Tuesday and Thursdays in the later years...But only on Tuesdays when I first started buying...We didn't have a 7-11 then...It was a Cabell's Minit Market...Owned by the Southland Corp. ...Same folks that owned the 7-11s ...The Ice Cream plant was located here in McKinney...I worked out there off and on for a period stretching over 8-10 years...The most fun I ever had working in my entire life was working in the cold storage area and stacking the transports with product...
You're right! When I was real young, in the early to mid 70s (when you were only just a lil' old!) I do remember comics only coming in on Tuesdays. I still kinda remember knowing what weeks my books were due at 7-11 & being baffled the first time, in the late 70s, that Hulk came out on Tuesday & Cap came out on Thursday of the third week of the month!
I must have been sooooo annoying to the 7-11 folks as a kid! I remember, in the winter, when it was too cold to walk the 3/4 of a mile to the 7-11, I'd call them to make sure certain issues were in and then I'd call my Dad, at the military base & ask him to stop on the way home & pick up my books! I'd always make him write it down...."Dad! Please stop at 7-11 & pick up The Incredible Hulk #x. It has Hulk fighting Thor on the cover!" When he couldn't find the right one, or he saw something he thought I might like, but didn't mention, he'd borrow the store's phone & call me! Poor guy, I'd ask him what artist was drawing the book! I drove the man nuts! What a great Dad he was!
I never knew when they came in. My mother would just give me money and I would buy whatever comic had a cool cover that's probably why to this day Man-Thing and Ghost Rider are my favorite characters.
You never followed issue #s? I remember freaking when this issue of The Incredible Hulk never made it to 7-11...
That drove me NUTS!!!!!! I was so excited by the teaser of the previous issue & was counting down the 30 days to get this one! There was nothing I could do! 7-11 did not get it & my Dad couldn't find it anywhere in the region! I finally got it two or three years later at a comic store. After that "tragedy" I began making sure that my Dad or I made it to 7-11 on the exact day of the week each month that Hulk, Cap, and Iron Man were due!
You're right! When I was real young, in the early to mid 70s (when you were only just a lil' old!) I do remember comics only coming in on Tuesdays. I still kinda remember knowing what weeks my books were due at 7-11 & being baffled the first time, in the late 70s, that Hulk came out on Tuesday & Cap came out on Thursday of the third week of the month!
I must have been sooooo annoying to the 7-11 folks as a kid! I remember, in the winter, when it was too cold to walk the 3/4 of a mile to the 7-11, I'd call them to make sure certain issues were in and then I'd call my Dad, at the military base & ask him to stop on the way home & pick up my books! I'd always make him write it down...."Dad! Please stop at 7-11 & pick up The Incredible Hulk #x. It has Hulk fighting Thor on the cover!" When he couldn't find the right one, or he saw something he thought I might like, but didn't mention, he'd borrow the store's phone & call me! Poor guy, I'd ask him what artist was drawing the book! I drove the man nuts! What a great Dad he was!
The Fultz News Agency in Denton handled the distribution for comics in our area...They were 30 miles West...Comics arrived there on Mondays and Wednesdays...Delivered on Tuesdays and Thursdays...Some of the stores I mentioned previously carried only certain publishers...DC and Marvel...or Charlton and Dell...Gold Key and Marvel...etc. etc. It was a crap shoot and some times an issue was missed...as they would only deliver a certain amount of copies to certain stores...That's whay the hunt was so much fun...To get to the stores before the other kids did...And that's why I loved my job at Mr. Wilcox's store...1st shot at the ones I missed...
I'll never forget walking into a store once called Pop's Comics & Cards and seeing nothing but cards. the guy at the counter asked me if I needed help and I said where's the comics. He looked at me with this puzzled look on his face so then he asked this old guy in the back (I guess it was Pops) if he had comics and he yelled NO!. WTH would you call it Pop's Comics and Cards and not have any comics?
Ya know, A LOT of comic store owners had ZERO customer service skills back in the day! I'll always remember different ones watching my every move as a kid, as if I was going to steal something! (sorry...I've never stolen anything a$$wipes!) And God forbid you tried to chat with an owner about comics. Yikes!
Thank God for Eldorado Comics. They were the nicest guys in the world to me as a kid, eventhough they thought my favorite artist, Sal Buscema was a "hack!"
The Fultz News Agency in Denton handled the distribution for comics in our area...They were 30 miles West...Comics arrived there on Mondays and Wednesdays...Delivered on Tuesdays and Thursdays...Some of the stores I mentioned previously carried only certain publishers...DC and Marvel...or Charlton and Dell...Gold Key and Marvel...etc. etc. It was a crap shoot and some times an issue was missed...as they would only deliver a certain amount of copies to certain stores...That's whay the hunt was so much fun...To get to the stores before the other kids did...And that's why I lived my job at Mr. Wilcox's store...1st shot at the ones I missed...
Yeah, I remember back in the late 70s, when my list was
The Incredible Hulk
Captain America
The Invincible Iron Man
ROM Spaceknight
and
The Micronauts
7-11 didn't carry The Micronauts! I had discovered the series while on vacation with my parents & siblings in Wildwood Crest, NJ (ya know..."down the shore?"). When I got home, I BEGGED 7-11 to carry it, but they said they only "got what they got." Much to my relief, Wawa carried it! Unfortunately, I had to sneakily cross a major highway, RT 73 to get to Wawa. If my parents ever found out A. I was crossing the highway or B. I was buying more than 3 books a month, I woulda been a dead man!
Another book that was never at the local convience stores was another I discovered on vacation, Moon Knight. I loved him in The HULK (full color magazine) that my Dad, every once in awhile brought home to me & was thrilled when I saw Moon Knight #1 in the spinner rack in the hotel's gift shop! Thankfully, my Dad had discovered Eldorado Comics by then & I'd BEG him to take me on Saturdays!
I still remember being shocked that the comics stores got the comics a month before 7-11!
You never followed issue #s? I remember freaking when this issue of The Incredible Hulk never made it to 7-11...
That drove me NUTS!!!!!! I was so excited by the teaser of the previous issue & was counting down the 30 days to get this one! There was nothing I could do! 7-11 did not get it & my Dad couldn't find it anywhere in the region! I finally got it two or three years later at a comic store. After that "tragedy" I began making sure that my Dad or I made it to 7-11 on the exact day of the week each month that Hulk, Cap, and Iron Man were due!
I wasn't super into comics as a kid so I just bought random issues. I was more into Star Wars and Sci-Fi. I didn't get seriously into comics until my late teens early 20's.
Last edited by patrickwm68; May 8th, 2009 at 11:54 PM.
To answer to the best of my memory...The original question...Drug Stores...Bailey's...Coffey's...Mckinney...Smith... Northside...
Mom and Pop Grocery Stores...Bolin's Grocery...Erwin Street Grocery...Pak Way...Parchman's...Jim's Drive In grocery...and one other that escapes me at this time...
I remember Bolin's with the most fondness...His was the only place that sold Charlton...and he had a Mina Bird that whistled at wimmen and talked...I always loved going in his place..
I wasn't super into comics as a kid so I just bought random issues. I was more into Star Wars and Sci-Fi. I didn't get seriously into comics until my late teens early 20's.
Really?!?!? I honestly didn't know another single teenager, other than me, that bought comics!
To answer to the best of my memory...The original question...Drug Stores...Bailey's...Coffey's...Mckinney...Smith... Northside...
Mom and Pop Grocery Stores...Bolin's Grocery...Erwin Street Grocery...Pak Way...Parchman's...Jim's Drive In grocery...and one other that escapes me at this time...
I remember Bolin's with the most fondness...His was the only place that sold Charlton...and he had a Mina Bird that whistled at wimmen and talked...I always loved going in his place..
I remember that Clover was the only store around here that had Charlton comics. I never liked them because they seemed "cheaper" than Marvel or DC.
The rebel Peddler in Spfld Ma
but the owner was brutal
I was like 14 yrs old, brought in a stack of like 30 books Iron Men, Hulks, Thor
all in decent shape wanted to sell so I could buy something else.
Really?!?!? I honestly didn't know another single teenager, other than me, that bought comics!
Do you know how many times I dragged girlfriends to comic shops and conventions. They were basically my bag holders while I sifted through back issues. LOL
Suddenly you were gone from all the lives you left your mark upon, but we remember...Rest in Peace Davey
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 4,135
Quote:
Originally Posted by 'Nuff
No kidding...I picked up a Batman from 1948 I think it was...Oldest one I remember getting...The best part was I got to go through what came in before Mr. Wilcox put them out for sale...Then...8 years later I joined the Navy...and Mother threw most of my comics and all of my baseball cards in the trash...
I bought my comics in the 1970s from a lot of different drug stores and grocery stores: Brooklere Pharmacy in Forestdale, Ala., Gardendale Utotem, Sumiton 7-Eleven, Graysville Drugs, Forestdale A&P, Adamsville Quick Stop and Dora Big B Drugs are the ones I remember visiting the most often.
Oddly, I don't remember having a concept that comics came out once a week back then. I just remember wanting to drop by my stores as much as possible to see if anything new had arrived.
I first seen comic books at the local PDQ, which was a convenience store that was next to the ice cream shop my mom walked me to. I was about 4 years old at that time.. They had the whole spinner rack deal going. A Marvel Amazing Spiderman 110 was my first pick up. That was around 1973.
From there there was a dept store around town called Drews. They carried the 3 pack issue bag. Those were tricky cuz they would stick some lame issues in the middle so you could not see it until it was opened. They got me every time.
Also around this time and many years to come, my parents were flea market freaks. So we would be hitting these flea market at the crack of dawn and sometime before with flash lights. I spent a lot of my money I made working on a radish farm at these markets.
In the late 80's Walgreens carried comics. I remember picking up Walt Simonson's Thor run. As well as Secret wars series. At this time Walden's books had comics too.
Then for a couple years In the 90's I left the hobby. When I returned I was near a comicbook store and only changed stores a couple times since.
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