Happy January!

January starts with me still having 8,781 total comic books tracked in my software.  While I have made a few purchases, I haven't had time to sit down and enter them into the computer.

Here are a selection of comic books I own with January cover dates.  Two I purchased when they were published, one was a back issue find and one holds special distinction in my collection.

1961

This is currently the oldest comic book in my collection.  We recently cleaned out Nan's grandparent's house.  There were some comic books involved.  After the cousins took what they wanted (I believe only one of her cousins took any comics), I thumbed through the remainders and ended up with 26 books that are tagged in my software as "The Riley Collection."

1976

My most recent "Holy Grail" comic.  It took me nearly 30 years to track down an affordable copy.  This one features the first appearance of Superman's alternate Earth cousin Power Girl and usually commands a hefty price.  I try to avoid paying more than $5.00 for any individual comic book.  In my whole collection, there are only 66 individual comics that cost more than this book. (I've only paid more than $10 for a comic 26 times).  I snagged this in March at my favorite comic shop, That's Entertainment in Worcester, MA.  I had won a $10 gift certificate for answering a trivia question, so snatching this up at $6.95 was a no-brainer!

1983

I was raised Catholic and have a strong Polish heritage.  Picking this up back-in-the-day was another no-brainer.  I mean, what 12 year old boy wouldn't be excited to find this on the stands!

1984

Two of my favorite things in the same comic!  And one of the first issues I got via subscription.

Darth Paul

There is so much I love about this picture.

Growing up catholic, JP was our Pope. He was ever-present in many relatives households, doubly so because we are Polish. I remember my grandmother and her sister both had LOTS of JP stuff (I have inherited a 22 inch ceramic version of him from his glory days).

Tying him in to Star Wars (one of the first movies I remember seeing in theater)....BRILLIANT.

(via JIMSmash)