Here's a link back to the earlier blogpage covershot of Amazing Spider-Man #202: http://comicbookattic.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=154455
As the link headline reads, this was my first comic (as far as my memory tells me).  When I first received this comic, it would have been new.  It has a March 1980 cover date, which means it probably came out near the end of 1979.  I would have been 2 years old and quite unable to read it.  However, I was allowed to look at it.  Believe it or not, it is still in great shape-- most likely because my family wouldn't let me mess it up.  Several years later, when I began collecting comics for real, this was a jewel of the bunch. 

Here's a link to a previous blog posting of mine showcasing the cover of another of my favorite comics, The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #105:  http://comicbookattic.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=157238&comments=on
I got this book as a kid at a yard sale with some Superboy issues, a Land of the Giants issue, and an adaption of Disney's Jungle Book.  (Some of those may pop up in this feature some day.)  The thing that made this issue kinda weird when I read it was the guest appearance of Superman.  A "serious" character crossing into a silly comic was fun, unlike the bizarre raised-eyebrow crossover of Archie and the Punisher.

West Coast Avengers vol.2 #20.  This was the first issue of this series that I bought new off the stands.  I've probably mentioned this comic before on the podcast, but this Steve Englehart scripted tale was part 4 of a lost-in-time storyline for the team.  Different members of the team were lost in different time periods and interacting with other Marvel characters from those time periods.  Great stuff-- but then again, I'm a sucker for time travel stories.  I remember asking my family to pick this one up for me when I was 9 years old.  They brought it home from a Sheetz convenience store, ready to be devoured by my eager comic-reading eyes.

Ew.  Icky.  Love stuff.  Although the cover was a little overboard with all the happy hearts, the tale inside was a bit better.  When I read Superman #12 as a youngster, I don't think I knew that this was a post-Crisis re-telling of the Lori Lemaris story.  The story of early love for Superman was a sad one, and the tail...um, tale had a twist.  I originally bought this comic as part of a 3-pack of Superman issues at either a K-Mart or a now defunct local chain called Gee Bee Department Stores.  This issue was part of John Byrne's run that began the post-Crisis Superman.

Giant-Size Defenders #4.  I believe this was a flea market find when I was young.  This comic is not only cool for me because I like the Squadron Sinister/Supreme characters that appeared in the main story, but it's cool for me because of the type of tales that made up the rest of the book.  My young self was thrilled to see the classic Ditko Doctor Strange reprint story that ended the book.  My young self was even more ecstatic to discover the early 1940s Sub-Mariner reprint from Human Torch comics that appeared in the middle of the issue.  A nice issue with a mix of the 40s, 60s, and 70s.

Thor #387.  This was one of the first 2 or 3 issues of Thor I ever owned.  The insane struggle of Thor vs. the Celestial began here and continued over the next two issues.  This story provided an exciting, action-filled jolt to my young imagination.  I bought this comic off the spinner rack of a local drug store-- the same drug store that supplied me with many of my first comics.  Ron Frenz's art on Thor is wonderful.  Frenz is one of three artists that I consider Thor's great artists (the other two being Kirby and Simonson).

Superboy #149.  Another Superboy comic that I got as a kid at a yard sale.  This one was extra special because of the Bonnie and Clyde angle.  It sports one of a number of covers Neal Adams drew for the series.  This issue contained two stories, one new and one reprint from Adventure Comics.  I don't remember much about the plots of the stories since it's been probably 20 years since I last read it, and it is stored away so I can't readily look.  Honestly, though, this is a favorite merely because it was one of my first comics.  It did well to serve my lifelong liking of old Superboy stories.  It's funny how that works, isn't it?

This 1982 Amazing Spider-man giveaway comic was one of my first comics given to me at my dentist's office.  In partnership with Aim toothpaste, Marvel published this tale of Spidey vs. Doc Ock vs. toothaches.  Dentistry and a battle ensues in "Crisis at Cape Canaveral!"  I read this over and over when I was a kid.  I didn't care that it was a comic meant to help sell toothpaste because the advertising didn't drive the story like those old Hostess ads (which were great 'cause they were short and odd).  This was a comic that would entertain kids and give them an incentive to go to the scary dentist...

Marvel Super-heroes Secret Wars #4. Two words: Hulk.  Mountain. 

Happy goosebumps appear as a youngster-- heck, still as an adult-- while looking at the scene of Hulk holding up a mountain while the other heroes (trapped under there with him) devise a method of escape.  The heroes working together is nice to see... much better than watching them tear each other apart as they seem to do in civil wars these days...

This series is a favorite of mine, as is the much maligned sequel series.  I own all issues of both series.  But this issue tops the other individual issues, however, because of the Hulk-meets-mountain scenario.  I got this issue as part of a three pack of Secret Wars issues in the late 1980s from Value City.  Oh, the memories...

Superboy #180.  As any listener of the show knows, I have a weakness for the old Superman/Superboy comics.  This is another one of the first 100 or so comics I owned (and still do, of course).  It was bought at a yard sale with a handful of others.  This comic is a thrilling 48 pages (no small amount when you're a kid), with two fun Superboy tales and a Legion of Super-heroes reprint (probably the first Legion story I ever read, featuring the origin of Bouncing Boy).  Definitely sunshine-n-smiles memories over this one...