First Comic Experiences

I really liked the idea, and it made me start remembering my first comics.

When I was a kid, Nestle Quick had a mail in offer for the aniversary of Superman. You mailed in a bunch of UPC labels and they would send you a reprint of Action Comics #1 and the (then) brand new Superman #1. Now, you should know I didn't gather everything and do it on my own - I was too young to know how that stuff worked. I'm not really sure how they arrived, but I suspect I pressured my mother into getting it for me.

I remember leaving the Action Comics reprint alone for the most part, and I still think it is somewhere in my room stuck between two books. At least that is what I hope, but every time I have looked for it I haven't been able to find it.

Superman #1 on the other hand was read over and over. It is also the reason I remember these comics so vividly. You see, in the issue Metallo temporarily beats up Superman. As he stands on top of the rubble that covers Superman, there is a single panel of Metallo looking to the sky. His face is blacked out except for his eye, and you can see the "skin" hanging down from his profile. That image haunted me for many years, and was burned into my memory.

For a long time those are the only two comics I owned. Years later I actually spent my own money to buy Hunter/Prey #1 and #3. I didn't know a whole lot about the story, but once again what I read really freaked me out as a kid. This rock creature called Doomsday was killing people in very graphic ways and Superman looked like David Hasselhoff with long hair. I had no idea what was going on, but it was cool.

I didn't buy another comic for a long time, but in high school I became interested in Batman through the animated series. I then began to buy the graphic novel collections of Batman, and then began buying Batman comics - nothing continuous, just whatever looked cool. Now I subscribe to a number titles in the DCU, as well as a number of other titles.