Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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But some things need no introduction.
They simply arrive without warning and leave nothing but carnage and chaos in their wake.
Thus it is that we are again confronted with the feature in which the first person to comment in the space below gets to choose the day's topic for debate.
Therefore, feel free to post that topic and we shall see to which hinterlands of truth, enchantment and wonder the winding paths of Fate lead us...
Posts
46 comments:
What are the first 10 (or 11) American (not UK reprint) comics you read?
For me:
Captain America # 215
Iron Man # 106
Shade the Changing Man # 6
Green Lantern # 103
Black Panther # 9
Master of Kung Fu # 64
Return of the New Gods # 16
Daredevil # 151
Captain Marvel # 55#
Human Fly # 9
Marvel Team-up # 72
Phillip
Phillip: apologies, but I totally mis-read your question. I thought you were asking about the first 10 American REPRINT comics we read. As I’m an American myself, a list of the first 10 American comics I read might not be all that interesting, so if you don’t mind, I’m gonna answer the question I THOUGHT you asked. (Why reprint titles would be any more interesting, I couldn’t tell you….)
Also, I don’t think I could even identify the first ten comics that I read. Comics were passed around from kid to kid when I was little, I didn’t actually own any myself until I was a bit older. My earliest comics memories are of reading various comics like BEWITCHED and MILTON THE MONSTER as well as various DC titles, but I’ve no idea which specific issues they were.
So, here are the first ten reprint books I remember reading:
CAPTAIN AMERICA SPECIAL 2, featuring the original Sleeper serial from TALES OF SUSPENSE
MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS 40, reprinting FF 53 (second Black Panther story)
STRANGE ADVENTURES 227, featuring lots of bland DC sci-fi stories from the 1950s
JIMMY OLSEN 141, with the first Golden Age Newboy Legion /Guardian story in the back
MARVEL SUPER-HEROES 28, DD vs Stilt-Man and Iron Man Vs Black Knight
MARVEL DOUBLE FEATURE 1 , Cap and Iron Man stories from SUSPENSE
MARVEL SPECTACULAR 5, Thor Vs High Evolutionary
MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION 17, Avengers vs Kang
MARVEL’s GREATEST COMICS 48, FF Vs Ronan the Accuser
MARVEL TALES 49, Spidey vs Mysterio
JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY 10, with ‘The Threat of Tim Boo Baa’
b.t.
BTW, Phillip, your list is interesting to me. How old were you when you got these? Did you actually buy them or were they ‘hand me downs’ or traders?
I myself was becoming increasingly selective by the time these came out, but I did buy those Black Panther, Captain America and Human Fly issues. I didn’t much care for the run of Cap issues immediately following Kirby’s run, but the slick Kane/Sinnott cover got me to fork over my dough for this one. Tuska / Marcos was a decent art combo, I have to admit.
b.t.
Thinking about my first ten American comics...
At least 3 involved identity crises (Cap A, DD & Cap M). Moreover, at least 3 comics had superheroes without their masks (DD, Cap M, Black Panther), at least some of the time. In some cases - for me - that was a first.
Pinch-hitting. George Tuska was covering for the regular artist (if there even was one), in Cap A # 215 - and did an excellent job! Scott Edelman was pinch-hitting as Shang Chi's writer. Byrne was pinch-hitting (kind of) as the Human Fly's cover artist - well, Byrne never did another Human Fly cover - and his is by far the best one!
Human Fly & Iron Man were both classic Bill Mantlo 'many superheroes in one comic' stories, whilst Marvel Team-up # 72 features a classic Mantlo character - the Wraith - as does Iron Man # 106.
The DC comics' surrealism - particularly Shade - distinguished them from Marvel's tone. Both houses good in different ways.
Phillip
b.t. - I was 8 years old when I (and for some issues my brother) got those. Of course, at that age, it was my parents who actually bought them.
Yes - Cap # 215 was a damn good cover, whilst (interior-wise) Marcos's inks worked very well on Tuska.
Phillip
By the way b.t. - your alternate version of my question's at least as interesting as mine. So, if anyone wants to take a stab at b.t.'s idea...
Phillip
Good grief, that’s a hard one.
There should be a lot of random American comics I’d picked up as a very small child, but I can’t for the life of me remember any. I stuck to 2000AD and the odd Marvel UK, and distribution was unlikely to have brought many US comics to our village.
I did pick up an issue of some Superman-related comic when Superman The Movie came out in 1978. It featured a weird villain with a huge head and possibly a train crash…? Anyone got a clue what that was? It was incomprehensible, as the movie did nothing to prepare me for decades of dense Superman lore baked in the comics. I always think this is why Superhero movies never did anything more than skim the surface of the comics until the Marvel Cinematic Universe broke through that barrier.
So the rest are ones I picked up when I started getting into US comics at age 12 off the back of my surging enthusiasm for UK comics. They might well not be the absolute very first but they’re the ones I remember…
DD 174
Moon Knight 12
I got these two off a friend and it was very exciting as they both featured creators I was newly obsessed by.
Daredevil 197
Picking up DD after reading reprints in The Daredevils… just as it went down the toilet.
Thor 337
Obvious reasons
Swamp Thing 20
Ditto
X-Men 173
I read Miller’s Wolverine reprinted in MWOM so this looked interesting.
Legion of Superheroes 296
New Teen Titan 26
These were massive so I gave them a go. I still like Giffen’s run on LOSH. Teen Titans not so much.
That’s not 10 is it?
Moon Knight 24 I saw on a spinner, but I didn’t pick it up until a year or so later. I was so weird, though. Made a big impression.
Phillip, thanks for the topic.
As far as I can remember, the very first American comics I owned were:
The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #6 in which Spidey must fight the Sinister Six.
Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #65 in which Lois turns evil and marries Lex Luthor.
The Brave and the Bold #96 in which Batman suspects Sgt Rock of an assassination attempt.
The X-Men #44 in which the Anger meets Red Raven.
Captain America #135 in which a scientist turns himself into a super-intelligent gorilla.
Action Comics #402 in which the man of steel is held hostage by native American protesters.
The Flash #195 in which our hero must conquer his fear of roller coasters.
Teen Titans #33 in which the gang hang out with a friendly Neanderthal.
Bt, thanks for your topic too.
The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #6 featured reprints. So, that was definitely the first American reprint book I owned.
Beyond that, I'd struggle to make any kind of chronological list from memory but my reprint-buying mostly consisted of Marvel monster mags like Where Monsters Dwell and Monsters on the Loose.
And, of course, there were the DC 100-pagers which gave us lashings of retro action from our favourite and not-so-favourite DC stars.
It's interesting that, on starting out buying American comics, we didn't follow "runs". Instead, it was whatever caught your eye on the spinner racks (or indoor market hall, in my case!) I suppose, as a kid, a month is a long time - so you're unlikely to remember to pester your parents to follow up a story. Moreover, many stories - although not all - didn't invite a clear follow-up. The first "run" I followed was the New X-Men, but I was probably late 9, and continuing through age 10, by then. At that age, your attention span is longer, and you can remember that a month later you need to pick up a particular title.
Phillip
I suppose - come to think of it - some titles I bought were bi-monthlies(?), at that time, this making follow those titles even harder (for little kids.)
Oh - and perhaps the crucial point - aged 8, you wouldn't be shopping in town, without adult supervision - so, comics would only be bought when you saw them, when taken shopping, and could pester a parent to buy them. In contrast, aged 10/11, you were allowed out on your own, to some extent.
Phillip
Charlie's Response to Phillip in Alpha not Chrono:
Avengers 60 - Yellow Jacket weds the Wasp, fight the Circus of Goofs!
Captain America 128 - Riding his motorcycle. Battling bikers!
Fantastic Four 83 - the Inhumans and Maximus the Mad. Kirby was killing it!
Fantastic Four King Size #9 Reprinting the epic battle with the Frightful 4! Kirby becoming the King!
Hulk 129 - The Glob! Happy Herb doing his thing!
Hulk 135 - Kang! And the Phantom Eagle!
Spider Man 86 - Fights the Black Widow! Losing his powers!
These are the earliest comics I specifically remember purchasing. I had read others before this courtesy of my cousin!
Charlie's Response to BT.
Dude - I bought a ton of reprints: Marvels Greatest (FF), Marvel Super Heroes (GA, SA, 1950s..), Marvel Tales (Spidey), Marvel Triple Action (Avengers),
Specific Issues:
Captain America Annual / KS #2 battling the Skull's Sleepers!
FF King Size #9 - Man did that thing suck me in for days!
Spidey KS #8 battling the Shocker!
It is interesting that one of my first comic purchases was Hulk 135 wherein the Phantom Eagle via Kang makes his 2nd appearance and his first appearance was actually in Marvel Superheroes which was a reprint title.
And if anyone can help me, I do recall reading a repro of Iron Man v Titanium Man which ends with IM getting TM stuck in a mountain (?) and pulling his helmet off? It was definitely a $.25 thick thing (64 pages?). Google says it could be IM King Size #1 but that also shows Sub Mariner on the cover and I have zero recollection of Subby in the book fighting with TM against IM.
Perhaps the most important reprint in the real Marvel Universe was featured in Cap 155 wherein they reprinted 1950s Cap and Bucky fighting commies / Red Skull. This establishes there were actually 2 Caps, 2 Buckys... ultimately leading to the Winter Solder decades later. I can't think of any reprint being part of such a pivotal comic.
Also for BT - I read a ton of DC 100-page reprints. I could not get enough of the Golden Age DC, Quality, Fawcett stuff... particularly Quality featuring the work of Cole, Crandall, Eisner, Fine.
Dare I say Quality were light years ahead of Simon and Kirby, Timely and DC and Fawcett even though Fawcett was the boss with Captain Marvel?
I read a lot of my brothers ( and his pals) US comics around 1966/69 but I can't remember which ones although they certainly would have been Superman and Superbloy comics.
I do recall the first US comic I bought was The Mighty Crusaders issue 4 (Mighty conics) and I remember buying/reading a lot of their titles including the Fly ( or Fly) Man) , the Shield, Black Hood, the Webb etc . Other early conics I purchased were Silver Surfer #12, Hulk #136 and 137 and Superboy #155 (as I still have my original copy(
AS bit of online digging around suggests:
Marvel Spotlight #27 (The savage sub-mariner)
Invaders #13
Inhumans #3
Inhumans #9 (reprinted Amazing Adventures #1)
Avengers # 158
Fantastic Four #164
Fantastic Four #180 (reprinted FF#101)
Super Villan team-up #3
Marvel Tales #78 (reprinting Spider-Man #97)
A lot of these were bought off the spinner racks at seaside towns (Cornwall, Devon etc) and were possibly months out of date at the time. The funny thing was that due to having read the Inhumans story from #9 in Titans, and the FF story in MWOM, and guessing the Spider-man story was old, young DW was convinced these small, color comics were reprints of the original, larger, B&W weeklies.
I can laugh about it now but at the time…
DW
Actually, FF#101 was reprinted in the Titans, rather than MWOM.
Has anyone else noticed that Charlie may not be Charlie’s actual name?
;-)
DW
My first 10 American comics (all Marvel) were bought during a school day-trip to Bristol Zoo in July 1976. I know I bought exactly 10 because they cost 10p each so I bought 10 for £1. The only ones I can recall are Conan The Barbarian #62 in which Belit is captured by Amra, a sort of Hyborian Age psychopathic Tarzan, and an issue of Daredevil in which DD teams up with Uri Geller - Uri reveals that he got his powers after seeing a UFO when he was 4.
Phillip, like b.t. I recall comics always being around and am hard pressed to remember specific numbers off hand, so I will have to give this some thought.
I'll need to get back to you later though, as right now I am busy preparing an offering to the goddess of fire (and fertility) Brigid to mark the Spring Equinox.
Hopefully in return she will help Arsenal stay top of the premier league.
Have a good one, everyone. Or I guess a good Autumn Equinox if you're DW.
And of course happy new year to Steve's Iranian readers.
-sean
Fascinating discussion; impressive how many specific issues everyone can recall! Also interesting to see the time range, mid 60's to late 70's. A fine era in comics...
My tale began in 1967, summertime; when an older neighbor kid introduced me to these things called comics. I started out with a diet of Casper, Sad Sack,Richie Rich and Disney. But here's a list of ten specific books i recall having:
Casper's Ghostland 38- the first comic I ever bought.
Superman 203- my first superhero book.
Amazing Spider-Man 52- third Kingpin, and my first Marvel.
Justice League of America 60- Queen Bee and Batgirl!
Fantastic Four Annual 6- first Annhilus, and a gorgeous cover.
Spider-Man Annual 5- Peter's parents, and a gorgeous cover.
Not Brand Ecch 5- Forbush Man!
Disney Comics Digest 5- a great Barks Duck story.
Archie's TV Laugh-Out 1- first Archie book
Amazing Spider-Man 66- with my fave villain, Mysterio
Thanks to the late, great Mike's Amazing World Of Comics, I can pinpoint the first US comics I read almost exactly....here goes
X-Men #66
X-Men #67
UFO Flying Saucers #2
Spider-Man #91
Beneath The Planet Of The Apes
Close Shaves Of Pauline Peril #3
Fantastic Four #105
Fantastic Four #106
Hulk #117
Hulk #134
Steve - I seem to recall you were an indoor market comics buyer, like myself!
Big Joe - I think I've got that Giant Size with Iron Man vs Titanium Man somewhere - but it might take a hell of a lot of finding!
B - Some of your first comics being consecutive (X-Men & FF) blows my theory about first comics not involving continuity out of the water! Albeit "consecutive" isn't quite a "run"!
Paul - Like B, you also had some consecutive continuity, starting your American comics experience. Looking at your Surfer & Hulks, were you an Abomination fan, by any chance? I didn't read that Surfer one, 'til it appeared in a UK annual!
Colin - School zoo-trips - yes, I remember them well! My class went to Chester Zoo (late 78 or early 79), which is a blummin' long way from where I live! Being a bit of a Daredevil fan, I'm surprised I didn't know about that Bob Brown issue. Turns out it's on Uri Geller's website!
https://www.urigeller.com/lets-level-daredevil/
DW - Charlie's told us his name's Joe before, but not that he's "big" ! To me, Avengers
# 158 is one of Marvel's greatest superhero battles, and an absolute classic! To say Sal & Pablo Marcos were well matched is an understatement. Avengers # 158's also M.P.'s first Avengers!
Regarding getting the same comic, over & over again...
I read the Byrne Spidey & C.B. team up in Super Spidey & C.B. # 248 onwards, then got it again, much later, in MTU # 65. Finally, I bought it a 3rd time in a UK Summer Spesh. As you imply, that way madness lies...
Regarding seaside purchases, I think I got my Human Fly comic at Bridlington (either that, or I took it with me!)
Sean - Good luck celebrating the Celtic equinox - or as Jean Michel Jarre would write, "equinoxe" ! how would Arsen Wenger react to Arsenal's current success, I wonder?
If you're still interested in a paperback copy of my book, yesterday I received a box of author copies, and I'll send you a copy, if you like. Maybe you could send your address details to Steve, and I could e-mail him to get them, if you're interested!
Phillip
Redartz - For some strange reason, Mysterio was a villain I liked, too - but I didn't encounter him until Spidey & the Human Torch battled him, in a 1979 UK Spidey annual!
Phillip
Mine's a boring answer. For years the only American marvels I ever saw were at the seaside. This is presumably where sale or no return comics end up if they're not sold in Smiths. I guess I'm lucky they didn't have their covers ripped off before being sent out there. I think they tended to be Marvel TeamUps and I definitely remember buying the one that had Son Of Satan in it. But memories are pretty hazy. My first ten Marvels almost certainly include ASM 334–339 and the Return of the sinister Six in the late 80s.
But first Marvel memories, that's more interesting. They're from a very young age, predating Marvel UK and in my first year of school at the very latest. The sort of memories you only realise are there years later when you recognise comic panels that you don't remember seeing first time round. And I remember FF #1, FF#2, FF#4, FF#18, Amazing Fantasy #15, ASM#1, ASM #80 and maybe X–Men #1. Some Iron Man stories too although I don't know which issues. All I remember was reading it and thinking Tony Stark and Anthony Stark were two different people and not being able to work out which one was Iron Man. After that, it's Marvel UK with SMCW#2 reprinting ASM#10 and a Thor story.
Matthew - You started U.S. Marvel shortly after I finished. I read some of the Elektra & Bullseye Miller Daredevils, years later, but they didn't really work for me. I think my brother liked them but, to me, it was starting to get too different from the Daredevil I started out with. Normally, I assume that our initial period - whatever personal era that is - is "golden"; but you had some misgivings about # 197 (?) Although, I suppose your initial period was in The Daredevils, rather than U.S. Daredevil...
Phillip
Dangermash and Matthew perhaps had a similar experience, maybe. Kids who grew up in villages - or small towns without a WHSmiths, etc - didn't buy Marvel All-Colour comics until much later, and so, that wasn't necessarily their "golden era"? Colin - didn't you once say, at one point, you grew up in a village, too - hence the Bristol trip perhaps being "first contact" with US Marvels? Or, maybe I'm seeing a "pattern", where one doesn't exist?
Phillip
Dangermash- nice observation about the distinction between first comics and first experience /exposure to comics. You're quite correct about the phenomenon of recalling panels, pages or covers to comics you know you never bought. It triggered my memory, too.
when I was but a wee 5 years old, my brother and I had to stay at a babysitter's house for a couple weeks while my sister was busy being born. Our sitter had a couple teenagers, and we spent some time in their upstairs hangout. Apparently, they must have been Marvel comics fans, because years later, some of those covers triggered my recognition. Among the covers that I must have seen: Fantastic Four 45 with the Inhumans, and Amazing Spider-Man 32 with Doc Ock. When I started collecting comics and was made aware of these and other books of that period, I was sure I'd seen them before...
Phillip, I was born in Islington but yes, I grew up in a village in South Wales and the nearest town did have a WH Smith's but it didn't sell US Marvels so my Bristol Zoo trip was indeed "first contact" with American comics. However US Marvel comics (not DC) started to become available in my area soon afterwards and by the late '70s they were on sale regularly. By about 1982 DC comics were available locally as well.
I too had that 1979 Spidey annual featuring the Human Torch and Mysterio but I'd already encountered Mysterio.
Redartz— you triggered a memory yourself just now. In fact you triggered two ….
Your tale of reading your babysitter’s kid’s comics reminded me of one fine summer day that my family spent visiting the family of a friend of my mom’s, and I recall seeing a copy of MARVEL TALES on the kitchen table. Don’t remember the specific issue but it was one of the early ones , the cover had tiny reproductions of the original covers of the comics that were reprinted inside: ASM, JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY (Thor), TALES TO ASTONISH (Ant-man) and STRANGE TALES (Dr. Strange). I didn’t actually read any of the stories, I just flipped thru it. But holy cow, that comic seemed like a magical thing that shouldn’t even exist! FOUR WHOLE COMICS crammed into one fat 68-page monster? How was that even possible?? It actually freaked me out a bit (I was like 5 or 6 at the time).
And I remember reading an issue of BEWARE THE CREEPER at a friend’s house, it may have been issue #2. There was a fight scene with the Creeper fighting the villain Proteus on a rooftop. Behind them was a billboard selling DC comics , with giant “BATMAN 66” Style sound effects — WHAM! POW! Etc. Nobody was saying “meta” back then, but even at age 7 I was able to grasp the basic idea of the gag, and thought it was pretty neat. I also remember Proteus looked like a bald man in a trench coat wearing lipstick and huge false eyelashes during the fist-fight (he’d been impersonating a nurse before the fight or something). As drawn by Ditko, that gender-blending image was kinda disturbing and nightmarish.
b.t.
Phillip, I did indeed used to buy comics from indoor markets. There was one in Sheffield's Sheaf Market which was my primary source. There was also one in the adjacent Castle Market.
Also, several of the US comics I mentioned above were bought from an indoor market on Lytham Road in Blackpool.
Tragically, all three of those indoor markets are no longer with us.
Steve - My indoor market still exists but, where - decades ago - it once sold comics, it now sells quality cheeses. Tastes have changed!
Phillip
What exactly is an ‘indoor market’, UK gents? I’ve never heard that expression before. Is it like a grocery store?
Curious in California
An indoor market is an area covered by a roof (unlike the outdoor market), which is shared by a number of small traders, providing useful services. Used by a number of traders who pay rent to trade in the market, their rents are lower than the rents for separate, individual shops offering the same service. Thus, the indoor market traders' prices can sometimes be lower (also, they make conversation with customers). For example, the barber in the indoor market charges £5 for a haircut, whereas in other barbers shops around in town, the price is much higher. Snobby, more materialistic locals probably wouldn't be seen dead in the indoor market, but it provides a great service to the local community!
Phillip
Oh - you get a butcher's, a locksmiths/cobblers, an incredibly cheap card trader, a bakers/pie trader, a trader selling jeans etc, fruit & veg, a barbers, a towel/linen trader, sports bags & hold alls, a cheese trader - and several others, too!
Phillip
Charlie, as Phillip says, they're the same concept as outdoor markets, just built indoors.
Should you wish to explore further, this is footage of Sheffield's Castle Market on its last day before closure, a Byzantine labyrinth that seemed to have been designed by a madman:
https://youtu.be/rME8Ii8Chug
Sadly, no one seemed to think of filming inside the neighbouring Sheaf Market before that one closed.
This is the city's current indoor market, which replace the older ones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3uOW3UfHh4
Scandalously, it has no stalls selling comics.
Oh. Hold on. Was that Charlie who asked? I've just noticed the mention of California in the signature. If you aren't Charlie, I'm sorry for the mix-up.
Steve - Charlie's latest persona is now 'Big Joe'.
Phillip
The California reference puzzled me too, Steve, as 'UK gents' is a very Charlie expression.
-sean
Steve: sorry, it was me.
Okay, now I’m clear on the concept. We don’t really have the equivalent here in the States, at least not in Southern California. I guess the closest thing to it is something we call an ‘Indoor Swap Meet’. I don’t think they have food and produce vendors, though, but I could be wrong about that. ‘Antique Malls’ follow the same kind of format, but the emphasis is on collectibles, everything from vinyl LP’s , old magazines, jewelry, even vintage furniture.
b.t.
Sean:
Yeah, it is. I didn’t intentionally steal one of Charlie’s expressions, it just happened.
b.t.
Steve -
The indoor market in Southport was the source for a lot of my earliest US comics. There was a stall that used to sell recent - but not current - comics at half price. I got a lot of good stuff there. The only downside was they wrote the price on the front in biro.
No worries b.t., Charlie doesn't hold the copyright on it.
But please don't start referring to yourself in the third person too (;
-sean
Charlie is of the opinion that only Charlie should refer to Charlie in the 3rd person. Everyone else should use "the person known as Charlie" to reference Charlie.
Charlie has seen indoor markets over the last 40 years but they tend to have a focus. Usually seemingly around art, or perhaps a flea market arrangement, or perhaps a town has some building they use for myriad merchants. But its not a gimme.
Charlie morphed into Big Joe b/c he was already using one of his alias gmail accounts (so the local Proud Boys Chapter does not hunt him down) when he opined on SDC. Being too lazy to retype everything and switch accounts, and being forced to put a name to the account, he used his given name plus an appropriate adjective. :)
A select few know my full name...
Hey! It is Chicago-nox this week. B/c the streets are all east-west / north-south if you drive down town in the earlier morning or before dusk it is really freaky!
Charlie, you've already told us your surname but I've forgotten it. Italian isn't it?
Matthew, yes, it was a common thing, when I first started reading American comics, for the British price to be either rubber-stamped on the front cover or handwritten in black marker pen.
What baffles me is people having written their own (presumably) name on comics you've bought second hand!
Phillip
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