Thirty Years Ago

[John Keyt]

Weel 30 tears ago I would have been 20 cause I just turned 50 last Wensday . I had to take a break from collecting cause I had just bought my first house . But a 5300 dollar down payment on a 25 year 50000 dollar morgage , Wow and was only making 5.35 / hour . So collecting went on hold till about 5 years ago . But at the time I was collecting dc new teen titans, aquaman , warlord , captain canuck by comely , marvel iron man , team up , microunauts doctor strange , power man / iron fist . rom star warswhat if that i can remember . Now 30 years later collection has top 5000 books and still growing but only have a 6 issue pull list now . Later

[Matt Murdock's Swagger]

Alpha Flight #13
ASM # 255 & #256
American Flagg #12 (wow I forgot about this book)
Cap #296 & 297
Conan the King #24
Daredevil #210
fantastic Four #269
Incredible Hulk #298
Infinity Inc #5
Secret Wars #5
New Mutants #19
New Teen Titans #1
PPSSM #93
Tales Of The Teen Titans #45
Omega Men #17
TMNT #1
Thor #346 & 347
Uncanny X-Men #184
West Coast Avengers #1

I got more books then than I do now.

[Chris Freiberg]

I was five years old in May 1984, so my buying habits were pretty limited.

Alpha Flight #13
Blue Devil #3
New Mutants #19

[Joshua]

I started buying books 30 years ago at the 7-11. I could not remember the titles, but I know they were war comics. A bit after that, I found out about the Marvel Universe and that was that.

[Chris Freiberg]

June 1984:

All-Star Squadron #37
Arak, Son of Thunder #37
Marvel Super Special #30
New Mutants #20

[basbash99]

Chris, thanks for getting us started on June, 1984!!
Here's the link (I hope) for those needing to see what was published: http://www.dcindexes.com/features/ti...984&sort=alpha

At this time I was 13 and was visiting my local comic shop when I could get across town (New England Comics in Brockton, at this time in a tiny store on Main Street - moved a couple of times to larger locations since then). I had a local convenience store that I grabbed stuff from when I couldn't get to the comic store.

Alpha Flight # 14 - bought AF from 13 up to part-way thru Mantlo's run, mostly because John Byrne but was never really thrilled with it and haven't reread them in at least 10 years.
Avengers # 247 - one of my favorite titles but not my favorite part of Stern's run, mostly because the art wasn't doing it for me (Milgrom & Sinnott, if i recall)
Conan # 162 - not one I remember much about except I think John Buscema did pencils?
Daredevil # 211 - I think this is near the end of Denny O'Neil's run prior to Miller coming aboard for "Born Again", think art by Mazzechelli (sp?) but not as stylized as it would become later.
Fantastic Four # 270 - part of Terminus' 1st appearance (also my first intro to Wyatt Wingfoot). She-Hulk's here too. Pretty good, at least I thought so at the time.
Hulk # 299 - the big lead up to #300, where Hulk fights a bunch of heroes and gets banished to limbo/crossroads. I really liked the combo of Sal Buscema & Gerry Taaloc (sp?) on art.
Iron Man # 186 - part of the storyline where Rhodey took over for Stark. This run was a bit offbeat and I enjoyed it. I liked the art as well altho others may disagree.
Machine Man # 1 - part of a limited series, Barry Windsor Smith contributed! I enjoyed this look at marvel 2020 but BWS' contributions really added a lot.
Secret Wars # 6 - can't recall exactly what transpired in this issue but a limited series I enjoyed very much at the time, think maybe Layton was pencilling to give Mike Zeck a break.
Marvel Tales #167 -reprints old Spidey comics, I recall collecting reprints of AF #15 and Spiderman 1 -40 or so. A great way to read these stories prior to the Essential collections.
Marvel Team-Up # 145 - Spidey & Iron Man vs. whiplash - don't remember much altho its close to the end of the series.
Marvel Team-Up Annual #7 - Spidey & Alpha Flight. Completely unmemorable to me. I feel like they tried the new coloring process for this ish but might be wrong. hated that new coloring process a lot!
New Mutants # 20 - probably the most ground-breaking of the marvel comics on this list, with Sienkewicz really starting to go wild on art. Story is OK but the art.. wow!
Peter Parker Spectacular SM - guest starred Cloak & Dagger, fighting a cyborged out Silvermane if I remember. Kind of mediocre if I recall.
Power Man & Iron Fist # 109 - don't remember much about this one either.
Rom # 58 - as I recall Steve Ditko was pencilling around now? A decent series, lots of guest stars - ant man's in this one
Uncanny X-Men #185 one of my first X-men issues, good stuff!
West Coast Avengers (limited series) # 2 - I really liked this limited series (probably helped that I found the artwork superior to the art in avengers at this time). Introducing "the Blank" - whatever happened to him?

No DC comics as I will still pretty much a Marvel Zombie at this point.

Later picked up (floppy) copies of:
Bernie Wrightson Master Of Macabre # 4 - stories are a mixed bag but its Wrightson, c'mon!
Saga of Swamp Thing # 28 - started collecting Alan Moore's run after getting the werewolf issue (30-something)? Later got this one signed by Bissette when he appeared at a comic store. Managed to embarrass myself by bugging him about how much money comic artists make, ugh!
Omega Men # 18 - just got this one a couple of years ago when I started collecting Omega Men on the basis of liking L.E.G.I.O.N. and R.E.B.E.L.S. Good stuff!

So 17 purchased at the time with 3 more later. The 17 cost $10.60, lol.

[Nathan Irwin]

June 1984 was a milestone for my comic collecting. After living overseas since 1981, this is when I returned to the U.S., which meant I could once again pick up comics at the grocery store / gas station / drugstore. My collecting shifted into high gear almost immediately.

These are the comics I bought (or found shortly thereafter)
All-Star Squadron #37 - Ooh! Superman/Shazam cover
Avengers #247
Batman and the Outsiders Annual #1
Fantastic Four #270
Flash #337 - This title was definitely spinning its wheels -- not sure why I stuck with it.
Green Lantern #180 - Got this issue signed by Len Wein last year. Also, that "Dave Gibbons" was pretty good. Did he ever get any more work?
Iron Man #186
Legion of Super-Heroes #2
Tales of the Legion #315 - "WHAT!? Now I have to buy *two* Legion books every month?"
Tales of the Teen Titans #46 - Two of my friends had been begging me FOR YEARS to get on this book. This is about where I jumped in.

Didn't get Justice League of America #230, but I jumped on for the team that debuted the following month. (Yes... I am the one guy that actually BOUGHT Justice League Detroit).

[basbash99]

Link for comics published July 1984: http://www.dcindexes.com/features/ti...984&sort=alpha

I was still a marvel zombie at this point, so hopefully others can comment on DC publications this month. 5 Wednesdays this month so more comics than usual!!

Marvel had a few titles converging on big anniversaries simultaneously, such as Captain America 298-299, Thor 348-349, and Hulk 300!!

I really enjoyed this Hulk storyline; I was a big fan of the whole Mantlo/Buscema run, but Gerry Talacc's inking added to my enjoyment of the artwork.
Attachment 5042

Simonson's Thor run was also incredible, and the Cap buildup to issue 300 was also nicely plotted, although I didn't enjoy Paul Neary & Roy Richardson's artwork all that much.

Other stand-outs for me included: Spiderman 257 and 258. I thought DeFalco and Frenz (with Rubinstein inking) handled the title well. 257 introduced the Puma, who I thought was a good edition to the rogues gallery, and 258 had the weird costume battle going on.
Attachment 5043

Bill Sienkiewicz's art continued to blow me away in New Mutants 21 ...X-Men 186 had Windsor-smith art which was cool.

I was also enjoyed issues from some limited series: Machine Man # 2 with Barry Windsor-Smith contributing and West Coast Avengers # 3 with Graviton shaping up to be a big threat!


Fantastic Four 271 was kind of a shout-out to earlier Marvel Monster titles, which I enjoyed.
Attachment 5044

I had eagerly anticipated the Micronauts relaunch but issues 1-2 didn't do it for me.

Other titles purchased that aren't particulary memorable for me:
Alpha Flight 15
Avengers 248
Daredevil 212
Dr. Strange 67
Fantastic Four Annual # 18
Iron Man 187
Kull # 6
Secret Wars # 7
Marvel Tales # 168
Marvel Team-up # 146
Peter Parker # 95
Rom # 59
What If # 47

[Nathan Irwin]

Comics I bought in July, 1984 (or shortly thereafter):

All-Star Squadron #38
Batman and the Outsiders #14
Fantastic Four Annual #18 -- Really enjoyed both this and the Avengers annual it tied into. I started following Avengers shortly thereafter. I'm not sure why I didn't do the same with FF.
Fury of Firestorm #28
Green Lantern #181 -- I also liked this story line of Hal quitting the corps. I never expected it play out nearly as long as it did. Also, my girlfrend got my copy of this issue signed by Len Wein at NYCC a few years ago.

Iron Man Annual #7 -- Didn't buy this off the newsstand, but I found a copy later, after I'd gotten started on West Coast Avengers (see below).
Justice League of America #231
Justice League of America Annual #2 -- Normally I'm a fan of JLA/JSA teamups, but I don't remember this story. I do remember reading the annual, being excited for the new JLA lineup. (Yes -- I'm the ONE guy who actually jumped ON for the "Justice League Detroit" era.
Legion of Super-Heroes #3
Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #3 -- I didn't actually get any of the Baxter issues until some time in 1985, when I located the one Direct-Market outlet in my town.
Super Powers #4 -- The late-Kirby art here did nothing for me. I checked this series out once, and never looked back.
Superman #400
Tales of the Legion #316
Tales of the Legion #317
Uncanny X-Men #186 -- I had been checking in on X-Men only sporadically over the years. In this issue, Storm had no powers, was wearing her punk-rock costume, and was hanging out with a character I'd never heard off. Also, Barry Windsor-Smith's art didn't do anything for me. It took me about another year before I'd come back to the title.

Comics I acquired later:

Captain America #298
Captain America #299 -- I never actually read the end of this Cap/Red Skull story, because I couldn't find a copy of #300. Then last year, I found two copies in back-issue bins about three weeks apart.
Dreadstar #13
Infinity, Inc. #7
New Teen Titans #2
West Coast Avengers #3 -- As an Avengers fan, I'm surprised I didn't jump on this spinoff series. When it became an ongoing, I was on board from the start.

[basbash99]

Comics I bought in July, 1984 (or shortly thereafter):


Fantastic Four Annual #18 [/B] -- Really enjoyed both this and the Avengers annual it tied into. I started following Avengers shortly thereafter. I'm not sure why I didn't do the same with FF.


Uncanny X-Men #186 -- I had been checking in on X-Men only sporadically over the years. In this issue, Storm had no powers, was wearing her punk-rock costume, and was hanging out with a character I'd never heard off. Also, Barry Windsor-Smith's art didn't do anything for me. It took me about another year before I'd come back to the title.

Comics I acquired later:

Captain America #298
Captain America #299 -- I never actually read the end of this Cap/Red Skull story, because I couldn't find a copy of #300. Then last year, I found two copies in back-issue bins about three weeks apart.

West Coast Avengers #3 -- As an Avengers fan, I'm surprised I didn't jump on this spinoff series. When it became an ongoing, I was on board from the start.

I don't really remember much about the FF annual altho I think it had something to do with skrulls.

X-Men 186 was a bit of a weird interlude in the ongoing plot, I remember not really getting was what going on at the time as I had only started collecting X-men a few issues prior. I did enjoy the BWS artwork though.

Must have been annoying to get cap 298-299 and miss the finale! As I recollect you get a geezer fight in 300 with old Red Skull and old Cap battling it out. Can't remember the details though. Overall I thought Gruenwald's run was decent (altho as I mentioned in my prior post, was not a fan of Neary's art) but I preferred the previous run by JM DeMatteis and Mike Zeck (with Beatty on inks). Gruenwald had lots of great ideas but I think JM was the better writer overall.

I liked the limited series for West Coast Avengers better than the ongoing title. Graviton impressed me as a villian more than Pandemonium (or whoever the initial WCA ongoing first arc villain was) and I also enjoyed the art more. I think Al Milgrom did the art for the ongoing, and his work never does much for me (sorry Al).

[marvelmaniac6169]

I realize this thread is 6 weeks old but...
I purchased every issue of ROM from the newsstand or LCS so that ran into 1984 and still have 2 complete runs.