"How did I get into comics?" Or "It's all my father's fault."

As a child, my dad had comics of his own.  He remembers reading Fantastic Four #1, Amazing Spider-Man #1, The Incredible Hulk, and the Legion of Super-Heroes.  Unfortunately, his entire collection was lost in a fire while he was at camp.  That was the end of my father and comic books...Until 1992.

In 1992, my family and I were on our way to a flea market.  While driving, the news of Superman's death came across on the radio.

I was shocked.

Now, I knew that he wasn't real, but I never thought a leading character could die in a comic book.  I asked my father question after question about Superman and comics in general.  He answered the questions he could, but then must have realized his youngest son was never going to stop with the questions.  So he sent me to the nearest store that had comics and let me indulge in what would soon become an obsession.

Oh, dad, what have you done to me?

I started with Superman:  The Man of Steel #22.  I read, and re-read that comic so many times.  I fell in love with the art, the story telling, and John Henry Irons (later to be known as Steel).  I picked up every issue of "The Reign of the Superman", then went back and bought the "World Without a Superman" trade paperback, and finally got the "Death of Superman" single issues from the Home Shopping Network of all places.  I was hooked!

While reading the "Reign of the Supermen" storyline, there was an add for Batman's "Knightfall", saying something like "Batman's going someplace he's never gone before...Away."  I needed to have those books.  So I got a job at a bakery slicing and bagging bread just to pay for comic books.

I was told by my brother that these books were worth money and that I should buy a price guide.  Now I eventually got into Wizard, but the first guide I picked up was Combo.  This is how I got into Marvel comics.  In the magazine, there was an add for "The death of Professor X".  Again, I couldn't believe a major character was going to die, this time from a different company.  So I picked up the "Legionquest" story which lead me into "The Age of Apocalypse".  That being my first experience in the Marvel Universe, WOW.  I didn't know comics could be like that.

Again, while reading "The Age of Apocalypse", I saw an add for "Spider-Man vs. Peter Parker".  Of course, I now had to buy that too.  So I ended up buying the entire Clone Saga and any book that even hinted at it.

So at this point, I was collecting:

Superman, Action Comics, The Adventures of Superman, & Superman:  The Man of Steel

Batman, Detective Comics, Batman:  Shadow of the Bat, Robin, & Catwoman

X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Cable, Excalibur, X-Force, X-Factor, X-Men Unlimited, Wolverine, & X-Man

Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Spider-Man Unlimited, & The New Warriors

Not to mention any mini-series, oneshot, annual, or company event these charactes appeared in.

Like Zero Hour.  Because of that event, I got into Green Lantern.  Which eventually brought me to Flash, Green Arrow, & JLA.

Over at Marvel, we had "Onslaught", which crossed over into almost every corner of the Marvel Universe.  So I got into Fantastic Four, Avengers, The Incredible Hulk, & Daredevil.

Since those early days, I've bought atleast one issue from almost every title from DC or Marvel in the 90's.  I even got into Aliens vs Predator, Battle Chasers, G.I.Joe, Transformers, & Lady Death.  I would buy almost everything that hit the shelves and looked somewhat appealing.

Of course, in every single issue of every single comic I bought, the company would put in those * which would say something like "Last seen in issue #2."  So I had to buy back issues, which also had an asterisk telling me to go buy another back issue.

At one point, I had over 4,000 comic books.  I sold well over half of them, keeping only my absolute favorites.  Currently, I only have about 1,300 or so and have slowed down my purchases to must-have-only.

I blame my father for all of this.  Thank you dad, you're the best!