The Comic Book Attic
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Syndication

some of my favorite comics 26

Spider-month Part 3 of 3: Marvel Tales #206

So yes, this is a reprint book-- mostly.  And, to their shame, in years prior to this issue, Marvel often abridged their stories for reprint titles without the public’s knowledge. (This happened all over in Marvel Tales, Marvel’s Greatest Comics, Marvel Double Feature, Marvel Super-Heroes, etc.)  By the time I started buying this title, fortunately, that awful practice was left behind.  Why collect a reprint title and not the current Spidey books?  Because they were old stories.  I loved the old comics even then.  Much of that was because I liked them, much of it was because I didn’t have access to the older stories on my negligible income at the time, and much of it was because I was such a fan of Marvel Saga, a book that chronicled older Marvel.  This is probably the first issue of Marvel Tales I bought off the rack, continuing a few issues later when they were running a bunch of Punisher appearance reprints.  I also enjoyed that they would often run new material in the form of a Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham back-up feature, which this issue did.  What drew me to this issue, however, was a grand tale reprinting Marvel Team-Up #70 about the struggle of the X-Men’s Havok with The Living Monolith (both of whom I love).  Throw in Thor and art by John Byrne, and it’s a party.  The most memorable thing about my experience buying this comic was that I bought it on a family shopping outing to another county one night.  On the drive home, when I would normally read my comics, it was getting too dark to read.  I would use the headlights of the cars behind us to read the comic.  Because we were on a highway, the cars would often pass, and I’d have to wait for the next car’s lights to read what happened next.  What a way to prolong the suspense!  Anyway, years later, I bought the original MTU issue as well as a paperback black and white reprint of this story, with panels rearranged to fit the small book. Both items are living happily in my collection with this issue of Marvel Tales.

Category:favorite comics -- posted at: 9:09am EDT

some of my favorite comics 25

Spider-month Part 2 of 3: Spectacular Spider-Man #139

This was one of the first issues of Spectacular Spider-Man I bought off the racks myself.   I had been aggressively collecting comics for a short while when this issue came out, and Spider-Man comics weren’t part of my regular collecting list (with the exception of Marvel Tales, which I bought to read the older comics; older comics were my thing even then).  For whatever reason, I bought this issue. Could be that I had read a few issues of Spectacular Spider-Man from my friends and liked it?  Who knows?  I didn’t own hardly any issues of the title at this point.  This story drew me in, though.  The villain of Tombstone was so bad and nasty that he seemed like a real threat, especially to poor Joe Robertson.  I haven’t looked at this issue in years, but the art of Sal Buscema was the style I picture when I think of this title, just as I tend to picture Alex Saviuk when I think of Web of Spider-Man.  Another plus was the writing of Gerry Conway, who wrote many classic Spidey stories years before in Amazing Spider-Man. A fun time and a landmark reference point in my relationship with this title.

Category:favorite comics -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

some of my favorite comics 24

This month, I’m focusing my sights on the web-flinging wall-hugger as I have been reading a lot of Spider-Man comics lately. I am preparing a Spider-Man-themed Far-Out Sounds from the Six-Panel Grid episode, and here (returning, finally) you'll receive three Some of My Favorite Comics entires that will be Spider-themed.

Spider-month Part 1 of 3: Web of Spider-Man #1

When I was a youngster, I remember beginning to go to the barber for the first time.  The first visit was, as I remember, rather frightening.  One fixture of the barber shop that helped eventually relax me and look forward to going was the supply of comics that were sitting in the bottom of a little stand, specifically put there to keep kids entertained.  These comics were well-read, and a few were coverless (I’m not sure if this issue in question could have been one of the coverless).  That’s where I first read Web of Spider-Man #1.  Also piled on this stand were issues of Whitman Disney comics, an issue of Captain America, an issue of Cloak and Dagger, and others.  Over the years since, I have gathered copies of all these into my collection, but one that stands out as a favorite is the first issue of Web.   I recall the story being so different from the other older Spidey stories I had read, plus there was the black costume, which was a strange new thing for me.  I remember this issue and the others in the stack stayed there for years, getting more and more worn and eventually disappearing as they either got thrown out or taken.  Years later, when I finally got my copy of Web of Spider-Man #1, I found it strange to hold a copy that wasn’t tattered and smelling of hair products and cigarettes…

Category:favorite comics -- posted at: 8:43am EDT

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