The Spinner Rack - October 1976

4-15-20: NOTE - In refreshing this post, I inadvertently chose cover images in the "on sale" category at Mike's. All other links in this post point to the original direction originally intended. Thanks for your understanding.

Doug: It's a 40-year trip back in time today, amigos (and amigas). Unless this is your maiden voyage on the BAB, you know the drill: peruse the books cover dated October 1976 over at Mike's Amazing World of Comics, and then head back here to comment on that month's offerings. The date below links you to the Comic Book Database with additional information. Thanks for your feedback today and every day!

I had 23 books in my hot little hands this month. That boggles my mind... Looking over the offerings, the prize that stands out is Limited Collector's Edition C-49 featuring this wonderful Superboy/Legion tale. Also, lots of Annuals this month!

October 1976

I Gotta Have It! But, How'd You Get It?

Doug: Last weekend we had several long-timers as well as a nice representation of new/recent commenters join the fray in discussing their peak buying years. The conversation veered to when and why that first wave waned, books that got us back into collecting, etc. Toward the end of that weekend, one of our Twitter followers (@conrad_eric) asked us if we'd ever run a post where we asked our readers just how they got their comics. To the best of my recollection those sorts of stories have been told through the years, but I don't believe ever in one place. Well... that's today, and the rest of the weekend.

We'd love it if you'd get specific with certain vendors' spinner racks and magazine shelves, locations of drug stores or groceries, mail order companies, and maybe even trading partners. I know I'd love to hear memories of how our readers acquired certain books, what age they were then, and if they still have the book or not. Talk about our community finding some common ground for nostalgia!

I can start this off today, and will most likely chime in again with a comment at some point: As a child, I can recall magazine racks at a drug store at the corner of S. 76th St. and Howard Ave. in Milwaukee. I can see Fantastic Four #161 in front of my hands in May, 1975. I later bought FF #163 at the same store. Those might be the earliest memories I have of buying my own comics, which is puzzling since I'd have been 9 years old. I know I had several comics by that time. Anyway, other regular venues through the years included Osco Drugs in Kankakee, IL, where I purchased Peter Parker #1, Belscot in Kankakee (a poor man's Wal-Mart), where Marvel Treasury Edition #s 19 (Conan the Barbarian) and 21 (Fantastic Four) left in my possession, the Weiner's mini-market on River Street in Kankakee, IL where I purchased an issue of Super-Team Family, the Convenient Food Mart in Bourbonnais, IL where I bought many an issue of Secret Society of Super-Villains, and of course my most famous one-time purchase of Avengers #161 at Mickey's Books and Novelties (you know...). In college, the Rexall Drugs in Eureka, IL got me my fix of Crisis On Infinite Earths and volume two of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Shortly thereafter, I started buying comics from mail order businesses such as Westfield Comics, Mile High Comics, and M&M Comic Service. All are still in business.

So thank you to Eric for the suggestion/request. I hope our conversation this weekend is as rich as last weekend's was.

The Height of My Comics Buying, and Other Stuff I've Liked

Doug: Last weekend we spent some time recollecting our comics purchases during September of 1983. Several commenters remarked that they were either done or nearly done with a phase in their comics collecting experience; others left a note that they felt the output during that particular area was a) subpar and even b) above par! How in the world could our experiences (and perceptions of those experiences) be so different? All of our bus drivers are here today to start our weekend conversation.

Redartz: My personal comics peak was a fairly lengthy one, stretching from 1974 to about 1981. Early in '74 I got hooked on Marvel, especially, and was hungrily sampling title after title. There were so many to choose from, aside from obvious favorites like Amazing Spider-Man and Avengers! Loved all the Giant-Size books, loved anything by Steve Gerber. Through the end of the decade I probably averaged about 20 titles a month, mostly Marvel but with a few DC's here and there. These seven years were filled with great creators and great books -- Englehart, Shooter, Byrne, Perez, Rogers, and so on. Such a time for variety and experimentation -- truly something for everyone!
Prior to '74, I was in an Archie phase, which vanished upon my intro to Marveldom (although the Archie interest would return some years later in the form of back issue hunting, especially some earlier 50s and 60s comics). However, many books from the Silver and early Bronze Age soon joined my collection -- particularly Marvel Team-Up, Conan, ASM, Fantastic Four, and Avengers (really loved that "Avengers/Defenders War"-- that one title sure had a bounty of great storylines).

But by 1981, I was in college -- money was tighter, and my interests were shifting. Within just a couple years my comic purchases would drop to less than 10 per month, including several Indie titles like Journey, Neil the Horse, and Mr. X. Many mainstream titles started to lose their appeal for me. I kept up Spider-Man as my longtime favorite, but even quit on him after the Defalco-Frenz period. By the mid 80's I was only buying Byrne's Fantastic Four regularly, and irregular issues of Spectacular Spider-Man, Action Comics, Batman and a few others. I quit X-Men after Paul Smith left, and by the end of the 80s I was mostly out of comics.

Not entirely, though -- there were books from that era, and later, that I bought and enjoyed. McFarlane's run on Amazing Spider-Man brought me back, and I really enjoyed them. Comico ran a fine Jonny Quest series I collected in its entirety. There was Watchmen, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and in '91 DC did a fun miniseries with Angel and the Ape. I started buying “Simpsons Comics” when they debuted. So looking back, even though the comics wonderland I explored in the 70s seemed long gone, there was still some good reading to be had. No doubt there was much more that I missed out on completely (young parenthood really limits that disposable income).

Doug: You know, because of the timing of my hiatus, I never warmed to the Indies. In fact, it wasn't until Dark Horse began the "Legend" imprint that I regularly bought independent comics. So all the talk from our friends of Cerebus, Mister X, Elfquest, et al. has me on the outside looking in. And to respond to some of the comments from last weekend, I did feel that the overall quality of art at Marvel had declined during my absence as compared to when I quit buying. I am not saying there was no quality at all -- maybe I'm prejudicial to what I'd known, and I felt that the "House style" was changing.

My best guess is that I was a regular comic book buyer by the time 1973 rolled around. Please understand, though, that at the ripe old age of 7, "regular" meant that I had a very short stack of comics. But I would ask for them when I saw them, and soon gravitated to the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and Amazing Spider-Man. By the time I was 10 (1976), I was buying a whole bunch of titles -- when I could find them. The three just mentioned were soon joined by Peter Parker, Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Two-In-One, X-Men, Teen Titans, Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Champions, Thor, the Secret Society of Super-Villains, Batman, Batman Family, Invaders, Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Daredevil, Super-Villain Team-Up, Conan, the Giant-Size, Annuals and Dollar Comics, Marvel Treasury Editions and DC's Limited Collector's Editions, and many more. I would continue as such right up until the summer of 1980 when I'd graduated the 8th grade and thought I was "too cool" for comics as I entered high school. As I've remarked, comic books and the like simply did not have the sort of social acceptance that they do now, and as a football player and a young man definitely on the market for a steady girlfriend, I made the (erroneous) assumption that all that would not mix. It would take until my sophomore year of college before I got my mind right on that subject.

So what have I liked since the "return" and before the final "departure" (back in 2005)? I have enjoyed The Dark Knight Returns on many readings. I initially liked John Byrne's revamp of Superman, and really got into George Perez's Wonder Woman. All of that came after Crisis on Infinite Earths, which in spite of what it did to the Legion, Supergirl, and other characters I'd really liked, I enjoyed. Retroactively, I thought the Roger Stern/John Buscema/Tom Palmer run on the Avengers was quite good. I stuck with Amazing Spider-Man way past when it stopped being fun (pretty much when Todd McFarlane left). Frank Miller's Sin City stories were solid, as was Jeff Smith's Bone. I could go on, but I'll just say this -- and maybe this is from the perspective of a child -- I have never been as excited to read comics as I was when I was a wee fellow. In fact, the things I get giddy for nowadays are the announcements of collections of material from the Bronze Age. When I first saw solicitations for the Marvel Firsts series... Be still, my heart!

Martinex1: The bell curve of my primary collecting phase ran from the Summer of ’77 into 1981. I can almost track my attention to comics around the ebbs and flows of Avengers’ stories as that was the group I followed most attentively. So the John Byrne and George Perez era of art on that team book really defined my heyday. During that time the Claremont-Byrne Uncanny X-Men were also peaking. The Micronauts and ROM made their first appearances. And the Michelinie-Layton Iron Man stories were revitalizing the title. That era of comics is by far my favorite and one I return to often. I was very much a Marvel fanatic at that time. My attention trailed off a bit as I turned thirteen, entered high school, and The Avengers just passed their 200^th issue.

I continued to collect intermittently with some great spikes along the way as friends and I still had those general interests, but my passion for comics never had the same steam it had in the late 70’s.

But I must mention an additional highpoint and that includes comics from 1969 to 1971. As I’ve mentioned before, my cousin supplied quite the selection of “old” comics and most were from this time period. The timeframe  rides the wave when Marvel was in conversion from 12 cent to 15 cent comics. And like those in the above years, I have a particular fondness for these issues. So I was exposed very early to both John and Sal Buscema’s art on the Avengers, from the Kang-Grandmaster challenge to Brainchild and the Squadron Supreme to the start of the Kree-Skrull War, and read those particular books over and over again. Jack Kirby was finishing up his tenure on the Fantastic Four.  And early issues of Captain Marvel and Sub-Mariner had my attention. That really shaped my expectations for more current off-the-rack comics. It also made my enjoyment of books like What If in the late ‘70s so acute as I was familiar with the backstories.

I missed out on most comics from 1972 to 1975, so it is interesting that I do not look as favorably on the Marvel comics with the window bordered covers. And in Avengers’ history, I am not a big fan of the Englehart period. It really just goes to what I was exposed to at a particular age.

In my frequent returns to comics over the decades, I have enjoyed the Stern-Buscema Avengers, particularly the “Under Siege” arc. I’ve liked books like The Exiles, Mark Waid’s run on The Flash, and Busiek’s Thunderbolts. But comparatively, I always gravitate to the comics of my youth.

Karen: It's difficult to single out just one period of time -I can think of three distinct phases where I felt very absorbed by what was going on in comics. The first would have been around 1974-1978, and I was focused almost exclusively on Marvel, with Legion of Super-Heroes being my only real exception. I was enamored with practically everything Marvel was putting out - all the mainstream books, like Avengers, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Captain America, Thor, but also the more unusual titles, like Warlock, Defenders, Iron Fist, and of course, the all-new, all-different X-Men. In fact, although my husband and most of my geeky friends think of me as an Avengers fan first  -and indeed, Doug and I first became friends on the old Avengers Assemble board - I realize that X-Men was the book that gripped me the most as a pre-teen. It was the one title  I just read over and over until the next issue came out -and it was bimonthly at first, so it was a long wait. 

Then, after a slower period, around 1982 I became interested in some of the independent titles like Love and Rockets, Nexus, Elfquest, along with titles from the Big Two that were outside their mainstream. At this time, I was working in a comic book store, so it was easy for me to sit and read practically everything, and I was able to take a chance on books that I might have passed up otherwise. Finding stories outside the super-hero genre was exciting; it opened me up to other possibilities for the medium.

But once I went off to college, my buying became less frequent. I still managed to keep up with some stories - I got all four issues of Batman: The Dark Knight when they came out - but comics weren't a priority for me anymore. After I graduated, I would occasionally pop into a comic store and pick up a few books, to try to get back into the hobby. But I found much of the Marvel universe to be impenetrable -particularly X-Men, which had expanded to galactic proportions. I felt like I was done.

Oddly enough, I was pulled back into comics initially by a DC Comic! I started reading JSA by Geoff Johns and Steve Sadowski around 2000, and this toehold evolved into 12+ books a month at its peak, until about 2006, when I felt I could no longer relate to the characters or enjoy the stories in most of the titles any more. I pick up an occasional book now but mostly focus on TPB collections of back issues, or non-super-hero trades, like the recent Star Trek/Planet of the Apes crossover. I would agree with Martinex though -seemingly as I get older I find myself more drawn to the books I loved most as a young child. It's delightful when I can find something new that gives me the same feeling!

Doug: So there you have it from us. Hopefully we get a nice conversation with lots of participation. Have a nice weekend, everyone! 

The Spinner Rack - September 1983

4-15-20: NOTE - In refreshing this post, I inadvertently chose cover images in the "on sale" category at Mike's. All other links in this post point to the original direction originally intended. Thanks for your understanding.

Doug: Get over here and have your monthly helping of Spinner Rack nostalgia, friends. Today we're tripping back to a time near the end of our general parameters. I was in my junior year of high school, and had eschewed comics buying during those years. So you may not get much out of me today save a reminiscence of some retroactive reading or reprint collection I later purchased.

Click here to go to Mike's Amazing World of Comics to see the books that were cover dated for September 1983, and then come back to tell us your thoughts and memories. You may click on the date below to be taken to the good folks at the Comic Book Database for some additional information.

September 1983

The Spinner Rack - August 1978

4-15-20: NOTE - In refreshing this post, I inadvertently chose cover images in the "on sale" category at Mike's. All other links in this post point to the original direction originally intended. Thanks for your understanding.

Doug: Hey, it's August's trip to the corner store for some old comics! Today we'll check out books that would have hit the stands right around the time I turned 12. Prime comic buying time, those days were... Hop over to Mike's Amazing World of Comics to see all the fare, then click on the date below for a jump to the Comic Book Database for more details. Thanks in advance for sharing your memories.

August 1978

The Spinner Rack - July 1974

4-15-20: NOTE - In refreshing this post, I inadvertently chose cover images in the "on sale" category at Mike's. All other links in this post point to the original direction originally intended. Thanks for your understanding.

Doug: Here's your monthly dose of Spinner Rack nostalgia, kids. This time around the date might be a bit early for our average reader, although I know we have some regular commenters who were in full buying mode by this time. Whatever the case, please make your way to Mike's Amazing World of Comics to find the books cover-dated July 1974, and then make your way back here for some fun. The date below jumps you over to the Comic Book Database for additional information.

July 1974

The Spinner Rack - June 1981

4-15-20: NOTE - In refreshing this post, I inadvertently chose cover images in the "on sale" category at Mike's. All other links in this post point to the original direction originally intended. Thanks for your understanding.

Doug: Jeez-Loueez, the month is half over and I almost forgot the Spinner Rack! I'll write if off to the milestone birthday, mere days away. Make the jump to Mike's Amazing World of Comics, where you can find all books cover dated June, 1981. Then come on back to expound on the goodness you purchased, now own, or wish you could get your mitts on. The date below is linked to the Comic Book Database and will give you additional details from the month at hand.

June 1981

The Spinner Rack - May 1973

4-15-20: NOTE - In refreshing this post, I inadvertently chose cover images in the "on sale" category at Mike's. All other links in this post point to the original direction originally intended. Thanks for your understanding.

Doug: Since we are literally full from tomorrow through next weekend, I thought we'd hit May's Spinner Rack post early. You know how it works - head over to Mike's Amazing World of Comics to see the offerings cover dated May, 1973, and then get yourself back over here to leave us some thoughts. My guess is that for most of us we'll be on the outside looking in, commenting on which of these books we've read as part of collections in this -- the Golden Age of Reprints. By clicking on the date below you'll be taken to the Comic Book Database. Have fun!

May 1973

AND...

We at the Bronze Age Babies are really excited for the coming week -- actually eight days beginning tomorrow. Come back each day for All Civil War, All the Time, as PF Gavigan, Redartz, Martinex1, Colin Bray, and your proprietors cover the topic front to back and even sideways. We hope you'll enjoy!