So over the years here as I participated in the comics on sale 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 etc. years ago, I was trying to piece together exactly what comics I had as a kid through these posts. Memory can be foggy, and some I had had been read so many times they were coverless, and other covers looked familiar because I got them as back issues much later, but I think I have finally complied the list of exactly what comics I had as a kid. Of course the phrase "as a kid" is subjective, so I will define terms-I break my time buying comics into comics in my youth before I started "collecting" comics into 2 distinct phases-The time I lived in Connecticut (my first comic I remember was in 1973 so it starts there with Batman #250 and runs until we moved to Maine right after the 1979-1980 school year, so I cut it off at May 1980), and the time I lived in Maine (June 1980 until we moved back to CT after the 1981-1982 school year so I cut it off at May/June 1982). After we moved back I didn't buy any comics for about a year and a half, just shortly after I started buying a few again I found my first comic shop and started collecting seriously, so for me, "as a kid" cuts off when I moved back to CT after 7th grade. There's a period circa 1979 where there's not a lot of comics listed. My mom determined I was "too into" comics and forbid me form buying or reading any comics for the better part of a year. I think more of it had to do with my older cousin (whose comics I inherited) who was also into comics, getting into the drug scene and my mom panicking I would follow in his footsteps. After close to a year, and at the reassurance of one of the nuns who taught at the Catholic school I attended who was trying to encourage my love of reading, my mom relented and I could read my old comics, but didn't get any new comics again until we moved to Maine.
Some of the comics I had during this period were bought off the racks as they came out, some were bought in polybagged three packs a while after they were released, some were received as stocking stuffers at Christmas or as part of birthday gifts, some were hand me downs form a neighbor and some were hand me downs from my cousin. Three runs came via mail subscriptions I had (Iron Man 108-118; Avengers 212-222, ASM 222-233). None were acquired as "back issues" intentionally, as at that point in time I had no concept what that meant. Also part of the comics I had as a kid were a handful of comic adjacent books-Tempo Books, Fireside books, and one Golden Records set.
I no longer own the copies of most of these comics I had as a kid with the exception of three issues of Conan the Barbarian and the Mighty Marvel Jumbo Fun Book and maybe one or two others. When I started this process several years back, I made an attempt to reacquire all the DC books I had since I had so few. I now own all but 1 of those comics (Batman 266) and the Golden Records Superman set. I reacquired copies of a handful of the others-Son of Origins, the Modern Comics reprints, and a few that are parts of series I have completed (Micronauts, BSG, etc.). I toy with idea of picking up some of the others form time to time. With Gem City Comic Con coming up in 2 weeks, I am contemplating seeking out some of them to reacquire-some have become keys and I am not willing to pay going rate, so I will never completely recreate this collection, so I am not sure if I want to start it, but sometimes when I am felling nostalgic (usually around my birthday in July) I start toying with the idea though.
I've often said I was more of a Marvel kid than a DC kid, and looking at this list makes that abundantly clear.
But anyways, this is what my childhood comic collection looked like:
(The Connecticut Years: 1973-May 1980)CharltonEmergency #2
Six Million Dollar Man #2
Modern Comics ReprintsCaptain Atom #83
Ghostly Haunts #41
Vengeance Squad #5
DC ComicsAll Star Comics #62
Batman #250, 266
DC Special #23
Flash #218, 240
G.I. Combat #193
Justice League of America #123, 129, 158
Superman #287
Superman Golden LP Record & Comic Book Set (reprints Superman 125 and origin of Superman)
World’s Finest (Tempo Books)
MarvelAdventures on the Planet of the Apes #6
Amazing Spider-Man #146, 155, 157, 158, 171, 172, 196, 197
Astonishing Tales #2, 20
Avengers #124, 144, 145, 147, 156, 158, 159, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168,170, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 183, 185, 188, Annual 7, 9
Battlestar Galactica #5
Black Panther #3
Captain America #163, 187, 189, 207, 208, 211, 212
Captain Marvel 51, 52, 53
Champions #15, 16
Combat Kelly and His Deadly Dozen #6
Conan the Barbarian #76, 78, 82, 108
Daredevil 148
Defenders #29, 50, 52, 77
Dynomutt #6
Eternals #15
Fantastic Four #139, 163, 170, 185, 186, 187
Ghost Rider #29
Godzilla #1
Gunhawks #2
Hero for Hire #8
Human Fly #4
Human Torch #6
Incredible Hulk #199, 214, 215, 223, Annual 6
Inhumans 12
Invaders #2, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 15, 17, 20, 40, Annual 1
Iron Man #79, 82, 96, 102, 103, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118
Jungle Action #7
Machine Man 1
Marvel Adventure #6
Marvel Double Feature #11, 12, 13
Marvel Premiere #8, 26, 29, 37
Marvel Spectacular #17
Marvel Super-Action #5, 7
Marvel Super-Heroes #53, 63
Marvel Team-Up #10, 40, 42, 43, 45, 59, 61
Marvel Tales #64, 66
Marvel Triple Action #19, 23, 35, 36, 37, 39
Micronauts #6
Nova #11, 13, 14, 19
Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #27, 28, 32
Rampaging Hulk #8
Shogun Warriors #7
Spidey Super Stories #27, 31
Star Wars #3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 16, 17, 18
Super-Villain Team-Up #7, 9, 12
Thor #240, 241, 250, 256, 261, 262, 264, 270, Annual 6
X-Men #84, 105, 108, 123
Son of Origins (Fireside Books)
Mighty Marvel Jumbo Funbook (Fireside)
Mighty Marvel Super-Heroes Fun Book (Fireside) 1, 2
(The Maine Years: June 1980-May 1982)Amazing Adventures #10
Amazing Spider-Man #222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233
Avengers #209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222
Captain America #259, 265
Daredevil 174, 175
Fantastic Four #229, 230
Iron Man #140
Marvel Team-Up #114
Star Wars #39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 60, 61
Uncanny X-Men 150
So anyways, though others might enjoy a glimpse at one kid's comic collection looked like some 40 years ago.
-M