My Big-Ass Comic Blog

The above is the cover to DC Showcase Presents:The Atom. Covers like this make my pulse race. You ask "Why". I sarted reading comics at around the age of 5 years old or before I started grade school (I had no kindergarten). My grandfather, then my folks bought comics for me to read, usually the ones at the local drugstore with no covers or only partial covers for 5 cants each or 3 for a dime. Didn't matter much to me about no covers as long as I had those characters in my hands. It pretty much started with Superman, then the secondary characters found a place in my heart. There was an occasional detour to Casper or Hot Stuff, but the DC heroes were my pantheon.

It all changed about the time I turned 11, when my Grandpa brought me Spider-Man #2, with a partial cover, of course. From that time on, it was Marvel all the way and DC, eat my dust. And it stayed that way for another 20 years or so, until it became too hard to keep up with all the Mutants and Spider-Man titles. With hat in hand, I came back to Dc about the time of the trial of the Flash, The original Crisis. John Byrne's retcon of Superman, etc. I stayed with them for about 5 years, then got married. Much like Puff, the Magic Dragon, the comics were discarded and faded into fond memory(sniff). There was an occasional Mini-series to buy, but nothing on a regular basis.

Until last year, when Dc brought out their Showcase Presents seies. Talk about comic book heaven. The books as I remembered them (although in black and white, no problem there). The price was right for me at www.amazon.com for around 500 pages of great memories. The price is usually between $11-13-a bargain for the content. Last year, I bought Superman Vol 1 and 2, JLA 1 and 2, Green Lantern and Challengers of the Unknown. This year is even better with Flash, Atom, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Green Lantern 2, Hawkman, Legion of Super-Heroes, War That Time Forgot, Adam Strange, Superman 3 and Who's Who. I'll probably go back and get Green Arrow and Haunted Tank for last year too. Talk about a boatload of memories. I just hope DC will forgive me and take me back.