how could I resist Darwyn Cooke's cover with Edie and the oranges? I went home on that surprisingly temperate early spring (?) day with a copy on top of the comic book stack in my bike's basket.

PS: I followed X-Force following that.

X-FORCE and X-STATIX were totally and completely awesome. Nice way to kick off the thread... BRB with my entry...

The year: 1976-77-78mish.

I'd been an avid Defenders-O-phile for a li'l bit already, soaking up the completely weird and awesome superheroic tales presented in that book since the issues in the 30s, where wee me began reading.

Now, I don't know the story of the purchase of this book, but I *do* know ONE thing... I LOVED HELLCAT. I wanted to slap Moondragon for convincing her to turn down Avengers membership in AVENGERS 151.

And I also LOVED THIS ISSUE.




It was Patsy's first full appearance after popping in at the tail-end of the previous issue. The boys had been brainwashed by the Red Rajah (spoiler: AKA a possessed Dr. Strange). The girls had to reign them in, as the cover depicts, while also dealing with the mystic might of the Rajah. (Clea was also a factor in the ladies' favor, though she isn't on the cover)

I loved this issue SO much, that I re-drew it page for page and panel for panel on notebook paper... the ONLY comic I can ever remember doing that with.

But when the art is done by Keith Giffen and Klaus Janson, can you blame me?

The story was a thrillride for wee-me.

And I loved seeing the girls kick some ass.

Cheese & crackers!!!

Additional info:

The issue would have come from a drug-store or 7-11 spinner rack, as was the norm in those much-missed days.

And while I *do* still have the original issue (practically read to pieces)... the re-drawn version on notebook paper is long-lost...

I LOVE this stuff.

Please feel free to tell more than one story...as long as the focus of each separate story is on ONE comic book.

The year is 1978. Certainly this issue came from a spinner-rack. But back then, DC and Marvel were HARDLY the only comics to be found on those racks...

Gold Key, Charlton, Archie and Harvey comics were also usually healthily in-stock...

And this is one Harvey comic I never forgot:





Strangely enough, the issue is NOT memorable to be because of the giant gorilla. In fact I don't even remember that story.

These oversized issues contained a small handful of tales, and in this particular issue, one I never have forgotten.

Richie, Cadbury (both in their non-super regular IDs) plus Gloria and a couple of pilots are testing a super-speed plane of some sort-- but they end up in a land that is inhabited by the old-school myths. If memory serves, They meet nice guys like Eros and Pan first before running afoul of Persephone and her nasty underworld cohorts.

Everything is resolved in the end with the arrival of Juno the queen, and Mercury gets them all back where they belong.

As I recall, it was actually a pretty SCARY tale for a little kid, with lots of fighting and destruction going on.

It was also a memorable tale for me, because I had an early interest in mythology.

It is, I believe, the only HARVEY comic I kept when I sold off my Harvey collection, but that will need to be verified.

The issue is so memorable to me, I remembered the exact issue number when I did a search for the cover.

A 4-issue miniseries, issues 1-3 of which were fan-freaking-tastic.

But... where was # 4?

It sure never hit the CBS I then-frequented... or if it did, I missed it. And I was space-inconsolable!

Now, back in those days, a time called "the mid-90s" by some... I was all up in a relationship with a lovely lad (may he rest in peace) who wasn't really into comics but put up with ME being into comics well, and even humored me often and read a few.

But he was definitely into road trips. So we would often go on them.

We went on one all the way to Johnson City, TN one time... now, Memphis and Johnson City are QUITE a distance apart, as can be seen here:




It was about a 10-hour drive, as I recall.

But it was in Johnson City that I finally found THIS elusive issue:




And I finally got to read the cataclysmic finale to THE GOLDEN AGE, about 2 years after its publication!

That cover is stellar/awesome/amazing. (I only have the TPB : ( )

My CBS then also missed the Golden Age #4! We found it a year or so later as well. I remember the thrill of finally reading the ending (and what and ending!!).

I have one in mind I'll do tomorrow...

Why Lash, you were very near where I was born and raised. In fact, if you were traveling the interstate, you may have passed within half a mile of where I lived when I discovered the Legion. If I'd only known you were coming....

Not about one issue.

Warlord Annual #1 - 1982

One of my dear friends in college was a beautiful Madonna wanna be, lipstick lesbian named Linda. She liked to sketch and she and I shared a love of Mike Grell. Linda was, unfortunately, also a hopeless alcoholic. She spent some time in the county jail after being arrested on DUI charges. The county jail was on the same street as my favorite local comic shop, which was called Rock Bottom Comics. On my way to visit Linda in jail, I stopped by Rock Bottom and bought two copies of Warlord Annual #1. I took one to her and she spent her time in jail making beautiful drawings of Travis Morgan and the rest of the Skataris cast.

Came from the dentist one day, and had to wait for my dad at the mall. Was milling around window shopping when I found a nice new shop called Comic Odyssey. I went inside and browsed through their back issues...

And came away with Legion of Superheroes v4 Annual 6 , the very excellent issue with the origins of Kinetix, XS and Leviathan.



Thank you, dentist!

Sweet story. I wonder what became of Linda.

When I was a little kid, I loved comic books more than any other kids I knew—because my Dad loved comic books. It was “our thing” and it remains that way to this day. My other siblings interest comes and goes over the years, but its really me and my father who consider it our hobby.

I was raised on Silver Age Marvel comics. For the first 11 years or so of my life, that is mainly what I read (or had read to me). There were some exceptions (Flash, Firestorm, etc.) but it was mainly Silver Age Marvel.

And so, one day on the way home from a family outing to the Beach, my Dad realized we were right near our then comic book store and told my Mom he was going to run in and get this week’s comics. Realizing I’d never been in it, I asked him if I could join him, and he said “of course!”. My brothers and sister decided to wait in the car.

Now, being only 11, I had no real money to my name. I could barely scrounge up $2.00. But I was determined to buy a comic book for myself.



It was “What If?” #41: “What if the Avengers had fought Galactus?”

Being a Silver Age Marvel fan (and knowing really nothing that happened between 1970 and now, which at that time was 1992), I felt it was a question I had to know the answer to!

I loved it. I loved it so much that I must have reread it a dozen times. I the early Marvel history so well at that point that each panel was like a light bulb going off for me: “No Fantastic Four means no Namor revived!” “Which means no Captain America revived!” “So Iron Man stays with the Avengers, not Cap!”

I couldn’t wait to show it to my Dad. I *knew* he would love it. I felt so proud.

And…he loved it. So much that we started to collect “What If?” Then I really felt proud—we were collecting a whole new series because of the comic I bought.

I went back the next week with him bought two more (with my own money). And then the next week. And soon even though it was on his way home from work, he’d come get me and bring me back so we could go together. And he stopped me from using my own money so I could add comics I thought were worth getting.

And I’ve never *not* gone since.

This is probably my favorite Cobie post ever.

Not about one issue.

Nice post, Cobie.

I'm jealous that you are able to share your love of comics with your dad.

Apparently LT and I grew up very close to one another.

The summer after I finished first grade, we actually had somebody come to summer camp and give away comics. (Could it have been an actual DC directive to do this? I honestly don't remember why this happened, but I believe they were new comics.)

My comic was Wonder Woman, and somehow involved her running a gauntlet of giant exploding teeth to save the other Amazons, who were being held hostage by a (female) baddie.

That's all I remember.

Cleome, was it this one? Detailed info here.

Yes! I think so. And 1973 would definitely place it in the proper time period, Teeds.

How did you know, Teeds?

Google, young Lash. Cleome gave a very good description, and she lists her birthdate in her profile, so I knew the timeframe checked out.

You're so Oracle!!

I 100% agree!

Now those are some mad research skills!

Shouldn't a Brainiac have research standards more rigorous than "punch keywords into The Google"?


Shouldn't everyone be telling their stories? More, people, more!

When I was seven years old, my parents let me stay up to watch the premiere of the black & white George Reeves Superman TV show on NBC. It featured state-of-the-art special effects, like a guy suspended by wires, break-away walls, and double-exposure x-ray vision. I loved it.

That weekend, I accompanied my mother on a shopping trip which included a visit to the pharmacy. There I found a comic book which I now realize was Superman #72: the first-ever team-up of Superman and Batman. I begged my mom to purchase it for me, at the exorbitant price of 10¢. (If I had bought 10¢ worth of gold in 1952, it would be worth $6.25 today.)

I hated it. I thought it was stupid. Basically, the story is that Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent fight over Lois Lane while on a cruise, and capture some pointless low-level crook along the way. I continued to watch the Superman TV show, and loved it. Superman even appeared on I Love Lucy, and got me watching that show as well. (and may I add, Lucille Ball was a true comic genius)

Another story:

So after I started going weekly with my Dad, I got to experience my first “Comic Book Store Sale” where back issues were like 30% off or something (in the 90’s you didn’t get that many bargains like now where you can get stuff like 60% off). So my Dad, my uncle and I geared up, rechecked our lists, and got ready to go. I was super-pumped at age 12 or so.

BTW, my Dad stopped collecting comics around 1970. He started back up again in 1981 around when I was born. By the time I was reading them, he had filled in the vast majority of Marvel and DC comics during those missing years, as well as the big holes in his DC collection in the 60’s. Some runs were totally complete like Spider-Man (his favorite), Fantastic Four (my Uncle’s) and Thor. Most of them though had very big holes and my entire teens were spent hunting them down.

Also BTW, my Uncle also loved comic book like my Dad and I. Anyone who said they didn’t like Jack Kirby was dead to him. Unfortunately, my Uncle has been in a bad way for many years now and I’d rather not get into it (he became a full blown alcoholic and in fact, has never recovered from an abusive childhood like my father did).

Anyway, most of the Marvel titles had gaps that seemed like they could easily be completed. Two of them, however, did not: X-Men and Daredevil. And with good reason as Byrne & Cockrum X-Men comics as well as Miller Daredevil comics were super-hard to find. And they weren’t cheap either.

So we went to the CBS for that big sale, probably with my Dad and Uncle having $150 between them, with the intent of filling in the 1970’s Marvels (DC always came second in back issue collecting). We found dozens of Captain America’s, Iron Man’s, Avengers, etc. And I found something really awesome:



(Uncanny) X-Men #121, the first full appearance of Alpha Flight and their first cover appearance. Looking at it just now, I can see why I was mesmerized by it! I wanted it so bad. The problem? It was something like $55.00 since it was in mint condition! Say whaaa—aaat? In order to get that, my Dad reasoned, we’d have to skip out on tons of other series that we could fill in for like $4.00 and $5.00 a pop. So the decision ultimately was, let’s skip it and get one day down the road and instead get more quantity of comics at this sale.

I was heartbroken. I thought we’d never find it again…

And just like I thought for 10 whole years, we didn’t find it. Over the next ten years, throughout my teens, we filled in the entire Marvel collection for all the main titles. (The ones that started in the Silver Age). The last series to be completed was the X-Men, as we were missing a few key issues, like the Dark Phoenix finale, the first Kitty Pryde and of course, #121. And then one day, our new CBS (which we came to in 1994 and are still with today) had a sale, and called us ahead of time to tell us. They even let us have “first dibs”, going in on Thursday since we’re their best customers.

And among them were all the X-Men comics we needed. Including that holy grail for me, X-Men #121! And the kicker, it was only like $40 and still in mint condition, so less than it was 10 years earlier. *And* we got it at 50% off!

And so that day we completed our run of the X-Men at long last! The lesson, I guess, was patience. But more than that, it was to enjoy the thrill of the hunt, since that is what the collecting aspect is all about.

I agree, and I want to compliment Cobie for another excellent post.

I'd also like to thank Tom Tanner for posting a hated it story. They can't all be diamonds, right?

Thank you, Teeds! This is turning into my favorite thread.

And Tom, I agree, love a good 'I hated it' story.

All of Teeds' compliments to Cobie are making me space-jealous.

I feel the same way when TD derides other people!

Less of the Lash/Ester Emotional Problems Hour and more of the comic book stories please!

Linda didn't graduate with us. Her parents eventually pulled her out of school and sent her to rehab. Last I heard she was in Oklahoma and still partying.

In the mid-80s I was filling in my New Mutants collection with the early issues. After one such purchase, I opened the comic to realize I already owned a copy. I took it right back to the CBS, but only got 1/2 the price I paid for it---like driving the car off the lot, it immediately lost half its value. I believe I immediately repaired to a soda machine with that fifty cents.


It was probably this one.



I know it wasn't this one. You don't forget Axe.

I for one would certainly enjoy hearing a tale of EDE's purchase of a comic-book.

What was his motive? What was he thinking? Was he thinking of me? Was it raining? Was a Tanya Tucker song playing on the radio as he drove from the seedy establishment where the purchase went down?

Were Funyuns involved?

Even as a kid I wasn’t stupid enough to feel the need to buy every tie-in comic to a major crossover. However, for I can recall clearly my first experience with a “mini-crossover”, where a storyline crosses between 2-3 titles, and when I was first faced with having to decide if I wanted to buy the issues in the series that I didn’t currently collect.

Once I began reading all of the then “off the rack” comics we were collecting, Spider-Man was immediately a top draw for me since he was my favorite hero. Web of Spider-Man was kicking off a mini-crossover with ‘Spirits of Vengeance’, a series that starred both Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze, as they were two separate characters then. It was called Spirits of Venom.

The mini-crossover is actually a good reflection of comics in the early 90’s. It featured Venom, who was basically everywhere in comics at that time and dominated Spider-Man’s comics. At the time, I actually hated the Venom character because in my pre-teen mind, I thought Venom hogged all the limelight and ‘young fans’ like myself didn’t give the Silver Age Spider-Man villains enough credit. The crossover was an excuse to pit Venom against Ghost Rider, who was also all the rage in the early 90’s. His popularity reached its peak then, though I’ve never really figured out why he became so popular right then and why it didn’t last.

It also featured the Inferno-created Demogoblin (who split from Hobgoblin) and the Spider-Man Doppleganger, a leftover from the Infinity Crusade crossovers. Hobgoblin was my favorite of all Spider-Man villains because of the Stern / Defalco issues almost 10 years earlier (literally only months earlier in my reading chronology) so I actually kind of liked Demo & Doppy. It also featured Hag & Troll, two Ghost Rider villains and the Guardsman.

We already collected Web of Spider-Man, so I got Web #95 and #96:





Now, my Dad never collected any Ghost Rider comics, and so I never collected any either, nor had any interest in the character. I totally understood he had an awesome visual, and I had recently seen his appearance in Jim Lee’s X-Men comic, but that’s about it.

Decision time: the story was entertaining enough but was it that good, or that essential, to pick up Spirits of Vengeance #5 and #6?

…I decided, yes, I should buy these issues.





I bought them (these with my own money), read them and was able to get the complete story.

The end result? Well, even then I felt it was all a bit ‘meh’. I learned that when you buy a crossover issue of another comic, you’re still just buying a comic book about other characters. Your favorites are really just guests that with a limited presence, and the title’s stars and subplots are paramount to the issue, regardless of it being a crossover. In terms of plot importance, well, the plot wasn’t all that complex to begin with, so I wasn’t missing anything vital. All I ended up getting was some extra fight scenes where instead of Spider-Man shining, it was Ghost Rider shining.

The issues weren’t bad by any means, but they just weren’t what I was expecting. I thought by completing the crossover, the story would be much more fulfilling and some sort of ‘ah ha!’ moment would occur. It didn’t. All I got was two more issues of a bit of a standard, albeit fun, Spider-Man / Venom / Ghost Rider story.

And all these years later, this has been my experience 98.5% of the time. Its easy to give an example with Venom and Ghost Rider because most early 90’s popular stars are scoffed at these days, but the same rule applies to Superman or any other comic book star.

I reread the issues years later and they actually are pretty entertaining and fun. I’m glad I have them, even though they’re not Shakespeare. But by having the complete set, the story by no means is “enhanced” as the company’s would like to have you believe.

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Mom gave my little 12 year old self my allowance and set me free in a grocery store. I grabbed up my very first DC Dollar Comic - Superman Family #183. It was perched on the top of the spinner rack. Gorgeous Neal Adams cover. All those pages of brand new stories. Nightwing and Flamebird! It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.

I rushed to the check out stand. The girl at the register wrinkled up her nose and said, "Oh my God. Who would pay a dollar for a comic book?" My feelings were hurt. I was too shy and embarrassed to say anything. I felt like I had done something wrong. I awkwardly payed for it, picked it up, and rushed out of the store, taking with me a lifelong pet peeve. If I'm buying something, sales clerks need to keep their opinions to themselves.

Heaven knows what that clerk thinks of the price of comics now.

Cobie's Ghost Rider crossover story reminded me of my own similar experience, although mine turned out differently.

When the first Ghost Rider series began, circa 1973, I avoided it. Motorcycles and flaming skulls were the things young boys were *supposed* to like and, even at that age, I hated being pandered to. But when GR # 7 hit the stands, pitting GR against a "One-Man Zodiac," I had to check it out.

The Zodiac story line had run in Avengers # 120-122 a few months earlier, with one member of the crime cartel (Libra - my sign!) continuing to appear for a few months after as Mantis's father. I liked Zodiac as villains. In Avengers # 120, they literally burst onto the scene by ambushing the heroes in their own mansion and defeating them in a blitzkrieg assault. They seemed incredibly powerful and ruthless, and (like the Legion) there were a lot of them (12 to be exact), each easily identifiable via costume and powers.

When the cartel was defeated in Avengers # 122, I thought that was the end of them, so I was pleasantly surprised to see their story continued in Ghost Rider # 6-7. (Fortunately, # 6 was still on the stands, and I was able to pick it up, too.)

As it turned out, the cover blurb lived up to its promise: Only one member of Zodiac appears -- Aquarius. Dying from cancer, he's made a deal with the devil (never a smart thing to do) in exchange for possessing all of the powers and identities of his former teammates. In the end, Satan tricks him, of course, and claims his soul.

However, the story stood out because it made me care about Aquarius, a very minor character in the Avengers issues. I truly felt sorry for him, caught between a deadly illness and the devil with no way out. The story made me realize that people who are desperate will do desperate (and sometimes foolish) things.

It also made me realize that there was no such thing as a minor character in the Marvel Universe. Even obscure villains had their own stories to tell.

More, I liked Ghost Rider as a character (which I attribute to the writing of Tony Isabella) and continued to follow his first series until it was canceled after 81 issues.

When Sandman came out in Junior High, I was hooked on Gaiman. I went right out and purchased Black Orchid #1, which my Mom found and promptly disapproved of ("She's not really naked, Mom, honest").

It wasn't until a few years later when I was in High School that I decided I was buying the other two myself. We only had one Comic Shop in town and it was a dingy little place which was almost hilariously a dead-on Sterotype of what comic shops should be. Diving through the back issue bins, I found a decent copy of #2, but there was only one copy of #3 and it was marked up to a ridiculous (for the time) $15.00. Admittedly, Gaiman's star was on the rise, but this was far above any guide price and was blatant gouging. 15 year-old me stared and stared at it. I needed this book, but I wasn't going to pay that price. With a lump in my throat and my heart beating fast, I took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching, and quickly ....

pulled the price sticker off the plastic back, crumpled it up and put it in my pocket.

I went to the front desk and as calmly as I could said, "this one had no price". The owner looked the book over, puzzled, then looked at the copy of #2 I had ($7.00), shrugged and charged me the same for both.

It took all my might not to run from the store with my ill-gotten gains. I was wracked with guilt for months later and brought the incident up the next three times I went to Confession (I still believed in God back then), but at the same time, I never did take the book back or admit my "crime".

Of course, looking back, I laugh as it was clearly a rip-off move on the stores part and I'm sure an $8.00 "discount" won't go down in the halls of the Juvenille Delinquency hall of fame, but at the time I would probably actually tremble while reading the book, my "half-stolen" comic.

Great story! I know exactly what you mean. Although not a comic I purchased (and therefore, slightly off-topic), Amazing Spider-Man #38, "Just a Guy Named Joe" got across this feeling really well, and that was a story I reread dozens of times as a kid. This concept is something that also made the Claremont X-Men run feel so special--"walk on characters" like Col. Michael Rossi and Lee Forrester were fully rounded individuals that would have complex back stories and emotions even though they were supporting characters in an already crowded comic.

This story just made my day!

Cobie, do you really have to quote the whole post?

Space-Agreed!

Bah! I'm led to believe all of Eryk's comics are stolen since he hasn't posted a story yet!

Also space-agreed!

Are stolen or were stolen?

Doesn't matter! Ester is on notice.

Not about one issue.

I like the continuing saga but let's hear a "one issue" story from Dev!

A few years back my interest in zombies became full-blown zombie fandom... and with that came finding out about zombie comics like The Walking Dead and... MARVEL ZOMBIES.

Those twisted covers that were spins on classic Marvel covers just utterly fasciniated me when I saw them online!

Online, yes... because I missed the first series completely!

So I was tres' excited when I saw this issue at my CBS:



Turns out it was a "pre-quel" to the actual first miniseries... and it was utterly gross and fascinating!

After this, I *had* to read the MZ series, so I bought it as a hardback (the only way I could FIND it!!), which is a fairly rare thing for me to do.

And it turned out perfectly, because I got to read the story in chronological order this way.

Sorry...guess I'm not playing by the rules.

So pony up the story and we'll call it good!

Extra credit if the story actually involves a pony.

This actually pissed me off for you!!!

Lots of fascinating stuff here, BTW... I'm enjoying it a lot.

The decade: the 80s. Mid-to-late 80s-mish.

I was in college and quickly fell in with a rather large, fluctuating group of friends who hung out in the University Center lounge. One of those friends shopped at the same CBS I did, and I saw him reading this issue:





Now I was leaning towards the gay even then, but even today I have never outgrown my appreciation for cheesecake, and back then I was thoroughly fascinated by the cover, which was unlike anything you ever saw on a DC or Marvel cover to say the least.

He let me read it when he was done; I thoroughly enjoyed it and went directly to the CBS-- probably skipped a class to do it-- and bought this issue as well as the previous 4 and the 3-issue miniseries that preceded it.

I stayed with HERO ALLIANCE through the remainder of its run (17 issues, an annual, a special, a 3-issue mini costarring Justice Machine and an oversize quarterly series that ran 4 issues).

I saw it launch the careers of Jason Pearson and Stuart Immonen.

To this day, I have never seen ANYone do "heroes in the real world" better than HERO ALLIANCE. Plus it had a mythology that stretched back to the 'golden age'.

And I quickly learned the cheesecake factor in Hero Alliance was equally used for the ladies AND the guys.

I think it was last year, I finally got to tell my college friend through Facebook about him getting me hooked on this book back in the day after he commented on a HA cover I posted on my page.

It is to this day my fave independent series (not counting The Walking Dead/IMAGE as independent). I'd love to see it return someday, somewhere.

1982: As I had discovered the Comic Book Shop in the absolute-latest 70s, I did buy a bulk of them there.

However, at this time, comics were still widely available at 7-11s and drug stores.

A post made on LW's facebook page today reminded me of one such drug-store purchase. I can remember about 6 or so drug-store/7-11 type places I got my comics as a wee kid, most of them are not there anymore or are there in an altered form.

But I very much remember being with my grandmother and great Aunt when I bought this unforgettable gem off a spinner-rack in Southaven, MS:




And it very much occurs to me that without my grandmother I would be NOWHERE NEAR the comics fan I am today, and certainly wouldn't have had anywhere near the collection I had.

I wonder if this particular drug store is still there... I haven't been down that end of Stateline Road in awhile...

Gasp!! I promise no more posts here, but I had another memory-jog I must archive! Another place I remember buying certain comics was at a store called THE TREASURY which now no longer exists!

You can read all about it on its wiki page (it won't let me link!! Something else else about parentheses) which features THIS IMAGE of the unique design of the store (which I always remembered) taken in Memphis no less, which I thought was pretty cool:




Anyhoo, one issue I distinctly remember buying off the spinner-rack at The Treasury:




This was my very first exposure to a heroine some fo you may have heard of-- Infectious Lass! It was her 2nd appearance but I didn't know that until later.

Dream Girl being miscolored on the cover still annoys me to this day, as she rarely had a cover appearance back then!!

BTW, my pre-1976 comics ended up on the receiving end of scissors-- I liked to cut out the best images of the characters therein, like a little spaz. Fortunately by this time, I had figured out I couldn't re-read them if they were cut all up Now I'd like to go back and determine with exactly what S/LSH I stopped cutting them up...

Wrong!

Keep going.

Perhaps I will do some comics-cutting detective work...

Remember, people, Lash is delicate. He can't carry the whole page by himself!

Okay after a bit of detective work, I am now ready to discuss when I stopped making paper-dolls with my comics. I am sure my parents were probably also glad to see an end to this!

This will involve discussing multiple issues, but I'll have comments for every single issue so it still kinda fits in this thread. Anyway-- this is where I'm putting it.

Read on, and let's end this mystery together-- or scroll past and save yourself now!!


Now. We can definitely rule out these issues:





(S/LSH 205 and 202) ...because I very distinctly remember paper-dolling the Dave Cockrum LORE OF THE LEGION from these... which means I have owned S/LSH 205 (my favorite-ever single issue of a comics magazine) no less than 3 times-- 2 of which I still own.

I am about 75-80% sure I had 202 as a wee one, but can't say 100%. That was a lOOOOng time ago. I can say for a fact that if I had it, it was cut on!

Now next, I remember this issue...



...probably for the scene of Superboy in his pajamas, which I no-doubt cut out!

My memory gets really solid around the time of this issue, which I remember very distinctly:



That Luck Lords tale was an early fave and Grell's Legionnaires and LSV were SO hot!! Plus there's a Chemical King cameo appearance with dialogue and I always liked him-- this was probably my first exposure to that young dark-haired lad in green that I felt some weird connection to (or 2nd, after the LORE entry that would have been in S/LSh 202-- the more I think on it, the more I am getting sure I *did* own 202). I bet I cut that image of him yawning against the door out, for sure.

I'm certain I had this issue as well, because I remember liking Duo Damsel's yellow outfit (I knew her from previous reprints of Adventure-era stories):



I bet I cut ALL those images of Lu out!

The Legion's first encounter with the living dead came in this issue:



--which I very much remember buying at 'stop-N-go' type store not far from my grandparents that is still there as a big gas station now. It no-doubt felt the scissors' sharp edge. I think I remember a Lightning Lad butt-shot worthy of Cockrum himself in this issue, but I digress.

This issue traumatized me, because it looked like mean ol' Superboy was gonna beat up Chemical King for a second there:



he didn't, of course, but I was left with the impression that Condo and Clark were never tight after that, and in fact didn't buy their scene much later together in S/LSH 228 because of it. I *know* I cut out all those Chem pics!


This is dragging on, so I'll close it out quickly in the following post.

ok I've got one ....

My best friend in elementary school was frickin awesome. I use the word frickin because I remember he used to cuss a lot. And wear hightop converse with shorts. And he had a shaved head and a duck tail. (and he got the George Michael tape with 'I want your sex' on it) Keep in mind that we were about 8ish to 10ish when we were friends. so ... 9 or 10 punk haircut .. cussing.

So, I've been into comics since I was 4 or so. And JH <-- my best friend in elementary school. was also into comics. He even had the Marvel Role Playing Game. Which was far too advanced for us. I don't think I've had a real life friend into comics since then.

Now, JH was awesome ... he would tell off people that were snotty to me. One of his favorite words was 'B.S.' ... and as I get older, I realize a lot of things are B.S..

The funny thing is, his parents were really mellow hippy type people, really quiet people. I liked them also, they were down to earth.

So back to the comic books:

we were on a field trip one day to, I think, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and we stopped at this place called 'the Grapevine' which is a spot with tourist shops, all in wood or log architecture. It's right before you go over the 'mountains' from the valley where we lived to the coast to see the Aquarium.

The gift shop had a very small collection of comic books. Now that I think about it, I don't think it had comics, just a few randoms.

BUT !! I see THIS:




Funny but not so funny, it's the first cover to come up when doing a google image search of justice league of america detroit covers.

I see it and I have to have it. I know this is an especially good comic book. I get in the super long line at this tourist shop. George Perez goodness! Who's art I already was a fan of because his New Teen Titans and Crisis OIE. The best things my child eyes had seen!

This was 86 ish so my brain freaked out :

The satellite league is back !??! At the time, this was I think in the middle of the Detroit League, which sadly lost my 8 year old butt. So I was excited the 'real' JLA was back !

(When researching this issue it says '83 ... so I'm not sure if this was a reprint or this had been on the shelf at the shop for years, untouched because it seemed like new)

.. I jumped on to the JLA when the satellite era was pretty much ending. I maybe caught the last 5 or so issues of the satellite era originally. Which I still love to this day. Martian war, demons taking of Zatanna .. it was fun.

JH waits in the long line with me. We get to the register. And I place my comic on the counter. And the stern lady rings it up and ............. CHARGES TAX! .....


My child face went blank. I had like 66 cents. And ... the lady charged an incredible amount of tax because I was 30 cents short!! I was aghast. I would never have waited in line for something I couldn't afford. I counted my money before getting to the counter. So I waited there confused ... hoping the clerk would be kind but ... she wasn't .... the line was getting longer ....

I didn't understand why it said 60 cents and it wasn't priced at 60 cents. I must have known somewhere in my little head that comics weren't taxed.

JH offered to pay the difference, obviously pissed at this lady!!! I said no. Trying to think of an alternative solution. JH offered again, I said OK since the line was getting longer and longer. I think JH put something back actually to help me pay for my comic. And did a fairly good job of acting disgusted like "he didn't want what he was going to get anyway!" I actually think he really didn't.


Problem solved. I got me issue 217. Thanks JH!

I didn't get to read it on the bus to the Aquarium but I enjoyed it later, I think I was kinda traumatized by the whole experience at the time.

After that, JH used to ask about the comic he partially bought. But I was always weird about the whole thing. Like he would take it or was mad to have paid part of it. I think he was just giving me a hard time because I'm sure I tried to pay him back.

Unfortunately, We moved away when I was 11. There was no JH or JH like kid at my new school. We tried to stay in touch and hang out on the weekends but that only lasted a year. I was kind of weirded out by my new living situation, we moved to a much less nice town.


I'm not sure I've had a friend like JH since, It's hard to say though because life gets more complicated as you grow up. It WAS nice to have someone tell off people that were snotty to me. I've tried to look up JH on FB but, no success. Besides, It's been like 24 years.


I still have the comic book though. it's a good one.

To shorten this tale considerably...

In my LSH longbox, I have determined that THIS issue of S/LSH is the point where I still have my originals:



Which is the issue following my first exposre to Infectious Lass mentioned in a previous post.

All other issues were bought out of back-issue bins to replace the originals and are in better condition.

In the case of issue 218, I am uncertain if this is because it was cut on or because I read it to pieces. I am thinking the latter.

The last issue I actually remember taking scissors to is:



--S/LSH 217, the issue right before my intro to Drura.

So I am calling IT the final issue I cut on; I'm about 85% sure of it. Obviously I re-bought S/LSH 218 to get a better-condition copy.

And so the mystery is kind-of solved. Sorta. And we can all get on with our lives!

>>>GASP!<<<< Peebs, I **love** your story!!

Please keep trying to find JH!!

1986

My friend K and I stop by a convenience store. I had no money. Out of the blue, she tells me she's going to buy me a comic, and to pick one off the spinner rack. I got:





I don't recall if I had read or heard about MM before then. I liked the issue, though, and caught up with the series a little later.

K wasn't into comics, but she also picked one out for herself. I think she might have bought us snacks, too. Thanks, K!

LOL... I can see why that was K's choice! I almost wanna read it too...

I was aware of 'Mazing Man but never read it. I only just this week learned it was written by--

BOB ROZAKIS.

My grievous error will soon be corrected, I'm thinking.

K later gave me her comic! I don't have it anymore, but I DO have the 'MM5 she bought me.

I was actually about to ask you if she gave it to you! She sounds sweet.

Great stories Teeds, Lash and Peebs!

Peebs--you reminded me of how sales tax is one of the great, unfair enemies of kids!

To some degree, I inherited my love of comics from my dad. When I was really, really little, I remember him buying some for himself and letting me read them, then later buying some that I picked out off the spinner rack.

I think he read some a good bit when he was a boy and did so sporadically when he was in the Navy, at least in his first dozen or so years. He didn't have a collection. Most either got thrown away or ended up in some pack rat hole or another. But after he stopped buying for himself, he was still always interested in superhero movies (like the Christopher Reeve Superman) and live-action TV shows (like the Incredible Hulk and the short-lived Spider-man show). I'm sure his fond memories of old comics enhanced his enjoyment of them.

Anyhow, over time my allowance notoriously became devoured by my growing comics habit (to both of my parents' derision), and dad never seemed interested in what I'd purchased. But there was one rare exception:



After a period of buying Marvel exclusively (caught the X-bug ), Crisis drew me back to the DCU with its promise of untold carnage! But issue 7 was the most absolutely SHOCKING (and sad) book I'd ever read. Never had 15 year-old Lardy been witness to the death of what he considered a major character! I definitely shed some tears reading that one.

After reading it, I took the book and found my dad in his familiar place on the recliner. "Dad!" I said. "You've got to read this--Supergirl DIES!"

He had a look on his face that seemed puzzled, but he took the offered comic and proceeded to read it, folded-to-the-back style. A while later, he gave it back to me, looking a little sad. He said, "makes me wish I still read comics."

He read. he appreciated it. He was touched by it.

I'll never forget that.

I sure miss him.

Really great story, Lardy! I never knew you pcked up your comic book habit from your Dad! I can totally understand how great it felt then (and still does when you think of the memory) to have your Dad read and be moved by a comic you bought.

Comic Book Guy tells his story of Radioactive Man 100 in Radioactive Man v2 n1.





You can buy and read it and tell your story!

Summer 1991

I'm at the shop and I must have had a little extra cash, because I picked up this new comic completely on a whim:





I don't think I'd heard of it prior to then. I vaguely remember seeing the issue on shelf, but I'm not sure exactly what caught my eye...sometimes you get drawn in by a really great cover but this one is just okay to me. Maybe it was the They Might Be Giants pin. Maybe I just wanted to buy another comic and it was right there. ANYWAY...I read it and I didn't care for it. Win some, lose some, right?

A comic I only bought one issue of, AKA the power of covers:





Now, I was a huuuUUUU-UUUUUGE JLI by Giffen/DeMatteis fan... it may be my favorite run of any title ever.

Hawkman and Hawkgirl had appeared in several issues but disappeared.

HAWKWORLD came out, but I had never read any Hawk-books and didn't read this one. Still, I had an interest in Hawkgirl dating back to the Dick Dillin satellite era, and was so glad when they FINALLY let her join! Still, I wasn't what you might call a big fan of them.

However, THIS cover caught my eye-- MY Hawkgirl... what happened to her? What's Martian Manhunter and Max Lord (EDIT: Or is that Amanda Waller?) doing?? Could this be a flashback to JLI? I had to know... and I'm not a flip-through guy usually... I buy it and take my chances for the most part. And I did so with this issue, even though I had read (probably in WIzard) that HAWKWORLD had made Hawk-continuity a total mess for DC (of course, I knew it was CRISIS that had done THAT little crime, and for more than just the Hawks).

So I bought it, and was inconsolable when I learned MY Hawkgirl had perished during the INVASION, with no fanfare whatsoever. It seemed rather hateful to me and made me sad, and I never got into this version of the Hawks because of it.

Shayera Hol, created in 61, 15th member of the Justice League. She deserved a lot more than that.

I always liked her sassy talk, way way back before everybody was sassy talkin'.

Btw, How awesome was she in "Justice League: The Nail".

TRES awesome!

Adventures of Superman Annual #3.



Armageddon 2001 was my introduction to the DCU, so I'll always have a sentimental spot for it. But, sentiment aside, some of those annuals were damn good alternate-future stories!

This was one of them. In it, Lois Lane dies from trying to bear Superman's child, and he leaves Earth. Enter Maxima. I won't spoil the rest.

This comic made me a Maxima fan for life. Imagine how disgusted I was when I returned to comics after being (mostly) away from '97 to '04 to discover that she had died in Our Worlds at War.

Maybe she'll come back in the DCnU? I'm not holding my breath, but we'll see.

Maxima's tenure in the Justice League was great. She grew from a somewhat selfish super-powered foe into a stronger, more selfless heroine who had a strong sense of warrior's honor and a lot of class.

I was sad to hear about her death, too. She deserved more.

LSH v4 Annual 6

I've already told my story about this (came from dentist, teeth hurting, and found solace in this gem from the back issue bins).

Now THIS gem was one of the comics that got me into the Legion. I got it at the same time I bought my first comic of another team - the Justice League.

LSH v4 62

I was bored, hanging out at the mall with my mom. I chanced upon a shop selling back issues - I was familiar with them, because my aunt had a massive comics collection.

I quickly pawed through the issues, and found one that excited me -

Justice League Spectacular 1

I'd read a few issues of the Giffen era before, and loved all the cool powers, colorful costumes, and the fact that there were so gosh-darned many heroes all in one book. This was MY Justice League growing up, so I didn't appreciate the likes of Black Canary or Firestorm or Hawkman until later on.

As I was hungrily looking through the bins for more Justice League goodness (and found quite a few), I chanced upon LSH 62.

I'm not really sure why I grabbed it. Maybe because the heroes on the cover looked younger than the average hero (I hadn't been exposed to the Teen Titans yet). Maybe it was the gross giant spider threatening them - it looked scary enough, and I was intrigued at the giant hand grabbing it and at the girl who was fighting back. A girl who wasn't screaming or freaking out at that... thing? Whoa!

Whatever it was, I decided to throw it in with my Justice League purchases, and there you have it. I was blown away by the idea that teenagers (just a few years older than myself, even) could be entrusted with something so important - the safety of the galaxy, and acting like a beacon of hope and a symbol of tolerance for the universe. Whoa. How the heck could they manage that, when kids my age kept going around in their cliques and bullying one another?

I wanted more, and I got more, slowly building my collection of Post-Zero Hour Legion issues (and even many of the SW6 ones). The SW6 ones especially made me realize that there was a whole wide universe out there that I hadn't discovered yet. I mean, the Earth is gone? What?

Luckily, the Internet would come in a few years, and I was finally able to understand the different versions of the Legion.

Now I'm really glad my mom dragged me along that day.

I kinda have a LSH 62 story too... in those days, spinner racks were long gone, but bookstores and grocery stores still reserved some space for comics with the other magazines (I think bookstores still do but I no longer see them at grocery stores).

Anyhoo, after not seeing a LSH comic book anywhere but in a comic shop since the BAXTER launch, I saw LSH 62 in a grocery alongside the usual suspects like Spider-Man! I remember being slightly thrilled by this.

I can't remember if I bought it off the rack there though... probably not, as I'd been CBS-exclusive for a long, LONG time...

Keep it classy, Clark.

Frenching your new chick as she sits on your dead wife's grave is considered classy on Krypton.

Poor Maxima, worst date ever ...

Super-Klassy, Kal.

I want to point out that I made up the drag king name "Clark Repent" before I saw this cover.

I've thought of another one ...

I worked in Hong Kong for a year a couple years ago, It was the first time I've ever worked abroad, and the first real time I ever lived abroad.

I was uber lonely, separated from my bf, my dogs, and my friends ... not to mention I was depressed to be working frickin ALL THE TIME ... and I made some fun friends to go out with but, HK didn't have a lot to do when it came to my interests ... live music, museums, .... COMIC BOOKS ...

There were supposed to be a couple CBSs but I could never find them ... (months later when I did, the one I found was just a novelty shop)

One day I was going through the magazine rack at the fancy grocery store as I probably was buying some salami and cheese to sooth my comic book pangs ....

and I muther frickin SAW .... THIS!!!!



Hell yeah.

great art = check
dystopian future = check
the return of MY Legion/(FAVORITE)/original (it's been soooo long) = CHECK!!!


*sigh* It was almost as if Superman was flying through my hazy loneliness to say .... "Here's some old friends!"

I think I got these issues a couple months behind the curve but, I got them ALL, and they were so perfectly good .... they were almost enough to get me through my comic book famine.

It wouldn't be such a great story if the few comic books I was able to get during that year weren't so .... AMAZING.


.
.
.
.

Recently, while at a comic book sale, I bought mint copies to keep in their plastic bags forever. And even more recently while visiting my mom, I found some of the VARIENT COVERS (who knew there were beautiful varient covers TOO ) .... at the only good comic store in the area where she lives.

Okay, I'll admit the cover's tacky, but it's the story inside that counts.

(Not that I don't realize that the snarking's done in fun, and not that didn't find the snarking uproariously funny.)

I just hope you all will give it a chance.

If I come across it in the bins, there's NO WAY I can pass it up now!

LOL

Good to know.

And with comics of the early 90s having ridiculously large print runs, it should be easy to find cheap.

FL

Awwww.

PB

Hey you two, DON'T get a room on Shanghalla!

Neither of us swings in the other's direction.

Here's another story:

In the mid-90s, I was following very little DC because I hated what they did to Superman, Batman, and Hal Jordan. And Batman: Shadow of the Bat had gone into a quality spiral when Norm Breyfogle left after the first arc. Alan Grant is one of my favorite writers, but I've always felt that his Batman run, while his best-known and most lucrative run, was not his best-quality work.

Fast forward to 2010. I'm browsing in a used bookstore and they have a small selection of used comics. And I found this:



Grant & Kitson? The L.E.G.I.O.N. team supreme reunited? Gimme!

Now, the story wasn't that good, neither Grant nor Kitson delivering one hundred percent, but there's a very special kind of tingle that one feels when they see one of their favorite creative team's names on a book. So, just for delivering that tingle, this one is special to me.

I was all about Shadow of the Bat when I was a kid. From Zasszz to the Catman / Calendar Man/ Killer Moth team up to the Ugly American. That's when I began to associate "Alan Grant" with "must read". I remember that issue too Fanfie--by then the magic was kind of gone but I was still totally dedicated to the series!

Thanks to Alan Grant, even Lobo's solo ongoing had its moments!

"The Fragnificent Seven" -- come on, what's not to love?

Kind of a funny story about that book -- Keith Giffen got pissed off at Alan Grant for agreeing to write the Lobo solo ongoing, and Alan's defense was, "Well, DC's gonna do it with or without me, so why should I let them turn some crap writer on him?"

The western Lobo annual was a highlight of the 90's!

This was an issue I always wanted to get. Ultra Boy being my favorite character from the "Adventure Era" Legionnaires. I remember saving up a bit of money to take to a convention, this was in the mid 90's sometime, and I knew this issue wasn't going to be cheap. Anyway, I trekked to the local comic con, which happened to have a Mr. Curt Swan as a guest that year, and began my search.

Long story short, I found several copies for a variety of prices. Some above what I was willing to pay, and the others were pretty shabby copies. I had gotten several books signed by Mr Swan, and was pretty happy with other things I had found that day. I had a little money left and was getting ready to leave when I decided to check out one last vendor.

Searching through the books, I realized he had some very reasonable prices...and then I came upon the issue. Superboy *98, and it was in really good condition...not mint by any stretch of the imagination, but a nice relatively clean copy.

I checked my pocket...I had $10 left. I turned the book over slowly, dreading what I was going to see on the price tag that he had affixed to the back of the book.

I left the convention that day with a signed copy of Superboy #98, and three dollars still in my pocket.

Have you read any of Alan Grant's Judge Anderson stories yet, Cobie?

EDIT: Sorry, Dev, our posts overlapped. I loved your story about Superboy #98. Warmed my heart.

I am not ashamed to admit I was a WIZARD fan, in its heyday. I enjoyed their brand of humor very much and it probably influenced my own writing/posting style to many degrees. Though WIZARD and I parted ways once I realized I wasn't as into it anymore, and comics had just hit like $2.50 for regular titles not just independent titles and I realized the $5/month I was spending on WIZARD would be better-spent on 2 comics... we didn't part before it introduced me to THIS independent gem:




The small write-up on their back-issue price guide told me all I needed to know-- a hardcore warped crazy spin on the Teen Titans, or words to that effect.

I was fascinated by the cover depicted... I found and still find it both grotesque and extremely erotic. It said to me, "This sidekick is worried about getting older-- and possibly being booted out by his superhero mentor." which led my mind down all kinds of twisted paths. But I was officially BP-curious...

I **HAD** to find out... I **HAD** to have it.

Next time I went to my CBS, I was totally shocked and delighted to find the entire miniseries in the back-issue bins for only a bit over cover price. I snatched them all up.

For the record-- this mini is NOT for the squeamish... these teen heroes are absolutely AWFUL people, thanks to their equally awful mentors (the exception being the Robin analogue, who pays for being the only nice guy on the team-- repeatedly).

I don't "get" Brat Pack.

Where's the entertainment value in wallowing witlessly in such ugliness?

Or is it just that Rick Veitch's sense of humor doesn't click with me?

It definitely isn't for everyone. This was the 90s and the utter height of GRIM n GRITTY though, and honestly the Teen Titans ARE a concept that would easily lend itself to this kind of pitch-dark tale.

I didn't find BRAT PACK humorous at all... I found it utterly horriffic... DISCLAIMER: This does NOT mean I did not enjoy it. Again though, NOT for everyone, or even most people

I haven't read Brat Pack so I can't comment on that, but perhaps a thread on How dark is too dark and When does gritty just mean dirt might be interesting?

I agree that the Teen Titans concept does lend itself to a warped perspective, I just thought it could have been done differently, not just wall-to-wall grossness.

Hmmmm...this might make a good thread in the Titans forum.

Make it so, Patricia!

What he said.

No, Fresh Trish, I'm the muse and you're the thread starter.

Fanny and I have teamed up on you, Toots! I mean-- Teeds! Maybe Fanny herself should do the honors?

Glad to. I'll just need a couple minutes.

HOORAY! Meanwhile, I have ONE more tale to tell about a Wizard recommendation...

so I'll be back shortly... *prepares*

I read Wizard when I was getting back into comics about a dozen years ago. It may not have been completely to my taste, but it helped bring me up to speed on things and I enjoyed the spoof covers and recommendations sprinkled through the price guide (which was funny in its own way). After I got home 'net access, it wasn't telling me stuff I didn't already know, so....

I JUST LOST A HUGE, HUUUGE POST on Sandman # 20... and my whole perspective on Vertigo, and it was the wittiest bestest post EVER and it is GONE because PHOTOBUCKET IS BEING AN ASSWIPE.

I am inconsolable.

Awwww, Lash.

It wasn't meant to be.

But we can still talk about it. You know I feel the same as you about Vertigo in general and Sandman in particular.

I just Googled Sandman 20. The Element Girl issue. I hated it. Let's hate it together.

GIRL, I HATED IT!!!!

Ramona Fradon drew Element Girl with beauty vivaciousness and love of life, and Sandman # 20 made her a hideous suicidal monster.

I tied all that in with why I just never "got" Vertigo, though I tried to, mainly to be cool like the cool-looking, hot sexy boys who were buying it and probably secretly deriding me for buying Legion of Super-Heroes.

Nowadays, I *might* give those guys a mercy make-out session-- IF they brush their teeth and buy some new shoes first.

Dev, I missed your story before... I **love** that you met Curt Swan. I wish your other stories were still here!

ps/ re: Element Girl... DCnU is bringing her back and putting her in JLA, I hear... I am hoping she leans more toward her original version (the images I've seen of her by Jim Lee are certainly pretty enough, though she looks quite different).

Early 90s: a friend of mine had several Sandman trades. I borrowed them, and tried the Death mini, but...not for Teeds. Nope. Nope, nope, nope.

Testify!

I too hated the pseuderies and pretentiousness and weirdness-for-its-own-sake and ugliness-for-its-own sake of Sandman.

I, too, wasted money on Sandman because I wanted to be cool. In my case, cool like the poser chicks who were into Tori Amos and Sandman, even though I couldn't stand Tori Amos OR Sandman.

Early Aughts

The comics show, last day, one hour before closing. The guys at a nearby table announce 75% off. You don't have to tell me twice! I saw it (it was new to me) and HAD to buy it. You would have too. Just look at that:



VF+ if not better, and about $3, baby.

It was a wonderful day when I realized: You know what, Michael? You're cool in your OWN way-- think of all the poor souls who would have NO CLUE what is going on in The Heckler, or Vext, or Major Bummer!

MY comic preferences were SO COOL, they were read by just a few people and cancelled quickly before they could get popular!

IT SHOULD BE NOTED DEPT: I later got into CODENAME: KNOCKOUT by Vertigo, but it was TOTES FUN. And currently enjoy the hell out of the poptastic IZOMBIE.

[gasp!]

All these years, I've thought it was just me! I admit a fondness for Gaiman's Mr. Punch GN, though. (Oh, and for Tori Amos' first album. After that, her pet mannerisms just got to be too much for me.)

I'm pretty sure that's Teeds in the very back!

I *am* hungry...for more stories!

(I like the commentary too.)

Here\'s the first comic I bought for myself as an adolescent/teenager.

I let all my Star Wars comics go, with real regret, about 5-6 years back. Except this one. I was too superstitious to get rid of it.

Avengers 375, 1994



It was the end of an era, and all too symbolic for Crystal to be weeping in the final panel. Bob Harras & Steve Epting were wrapping up their grand Avengers vs Gatherers epic, which I had been following religiously. It didn't disappoint me in the least. There hasn't been an Avengers issue since then that has fully satisfied me.

Darlin, I love your taste in Avengers comics.

Why this issue Dev?

Good question. This was not the first issue of the Bug that I had ever read. I had the DCCP with the subs, I had the Action Comic issues.

Thisone is special to me, for many reasons. I was taken to the comic store by my dad most of the time, and he was always a great sport about it. My mom hated it, but it was something that helped me get throught developing Diabetes a few years earlier. So, my dad took me to the store, and there on the shelf was another Ambush Bug appearance. I was iverjoyed.

I loved the humor of the last couple of stories, and appreciated where they had taken the character...from villian (even in the Subs issue, he was still considered a villian) to a funny as hell guy that ran amok in the DCU.

When other comics were getting grimand grittier (Crisis was coming. The Flash killed someone and was going through his trial. Even the LSH had killed of Karate Kid,) Ambush Bug was a beakon of fun in comics.

So for my awkward teenage self, this was a freat sight. Ambush Bug and Superman versus Kobra. Whatever I thought I was going to find inside the cover of fthisbook could nat have prepared me for what I did find.

This book is one of the, if not the single funniest single issue stories of all time for me. I have friends tht do not understand my fasciniation with this character...but I know that I have a brother in the Bug army on these very boards who would stand tall with me anywhere and anytime to proclaim the greatness that is Ambush Bug.

DC needs comics like this. Not every month...but these types of books are needed to lighten the somber mood of most comics these days.

In a time where two of my favorite characters would die...Karate Kid and the Flash...Having an Ambush Bug comic was a joy to be cherished...this issue however, should be read by everyone...IMHO. I mean if watching Superman running around the Earth flailing his arms isn'nt enough to make you laugh, I feel sorry for you.

Your brother in Ambush-arms says: A wonderful choice! I myself was not even AWARE of the issue until YEARS (decades, I think) later, made aware here on this very board of this issue and 2 of the 3 ACTION COMICS issues I didn't know about. (One of which was sent to me by fat Cramer after my search for it proved fruitless).

One of many reasons to love Legion World.

EDITED OUT

I have NO idea how that happend.

Instead, I will just post this:

awwww ...

Thank you, kind sir.

A little addendum to the Avengers 375 story...I remember a Superman discussion in this forum where Lardy said he loved the Ordway/Simonson/Stern/Jurgens era of Superman so much that he honestly couldn't see himself ever loving Superman that much again. That pretty much sums up how I feel about that Avengers era.

When this issue came out, it was the single most important comic to me that I'd ever waited for in 'real time'. The Dane / Crystal romance essentially inspired my perception of tragic love. And the complications! Sersi, Pietro, even the Vision. Every time Sersi or Pietro did something to make me hate them, they redeemed themselves.

By now I was engrossed with the series and had even write Bob Harras a letter (and even called my Dad at work to tell him Hank was Giant Man again).

Those final panels broke my heart...but oh, how Dane was so noble!

Also, best Herc EVER including the Silver Age and Stern. They even got me to like Thunderstrike (I'd grow to like Eric in later years when I read the entire Thor run).

The revelation of Proctor in the issue prior blew my pre-teen mind!!!

This was my Uncanny X-Men #138.

Well said, Cobie. I agree 100% with everything in your post.

The early 80s... (VERY early, IIRC)... I was just a little kid... I had read and enjoyed the 70s revival Teen Titans (who seemed WAY older than me) and the LSH (Grell era... WAY older/sexier than me or my peers)... I was a teen on the verge!! Things were happening-- to my body!! NOBODY WILL EVER UNDERSTAND ME OR WHAT I AM GOING THROUGH!!!!!

Then the NEW MUTANTS graphic novel came out, and thanks to my grandmother, who is more fabulous than I can EVER CONVEY TO ANYONE (and STILL is), I got to buy it, read it and love it (and STILL own it)! THEN came THIS issue:





I bought it on one of my weekly weekend trips with Granny to pick up her sister (my Mimi), who lived quite close to the comic shop.

Of course it was a great book, with great characters, who --unlike those DC "teen teams" (that I j'adored, don't get it twisted)-- actually seemed to be REAL CLOSE to my age, just a smidge older!! But all that doesn't matter.

What REALLY matters here, is me remembering reading it in her living room-- or whatever you wanna call it-- a separate room from the den, anyway-- in an awesome rocking chair as the sun shined through the window... a memory, for some reason I have never forgotten.

I have already decided to make this actually-superflous room a library one day, when the house is mine.

And any opportunity to thank Granny (and more indirectly, Mimi) for me becoming the fan I am is welcome to me. My Granny is the SOLE REASON I have both the music AND the comic collection I have. She gave me the funds necessary to have both, and only occasionally flinched at what I bought... (let's just say she isn't the Tanya Tucker fan *I* am, tee-hee).

Mimi may be gone now, but Granny STILL helps me read so many comics every month, I like to tell her whenever I've been to the CBS... and she's always happy I have something to read. I'm her baby and always will be.

One song Granny DID like (I suspect for both the mention of Mama and the crazy blue eyes of my Poppaw, who she has now been married to for over 70 years):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlq5e19PuIQ

I have the 45 still. This is for you, Granny.

Love the Granny story, Lash! Those specific memories, even when really brief, can be so comforting when you need a little smile.

I wonder if Granny would even remember telling me how much she liked that Lacy J. Dalton song now? Probably so if I played it for her.

The only other real song-commentary memory I have with Granny is when we were going somehwere in her Taurus (which she STILL has and only has like 60,000 miles on it), and I was playing a mix tape I had made. She said this song was pretty, but really really sad (this was the angsty early 90s):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGXuJKWjoYM

This song has another mention of "Mom". Granny cared for her Mama until the very end (which I remember a little bit of). She loved her Mama a LOT.

Anyhoo, I know this is off-topic. I was somehow compelled to document this somewhere I love and with people I care about, so thanks.

Does that cover have anything to do with the interior story ?

CODENAME KNOCKOUT : GOGO FIASCO.

awwww I miss GOGO.

After all these recommendations, I may have to hunt this down ...

hmmmm

Lash, your stories are wonderful. As Harbinger (God, I miss her) would say: more, more, more.

Yay Peebs!

I would recommend, though, reading the entire Harras/Epting run chronologically. Leaving out the fill-in issues by other creators, the run consists of: 334-339, 343-351, 355-369, and 372-375. They're all easy to find cheap. Happy reading.

Fanfie will know the issue number, but an even better issue than the above one, which occurs about mid-run, is the one with the huge confrontation with the Kree soldiers that have a nega-bomb. Dane, Crystal & Herc are all captured and its when Hank becomes Giant-Man again for the first time. It may just be my single favorite Avengers issue of all time. That's the issue that made me write Bob Harras a letter (with pen and paper--I was 11 years old).

When you read as many comics as most of us all do (for me like 90 a month), you get accustomed to having your emotional strings pulled by writers. And while I can get a little blurry eyed at times, it really takes a LOT for a comic to make actually cry.

This is the last comic to make me cry:



This is my candidate for the best single issue of the entire 2000's (for all comic books). Anyone who has ever loved their father, or any parent, grand-parent or guardian will be moved

Avengers 366



A great issue. Cobie once again summed it up quite nicely, and I'd only add that if every attempt to rehabilitate Hank was this good, his sins would have been forgiven by fandom a long time ago.

Maybe this Avengers saga discussion could be a thread?

Another case of this thread (possibly) bearing fruit! I *love* it.

We discussed the saga years ago, on pages 8 and 9 of The All-Avengers Thread , but it's been something like almost five years, so there's nothing wrong with having a new discussion about it in The All Avengers Thread.

Excellent!

Batman 356



When I was in grade school, a classmate brought this issue to school. It scared the bejesus out of me, especially when "Dick" is revealed as an android duplicate.

In hindsight, though, it's not that great of a story. Gerry Conway's Batman run can be summed up by saying, "Yes, he created Killer Croc, but otherwise...meh."

On a positive note, Ed Hannigan's cover and Don Newton's interior art have aged much better than Conway's script. Tragically, Newton died young and Hannigan has been struggling in recent years with multiple sclerosis.

More stories, please!

First time you bought a comic book, most recent time, or somewhere in between....
An issue you loved, an issue you didn't, or one that was ho-hum....
A shopping trip that was unusual in some way or one that was routine....

The circumstances don't matter. So go on, tell your purchase story!

Other methods of acquisition OK too!

PLEASE NOTE: the story of you enjoying the comic book is welcome in addition to OR in place of the purchase/acquistion details!

Incredible Hulk 400



Bought off a spinner rack at Waldenbooks, this was my introduction to Peter David's Hulk run, which at that point had been going for almost 70 issues and would go on for almost 70 more.

At first I was annoyed that the Hulk was talking "normal" instead of referring to himself in the third person. And the lack of footnotes made the story confusing.

In the end, none of that mattered, because PAD's story was so GOOD -- the Hulk and his nemesis the Leader both had far more shades of gray (metaphorically speaking) than I was expecting. The action sequences were expertly written, and the dialogue was even better. And the ending was singularly unsettling. I would elaborate, but I don't want to spoil it for people who haven't read PAD's Hulk run.

Suffice it to say I wanted more Hulk stories by this Peter David guy. I stuck with the title for two years while at the same time gathering the back issues. It really jumped the shark after the end of the Pantheon era in #426, but that wasn't entirely PAD's fault. Marvel's entire line had been gradually declining, and Hulk #426 was, for me, pretty much the last really good Marvel comic for a long time. But those heady days from late 1992 to late 1994 -- I'll always treasure them as my personal Golden Age of Marvel.

Excalibur 61



This one was a revelation, especially after the comic's momentum had been slowed by a string of fill-ins. It was Phoenix vs. Galactus, done right...so right. Alan Davis' writer/artist run had been very good, often excellent, before this, but this took it to a whole new level. I was one satisfied customer.

I loved Alan Davis' second run. I found this issue in a 5 pack at a KMart or Target or something all in a plastic package by itself near the baseball cards. It was maybe the early to mid 90s. I wasn't able to see what 5 issues were in the plastic, i just saw that it was an Alan Davis Excalibur cover. That was good enough for me, (although I suspected it was just a nice cover and messy 90s shoulder pads would be inside) ... and even though I wasn't currently collecting comics ... *sigh* the 90s ...

I asked my mom to get it for me, it had been a long time since I'd asked that, and my step father was very anti comic book but STILL ... I needed this book. Alan Davis was one of my favorites from the 80s glory days of the X-Men. What fi he was back drawing comics in a regular way!!!

Anyway, when I got it home I was delighted to see that it was about 5 issues in a row, all drawn by Alan Davis, it was a great long story, great art, lots of action ... except It didn't include the conclusion ! drat!

well, I would read those five comics over and over and ....

eventually, when I got back into comics in about '99 I found the issues that came after in a back issue bin. I think that there were like four more issues to the story arc and not just one!!

Much later I would find Alan Moore and Davis' Captain Britain run (in this reprint format) ... and *get* what Excalibur was all about. (I probably got both runs from the same back issue bins from the same CBS)



This is one of my favorite stories of all time. It's the Jasper's warp storyline, with the Fury and Merlyn playing Captain Britain against Jaspers.

(ok that was almost two stories about two purchases)

Excalibur #42-50 is one of my favorite superhero arcs of all time. Davis was able to do in just nine issues what DC kept trying and failing to do with its reality-changing "events."

And when the Moore/Davis Jaspers Warp storyline reprint series was released, it was like manna from heaven for me. Thank God Moore and Davis were able to finish Jaspers Warp before they had a falling out, which was not the case with Marvelman/Miracleman.

Not one of my first comics but one of my first strong comics memories. If not the standout first memory.

We got it from the 7-11 by the laundromat my mom used to go to. We went to the park with her long time boyfriend. had a picnic. and I fell in love with the X-Men ... and Kitty Pryde as they took on the 'Phoenix'. Great story, great action, great art, great character development.

I especially remember Kitty Pryde tackling the Phoenix in a brave, reckless, and excitingly drawn sequence.


What a great way to spend a sunny day in a park!



Thanks Chris and Paul.

I love this issue too. It is so damn moody and atmospheric! Even read decades later, it still contains the epic tension of the post-Dark Phoenix Saga, and Madelyne, Scott, Mastermind, etc.

And poor Logan in this issue.

I reread the entire Claremont run last summer, and was blown away (again) by how good it was. The Paul Smith issues are actually quite fantastic. What I also discovered is this: there is no doubt that Smith is hands-down the single greatest influence on Rob Liefield.

Honestly, go ahead and look. All of Liefield's 90's works contains poses and panels directly stolen from Smith's brief X-Men run. Especially Wolverine panels as done by Smith.

Following Byrne, Cockrum's second run always felt like a little step backwards to me. But when Smith came in mid-Brood Saga...oh yeah. OH YEAH.

I was in the comic book store years and years ago in nyc before i moved to nj, and there was a young gal with her pals wanting the new issue of "Bone" but could not afford it. so i bought it for her. I felt good about that at the time. thanks for reminding me, have not thought of it since.

I FOUND JH!!!!!!!

I've been spelling his name wrong all these years!!!!!

Hooray!!!!!

he hasn't responded to my FB message yet BUT ... he makes skateboarding videos!!!

awesome.

There's Miss Young America's story. What's yours?



First time you bought a comic book, most recent time, or somewhere in between....
An issue you loved, an issue you didn't, or one that was ho-hum....
A shopping trip that was unusual in some way or one that was routine....

The circumstances don't matter. So go on, tell your purchase story!

Other methods of acquisition OK too!

PLEASE NOTE: the story of you enjoying (or not enjoying) the comic book is welcome in addition to OR in place of the purchase details!

I remember standing in the CBS, looking at this, and deciding to check in with the Titans again. It's not that the cover was particularly notable -- but it looked like it had some NTT flavor. I wondered if I would (or could) feel like I did back my own golden age.

^And did you feel that way?

^^ Wonderful story, Peebz. Thanks for sharing. I'm glad you found JH again.

No, which probably had more to do with the fact that I was 15 years older (no longer a kid) rather than anything in the book. (I can't remember anything in the book other than Roy and Donna's canoodling being interrupted. "Had to be the fate of the world.")

Although... in perhaps a year or two I'd pull this out of a quarter bin on a whim:



and MAN did that Perez artwork take me back. I think the story structure reminded me a bit of Who Is Donna Troy?, too.

Man, that Justice League 217 cover takes me back!

An eleven person team? Risky, for an era in which teams seemed to be getting chopped down to a seven person cap.

A Justice League launch with no Flash, no Green Lantern, and, knock me over with a feather, *no Batman!* Wow.

It was a bold new age, those '80s!

(From what I've read online, I think I'm the only person in the world who doesn't hate Zatanna's non-fishnet costume. Then again, I have a soft spot for Black Canary's Olivia Newton-John headband outfit...)

WAITING FOR SET'S STORY.

YEEAHHHHH!

I'm waiting like a debutante, which means NOT VERY PATIENTLY.

When I was five ... I traded Alpha Flight number 1 ... with the neighbor boy ... for ... a random Defenders issue.

Here's the thing ... this kid was a frickin scam artist. He had this whole speel ... where he said he didnt want any gooey stuff ... (no romance or kissing) and he hates books like that ... and he never had any books like that. He wanted to make sure alpha Flight #1 had no romance ... was all action ... he really grilled me on this ... and totally lied and said his random issue of Defenders didn't have any. (yet ... somehow I didn't get to look through the comic before we traded)


So after we traded ... I open this random issue of Defenders ...





AND HE WOULDN'T TRADE BACK.

he ran back into his house and shut the door.

I still hate that kid with the fire of a thousand suns!!!!


I was much sweeter then, see what happens to sweet generous kids if they get screwed over enough.





I wonder what happened to that little ass! He was my age .. maybe six ... and had already perfected how to lie and rip people off!


I never played with him again. I avoided him. That is punishment!

You only get to rip off Power Boy once! 5 years old or not!

Send JH around to his house.

I never traded comics. I was more of a mindset that every issue was important and I didn't want holes in my collection.

PB's story reminded me, though, that I became a scam artist of sorts.

I didn't plan to be; it just worked out that way.

When I was nine or ten-ish, just after I started to get into comics, I was close friends with Jeff, who lived in a corner house about a block away. (I also lived in a corner house; that seemed like an important connection at the time.) Jeff distinguished himself by owning a Batman action figure with a removable cowl, revealing Bruce Wayne's face underneath. My Batman action figure featured a painted-on cowl.

Jeff also had a comic book I coveted. I can't remember which one--it probably featured the Legion. (It might even have featured the reprint of Adv. 313, the Satan Girl story, which I've since remembered as belonging to another boy.) When Jeff moved away, I asked him to give me that comic so I could remember him. Jeff agreed. But a few days later, right before he moved, he approached me on the way home from school. He said he couldn't find that issue, so he went out and bought three new comics to give to me. One was Amazing Spider-Man # 103 (featuring Gil Kane art), the second was a Sub-Mariner, and I can't remember the third. Not exactly what I'd asked for, but, hey, it was a nice gesture.

A couple of years later, when another friend moved away, I used the same strategy of asking for comics to remember him by. This time, he gave me the issues I wanted--Adv. 368 ("The Mutiny of the Super-Heroines") and Adv. 372 ("The School for Super-Villains").

I was too young to understand that, when someone moves away, you usually give them a parting gift instead of the other way around. I also don't think I fully understood Jeff's gesture of friendship of going out and buying new comics. However, comics were cheap at the time--only 20 cents--so it didn't seem like that big of a deal for him to pick out a few things while shopping with his parents. Still, it was nice that he thought about me and bought three issues to make up for the one he couldn't find.

I never tried to "scam" anyone else out of comics, though I did learn that the best comics are usually the ones that are given or found. (Around the same time, I found an issue of Challengers of the Unknown in my back yard. I knew who it belonged to, but he didn't want it back.)

Today, I'm FB friends with Tim, the boy who gave me the Adventure issues. A few years ago, I wrote to thank him for the comics and to tell him I still had them. His response? "Cool."

As for Jeff? He returned to the neighborhood about a year later to visit some other boys. Apparently going along with their bullying ways, he leaned forward and pretended to whisper a secret into my ear. Instead, he spat. Some of the other boys followed suit, so I walked home with a lot of saliva dripping down the side of my face. I never saw Jeff again.

Still have the comics, though.

JH has another stop or two to make.

Sorry, Set has no story to tell. My comic book shopping history has been deadly dull.

Collecting was never really an option when I was young, since comics could only be gotten on the spinner rack of the local supermarket, and you pretty much got whatever was there, or in three-for-one bags at the Wal-Mart (which, if you worked real hard, you could poke a tiny hole in one corner and roll a comic up and slip it out, and do the same with another bag, and end up with a three-for-one bag that had three comics you *wanted* in it, instead of three random comics).

As a result of being unable to get comics reliably, I preferred team up titles, like Marvel Team-Up or Marvel Two-in-One, that had more self-contained one-shot stories, and there was born my love for second and third-tier characters, like the Paladin or Brother Voodoo, who might end up teamed up with the Thing or Spider-Man for an issue of their team-up titles, but would rarely, if ever, get their own.

Set is tap-dancing so hard he's surely hiding something. You were Mr. Young America, weren't you? Admit it. Confession is good for the soul.


A-ha! Set probably also French cad Marcel!

Anyway: close but no cigar. One purchase, let's hear it.

P.S. As for collecting, remember Ambush Bug's rule #1: "After you've read your comic books, don't throw them away."

You too, Ester.



Go buy a comic RIGHT NOW if you have to.

On a whim I visited a newly-opened comic book store near where I work...

... and pawed through the back issue bins, not daring to hope...

... but I ended up with a copy of LEGION LOST #1!!!

Pb will be joining him ... those little brats!

X-Factor vol. 3 #1



2005 was wrapping up, and it had been a rollercoaster year for me. At the beginning of 2005, I had started getting into comics again after being away since 1997. For a while, I was enjoying DC more than Marvel. The buildup to Infinite Crisis -- Adam Strange, Green Lantern: Rebirth, Rann-Thanagar War, Return of Donna Troy -- had been exciting. But then, Infinite Crisis #1 came out, and I felt like I had been played for a fool. My enthusiasm for DC leaked away like air from a balloon.

Marvel didn't look much better...but wait, what was this? Peter David wrote a Madrox solo mini-series that I had missed? And now it was being turned into a full-blown X-Factor revival? I couldn't wait.

X-Factor #1 came out, and it renewed my faith in comics. Mere words cannot describe how much of a tonic it was. My favorite members of PAD's original X-Factor run -- Madrox, Guido, and Rahne -- joined by the devilishly adorable Layla Miller, and a now-powerless Rictor, who is convinced by a Madrox dupe not to jump off a building, only for said dupe to admit he's the unpredictable side of Madrox, the fly in the ointment, the X-Factor, and promptly shove Rictor off the roof. To Be Continued.

It got even better the next issue, when Rictor survived, and the delightfully snooty Monet, who was on the cover of #1 but didn't appear, entered the picture. But that's another story for another time.

I was passionately into X-Factor for 35 consecutive issues, but something happened after issue #28, and the comic never quite scaled the same heights again. X-Factor finally ended this past Wednesday, after a near-eight-year run, very healthy in today's market. I just wish the run had been better as a whole.

But I'll always remember how good the first issue made me feel.

How was the final issue? I flipped through it but saw it was only Layla and Madrox and passed on it ... I feel like I probably had to read the last story arc to get something out of it.

I thought it was very good, a nice upbeat wrap-up and it didn't rely on having read the last five issues (In fact, all six issues are pretty much self-contained.) And it wasn't just Layla and Madrox. Theresa was in it, too.

I like Theresa ... I always think Madrox and Theresa should be together.

Are Guido and Monet just hanging out in Hell then?

These questions should really go in the X-Factor thread, where Set and I recently posted about the final arc. But in answer to your most recent question, Guido is still ruler of Hell, but Monet's happily living in Las Vegas with Darwin.

IT SURE DOES.

I actually have a couple I can share here, so here is one of them...

I must have been 8 or 9 years old, and was still into comics like Richie Rich and Mickey Mouse. I was at some sort of festival in Poseyville, Indiana with my grandfather. There was a table set up that was overflowing with comic books. (This was in the early 70s, when people would give away their old comics.) Being so young, I didn't have any money on me, of course, but grandpa saw me spending a lot of time looking through them. He then told me I could get some if I wanted. I asked, "How many can I get?"

He replied, "How many do you want?"

I replied, "How many can I get?"

He replied, "How many do you want?"

I think this went on for a few more iterations, when I finally realized I had struck the mother lode. I selected 20 or 30 comics, I guess, and I still remember how happy I was that day.

This is one of my favorite memories of grandpa.

Here is another story...

I was perhaps 12 years old. The local fall festival had a table of used comics, and you could pay cash for them, or use tickets that kids at school had been selling for weeks. I, however, had saved up almost no money that year. So, here were all these comics, and I could not buy a single one. I was walking around, moping, with my head down - when that very act paid off. I spied a huge wad of tickets on the ground and quickly snatched them up. I headed straight to the comic table and picked out maybe 50 or 60 of them.

Quite a haul!

Now we know why Lance perks up whenever he hears the word festival.

Excellent stories, Lance! More, more! Next one about one specific comic, please. (I'm now betting with myself whether you'll pick a story from childhood, or more recent years.)

I don't recall the first copy I bought, but I remember going back to the spinning rack later (while it was still a new arrival) and buying several more copies. I thought it was a good "sample" comic to give away.

I don't think I converted anyone (to comics or Promethea) but maybe the recipients enjoyed the rather atypical issue? (Too long; don't remember.)

Promethea just barely passed me by because I didn't return to comics until shortly after its run ended, but I bought the five trades last year and loved them. I find I'm a lot less anxious about things like spirituality and the apocalypse after reading it.

Now we also know why lance mopes around so much.

Note - posting from my phone and can't find scan of cover...but welcome anyone who can to post it.

At the onset of the 90's the concept of characters from different universes / companies progressively went from being something rare and special to being a dime a dozen. But before the novelty was lost, there were a series of really great crossovers that provided that awesome mix of still being new, cool and special. The industry was past the initial team-ups of Superman / Spider-Man, Batman / Hulk, Teen a Titans / X-Men and Superman / Muhammad Ali. Now we began to see some more odd crossovers taking place...and the 14 year old me couldn't get enough.

The one that really blew me away first was Batman versus Predator. The concept seemed so awesome and so out of left field to me; subsequently, Batman would meet everyone ever--but at the time I couldn't fathom how he'd beat a Predator. Plus, it was a major switch from superhero meets superhero. Instead, it was the best superhero meets the coolest movie monster of the 80's. I couldn't wait.

The series delivered in spades. Phenomenal story & art, with a tour de force on how you tell a suspenseful action story of man versus monster. Even today it holds up in a huge way. Of course, it was Dave Gibbons and the Kubert brothers doing the delivery. There were many sequels and this is probably what kicked off a slew of Batman team-ups and Dark Horse team-ups (another fantastic one was Robo-Cop versus Terminator).

There was something to the timing of it all from a personal standpoint. I was the right age to think it was the coolest thing ever. And it was the right time in the industry to make it so special. I was thrilled beyond belief to discover it existed. Every so often I'll feel that: "this is so cool that this exists! It's so cool that someone thought of that!"

When comics deliver that feeling to me, I'm 14 years old again. That's what I'm chasing when I'm collecting. My tastes continue to change, and crossovers and team ups have long ago lost their appeal. But I know that magic feeling is just underneath a cover waiting to be found somewhere else.

Every now and then comics surprise me. I was at a used bookstore in the area, and was flipping through the "indy" (meaning, not the big 2) stuff and came across this beauty.

I never even knew this comic existed. I knew that there was a comic that you could get with a version of the DVD, but not that they had released it as a one shot. Being a huge Bruce Campbell fan, this was a no brainer.

Thank you 2nd and Charles.

Something else else happened to the cover ... and that is a CRIME!!!!!



Further, I love how complicated this story was ... it was a ruse ... by Mastermind ... not the Phoenix at all ...

lesser creators would just bring phoenix back ... have her smash around for 4 o 6 episodes and call it the event of decade but Chris and Paul had some subtle lead up in the prior issues and then a plot twist!

It was in the bargain bin.

There was NO WAY I wasn't going to buy it.

My ONE purchase involves several comics! As I've matured and my interest in current comics wanes, I find my interest in older comics rising. So when Memphis had its very first comic con last year, I went ready to find some great deals on 100 PAGE SPECTACULARS. BOY DID I FREAKING EVER.





6 JLoA, 5 SUPERMAN FAMILY, 2 BRAVE & BOLD, 1 SUPERMAN and 1 OUR ARMY AT WAR. Most were $5. FIVE FREAKING DOLLARS for these is unbeatable you say? WRONG-- a couple of them were $3!!!! One was $10 but I was caught up in the madness!!

I'm going to cut my current pull list considerably and focus on buying 100 Pagers I think. And other Giant stuff.

The ads are always more fun in older stuff too. Modern ads are just ads, you know?

Early 2005. I was at a personal all-time low, which drove me to take my comic book collection out of storage and rediscover the joys of comics. I was also making tentative efforts at getting into what was then current. So when I saw this puppy at Borders, I had to have it, given that I'd had a crush on Hal dating back to long before I'd ever read a superhero comic (from growing up seeing covers of "Linterna Verde" for sale at the pharmacy).

I loved it at the time. It was my gateway back into comics. Unfortunately, what the Big Two were at that time were the fading years of Quesada at Marvel and the onset of DiDio at DC. I bought into the shameless retro hype that DC was selling, and it fooled me for a full 4 years. I didn't wise up until Blackest Night.

It'll always have sentimental value, though.

In fact, history repeated itself and I bought it many times!

You got any copies left?

Left and right, baby.

Hook a brother up why don't you?

The legacy of a hookup is one of the issues LADY COP faces on the beat!

I face that legacy sometimes on the beat as well...

Keep the story to comic book purchase, Trish.

Story about the ONE purchase thread -- the story above is a significant reason it exists.

Well, guess what?

Omigods, omigods, omigods!

Did you like it, Teeds?

Wait...I gotta read it?


...okay, I will. Just gonna savor that cover flavor a bit first.

At Wizard World Philadelphia 2009, while I was walking by a booth someone's display table fell. I stopped and helped before more of the comics fell on the ground and helped the owner straighten up. They let me take a few comics for free as a way to say thanks. One of them was that Batman Elseworlds where he became Green Lantern.

When this came up in the Nines I got to thinking about how I bought my copy, nearly 2 decades after it first hit the racks. This would be a time I was getting back into comics after a several-year hiatus. NTT wasn't any kind of priority for me by that point, but sure I'd grab this out of the bargain bin to fill in my back issues. #9 seemed to be one of those that wasn't scarce yet I hadn't run across much, if at all. It was kind of tattered around the staples and not high grade, but like I said: bargain bin.

Back to present: I go to my Titans box and pull my copy. It's in better condition than I remember. And wait...the price sticker on the bag looks more like how the bargain comics were at a different LCS. It *is* possible that I replaced a tattered copy with a better copy that I found elsewhere later; I've done stuff like that. One of those minor mysteries that probably can't be solved, and I've got something else on my mind. I made a side comment in the Nines thread that I could not remember what happened in this issue. I took a look at the first page and it did not seem familiar. (I've also done stuff like file away comics that I haven't read.)

I may have an unread issue of W-P NTT!!

Okay...wow, it's been epochs since I posted a story in this thread.

The good news is, I've got a doozy for you lovely Legion Worlders.

The bad news is, copyright laws and such have complicated image postings in the interim years. In short, I don't have a cover image to post. So if a mod or an administrator would kindly edit into this post an image of Flash 281, cover-dated January 1980. Thanks.

Now then, on with the story...

40 years ago, a grade-schooler Annfie was confronted by the cover of this issue on the comics rack at Fybeca pharmacy, inside the Inaquito shopping mall, located on Amazonas Avenue in Quito, Ecuador.

Young Annfie was actually scared of superhero comics, believe it or not. They seemed weird and sinister, especially their creepy front covers, such as this one. So I never bought superhero comics until several years later, after I'd moved to the States. But that cover stayed with me.

And yet, it's taken all these decades for me to finally fulfill my curiosity and buy the darn thing. Just a little while ago, I read it for the first time.

But let's backtrack to that cover for just a second. I now know that it was pencilled and inked by the late, great Dick Giordano, who was doing a ton of covers for DC at the time, all of them well above average.

The interior art is by Don Heck & Frank Chiaramonte. Heck has never been a favorite of mine, and IIRC he had just taken over the pencilling duties on Flash from the reliably good Irv Novick, whose Flash tenure was, again IIRC, about 10 years. So the artwork is plenty awkward, although Chiaramonte does his best to play up the gritty cops and robbers elements, which Heck was better at than superheroes.

The script by Cary Bates is fine for what it is. Having been writing the book for at least as long as Novick drew it, maybe longer, Bates knew Barry Allen and his world front and back.

What's decidedly different is that this issue is a turning point in Barry's investigation into the murder of his beloved wife Iris.
There are better ways to shake-up a monthly comic than to kill off a cast member, but whatevs.

Barry doesn't confront Zoom until a few pages before the cliffhanger ending, where the villain taunts the hero with the reveal that he knows who killed Iris, just as Barry has even weightier issues on his mind, such as the fact that, thanks to Zoom's future tech, he's sinking into the ground. Destination: the molten core of planet Earth itself!

Of course, we the readers know that Barry will somehow get himself out of this predicament, but it's still a decently executed cliffhanger, to end a decently executed comic book.

Is Flash 281 a lost treasure? Not by a long shot. But it's not bad at all for what it is. What's important is that I finally read it after all these years, tying up a loose end in my crazy life.

Oh, and


Which is kind of disappointing, but, again, the good outweighs the bad. It's a decent comic, and I feel like I got my money's worth.