I just found an old notebook that had my comics logged in from the 1982-83 period when I was a junior in high school. The grand total was 1564. The last time I took a count, I was past the 30,000 mark!! Anyway, I didn't count torn, raggedy or coverless books which I still kept. But the top books, quantity-wise, were:
- Action--32
- Adventure*--31
- All-Star Squadron--21
- Avengers--43
- Batman--32
- Brave & Bold --77
- Captain America --27
- Daredevil--25
- Dazzler--20
- DC Comics Presents--52
- Defenders--36
- Detective--30
- Fantastic Four--31
- Flash--36
- Ghost Rider--20
- Green Lantern--33
- Hulk--24
- Justice League--72
- Legion of Super-Heroes--41
- Marvel Team-Up--78
- Marvel Two-In-One--70
- ROM, Spaceknight--25
- Spider-Man--28
- Superboy and the Legion*--24
- Superman--30
- (New) Teen Titans--31
- Wonder Woman--27
- World's Finest--43
- X-Men--34
*no longer published at the time
Perhaps not the most surprising list but think of the characters NOT here like Doctor Strange, Iron Man and Thor. I had only one issue each of Mister Miracle and New Gods and no Forever People. I have no listing whatsoever for Jimmy Olsen orLois Lane.
The only non-DC or Marvel title mentioned are E-Man and The Mighty Crusaders. There are movie comics though: Blade Runner, Conan:the Movie, Dark Crystal, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Time Bandits.
This is about the time that I went from a comic book reader to a comic book collector.
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Your own little time capsule, very cool!
Thanks, John. I didn't list issue numbers but the heroes that appeared in each title, whether as a star, co-star, teammate or guest star. I always seem to buy books with different characters. I wanted at least one appearance of any hero or villain that I would learn about.
All I have on paper are want lists, and probably nothing that's ten years old or more. I stopped collecting around 1991, and restarted in late 1998. I don't have anything from the first era, no comics, nothing. All of that was in my family home which is longer standing. I'm fairly certain that when I stopped collecting I either gave away my comics to younger cousins or sold them for a dime each to a local used bookstore.
When I got back in the habit, I made a list of the comics I had in my younger days that I wanted to reacquire, and kept updating the list as I filled holes, and added more and more "wants". Sometimes I would put a date on the list, sometimes not, it was pretty haphazard.
I would recommend checking out the Mike's Amazing World website. It's a great time capsule in its own way.
www.dcindexes.com