Art from your first comic? 1 1

[batman_fan]

My first comic was Daredevil 33.  I would love to pick up any pages.  The person who owns the cover reached out to me but he isn't ready to part with it.

[Squeezy McSphincter]

I'm in the group that can't remember what my first comic was--probably an Archie or something from a Whitman three pack that was bought for me. 

The first comic that I bought was the first issue of the Wolverine limited series.  Nice to have something from that, but one page would buy too many great pages that are of more interest (primarily a few pages from Doom Patrol 51)!

[vodou]

7 hours ago, Squeezy McSphincter said:

I'm in the group that can't remember what my first comic was--probably an Archie or something from a Whitman three pack that was bought for me. 

The first comic that I bought was the first issue of the Wolverine limited series.

OP - what are we shooting for here "very first comic you ever picked up and opened" or "very first comic that impacted you enough to begin collecting"? I think for many people there is a material difference between those two answers. Especially as it relates to whether folks are chasing the art from that (those?) books today.

In my case, various random comics came to me out of flea markets, yard sales, and whatever Mom picked up at the grocery store in those too early to remember clearly years when the parents were encouraging me to learn to read. Let's call that roughly ages 3 to 8. Then the summer of 1981...I memorably got and devoured Byrne's FF 236, the FF's 20th Anniversary issue and within a month I was a hardcore comic collecting machine. Well as hardcore as any nine year old with a $1/week allowance could be! So I read and re-read and re-read again those handful of comics that I remember very, very well. And when I took a pause from the re-reading, it would be to just stare and stare at the covers. Truly a sense of wonder enveloped me that first month...as I waited with bated breath (oh yes!) for each of the next issues to come out in 30 days or less! That's my memory, and it's 100% Marvels with a November 1981 cover date. Not all of them, just the superhero chunk.

My first comic/s weren't Marvel November 1981's, but the first comics I collected were. And I've been looking for and buying the art from those books with focus for many years.

[delekkerste]

2 hours ago, vodou said:

My first comic/s weren't Marvel November 1981's, but the first comics I collected were. And I've been looking for and buying the art from those books with focus for many years.

Same.  My first comic that I read was cover-dated September 1980.  I then read a bunch of stuff mostly from mid-1983.  But, as a collector, my first comics were cover-dated December 1983.  As such, I have a huge soft spot for comics/art from that general timeframe, but, especially that month in particular.  I'm lucky to have the two most important covers to me from that month (UXM #176 and Red Sonja v. 3 #3, as those two titles were my intro to comics) as well as some others IIRC.  

I think I mentioned a while back that I met a collector a couple years ago who basically only collects art featuring one character from the 3 most nostalgic years of his childhood.  At the time, I thought that was a little odd.  But, I can now easily see myself eventually only collecting art from 1983-84 (after I fill a few holes outside that range)!

[Hekla]

I don't think Godzilla #2 was my first comic, but it was among my first comics. I do remember as an 8 y.o. thinking the line from this page '...just say when' 'WHEN!!' was very cleaver (and I may have used it to (try) to impress my friends). Coincidentally, this was one of my first OA purchases around 7-8 years ago.

 

 

Another 'among the first comics' is Blackhawk 245 which my dad bought for me... I mention this in the other thread and the cover is in my CAF gallery here

[Hekla]

3 hours ago, delekkerste said:

 .... only collects art featuring one character from the 3 most nostalgic years of his childhood.  At the time, I thought that was a little odd.  But, I can now easily see myself eventually only collecting art from 1983-84 (after I fill a few holes outside that range)!

I don't think I can do that with comic art, but I've definitely gotten that way with my comics. With a few exceptions, I've shed most of my runs for just the years that are most nostalgic to me.*

*TPB or Omnibus for modern or other storylines that I like outside of my nostalgic years

[Flambit]

7 hours ago, vodou said:

OP - what are we shooting for here "very first comic you ever picked up and opened" or "very first comic that impacted you enough to begin collecting"? I think for many people there is a material difference between those two answers. Especially as it relates to whether folks are chasing the art from that (those?) books today.

 

I think "first comic" can be interpreted in any way you feel it is valid, i.e., FF 236/1981 is clearly entry into the collecting realm.  I just find everyone's answer fascinating as to what it was that tipped them into the hobby, because it seems like a lot of people were actually exposed to comics they don't recall, and then - boom - one special book or year ignited that spark.

For me, I'm in the other category: I recall almost everything like it was yesterday about the first comics I was ever exposed to and the effect they had (I was probably six, when a friend showed me a copy of Flash 251 in my front yard - I was dumbstruck as I had never even seen a comic book before - and my next memory is being in my living room, pouring over Flash 252 and Captain America 212 with my mother.  My interest in Kirby started that day, tho I would not have known his name, of course).  Got out of comics for a bit, and then, around late 1981 or so, I happened to move into a housing track behind a mall that actually had a comic book store!   At 11 or 12, I could actually walk to my LCS - so I was in for good.

[r100comics]

17 hours ago, delekkerste said:

Same.  My first comic that I read was cover-dated September 1980.  I then read a bunch of stuff mostly from mid-1983.  But, as a collector, my first comics were cover-dated December 1983.  As such, I have a huge soft spot for comics/art from that general timeframe, but, especially that month in particular.  I'm lucky to have the two most important covers to me from that month (UXM #176 and Red Sonja v. 3 #3, as those two titles were my intro to comics) as well as some others IIRC.  

I think I mentioned a while back that I met a collector a couple years ago who basically only collects art featuring one character from the 3 most nostalgic years of his childhood.  At the time, I thought that was a little odd.  But, I can now easily see myself eventually only collecting art from 1983-84 (after I fill a few holes outside that range)!

That almost exactly describes my OA collecting - Thor from 1979 to 1982.

The only difference is that I'm also willing to go forward into Sal Buscema (as Simonson is unavailable) and back into John Buscema but it's always Thor.

 

Edited November 23, 2017 by r100comics

[vodou]

20 hours ago, delekkerste said:

Same.  My first comic that I read was cover-dated September 1980.  I then read a bunch of stuff mostly from mid-1983.  But, as a collector, my first comics were cover-dated December 1983.  As such, I have a huge soft spot for comics/art from that general timeframe, but, especially that month in particular.  I'm lucky to have the two most important covers to me from that month (UXM #176 and Red Sonja v. 3 #3, as those two titles were my intro to comics) as well as some others IIRC. 

I've got some excellent interiors from my first books but never got any covers. They were never available when everything post-Silver Age was cheap* and some are available now** but...who cares. I'm not in the business of ruining my retirement plan to finance somebody else's   Others have never made a public appearance. That I know of anyway. Where is Avengers 213? That's a pretty special story cover for readers of the day. Same with X-Men 151, though the image itself is sorta blah. Iron Man 152? Mostly photo-collage that one, and maybe hasn't aged well, but still...totally MIA. Run through the Marvels cover dated November 1981...not all winners, but I can tell you almost none of them are 'known'...at least not to me. And for whatever reason...I don't even care anymore. That ship has sailed. If Avengers 213 pops up in the next Heritage, I'd be momentarily excited but then not really. It's a $35-50k cover. (Well not really, but it would be protected to that level one way or another!) So who cares?! Not me.

 

*90s era, $250-$500 per. Tops. But other black hole collectors beat me to 'em. All of 'em. Only the last few years are some...emerging

**Add two zeros. Per. At least.

20 hours ago, delekkerste said:

I think I mentioned a while back that I met a collector a couple years ago who basically only collects art featuring one character from the 3 most nostalgic years of his childhood.  At the time, I thought that was a little odd.  But, I can now easily see myself eventually only collecting art from 1983-84 (after I fill a few holes outside that range)!

I can see that too. Particularly if one's era is really in favor atm. Everybody has a budget for this stuff and most*** budgets are strained at this point - essentially forcing much narrower 'focus'. None of that for me though. I found the idea of adding one or two pieces a year, as they were carefully released, for the same price as I was getting 5-10 examples just a few years earlier...absolutely unappealing. My departure from broad anything that's cool collecting was to (mostly) depart comic art altogether for other categories of art. The opportunity cost really swung in my favor that way. Remains to be seen how long the turnaround on that stuff is though, or if it ever even happens in my lifetime!

 

***Except the guys working the late 90s and up territory. I've dipped my toes a few times and the art is just as nice visually, no nostalgia, but also no 4-5-6 figure price tag either!!

[miraclemet]

The first super hero comic I got was Green Lantern 159, which my mom bought for me in hopes of keeping me quiet long enough for her to buy some clothes at Sears. It worked. I have 5 pages from the book so far, know where 2 others are (and offer to buy them every couple of years...), but the rest are still floating out there somewhere....

[1Toy2Many]

I vividly remember the first book I grabbed off the rack in 1980 - Captain America #252 - when I was 3 years old.  I still have the book but pages haven't surfaced.  Definite grail material for me. 

[jqa3]

My first comic was Marvel Team-Up #47 (vol. 1 - Jan. 1974).

It was given to me on the school bus by a fellow student.  Pretty sure I still have it (may even have the kid's name written on it.)

I bought my first page of original art in 1979 and hoped one day to find a page from that MTU.

I eventually did find page 7 - six panels with Spider-Man and Mr. F in all of 'em.  Not sure where/when I found it (Heritage, ebay ?) but I think I posted to comicart-L sharing my story and asking any interested parties if they'd politely refrain from bidding. 

Added bonus is the Gil Kane art - I love(d) his style and the page is framed on the wall.

Not the most expensive piece in my collection but I'd probably sell most every other page I own before letting that one go.

Edited November 25, 2017 by jqa3

[comiconxion]

The first comic I remember reading was Batman Family #3 with art by Jose Garcia-Lopez and Vince Colletta (1975).   Most of the book included reprints, but there was an original Batgirl and Robin vs. dinosaurs story.  I've been lucky enough to find a number of pages from this story.  Attached is my favorite.  

The 1st Star Wars Treasury was the first Marvel Comic I remember reading.  It reprinted Star Wars #1-3 with art by Howard Chaykin and Steve Leialoha (well, both for issues #2 & 3).  While I was in Indonesia when the movie came out, it was my only exposure to the movie everyone was talking about until I returned home to the States in 1978.  I still don't have a page from these issues - if anyone is willing to part with one, I'd be greatly appreciative!

The book that got me into collecting was Conan #131 (Feb. 1982 cover date) with art by Gil Kane and Enie Chan.  After collecting baseball cards for a number of years, I was looking for something different and spent my birthday money on this book which aligned with my love of D&D.  After that, I was hooked.  Again, lucky to find a number of pages from this issue years ago, but would still love to see the cover surface.  

Edited November 25, 2017 by comiconxion

[joeypost]

Here is the first comic I remember being given to me.

I have 3 pages of the original art to it.

 

 

Edited November 25, 2017 by joeypost

[alxjhnsn]

I bought my first comic as an 8 year old in the summer between the 2nd and 3rd grades. I got it from a vending machine at a Howard Johnson's in Brownsville, Tx as we returned from a driving vacation in Mexico. That purchase led to quite a lot of comics and art. Many decades later, my wife bought me a page from that comic - JLA 29 (first series). Click to embiggen.



The cover is fairly well-known and I've had it homaged twice - once by Todd Reis as a 3D shadow box (click to embiggen) and once by Scott Shaw featuring Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew plus the Justa Lotta Animals (click to embiggen).

Edited November 26, 2017 by alxjhnsn

[mister_not_so_nice]

I don't remember my very first comic, but I do remember the only 3 I had as a kid. I must have acquired these from one of my older brothers and still have them today. 

Thanks to CAF's "FAVORITE ARTWORK GALLERY" feature I've been able to 'collect' 13 pages from these three books.  

All of the pages are safely being stored in other collector's galleries, but I've gathered them all {HERE}

[PhilipB2k17]

On ‎11‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 2:05 PM, Hekla said:

I don't think Godzilla #2 was my first comic, but it was among my first comics. I do remember as an 8 y.o. thinking the line from this page '...just say when' 'WHEN!!' was very cleaver (and I may have used it to (try) to impress my friends). Coincidentally, this was one of my first OA purchases around 7-8 years ago.

 

 

Another 'among the first comics' is Blackhawk 245 which my dad bought for me... I mention this in the other thread and the cover is in my CAF gallery here

I have been looking for a really nice Marvel Godzilla page for a while. Preferably one with the Helicarrier in it. Nice.

Edited November 28, 2017 by PhilipB2k17

[MyNameIsLegion]

this is a page form the first DC comic I got at a used book sale in around 1974:

This is a page form my first marvel comic form the same time:

 

 

[PhilipB2k17]

On ‎11‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 4:05 AM, r100comics said:

That almost exactly describes my OA collecting - Thor from 1979 to 1982.

The only difference is that I'm also willing to go forward into Sal Buscema (as Simonson is unavailable) and back into John Buscema but it's always Thor.

 

Have you seen my Sal B. Thor title splash?

http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1360749

[r100comics]

5 hours ago, PhilipB2k17 said:

Have you seen my Sal B. Thor title splash?

http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1360749

Great page !