During the pandemic I have been nostalgic. My once weekly new comic book day visit to the store is now a home delivery once a month. I am grateful I can still afford to enjoy the escape comics provides and that my shop is hanging in there with innovative ways to get the books to readers. I have been reflecting on my humble beginnings as an emerging comic book geek.
In the small town I grew up in there was no such thing as a comic book store. I would occasionally see random books in the grocery store, gas station convenience stores or we had this independent pharmacy with the old school soda fountain station. But there was no place you could go to get all the comics new and old your geek budget could afford. I did not even really understand the concept of comics being continuing stories. I just loved seeing the images and the more I read the more I started to understand what was in the world balloons. I would become a quick study.
The first Marvel Comics book I ever brought – or my Mom got for me after giving her the pretty please eyes – was UNCANNY X-MEN #116. This issue was “To Save The Save Land” and classic Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin at their most glorious storytelling. The Savage Land, a prehistoric jungle preserved in the heart of Antarctica, was under siege by Garokk The Petrified Man. The rock skinned villain had unleashed winter across the jungle, kidnapped members of the team and Ka-Zar, a longtime X-Men ally. Wolverine, Storm and Nightcrawler mounted a rescue mission.
Imagine a kid’s first impression of comics seeing Logan fight a dinosaur, tame a sabretooth cat (Zabu, not the arch villain) as the mutants rescued their teammates and Ka-Zar from Garokk and his warriors. This is the issue I fell in love with Storm, the female superhero I ever saw in a comic. Looking back there are moments of pure storytelling perfection on Ororo’s face on this harrowing mission. I was really fascinated by mysterious mutant who would become my all-time favorite: Nightcrawler, the demonic looking mutant with a pure heart.
In the same lifechanging trip to the newsstand I picked out what would be my first DC Comics book. It’s a classic issue of THE SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS, the book starring the most iconic rogues of the DC Universe. The cover featured Gorilla Grodd mashing robot versions of classic heroes in a garbage can. I recognized Batman on the cover from SUPER FRIENDS cartoons but I poured through the pages to see The Flash for the first time along with all the villains.
Those first two books were just the beginning of a fascination with comics and the power of storytelling. Arts and entertainment are always an escape from reality whether you are a little kid in small town or a grown up coping with life in a pandemic. A big thanks to the writers, artists, inkers, colorists and editors of the past and present who give us the fantastic stories that fuel imaginations of our youth and detour from our grown up realities.
By Editor