Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Tell your story about ONE purchase of a comic book!

***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?