Exactly 30 years ago, I became a true comics fan...

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

And this is the book that did it.  Before this, I would pick up a Disney or an Archie...maybe a Batman...but this one was the first that made me go back to the drugstore next month to get the newest issue...and I was hooked.

 

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

The Hulk is between 8 and 9 feet tall in the film.  He seems to be standing on a car in the poster.

[Mr. Silver Age]

For me, it wouldn't be possible for an Avengers comic to be the one that made me a comics fan. I actually had #1 and sold it for a nickel in my annual Raise Cash to Buy More Comics sale. 40% probably wasn't that bad of a deal, considering the condition.

The other two Marvels I vividly remember buying were AF #15 (which I still have) and FF #8. That Puppet Master issue really seared itself into my memory. I remember exactly where I was when I saw that and said, "What the heck is THIS?"

-- MSA

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

On another note...we just adopted a new greyhound, Orlando, a week ago.  Holly and I had one previously, Oberon, but we felt we needed to wait until the girls, now 9 years old, could be responsible enough to help care for a dog. 

 

Well, Holly said that some message must have gone out to Marvel and PetSmart because they just, this month, began carrying toys and clothing for dogs featuring the Avengers, Spidey, and Wolverine.  Since I found, no joke, a Spider-Man collection on Orlando's dog bed this AM (completely unharmed...he was just sleeping with it having removed it from the bookshelf) and he later stole a Spider-Man cloth coaster from our coffeetable (made by the amazing Ana Fluit)...the girls feel he has stated his love of Spidey and we need to take a trip to PetSmart this weekend. 

 

Like I wasn't going to...

[Mr. Silver Age]

Wow, that was some coincidence. Yessir, some coincidence. Imagine that. 

That's going a long way just to explain all those Marvel dog toys around your house!

-- MSA

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

Hey, Marvel already has me buying things at Williams Sonoma...gotta get ready for the May 4th cookout.

[Doctor Hmmm?]

I don't remember buying it, or even picking it off the spinner rack, but I vividly remember reading it in the back seat of the car on the way home from the grocery store.

I never miss a chance to post that cover!

Not surprisingly, that one pretty much makes me Bob's contemporary.

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

There was certainly a "before" and "after" for me.  Like I said, I have spotty issues of various comics prior to Feb, 1982...mostly through those 3-packs where you would try to see the comic in the middle before asking your parent to PLEASE buy it for you...but, that month, at the golden age of 12, I decided to follow those characters and, eventually, that universe month after month.  When I looked at the comics during the months after that Avengers issue, I spotted my first Amazing Spider-Man, Daredevil, Fantastic Four (Everyone vs Galactus!), Crystar...yeah...I liked Crystar...

[Chris Fluit]

My first four:

Batman and the Outsiders 27, Tales of the Teen Titans 59 (November 1985), Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man 111 and Uncanny X-Men 202 (February 1986)

[Mickey McLaurin]

I had read comics before, especially Harveys like Richie Rich and Sad Sack, but this is the one that got me hooked:

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Mickey, that one -- all 100 pages of it, apparently -- is right now available for 99 cents at comixology. Just for the duration of the JLA Doom sale.

[Mr. Silver Age]

Wow, a 38-year-old comic selling for only 50% over cover price is a pretty good deal!

Those are all pretty good starting points, especially the combo of Perez Titans and Byrne X-Men. 

I can even go so far as to say that, were I ready to be hooked by comics in 1974, that JLA would've been the comic to do it! I loved those 100-pagers, and even the 52-pagers later on, and I know I'm not alone.

-- MSA

[Jeff of Earth-J]

This is the first issue of The Avengers I bought new off the spinner rack: