So I basically struck out on FCBD. I didn’t get the Milestone stuff, The Invisibles, Y the Last Man, Criminal or The Spectre. I didn’t even spend $50 and that’s including the three long boxes I picked up.
But I didn’t come up totally empty handed; I managed to snag some better condition issues of comics that I hold very dear to my heart.
First up I picked up Green Lantern #190-194 & #197-200. This was the time when I’d begun reading comics on a relatively regular basis (via a spin rack at a convenience store.) I’m pretty sure that I had no idea how frequently comic books were released, but I can still remember that thrill of searching the racks and finding a new issue of Green Lantern. There’s thing else like the thrill of discovery.
And Green Lantern was so amazing back then. Not only did you have Crisis on Infinite Earths going on but here were some of the storylines going on in the Green Lantern title;
John Stewart was Earth’s new Green Lantern and Katma Tui had been assigned to watch over him.
Hal Jordan had recently quit the Green Lantern Corps and was adjusting to living a normal life, poorly.
Guy Gardner was just being awakened from being a coma for years and was about to become a Green Lantern in his own right.
The mysterious Predator was proving to be a menace to John Stewart, Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris.
Plus, the series was building to its two hundredth issue.
Just look at these awesome covers;
It was really an awesome time to be reading comics in general, but specifically Green Lantern.
Of course the further we get from these stories the less they feel like they happened. Seeing Hal battle back and earn his Green Lantern ring back was such a thrilling journey. And it was touching to see Tomar Re will his ring to John so Hal could get his old ring back. But I doubt that scene happened in current continuity.
In fact I’m betting that Hal never gave up his ring so that he could show his devotion to Carol Ferris. I’m equally sure that Guy’s time in a coma has nearly vanished from the canon.
Just like Predator is now an emotional entity and the Zamarons are no longer Amazonian women, but rather very alien looking females, I’m sure that very little about this arc is still in continuity. That makes me sad.
But I won’t dwell on it.
Instead I’ll write about the other nostalgic find I copped on FCBD; The Flash #1. As I mentioned numerous times, The Flash #1 was the first “first issue” I ever picked up. And I loved that issue. I remember taking it to school, for a reason that escapes me now.
I also traced the figure of Wally on the cover and came up with different color schemes. As a result, my original #1 is pretty much worse for the wear. But thanks to FCBD I managed to get a second copy at a very reasonable price.
There is a common thread between my two trips down memory lane; Geoff Johns is doing his best to relegate those comic touchstones distant memories with his current work on both properties
Oh well, at least I’ve got my memories. And now I’ve got better copies of those issues that I loved so much.
