And this was supposed to start with sports cards?

So...I finally decided to do a blog, yes, I know that it took me long enough. I had some cool vintage cards all lined up to share in my first post here but it's getting pushed to the wayside.

Why is that? Well, I just had the most awesome finds today and I had to share them here. A friend of mine who owns Micheal's Marvels, who just happens to let me sell sports cards in his store after we were forced to close ours, had a special guest today in his comic shop. Mr. Al Bigley, who has done art for almost everyone in comics including Marvel and DC, was in the shop today signing comics and doing commission work. He even did a comic cover for me of Hawkeye of Avenger's fame. I'll share that later.

For now though, I wanted to show off my new comics I picked up for a dollar each today at the shop. First up is the X-Men issue that Rachel Grey, aka Marvel Girl/Phoenix joined the X-Men.

X-Men #188

That wasn't the only X-Men comic I picked up. I also got the X-Men annual from 1980.

X-Men Annual #4

Ok, I wasn't really looking for X-Men comics, I was looking for missing pieces to go into my large Avengers comic collection. I did find a few though and I was stoked to get three I did not have.

Avengers Vol. 1 #103

Avengers Vol. 1 #225

Marvel Triple Action #17

I absolutely love all three of these books. The cover design years ago was way cooler than all the gimmicky stuff that you see with newer books. Best of all, all three covers feature my favorite comic book character ever, Clint Barton of Hawkeye fame!

After doing some more digging in the dollar boxes, I found another of my favorite titles as a kid, What If? For those not familiar with the brand of book, it basically took Marvel stories and characters and told hypothetical stories of what could happen if something went in a different direction, kind of like an alternate reality thing. I sold most of my original run in high school to go on spring break during my senior year. Little did I know at the time that I would value the memories from these books over that week from hell that I barely remember.

Here are a few of those books that I am glad to have back in my collection.

What If Vol. 1 #22

What If Vol. 1 #29

What If Vol. 1 #31

After a little more digging, I hit the jackpot! I've never been into Daredevil like most people are but I do read him from time to time. However, I am a huge fan of Bullseye! I'm proud to say that I am the proud owner of the first and second appearance of Bullseye in comics now! I also picked up the issue where Bullseye and Elektra fight it out until one goes bye-bye.

Daredevil Vol. 1 #131

Daredevil Vol. 1 #132

Daredevil Vol. 1 #181

All in all, that was a great lot of comics for under 20 bucks until you throw in one more prized comic into my collection. An original sketch cover of Hawkeye!

Uncanny Avengers #1 Custom Hawkeye art

Al Bigley did the cover while he chatted with me and my son. He is a class act guy and I hope I get the opportunity to talk with him more in the future. All in all, I have to say that my day was a remarkable success!

I know...this blog was kinda long but I promise not to be so long winded on the next and actually include some sports cards. Until then, as Stan Lee would say 'Excelsior!'