Greetings from the other new Curmudgeon.
This being my first topic, I thought it might be interesting to tie into something I touched on in the MODOK thread -- first comic book memories, or more specifically, the goofy characters we remember from our first comic books. I'm talking about the guys who, if you encountered them as a thinking, reasoning adult, you would say "Man, that is a lame character." Yet because you encountered them during your magical youth, somehow, they become special.
After all, you always remember your first.
I came late to the comic collecting game. I had read them for years, and had a few comics of my own (I remember a coverless copy of Weird War Tales #100). I also had a cousin who collected comics, and I'd love to pore through his collection when we visited. But when I was about 11, I discovered a comic shop and started buying my own comics, and that's where it all changed for me.
One of the first comics I bought was Captain America #313. The cover features Death Adder executing MODOK. You won't find a mor egeneric supervillain than Death Adder, yet I fell in love with the guy. I thought he was the coolest character you could possibly come up with. And MODOK? Don't get me started on him! I love MODOK!
I also picked up an issue of Marvel Tales, which was reprinting the early Stan Lee/John Romita Spidey stories. This particular issue had Spider-Man taking on the Shocker. Now, ask 1,000 Spider-Man fans to name a classic Spider-Man villain, and 999 of them will give you the Green Goblin, Doc Octopus, the Vulture -- anybody but the Shocker. Meet Mr. 1,000. For me, the Shocker is Silver Age Spider-Man.
Not long after that, I bought an issue of Iron Man featuring the meance of the Ghost. "Who," you say? It's close to 20 years later, but I can still tell you that the Ghost was an anti-capitalist industrial saboteur who built himself a device that gave him the ability to walk through walls. And he killed the Spymaster. The rest of the world may have forgotten the Ghost, but I haven't!
So there you have it. Death Adder. MODOK. The Shocker. The Ghost. The dregs of the Marvel Universe, but they rank among some of my favorite characters of all time.
One more comic book memory before I throw the floor open for everyone else to talk about the lame characters they love from their own youths. At the same time I was discovering Captain America and Iron Man, I also gave Thor a try. I thought that title was pretty lame. The issue I bought? The one where Skurge the Executioner makes his last stand on the Bridge of Gjallerbru. I didn't buy another issue of Thor for a long time. Which just goes to show that youth is wasted on the young. Or kids are stupid. Or something.
Posted by Jason Fliegel at September 23, 2004 1:06 AM