Did You Have a Marvel Subscription as a Kid and what Books?

[Sutekh]

I subscribed to some magazine that got cancelled mid-year, and the company sent me a notice that I could pick any other magazine they carried for the last six months of my paid time, or any *two* comic books they offered (only Marvel options). I picked Hulk and Avengers, as I recall, kind of on a whim. (X-Men wasn't even an option, that I recall, and the rest was stuff I didn't care as much about like Punisher and Ghost Rider.) While I was a fairly regular Avengers reader, that was my first exposure to Hulk comics, since I wasn't a huge Hulk fan.

Looking back, I totally should have picked Conan, which was an option, and I would have liked even more (and the local supermarket where I got my comics never had)!

[Gaastra]

A few more--

[IMG][/IMG]

Dang! All those books! Also so many non hero books marvel was trying out! Good for them.
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[Oberon]

In 1964 when I was 8 or 9 my mother bought me a subscription to Wonder Woman, for a year. Eventually she told me that it was her favorite comic when she was a little girl, in the '40.

Several years later '68 maybe, I subscribed to Fantastic Four. My first issue was # 70, part of that Mad Thinker Super Android plot. I was dismayed that they folded the issues flat to mail.

Several years after that I was mostly journeying to the LCS, which in Detroit, was called Comic Kingdom, on 6 Mile and Gratiot. This was around '77 or '78 and I would take buses from the other side of town to go there on Friday nights after work.

[Mace Dolex]

I subscribed to Marvel's Transformers as that was an impossible title to find at the newsstands little did I know the title was getting cancelled that I was able to get the last four issues of the series when Marvel sent out an option to choose another title to complete the remaining subscription but I chose for a refund instead.

[Thirteen]

I tried the subscription service but then realized that the books weren't delivered weekly...so back to the Comic Book shop I went.
Thankful for parents who would transport me when it moved farther away in my pre-driver days.

[Nopozyzy]

I lived in a island village up in Northern Canada so they were often very late. I got X-Men, The Uncanny X-Men, and Gambit

[Riv86672]

I lived in a island village up in Northern Canada so they were often very late. I got X-Men, The Uncanny X-Men, and Gambit

^^^I grew up in NYC but my home life wasn’t very stable, so this method wouldn’t have worked for me. I always wanted to subscribe, though!

[kcekada]

A girlfriend of my cousin sold me a subscription as part of a school fundraiser. I subscribed to Marvel Fanfare before it even launched, but didn't receive anything until issue #3. And then it stopped before I received a full year of issues. Never subscribed again.

[Steroid]

Yes I did and still do until this day. My 1st subscription was to Uncanny X-Men back in 1989.

[Tien Long]

Ha, yes, I had a Marvel subscription as a kid. It started off rather indirectly. My sister was reading through the Scholastic magazine inserts that were given at school book fairs. She saw that Marvel comic books were available for subscription. Prior to that, I had gotten comics at the local convenience store, but I went infrequently to these places. I'd pick up a copy of Batman one month, an Iron Man the next, and then maybe Silver Surfer. Thus, I'd only get one part of a storyline and miss the rest. With a subscription, however, a new issue would be delivered to me every month.

And what was the first comic I ever got in the mail?



Yep, Amazing Spider-Man #361, the first full issue appearance of Carnage. An auspicious issue to start with, no? Really liked having issues come in every month. Unfortunately, I was too young to realize that my subscription was only for 12 months. One day, the next issue didn't come and I was perplexed and a little sad. Indeed, I got the penultimate issue of the Invasion of the Spider-Slayers arc and wondered how the story was going to end. At that time, I had moved to a new house and there were no local convenience stores around me. It took around 8-9 YEARS before I found out what happened.

I got into comic again during the late 90s, early 2000s. I subscribed to Thor and Captain America and yes they were cool. However, they didn't capture that same feeling of anticipation I had when I was younger. Also, there couple of delays with delivery.

But yeah, that first subscription was really great.

[Tien Long]

As for the ads I saw in my comics, here are samples:

[Anthony Shaw]

I started subscribing from 1986 to 1990 before finding a comics shop.

Captain America
Thor
Avengers
Fantastic Four
X-Factor