Hey All, PCR here!
While driving home from work yesterday, I was re-listening to when we were on Gutting the Sacred Cow (Our episode, 92, can be found here…) and we got off on a brief tangent about collecting comic books and.. it got me thinking…
I collected a lot of varied titles.. from popular stuff, to stuff I (mistakenly) thought would increase in value, to things I… just LOVED reading regardless of what other people thought or how popular it was.
So here’s a not-entirely-comprehensive list of the stuff that was my guilty pleasure, even though they weren’t mainstream titles!
Badger – First Comics
Created by Mike Baron and originally published by Capital Comics before it landed at First Comics, Badger was the story of Norbert Sykes, a Vietnam vet who suffered from Dissociative Identity Disorder. One of those identities is “The Badger”, a guy who calls everyone Larry, talks to animals, and is possibly the best martial artist vigilante around.
Dreadstar – First Comics
Originally published in Marvel’s offshoot “Epic” (it was Epic’s first title), it eventually landed at First where I found it during my collecting phase. The stories of Vanth Dreadstar, Iron Angel, Oedi, Willow and Skeevo was some of the best writing I had read in comics. The issues I had in my long boxes were written by either creator Jim Starlin or Peter David, and the artwork by Angel Medina was jaw dropping.
Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg! – First Comics
One of First Comics’ first titles (you’re probably seeing a pattern here…) American Flagg! was one of my first ‘non mainstream’ titles, and the one that introduced me to all the other First titles I collected. The story of Reuben Flagg, a former porn star turned Plexus Ranger in 2030 Chicago… Chaykin’s style was perfect for this title. The gritty and stylized artwork, the amazing characters, the story… Chaykin isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but man did I fall in love with this title. It was the only title I collected that I went out of my way to eventually pick up the entire run of.
Aliens – Dark Horse Comics
I was never really in to Black and White comics. Aliens changed that. The artwork by Mark A. Nelson and story by Mark Verheiden (later of Falling Skies fame) were riveting, and the original 6 issue run is nothing short of a masterpiece
Grimjack – First Comics
While Flagg! was my first foray into… well.. First, Grimjack filled that void once Flagg! ended and is easily in my top 3 all time title. Originally created by John Ostrander and Timothy Truman and later drawn by one of my favorite artists, Flint Henry, sometimes the character was John Gaunt, other times he was James Edgar Twilley, but he was always Grimjack and if you ever needed him, you just had to find your way to Munden’s Bar in downtown Cynosure.
For those who collected, or still do… what are YOUR favorite titles? Let us know over at @STSTCast on Twitter!
– PCR
