Uncanny X-Men #215 isn't a key issue, but it got me hooked into comics.
In the late 1980s, I became a comic book collector because of my love for the Uncanny X-Men. 36 years ago, I read the Uncanny X-Men #215 written by Chris Claremont and published in March 1987 -- the first comic I'd ever read.
I received this issue in the mail as a part of a year-long subscription my parents had given to me as a gift. Little did I know that this 75 cent comic would change my life! Whenever I find Uncanny X-Men #215 in comic bins, I feel a wave of nostalgia. Although it does contain three first appearances, collectors don't consider this a "key" issue. But it does have personal meaning for me.
I realized, at the very beginning of this issue, that I must have missed an important event that had occurred in previous issues: the Mutant Massacre. Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde and Colossus had suffered life-threatening injuries and were being transferred to Muir Island. Storm and Wolverine, on a separate mission, learn that a person named Jean Grey wasn't dead. Boy, did I have a lot to learn!
I loved the Mutant Massacre, Fall of the Mutants, and Dark Phoenix storylines.
During the next year, I read the tragic and beautiful Fall of the Mutants storyline. In this story, the X-Men's heroic battle against the Adversary in Dallas is broadcast to the world. It is here that the public learns for the first time that, in spite of being hated, the X-Men are the world's greatest heroes. I became so engrossed in the plight of the X-Men that I purchased back issues related to the Mutant Massacre and a trade paperback regarding the Dark Phoenix saga so I could learn who Jean Grey was.
I became hooked. In the not too distant future, I'd attend my first comic book convention and I began collecting comics in earnest. I became interested in making money off of comics, but the stories were always going to be more important.
How did you get hooked into comics? What was the first comic you ever purchased? Please tell us in the comments section below!
