A Brief History of My Comic Book Collection

Like a lot of children of the 70s, comic books were a huge part of life for me. I started out getting Casper, Spooky, Richie Rich, Bugs Bunny and various Disney comics (Super Goof was an early favorite), then worked my way up to Archie comics (& MAD magazine), and finally, super-hero comics. The Incredible Hulk really appealed to me at first, so I got a bunch of Hulk & Defenders comics (plus Avengers #118 which guest-starred the Defenders). In fact, Marvel Comics appealed to me much more than DC. At first, I would simple buy the latest issues off the spinny rack at the local drug store – very hit & miss. But once, when my family & I were going to visit our cousins, we passed by a store called Comic Kingdom in Detroit, and I became an official “comic book collector.”
Some of the earliest series I collected were Nova, Ms. Marvel, The Human Fly, & Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man. But I soon discovered what would become my favorite book – The Avengers! I had a couple coverless copies of Avengers #s 94 & 95 – the height of the Kree-Skrull War! #118 was the first issue I bought on purpose (as opposed to whatever came in the coverless, multi pack). Again, it was hit & miss for the next couple years – I really dug Steve Englehart’s Celestial Madonna storyline. Kang kicked butt! However, it wasn’t until Avengers #154, 155 & 156 that I officially started collecting The Avengers. After that, I was hooked! Avengers Assemble!