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Posted: |
Nov 9, 2013 - 2:47 AM
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By: |
Mike_J
(Member)
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Not sure I have seen a thread on people's introductions to and history of readings comics so I thought this might be an interesting topic.
As a youngster, my first memory of comics was reading Shiver n Shake, a typical British entry featuring colourful characters. I don't recall any of the strips (apart from the fact that Shiver was a ghost and Shake was an elephant) but I couldn't wait for Thursdays when it came out.
In the early 70s, I discovered Marvel, initially though their adaption of Planet of the Apes. The First Apes comic I got had an advert for he a British reprint of Spider-Man and the art just looked amazing. I bought a copy, which featured Spidey fighting the Lizard, and was hooked from that moment in. I became an obsessive Marvel fan, avidly collecting the entire UK range of titles.
When my mum died suddenly while I was still in my early teens, I went through a bit of a change and suddenly gave away my entire beloved Marvel collection to a friend, for reasons I don't fully understand but presume there was some connection to my volte face in respect of my comic book tastes and my mum's passing.
I then started reading Warlord comic, a brilliant British war comic, the main feature of which - Lord Peter Flint (Codename: Warlord) was a 40s James Bond which I think would make a cracking movie today.
After Warlord, I gave up reading comics and got into literature, especially science fiction like Asimov, Heinlein, Bradbury and Niven.
When my son got into Marvel, it was fantastic to re-discover that universe and I was very pleased to buy him a Spider-Man omnibus that included the same Johnny Romita-drawn Spidey v Lizard that was my introduction to that comic book. Memories came flooding back.
Nowadays, my son's tastes have changed and he has a growing collection of graphic novels, including Hellboy, Watchman, Batman and Marvel Civil War. I still read them but don't much care for the modern artwork.
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Posted: |
Nov 9, 2013 - 5:32 AM
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By: |
mastadge
(Member)
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I was never allowed to read comics as a kid, with the sole exception of Maus. Thus my introduction to comics came late in high school as I sought out comics based on properties I liked in other media -- largely Dark Horse stuff. Conan, Aliens, etc. It wasn't until college that I started branching out to original comics, and from those eventually moved to superheroes, where my obsessive habits led me to reading huge amounts of the stuff. That said, in my branching out I've always been a creator-based reader rather than a property-based reader, so I started by following, say, John Ostrander out of Star Wars and discovering all his other stuff, and might have found my way into DC proper by following Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman out of Vertigo/pre-Vertigo stuff and following Greg Rucka from his novels to his comics.
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Posted: |
Nov 9, 2013 - 5:46 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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Oh, now you're asking a HUGE question. Comics was an essential part of my childhood and teenage years, but not so much anymore. I think I zoned out about 20 years ago or so (I'm soon 36). I didn't only read a lot and had thousands of comics in my collection, I also CREATED comics myself. I've always been interested in drawing. Most of these are now stored in a box inside my parents' attic somewhere. Some decent stuff there with potential, I seem to remember. There was one superhero called 'Super-Ole', a playboy-type with mullet called Reed Miles, a stranded captain called Timothy-something (probably the most ambitious) and a rugged, private dick with sideburns called Richard Brock for which I even wrote a novel! Among others.
In any case, the two MAJOR titles of my childhood were Disney stuff (mostly Donald Duck, pocket books etc.) and The Phantom. Both of these are hugely popular in Norway, even moreso than their country of origin. For The Phantom, I preferred the more serious dark drawings of Hans Lindahl than the original Lee Falk or Jaime Valvée.
Curiously, I was never that hot on the Marvel/superhero universe, which everyone else and their grandmother seem to obsess over. I read some of it -- Fantastic Four, Hulk, Batman, Superman etc., but not that much.
Beyond that, I sampled anything and everything -- Asterix, Tintin, Mandrake, Seriemagasinet (an 'agent'-based anthology series that had the likes of Modesty Blaise, Kirby etc.), a horror anthology series called Grusomme Grøss etc. In fact, I've forgotten most of these titles, but I had them neatly stored on a shelf system with separation tags etc. Oh, the memories....
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Never cared about the Marvel Universe, or any superhero comics at all. I do vaguely recall buying a couple of "The Phantom" issues when I was like 8 or 9 years old. From age 12 onwards I found all of these moronic. And I still do.
Calvin & Hobbes is more my thing. 
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Posted: |
Nov 9, 2013 - 10:53 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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mid-1970s: "Richie Rich" (but I realize that doesn't really count.)
mid to late-1970s: "Batman", "Star Wars", "Sgt. Rock"(?) and military comics, "Weird Wonder Tales"
early-1980s: still "Batman" and "Star Wars", and started reading re-issues and book compilations of comics I'd missed from earlier times....
Wow, that's quite similar to my own reading habits. Right down to the time period, too.
Richie Rich damn well counts! 
In my early comics-reading years (1977-83), Star Wars and DC's Battle Books (Sgt. Rock, G.I. Combat, The Unknown Soldier) were my hands down favorites. I bought super-hero books depending on whatever allowance I had left, the stories, villains, and artwork. It wasn't until the legendary Claremont-Byrne-Austin (and Cockrum's first run) run on the X-Men that a super-hero title captivated me. I obsessively read and re-read those issues (Giant Sized X-Men #1 until roughly X-Men #142) through my youth. I'd even go as far to say that those comics listed above got me through some particularly sad times as a child. In fact, Marvel's Star Wars (#1-87 and then I stopped reading the title) are the defining comics of my youth. I remember all of those stories vividly. I loved the blocky look of Carmine Infantino's art and Archie Goodwin's writing was always tops with me.
Slightly OT: I've always wanted to start a thread asking if comic readers compose a different audience than the multitudes who frequent the popular super-hero movies of today. I'm sure there is crossover appeal, but I maintain that they're two different audiences.
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Posted: |
Nov 9, 2013 - 11:22 AM
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By: |
Michael24
(Member)
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I had some scattered comics here and there in the late-80s (my very first was Archie's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #1 in 1987). But it wasn't until 1991 or so, when I was 13, that I really started getting into them big time. A new comic book store opened not far from my house, and my best friend and I began going there often. We read many of the usuals: Spider-Man, Batman, X-Men, Superman, Fantastic Four. Then in 1992, Image Comics came along, I added many of their titles to my reading list. Spawn in particular was mind-blowing and became a huge favorite.
All in all, I read comics for about three years straight. By early 1995, though, I was beginning to drift away, a result of too many huge crossover events to keep up with and it getting too expensive. Plus, I was nearing the end of high school and I was getting ready for college, and filmmaking had become my new passion. I went a long time without buying any comics, although I continued to hang onto the ones I had and often enjoyed re-reading them over the years.
My interest was renewed when I went to San Diego ComicCon for the first time in 2004. I began reading up on what had gone on in the world of comics while I'd been away, and I would occasionally pick up the occasional trade paperback here and there. But last year, I officially returned to comics, and I've been back for a little over a year-and-a-half now. I found a nice little shop near me and have frequented it enough that they now know me by name. I'm there almost every Wednesday morning to pick up my new releases for the week.
These days I'm mostly following indie titles, and am reading a handful of books by publishers like Image Comics, Dynamite and IDW. I have nothing against Marvel and DC, but it was just easier to get into indie titles that were just starting up at the time and jumping into the vastness of the Marvel and DC universes.
Unlike others' experiences, I should mention that my parents never frowned upon my comic interest when I was a kid. As long as they didn't interfere with my schoolwork, they were cool with it. I'm sure it helped that they had been comic readers themselves when they were kids. I would even occasionally find my dad checking out my latest issues of Spider-Man, Batman and whatnot.
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Grew up on Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge. Still have bound editions of everything Carl Barks did for Disney, which took years to publish, and required a subscription in advance. (I understand that now these volumes are worth a lot more.)
I used to read a lot of Superman, Batman, and kind of "Twilight Zone"-ish comics, like "House of Mystery," "Adventures Into the Unknown," and various Marvel comics, back in their pre-superhero days, when most of their stories were about various creatures threatening things. Once Marvel jumped on the superhero bandwagon, I lost interest.
There were other comics I liked also: Hawkman, Adam Strange, Aquaman, Green Lantern, and various Dell releases, based on current movies, like "Journey to the Center of the Earth," "The Time Machine," and "Atlantis the Lost Continent." Also used to read "Tarzan" comics, which lead me inevitably to the film series, and also the original Burroughs books.
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