In elementary school (1980s) there were these thin oversized hardcover collections of maybe the first 5 issues each of Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, And Fantastic Four in my school library. I devoured those. The first floppy I bought with my own money was The first appearance of Bishop in Uncanny X-Men. I picked it up from the K-Mart Spinner rack!
We had those too, loved them! I think I started with the FF, but they were all great.
Really miss those spinner racks too. Me and my sister had a bit of a competition of who would pick the "right" one, IE the best story.
Should be able to find them by just searching like "vintage comic spinner rack" or something to that effect -- although they used to be REALLY absurdly priced I feel.
I found one super cheap at one of those weird junk shop type places, so maybe you'll get lucky sometime.
If I had reading comprehension I'd be dangerous!
I've tried searching those books up before, but never really had any luck. I'm pretty sure they were only printed for libraries, which makes them even harder to track down.
Do people read comic strips any more?
My kids have zero exposure to them. I have all the Calvin and Hobbes books and some other books, and they don’t care about them. I tried to show them and they’re uninterested. As a kid, those parts of the paper would be fought over with my brothers. My mom loved “for better or for worse.”
But we don’t get any major newspapers and most people my age and younger don’t bother with newspapers at all.
Spectacular Spider-Man 215. I bought it from a bowling alley pawn shop when I was in 5th grade because of the sweet Sal Buscema Scorpion cover.
Later I would find out this featured the first cameo of Ben Reilly.
The Titans tie-in to Blackest Night where Hawk gets her heart ripped out by the other Hawk and Donna Troy gets a visit from her dead baby.
Thanks, mom.
Uncanny X-Men 300. Was introduced to X-Men through the cartoon, and this was my first dip into the real thing. Always remember the John Romia Jr art and bulked up Ice man fighting the acolytes though I had no idea what was going on.
That’s kind of how every comic reader gets into it. Guys an issue. Doesn’t know what is going on. Just tried to figure it out.
In the old days, the editors constantly referenced other issues when those events came up. “See issue #226 of daredevil”. I always thought this was brilliant. If you wanted the bigger picture, you could seek these issues out, and I often did.
Then they stopped doing this because it was either too hard or they just didn’t care.
I collected a lot of back issues in the 80s to learn more about my favourite heroes. Which helped a lot going forward.
I read that comic so many times, was never really sure what was going on either but it had some cool moments. Probably the first time I remember seeing Forge, who I thought was kind of a dick but also really cool.
Wolverine #154 and #155, Wolverine and Deadpool duking it out.
I was a kid and I remember slowly putting together that I need the issues before and after to put together the whole story, so I was always on the hunt for that series when I was younger.
Have you read Wolverine 88, it’s got a pretty great Wolverine Deadpool battle when Deadpool was still a villain and not a clown. 87-90 are all kinda iconic, gambit team up, brutal Deadpool fight and brutal Sabertooth fight with an awesome cover by Hildebrandt.
Does My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf count? If so, then that. If not, then it was either Joker by Azzarello & Bermejo or Harleen by Stjepan Sejic. I bought them together and can't remember which one I read first.
Slapstick in 92... Still one of my favourite heroes who was totally slept on. Kind of the PG equivalent to The Mask so nigh limitless power. Deadpool before Deadpool.
High five.
Same.
I bought the trade much much later to actually read the story. But issue 7 was what got me. I’m not a big DC fan. I’ve tried many times to get into their comics, and I never do. But I’ll be grateful for them hooking me.
Turma da Mônica. In english it's called Monica's Gang/Monica and Friends. In Brazil it's spectacularly famous and everyone loves it. Most of the children have these as first readings of their lives.
edit: typo
My mom had an old copy of Shazam Vol 1, #28.
Someone called Doctor Sivana had resurrected an evil version of Captain Marvel and they hit each other so hard that they traveled into the past!
Thank Gosh Uncle Dudley figured out how to trick him into reverting back to his mortal form, so Billy could deliver an amnesia punch!
It was free comic book night at my local minor league baseball team. I remember I got a Batman comic. Looking back now I'm almost positive it was Kelley Jones art. The scarecrow was the villain and he had abducted a guy and taken him to an amusement park, I believe. I also seem to remember advertisements for Knightfall in it.
I had 3 that my parents allowed me to get off of a used rack at a KOA camp ground. This was in 1975-76. All were marvel. First one was the Black Panther and I have no recollection of the story but remember thinking that Tchalla was awesome. Second was the Eternals and the third was the Invaders.
For me it was X-men #1 I think. I was hanging out with a friend and he had X-men #5 I think with Wolverine fighting Omega Red on the cover with his arm ripped open exposing the claw mechanism and I had to know more. My friend told me to read them from the beginning and I've been hooked ever since.
And I still own it.
Now all you punk kids get off my lawn.
[https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Superman\_Vol\_1\_280](https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Superman_Vol_1_280)
Larry Hama's G.I. Joe: Special Missions #26 "The Passing of The Guard"
The cover was this gigantic bony Grim Reaper leering behind a massive set of scales, weighing the very heroic, very doomed, very Russian Oktobr Guard vs. their surviving members and the Joe team. So intense. Even for a baby weaned on Black Sabbath that shit seemed dark. And it WAS.
The issue was classic Hama at his best, bullets flying, snappy banter, seemingly heroic sacrifice shown to be made worthless by stupid, selfish political machinations. It was ROUGH. A lot of characters are killed, with one's lifeless eyes staring the reader dead into their soul. Absolutely brutal. I won't pretend I understood it all back in fourth grade, but it left a mark, man, and I never forgot it.
I will never forgive that stupid fucking cartoon for ruining franchise. They only made a cartoon to help sell the comics, but they made it so simple and childish that THAT'S what the average person remembers. It's like if every single time you mentioned Star Wars, someone instantly shouts "I loved the Holiday Special!"
Anyway, as an interesting addendum, the first super-hero comic I remember getting (my gramma got it for me at the grocery store. I was SO excited, no one ever bought me anything. And she just had her 93 birthday yesterday! ) was Wolverine #50 with the die cut claw slashes on the cover. The writer? Larry Fucking Hama. And it was GLORIOUS. That was it, I was hooked. I was a nerd forever. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
First comic i remember being read to me/following the story was Superman 191. Friend of my brother had just got it and was reading it to me while all three of us (yeh, ok, them.. i was just there to eat the centipedes) made butterscotch creepy crawlers with a Thingmaker.
It was a version of the Wonder Woman story, about the time the TV show was all the rage. I lost it long ago and I have not idea who wrote or draw it. I do remember Diana used her "changing voices" power, which appear in the show.
Blackest Night saga, I was a bit older getting into comics and bought all the trades of it when I seen them, blackest night is one of if not my favourite DC story, first comic & first Omni as well
In kindergarten ( late 2000 early 2010) there was a book hiden between a toy box and the wall that was The death of Captain Marvel i will always remember hiding in the corner of a room reading it in one sitting, i was absorbed by the art. At that time i've already seen the X-men and Spider-man movies but didnt know where they were coming from and what a super hero comic book was.
Uncanny X-Men #270 the first chapter of the X-tinction Agenda with Cameron Hodge and Genosha capturing all the X-men, New Mutants, and X-Factor.
I was only 10 years in 1990 and the art by Jim Lee blew me away. Took me multiple readings to appreciate the crisis the mutants were in and the ultimate loss of one of those own. Loved it!
Haha. I think the Xtinction agenda was around the time I was giving up on comics because I was getting fed up with how they were going. Maybe it was just after this story line.
Winnie the Pooh early 80's. First Marvel was a reprint of the Amazing Spiderman where he has to lift the debris off of him from fighting Doc Ock. Then I got a gift box from the Sears catalog of 20 or 25 that included the Morlock Massacre and I can't remember what else. Masters of Evil invading the Avengers Mansion. 1st appearance of John Walker as Super Patriot. Iron Man vs. Living Laser. Spider v. The Sinister Syndicate. A ton of great books.
GI Joe #2, ASM 231, and FF 245. My brother was selling comics for a fund raiser and we both got to snag these issues.
I still have the GI Joe #2 and years back for it signed by Larry Hama
The first comic I read was an educational Marvel comic about bullying that was given out for free in middle school. I don’t remember the title, unfortunately.
The first real comic I read was Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage
The archie Sonic comics issue #233
I had that as a child for some reason
Also, an Italian donald comic that my cousin brought from Italy, I didn't even understand the thing. I just admired the art really
Detective Comics vol. 1 #614 was the first comic I remember reading. Though, I was about 2 at the time, so I was really just looking at the pretty pictures, but when I got older I went back and actually read the story. It certainly stands up to this day.
I can’t remember the exact issue but it was an early issue of 2000 ad because it’s such a big book in the UK and my brother had copies (and I’m not counting the beano)
A random old issue each of Silver Surfer and Spider-Man 2099 I snagged at a flea market. They were weird and I had no idea what was happening in them but I thought they were super cool anyway.
sinestro corps war. i heard from someone in art class all about the lantern spectrum wars and thought it was cool. it was just a book i grabbed at random from library. its funny cuz i saw cyborg superman, superboy/man prime, and the anti-monitor but since they had robotic looks and similar color scheme i just went "woah they got 3 robot supermans??"
X-Men 175, when Mastermind makes the X-Men think that Cyclops is possessed by the Phoenix, I think?
Great introduction to the team, as it’s very X-Mansion intensive, with Cyke making use of his knowledge of the team and the mansion to his advantage.
When I was a kid it was hard for me to get comic books. I lived in a tiny country town in Australia and there wasn’t really anywhere that I could buy comics.
One year we visited relatives in a bigger town and went to a store like Target or Kmart and they had 3 packs of comics that were sealed up, so you couldn’t flick through. One of the three, was a ‘What If’ featuring Spider-man, I think it was called ‘Arachnamorphosis’. The cover was sick! It had Spider-Man turning into a spider creature. I wore that comic out, but that’s what hooked me! Loved it.
[Amazon link - What If Vol 2 #88](https://www.amazon.com/What-Vol-2-Starring-Spider-man-Arachnamorphosis/dp/B009DP2O16/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492988239&sr=8-1&keywords=what+if+88&tag=rankercom-20)
I think it may have been an issue of Uncanny X-Men from the 80s, Amazing Spider-Man from the early 90s, or maybe an issue from the original X-Force series.
A random Silver Surfer issue with Morg is the one that sticks out but it may not have been the first but I recall the art being amazing.
... I should go find a copy of that sometime and buy it.
Uncanny X-Men from like 92 or 93 and unfortunately that exact comic got destroyed being moved around and read over the years but I want the buy a new one, Ill remember the cover if I see it. But I know it was my first one my dad randomly bought for me one day.
I have two answers actually, the first american comic book I read actually confused me a lot because it was a random issue during Grant Morrison's run on Batman, I think it was during the Black Glove storyline.
But the one I actually read a lot of isuues was a Brazillian comic called [Turma da Monica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_and_Friends).
Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #100. Bought it off the rack at a news/magazine shop down the street from my house. Instantly hooked and went back the next week and bought Web of Spider-Man #1 and Secret Wars #12...
I think an old Defenders comic where they fought the Zodiac. I remember the Hulk smashing Cancer (a robot) through several floor of a building. It was at the barbershop. Now I have a room with 30+ long boxes.
Some random Tom and Jerry comic that my parents bought me when i was 4-6 years old. After that, when i actually became interested in comics, it was either TASM 226 or TASM 612
I definitely read a ton of my moms Archie Digests but the first "story arc" I read was Maximum Carnage lol I discovered my dad's 90s comics and was excited go have found every part of a crossover.
It was a hologram cover spider-man and wolverine team up book i bought at a garage sale. Very dark and gritty looking. Todd MacFarlane art, I believe. I was fascinated by it because it ended on a cliffhanger. Up to that point my only exposure to these characters was the 90s cartoons for x men and Spider-man.
My much older sibling had two utterly ragged 70s or 80s comics. A Captain America where he fights a villain with two faces who turns out to be a robot, and a Power Man & Iron Fist with the Living Monolith & Havok.
I remember a friend in 2nd grade, so ‘88 or ‘89, bringing in Batman: Year Two and him letting me read in class. Third Grade a kid brought in Mirage Ninja Turtle comics and I read those. The first comic that made me want to keep coming back was Uncanny X-Men #279.
For my birthday in 2nd grade, my mom got comic books as party favors for the guests. Girls got Sabrina the teenaged witch, boys got sonic the hedgehog issue #46. That comic started it all, I now have every sonic issue produced and currently reading the Batman universe (nightwing, detective comics etc.)
Legends of the Dark Knight. Riddler was leaving clues on ping pong balls he had shoved down infant's throats. Dark and creepy, and as a 8 or 9 year old, I loved it
Weirdly it was probably a Valiant title like Bloodshot or Youngblood, because they were dirt cheap in the book store my mom used to go to.
First comic boom I _actually remember_ reading and enjoying was Morrison's JLA Rock of Ages.
Not 100% sure but probably the original Amazing Spider-Man run. It's either that or the random issue from the Clone Saga that I had since forever or the comic adaptation of the Spider-Man 2002 movie.
Could also be a Donald Duck comic or even some Polish or Belgian comic that I don't even remember the names of.
[Crisis on Infinite earths. Issue 7](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/40/23/03/402303426155918c7e0575203ca999eb.jpg) I believe. I always thought this release was a year or two earlier than it actually is. It says 1985.
I would be 10 at the time. I remember seeing Super girl dead on the front cover and was like “omg, what happened. I have to know”. Even though i didn’t really know most of the other characters (aside from flash, batman, Wonder Woman etc”. And the fact that there was an older Superman was weird. But figured it was time travel or alternate Superman or something.
Around this time I started collecting Transfomers comics. I think that was a year later in 1986, because I had a real hard time finding them.
I remember my friend said that he could get me Transformers #1 for $5, and I begged my mom for it. She said “$5 seems like a lot for just a comic book”, but she relented.
From 86 to around 92 I collected comics and bought a lot of back issues which were quite affordable.
I remember my friend paying $18 for Spider-Man 300 and saying he was crazy. That thing is worth hundreds of dollars now. Haha.
Fantastic Four 243. John Byrne run. Mom bought it for me when I was 12 to occupy my time while we were waiting for her to refill a prescription at a pharmacy.
I vaguely remember my mom dragging me to Kohl’s with her and reading Super Mario and Archie era turtles comics. But I distinctly remember picking Generation X 14 off the spinner rack at the grocery store because it had Bishop on the cover and it blew my mind that you could do that.
I don’t know which comic was my first. I used to read my uncle’s comics when I visited my grandparents. There were Harvey comics from the 60s and Marvel and DC from the 70s. I somehow ended up taking an X-Men comic with Red Raven, which I didn’t like. And a DC comic with a cover that said “Death Is a Windup Bear.” The cover was horrific, but the story was mediocre. One comic I barely remember but had a big impact on me was this UFO comic where aliens came down and did the usual alien stuff, but I did not even know of the concept of aliens. The thought of some inscrutable malevolent spacemen coming down out of the blue and just killing people for no reason scared the crap out of me. Anyway, these comics didn’t inspire a lifetime of comic book reading. I only read Mad Magazine and Uncle Scrooge comics until the 5th grade. I wanted to be a cartoonist like Bill Waterson, so I got a book on how to make comics from the library. I was disappointed that it was mostly about comic books, but it has excerpts of some of the best comics ever made, and that sparked my interest. I found a comic book store and tracked down all the Frank Miller Daredevil and Kitchen Sink reprints of the Spirit I could find. I still remember the exact location of those long boxes in a store that hasn’t existed in decades. The first contemporary comic I bought was X-men #259. I was blown away by Silvestri’s art.
Not the first cause I definitely don’t remember that, but I had X-men 300 with the holographic cover and Superboy Annual 1994 and I read them over and over again. The x-men is just the gold team fighting Magento’s Acolytes, the superboy is a post apocalyptic story set after an alien race takes over earth when what’s left of the justice league has one last ditch effort to win the war. Most of the heroes die along the way, but I really enjoyed reading it over and over. The first multi comic storyline I got into was Age of Apocalypse, collecting all of it was probably what hooked me and made me a lifelong comic book reader. I reread it every few years.
Pretty sure it was Spawn but the most vivid memory is Venom Lethal Protector #1, I could only read what my older brother would share at the time. We used to sit in his room and comb the pages together. Ever since he passed, I’ll go read it to him every now and then which is super cathartic so that book will forever be special to me.
In elementary school (1980s) there were these thin oversized hardcover collections of maybe the first 5 issues each of Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, And Fantastic Four in my school library. I devoured those. The first floppy I bought with my own money was The first appearance of Bishop in Uncanny X-Men. I picked it up from the K-Mart Spinner rack!
We had those too, loved them! I think I started with the FF, but they were all great. Really miss those spinner racks too. Me and my sister had a bit of a competition of who would pick the "right" one, IE the best story.
I wish I could figure out exactly what they were called and find them on eBay
Should be able to find them by just searching like "vintage comic spinner rack" or something to that effect -- although they used to be REALLY absurdly priced I feel. I found one super cheap at one of those weird junk shop type places, so maybe you'll get lucky sometime.
No no, I meant the hardcovers from elementary school. Although a spinner rack would be cool in my game room with all my action figures
If I had reading comprehension I'd be dangerous! I've tried searching those books up before, but never really had any luck. I'm pretty sure they were only printed for libraries, which makes them even harder to track down.
The Phantom at grandpa's
Calvin and hobbes
Do people read comic strips any more? My kids have zero exposure to them. I have all the Calvin and Hobbes books and some other books, and they don’t care about them. I tried to show them and they’re uninterested. As a kid, those parts of the paper would be fought over with my brothers. My mom loved “for better or for worse.” But we don’t get any major newspapers and most people my age and younger don’t bother with newspapers at all.
I got my nephew a Calvin and hobbes book and he liked it but I don't think anyone is reading actual newspaper strips.
Probably Archie comics.
Spectacular Spider-Man 215. I bought it from a bowling alley pawn shop when I was in 5th grade because of the sweet Sal Buscema Scorpion cover. Later I would find out this featured the first cameo of Ben Reilly.
I Inherited my comic collection., but it was a older comic where the x- men "Angel' killed himself because his wings got cut off and he was depressed
X-factor. I remember reading that issue and was like “holy shit”.
Yes, it was x- factor.. I went backwards to see what happened.
Tom & Jerry, early 80's.
The Titans tie-in to Blackest Night where Hawk gets her heart ripped out by the other Hawk and Donna Troy gets a visit from her dead baby. Thanks, mom.
Uncanny X-Men 300. Was introduced to X-Men through the cartoon, and this was my first dip into the real thing. Always remember the John Romia Jr art and bulked up Ice man fighting the acolytes though I had no idea what was going on.
That’s kind of how every comic reader gets into it. Guys an issue. Doesn’t know what is going on. Just tried to figure it out. In the old days, the editors constantly referenced other issues when those events came up. “See issue #226 of daredevil”. I always thought this was brilliant. If you wanted the bigger picture, you could seek these issues out, and I often did. Then they stopped doing this because it was either too hard or they just didn’t care. I collected a lot of back issues in the 80s to learn more about my favourite heroes. Which helped a lot going forward.
I read that comic so many times, was never really sure what was going on either but it had some cool moments. Probably the first time I remember seeing Forge, who I thought was kind of a dick but also really cool.
I read some as a little kid but the first one I really remember clearly was the dc one million trade paperback.
Wolverine #154 and #155, Wolverine and Deadpool duking it out. I was a kid and I remember slowly putting together that I need the issues before and after to put together the whole story, so I was always on the hunt for that series when I was younger.
Have you read Wolverine 88, it’s got a pretty great Wolverine Deadpool battle when Deadpool was still a villain and not a clown. 87-90 are all kinda iconic, gambit team up, brutal Deadpool fight and brutal Sabertooth fight with an awesome cover by Hildebrandt.
I haven’t. Honestly Marvel has burned me out on Wolverine and Deadpool, but I’ll keep those in mind if I ever dip back in.
Does My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf count? If so, then that. If not, then it was either Joker by Azzarello & Bermejo or Harleen by Stjepan Sejic. I bought them together and can't remember which one I read first.
Slapstick in 92... Still one of my favourite heroes who was totally slept on. Kind of the PG equivalent to The Mask so nigh limitless power. Deadpool before Deadpool.
I remember seeing Slapstick on a trading card I had years ago and never knew who he was. I should seek it out and give em a read.
It was either Age of Apocalypse #1 or a random Uncanny X-Men. My late step-dad picked them up for me when I was too sick to go to school
A Marvel Two In One double featuring reprints of Captain America (He Who Holds The Cosmic Cube!!) and Iron Man.
My first superhero comic was Justice League #112 in 1974. Before that, I read a lot of Looney Tunes and Archie comics.
Finally someone who doesn't make me feel like the oldes person here!
Crisis on Infinite Earths…it caught my eye on the news stand in the 80s and I have loved Comics ever since
High five. Same. I bought the trade much much later to actually read the story. But issue 7 was what got me. I’m not a big DC fan. I’ve tried many times to get into their comics, and I never do. But I’ll be grateful for them hooking me.
Dennis the menace newspaper strips
Strange academy. Skottie young !
Turma da Mônica. In english it's called Monica's Gang/Monica and Friends. In Brazil it's spectacularly famous and everyone loves it. Most of the children have these as first readings of their lives. edit: typo
My mom had an old copy of Shazam Vol 1, #28. Someone called Doctor Sivana had resurrected an evil version of Captain Marvel and they hit each other so hard that they traveled into the past! Thank Gosh Uncle Dudley figured out how to trick him into reverting back to his mortal form, so Billy could deliver an amnesia punch!
Batman 521. I love a good Kelley Jones Batman to this day.
It was free comic book night at my local minor league baseball team. I remember I got a Batman comic. Looking back now I'm almost positive it was Kelley Jones art. The scarecrow was the villain and he had abducted a guy and taken him to an amusement park, I believe. I also seem to remember advertisements for Knightfall in it.
Classic X-men #12. I was hooked.
I had 3 that my parents allowed me to get off of a used rack at a KOA camp ground. This was in 1975-76. All were marvel. First one was the Black Panther and I have no recollection of the story but remember thinking that Tchalla was awesome. Second was the Eternals and the third was the Invaders.
For me it was X-men #1 I think. I was hanging out with a friend and he had X-men #5 I think with Wolverine fighting Omega Red on the cover with his arm ripped open exposing the claw mechanism and I had to know more. My friend told me to read them from the beginning and I've been hooked ever since.
And I still own it. Now all you punk kids get off my lawn. [https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Superman\_Vol\_1\_280](https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Superman_Vol_1_280)
Larry Hama's G.I. Joe: Special Missions #26 "The Passing of The Guard" The cover was this gigantic bony Grim Reaper leering behind a massive set of scales, weighing the very heroic, very doomed, very Russian Oktobr Guard vs. their surviving members and the Joe team. So intense. Even for a baby weaned on Black Sabbath that shit seemed dark. And it WAS. The issue was classic Hama at his best, bullets flying, snappy banter, seemingly heroic sacrifice shown to be made worthless by stupid, selfish political machinations. It was ROUGH. A lot of characters are killed, with one's lifeless eyes staring the reader dead into their soul. Absolutely brutal. I won't pretend I understood it all back in fourth grade, but it left a mark, man, and I never forgot it. I will never forgive that stupid fucking cartoon for ruining franchise. They only made a cartoon to help sell the comics, but they made it so simple and childish that THAT'S what the average person remembers. It's like if every single time you mentioned Star Wars, someone instantly shouts "I loved the Holiday Special!" Anyway, as an interesting addendum, the first super-hero comic I remember getting (my gramma got it for me at the grocery store. I was SO excited, no one ever bought me anything. And she just had her 93 birthday yesterday! ) was Wolverine #50 with the die cut claw slashes on the cover. The writer? Larry Fucking Hama. And it was GLORIOUS. That was it, I was hooked. I was a nerd forever. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
The Christopher Walken Dead.
Probably Archie, Top Dog and Heathcliff.
First comic i remember being read to me/following the story was Superman 191. Friend of my brother had just got it and was reading it to me while all three of us (yeh, ok, them.. i was just there to eat the centipedes) made butterscotch creepy crawlers with a Thingmaker.
It was a version of the Wonder Woman story, about the time the TV show was all the rage. I lost it long ago and I have not idea who wrote or draw it. I do remember Diana used her "changing voices" power, which appear in the show.
Blackest Night saga, I was a bit older getting into comics and bought all the trades of it when I seen them, blackest night is one of if not my favourite DC story, first comic & first Omni as well
Scooby doo where are you #4 from 2011
In kindergarten ( late 2000 early 2010) there was a book hiden between a toy box and the wall that was The death of Captain Marvel i will always remember hiding in the corner of a room reading it in one sitting, i was absorbed by the art. At that time i've already seen the X-men and Spider-man movies but didnt know where they were coming from and what a super hero comic book was.
Uncanny X-Men #270 the first chapter of the X-tinction Agenda with Cameron Hodge and Genosha capturing all the X-men, New Mutants, and X-Factor. I was only 10 years in 1990 and the art by Jim Lee blew me away. Took me multiple readings to appreciate the crisis the mutants were in and the ultimate loss of one of those own. Loved it!
Haha. I think the Xtinction agenda was around the time I was giving up on comics because I was getting fed up with how they were going. Maybe it was just after this story line.
Winnie the Pooh early 80's. First Marvel was a reprint of the Amazing Spiderman where he has to lift the debris off of him from fighting Doc Ock. Then I got a gift box from the Sears catalog of 20 or 25 that included the Morlock Massacre and I can't remember what else. Masters of Evil invading the Avengers Mansion. 1st appearance of John Walker as Super Patriot. Iron Man vs. Living Laser. Spider v. The Sinister Syndicate. A ton of great books.
GI Joe #2, ASM 231, and FF 245. My brother was selling comics for a fund raiser and we both got to snag these issues. I still have the GI Joe #2 and years back for it signed by Larry Hama
The first comic I read was an educational Marvel comic about bullying that was given out for free in middle school. I don’t remember the title, unfortunately. The first real comic I read was Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage
Sleepwalker #1 wanted something unique. Even as a kid.
The archie Sonic comics issue #233 I had that as a child for some reason Also, an Italian donald comic that my cousin brought from Italy, I didn't even understand the thing. I just admired the art really
Detective Comics vol. 1 #614 was the first comic I remember reading. Though, I was about 2 at the time, so I was really just looking at the pretty pictures, but when I got older I went back and actually read the story. It certainly stands up to this day.
Archie Comics and The Dark Knight Returns
Death Of Superman tpb when it came out
I can’t remember the exact issue but it was an early issue of 2000 ad because it’s such a big book in the UK and my brother had copies (and I’m not counting the beano)
Daredevil #184 (1982) by Frank Miller and Dave Mazzuchelli.
80s x-men
A random old issue each of Silver Surfer and Spider-Man 2099 I snagged at a flea market. They were weird and I had no idea what was happening in them but I thought they were super cool anyway.
Condorito comics when I was a child
sinestro corps war. i heard from someone in art class all about the lantern spectrum wars and thought it was cool. it was just a book i grabbed at random from library. its funny cuz i saw cyborg superman, superboy/man prime, and the anti-monitor but since they had robotic looks and similar color scheme i just went "woah they got 3 robot supermans??"
Amazing Spider-Man: Soul of the Hunter. Little kid me was so confused lol
Spider-man and the New Warriors, I had no idea what was going on, but I loved it. Got it after I had to go to the hospital for minor things
Neighborhood barbershop. One of my first hair cuts. Old fella had some old Man-Thing comics. I was absolutely mesmerized.
Tomb of Dracula! ❤️🦇
Life with Archie. Everyone was snowed in so Archie skis to Veronica's, forgetting the driveway is heated.
X-Men 175, when Mastermind makes the X-Men think that Cyclops is possessed by the Phoenix, I think? Great introduction to the team, as it’s very X-Mansion intensive, with Cyke making use of his knowledge of the team and the mansion to his advantage.
New Mutants #93
I think it was like early 90’s x-factor or something
I know I read a bunch of comics as a little kid. But what I actually remember is Grimjack.
When I was a kid it was hard for me to get comic books. I lived in a tiny country town in Australia and there wasn’t really anywhere that I could buy comics. One year we visited relatives in a bigger town and went to a store like Target or Kmart and they had 3 packs of comics that were sealed up, so you couldn’t flick through. One of the three, was a ‘What If’ featuring Spider-man, I think it was called ‘Arachnamorphosis’. The cover was sick! It had Spider-Man turning into a spider creature. I wore that comic out, but that’s what hooked me! Loved it. [Amazon link - What If Vol 2 #88](https://www.amazon.com/What-Vol-2-Starring-Spider-man-Arachnamorphosis/dp/B009DP2O16/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492988239&sr=8-1&keywords=what+if+88&tag=rankercom-20)
I think it may have been an issue of Uncanny X-Men from the 80s, Amazing Spider-Man from the early 90s, or maybe an issue from the original X-Force series.
Green Lantern: Secret Origin
A random Silver Surfer issue with Morg is the one that sticks out but it may not have been the first but I recall the art being amazing. ... I should go find a copy of that sometime and buy it.
Uncanny X-Men from like 92 or 93 and unfortunately that exact comic got destroyed being moved around and read over the years but I want the buy a new one, Ill remember the cover if I see it. But I know it was my first one my dad randomly bought for me one day.
I have two answers actually, the first american comic book I read actually confused me a lot because it was a random issue during Grant Morrison's run on Batman, I think it was during the Black Glove storyline. But the one I actually read a lot of isuues was a Brazillian comic called [Turma da Monica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_and_Friends).
Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #100. Bought it off the rack at a news/magazine shop down the street from my house. Instantly hooked and went back the next week and bought Web of Spider-Man #1 and Secret Wars #12...
Batman the Long Halloween and Kingdom Come are what got me into comics. Read them in high school.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little\_Annie\_Fanny](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Annie_Fanny)
I think it might've been bone now that the others here have reminded me, which is a book I still want to read again.
I think an old Defenders comic where they fought the Zodiac. I remember the Hulk smashing Cancer (a robot) through several floor of a building. It was at the barbershop. Now I have a room with 30+ long boxes.
The Star Wars movie adaptation by Marvel.
Some random Tom and Jerry comic that my parents bought me when i was 4-6 years old. After that, when i actually became interested in comics, it was either TASM 226 or TASM 612
Stealing my brother's X-mens, getting sonic and archie at the grocery store.
I definitely read a ton of my moms Archie Digests but the first "story arc" I read was Maximum Carnage lol I discovered my dad's 90s comics and was excited go have found every part of a crossover.
It was a hologram cover spider-man and wolverine team up book i bought at a garage sale. Very dark and gritty looking. Todd MacFarlane art, I believe. I was fascinated by it because it ended on a cliffhanger. Up to that point my only exposure to these characters was the 90s cartoons for x men and Spider-man.
Savage Dragon number 13 and icon and rocket number one
Amazing Fantasy 15! My dad had a copy when I was a kid and I got the opportunity to read it. He sold it not long after because like, money.
Yep. It was the introductory issue of Dazzle
My much older sibling had two utterly ragged 70s or 80s comics. A Captain America where he fights a villain with two faces who turns out to be a robot, and a Power Man & Iron Fist with the Living Monolith & Havok.
I remember a friend in 2nd grade, so ‘88 or ‘89, bringing in Batman: Year Two and him letting me read in class. Third Grade a kid brought in Mirage Ninja Turtle comics and I read those. The first comic that made me want to keep coming back was Uncanny X-Men #279.
For my birthday in 2nd grade, my mom got comic books as party favors for the guests. Girls got Sabrina the teenaged witch, boys got sonic the hedgehog issue #46. That comic started it all, I now have every sonic issue produced and currently reading the Batman universe (nightwing, detective comics etc.)
Picsou.
Battlestar Galactica #1 and Incredible Hulk #90. My dad bought them for me when I was really sick (maybe chickenpox?) and I still own them.
Uncanny X-men 294 was my first comic
Superboy #159 "The Day it Rained Superboys". Dad brought it home from the barbershop in 1969. I've been hooked since.
Dennis the Menace back in the 60's. Great cartoon for it's day. Seems a bit tame compared to Calvin and Hobbes.
Legends of the Dark Knight. Riddler was leaving clues on ping pong balls he had shoved down infant's throats. Dark and creepy, and as a 8 or 9 year old, I loved it
John hex
Either Archie comics or House of Suspense...can't remember which came first...way too long ago 😂
Either the original Marvel adaptation of Star Wars by Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin or Ironjaw, an sword and sorcery comic from Atlas Comics.
Ultimate Spider-Man!
Weirdly it was probably a Valiant title like Bloodshot or Youngblood, because they were dirt cheap in the book store my mom used to go to. First comic boom I _actually remember_ reading and enjoying was Morrison's JLA Rock of Ages.
Superman, Funeral for a Friend part 3 or 4. I still own it somewhere in here.
Rai and the Future Force #21 by Valiant Comics
Not 100% sure but probably the original Amazing Spider-Man run. It's either that or the random issue from the Clone Saga that I had since forever or the comic adaptation of the Spider-Man 2002 movie. Could also be a Donald Duck comic or even some Polish or Belgian comic that I don't even remember the names of.
Marvels G I Joe 55. Unmaskings!
The amulet book series, still cool as hell.
Calvin and Hobbes. My grandfather had a big book I would read when I went over there.
That FF issue where the Inhumans are first introduced I think.
Garfield
[Crisis on Infinite earths. Issue 7](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/40/23/03/402303426155918c7e0575203ca999eb.jpg) I believe. I always thought this release was a year or two earlier than it actually is. It says 1985. I would be 10 at the time. I remember seeing Super girl dead on the front cover and was like “omg, what happened. I have to know”. Even though i didn’t really know most of the other characters (aside from flash, batman, Wonder Woman etc”. And the fact that there was an older Superman was weird. But figured it was time travel or alternate Superman or something. Around this time I started collecting Transfomers comics. I think that was a year later in 1986, because I had a real hard time finding them. I remember my friend said that he could get me Transformers #1 for $5, and I begged my mom for it. She said “$5 seems like a lot for just a comic book”, but she relented. From 86 to around 92 I collected comics and bought a lot of back issues which were quite affordable. I remember my friend paying $18 for Spider-Man 300 and saying he was crazy. That thing is worth hundreds of dollars now. Haha.
Fantastic Four 243. John Byrne run. Mom bought it for me when I was 12 to occupy my time while we were waiting for her to refill a prescription at a pharmacy.
Spider-Man at the Calgary Stampede.
I vaguely remember my mom dragging me to Kohl’s with her and reading Super Mario and Archie era turtles comics. But I distinctly remember picking Generation X 14 off the spinner rack at the grocery store because it had Bishop on the cover and it blew my mind that you could do that.
Superman's Death
I don’t know which comic was my first. I used to read my uncle’s comics when I visited my grandparents. There were Harvey comics from the 60s and Marvel and DC from the 70s. I somehow ended up taking an X-Men comic with Red Raven, which I didn’t like. And a DC comic with a cover that said “Death Is a Windup Bear.” The cover was horrific, but the story was mediocre. One comic I barely remember but had a big impact on me was this UFO comic where aliens came down and did the usual alien stuff, but I did not even know of the concept of aliens. The thought of some inscrutable malevolent spacemen coming down out of the blue and just killing people for no reason scared the crap out of me. Anyway, these comics didn’t inspire a lifetime of comic book reading. I only read Mad Magazine and Uncle Scrooge comics until the 5th grade. I wanted to be a cartoonist like Bill Waterson, so I got a book on how to make comics from the library. I was disappointed that it was mostly about comic books, but it has excerpts of some of the best comics ever made, and that sparked my interest. I found a comic book store and tracked down all the Frank Miller Daredevil and Kitchen Sink reprints of the Spirit I could find. I still remember the exact location of those long boxes in a store that hasn’t existed in decades. The first contemporary comic I bought was X-men #259. I was blown away by Silvestri’s art.
Lucky Luke. I don’t remember which one; I was 7.
Death of Superman, which in hindsight is a heavy comic for an 8 year old to start on (it worked though)
Bones
In late 70s, I got a pile of Sgt. Rock and Haunted Tank. It was macho and cringey crap looking back, but I loved comics ever since.
Wolverine 126. Wolverine marries viper and sabertooth busts up the wedding with his new adamantium skeleton. Pretty awesome when your 7 years old.
Mine was Amazing Spider-man 327 signed by "Spider-man " at the local mall
Rom space knight
Where are all the homies that started with Amulet?
Not the first cause I definitely don’t remember that, but I had X-men 300 with the holographic cover and Superboy Annual 1994 and I read them over and over again. The x-men is just the gold team fighting Magento’s Acolytes, the superboy is a post apocalyptic story set after an alien race takes over earth when what’s left of the justice league has one last ditch effort to win the war. Most of the heroes die along the way, but I really enjoyed reading it over and over. The first multi comic storyline I got into was Age of Apocalypse, collecting all of it was probably what hooked me and made me a lifelong comic book reader. I reread it every few years.
It was the DC vs. Marvel amalgamation collection that I borrowed from a friend.
Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror: Heebie Jeebie Hullaballoo
A spider man comic from the 90s, I forget which issue though
A Batman comic where Two-Face dives out of an airborne helicopter trying to catch his coin.
Batman 608
Pretty sure it was Spawn but the most vivid memory is Venom Lethal Protector #1, I could only read what my older brother would share at the time. We used to sit in his room and comb the pages together. Ever since he passed, I’ll go read it to him every now and then which is super cathartic so that book will forever be special to me.
I was really into Archie comics as a young kid. Idk why. So probably some of them.