The First Time

I was probably about seven years old when I walked into my local newsagents in Cambuslang (near Glasgow) with my pocket money firmly held in one hand and clasping my mum with my other hand for added security after all I had the grand sum of 4 shillings to spend (20p in today’s money), a fair amount in 1966/7. At seven years old my interests were pretty much centered around the worlds of Matchbox cars, sweets, Plasticine, Timpo Knights and cap rockets. However, on this day another new interest was to be added to that list and one that would last into my dotage……. American comic books. Now I knew all about US comics long before this day as my dad bought them for my brother and myself on occasion and of course US strips were reprinted in the British comics, but today was to be a big day for me as it was to be the day I bought my first US comic.

I can no longer recall the actual newsagents name (it may have been “Swanns”) where this momentous event took place but I do vividly remember seeing the above comic and being instantly intrigued by it as I had never seen or heard of any of these characters (little did I know that they were all revamps of golden age characters) and there were so many of them including the Black Hood, Comet, Fly Man, Fly Girl, the Shield , Bob Phantom, Fireball, The Web, The Fox, Hangman, Inferno, Jaguar, Mr. Justice (my favorite) Steel Sterling and more. Sadly I lost (or swapped) my copy of the Mighty Crusaders issues 4 a few years later but it has always remained in my memory as the title that started my love affair with comics. It was perhaps written and illustrated in a more innocent time, it may not have been ”realistic”, deep or brooding but it was fun and is that not what comics are supposed to be.