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aesthetocyst

Forum post.

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Never, I just absorb Marvel as part of the zeitgeist / might be an MCU fanboy

I've never really read them.  My brother collected / read when we were kids and I read a few of his, but never seriously.  I've wanted to but it seems so deep of a pool it's hard to know when to start.

We did get a new comic shop near me a while back and I got some of the new Green Lantern and a few other ones, but I haven't gotten around to finishing them.  I'm more of a gamer than a reader and the idea of turning off the TV or computer to read something seems so foreign.  As sad as it is I'd probably be more likely to read comics on a Tablet or something.

rixmith

Age 19–24 — assigned reading in college, I swear!

A friend of mine in college got me started. We played a lot of D&D in college (and still do) and my friend wanted to run a Champions (superhero role-playing system) game. He gave all the players a few issues from the title for our character (I was Iron Man). I read and collected for the next 5 - 10 years. But at some point it seemed like the quality was going down while the prices were going up and I stopped buying. 

Dormammu

Before age 5 — a prodigy!

I'm glad you asked. I learned how to read at a pretty young age - because of comics. My mom was an avid reader and loved reading to me every night. She encouraged and taught me to read, but she found I wasn't interested in the standard childish fare. Even as a kid I thought Curious George, Dr. Suess, and Where the Wild Things Are were totally ludicrous. But for some reason grown adults running around in spandex and shooting lasers out of their eyes was totally acceptable to me.

So mom would buy me those old 3-packs of comics. They'd come in a plastic bag and usually hung in the toy aisles at places like Target or K-Mart. You could see what the outside two comics were, but the one sandwiched between them was often a mystery.

It was the original Secret Wars that hooked me. It was the first time I realized that guys like Spider-Man, the Hulk, and the X-Men all lived in the same world. It was an exciting prospect! I had never seen anything like Galactus before, he was so powerful he shook the heroes off like a bunch of fleas! It was unbelievable to my young mind. And Dr. Doom stole his power!!! How cool was that?

I stopped reading comics regularly long ago, but I still pick up the occasional trade paper back. Marvel only, of course (DC sucks), and I see and own every Marvel Studios film and that wide-eyed little kid deep inside me gets excited every time I see my favorite heroes sharing the same screen.

Moon Roach

Age 6 or 7 — an early bloomer!

I was reading TV 21 when it first came out.  My first exposure to Marvel was the Marvel UK reprints in the early 1970s.

pheregas

Age 6 or 7 — an early bloomer!

I was only allowed those Gold Key books in the grocery stores when I was under 6.  But after, I distinctly remember going to the local pharmacy and picking out random comics and then reading and rereading them so many times.

LifeofAgony

Age 8 or 9 — ambitiously deviant

Older cousin (2 years ahead of me) was a big collector.  Introduced me to X-men and it was off to the races from there.

Beer40

Age 8 or 9 — ambitiously deviant

My dad owned his own construction company and I got paid $2/day to help him around the job site during the summer and on weekends. Each week, he'd take me to the local bookstore that had a comic rack up front. I'd spend my money mostly on X titles, with other titles mixed in, as covers caught my eye. I think I stopped around 14 or 15 because I got into basketball cards.

Got back in with a Marvel Unlimited subscription 8(?) years ago and haven't looked back. 

NotBAMF

Age 8 or 9 — ambitiously deviant

That's the first comic I remember owning, and Wikipedia tells me it came out January 1990, putting me at 9 years old. 

RedLion

Age 8 or 9 — ambitiously deviant

First series I "collected". 1985 (I was 8 at the time). Why this one? It was one of the few series a particular bait and tackle shop carried. My dad and I visited it often on the way to the fishing hole.

CyberVenom2001

Age 10–12 — right on time ... I think?

For me it was when I got into the 6th grade and a new school. Some of the guys there were reading an early issue of Wizard: the Guide to Comics. While flipping through and seeing the giant heroes and *ahem* bodily ladies, I saw my first picture of Venom. I'm almost 40 now and I've never turned from Marvel and DC since. 

animaniactoo

Age 10–12 — right on time ... I think?

Truthfully, I'd read some now and then - I remember my dad buying us some of the Spiderman ones when we were on camping trips over the summer prior to age 10 that we passed around and shared.

But for when *I* started actively looking and buying and reading myself, age 10, my sister age 12, I think she fell out long before I did. I kept collecting right up until I hit 15 and went away to school. I left my collection with my best friend and they basically became part of his collection. I never did pick it back up the same way and I keep intending to go back and read all the stories and new characters I see and go "Oooh!" over.

Also when it turns out characters have had major change of focus. Back when I was reading and collecting Betsy Braddock (Pyslocke) was all mind powers and no ninja training. My 10 years younger co-workers were all "what? only mind powers? huh?" when we were having a convo one day and geeking out over which characters we remembered and who were our favorites and what storylines we liked best.

Jabrony_Geoff

Age 6 or 7 — an early bloomer!

I Started reading comics in primary school.
One of the parents kindly donated boxes of marvel comics for us to read when the weather was too bad for us to play outside

I specifically remember reading  one fantastic four comic where sue Richards was crying because she thought the Hulk was going kill Ben.
So much drama in one comic. 

On the issue of crying.
I Cried when I watched the first Thor film.
(They actually did it and it was believable)

Cried when I watched X-men first class and the one with apocalypse in.
( Related well with the comics)

Cried when I watched Spiderman swinging through the buildings in the amazing Spiderman. The ones with  with Emma Stone.
(Reminded me of the early Spiderman cartoons.)

Favourite comic now. :- Lady Thor, some great comic writing.

TheZeusBear

Never.
Used to buy some Marvel Overpower cards and watch the cartoon tv show on YTV as a kid. Probably 6-8 for the show and 10ish for the cards? 
Haven't watched many of the MCU movies or TV shows.

GuntherBlobel

Age 10–12 — right on time ... I think?

That’s awesome that so many people started so young!

My 6 yr old is starting to read comics now, but it’s hard to find “kid-friendly” comics these days. A lot of Marvel comics that I read as a 10-12 yr old aren’t great for his age.

He reads Ms. Marvel and Power Rangers. Any other suggestions for a 6 yr old?

Punisher5784

Age 6 or 7 — an early bloomer!

I was just a little Pun back then. I do not recall what my first comic was but my most memorable was Maximum Carnage, the cover that Carnage uses in the game. I loved that series. I was obsessed with Venom and I'll always cherish my Lethal Protector #1

charmbots

Age 19–24 — assigned reading in college, I swear!

I had some comics when I was young but nothing superhero (most notably the John Jacobs Power Team Adventures or something like that lol, the one with the paperclip gang and the wrestling one). When I got older I started reading more which included graphic novels, still not much superhero stuff though (other than Batman, sorry mpqer’s). I basically found lists of the “best” graphic novels and started reading some off of there. I like Brian K. Vaughn’s stuff a lot and Alan Moore also of course, and Persepolis, Maus, and Bone were excellent as well. 

talleman

I have never read any marvel comics. My reading as a child was mostly Turtles but i fel in love with the animated spiderman series in the 90s

Kahmon

Age 6 or 7 — an early bloomer!

In order to keep me quiet in church my mom would pick up a grab bag from the local comic shop (random 10 for $5). While the sheeple would stand and sit when told to, I just sat there reading comics the whole time.

BigMike182

Age 10–12 — right on time ... I think?

I had read comics before, but nothing stuck. One day, I saw the cover to Incredible Hulk 372 and I just had to read it. With that one issue, I became a lifelong fan of the medium.

STOPTHIS

Age 6 or 7 — an early bloomer!

I had comics before I was 6, but I don't think I ever read them. Just looked at the pictures. Wasn't until I got into some of the cartoons that I went back read all the issues I had been given. And from there I would read any comic I could get my hands on. Eventually, money got tight and then the local stores stopped caring comics, so I most fell out of reading them regularly. I still tried to keep up with them through magazines like Wizard.

Eventually, I started making my own money and around the same time Marvel launched the Ultimate line and that completely got me back into comics. Don't read too much these days, as I don't care for the overall direction Marvel as gone in, but I still love medium and try and check out some independent stuff when I can.