The First Issue

I still have the issue somewhere. It’s Justice League of America (1st series) # 193 with a cover date of August, 1981. When my parents got it for me, I doubt I was able to read it. Still, the pictures gave me the general idea of the story and my mom filled me in on the rest. Now, the cover is barely attached. The pages are well worn. I don’t think I would be able to get a nickel for it. Still, it’s probably the most important comic I’ve ever owned because this is the comic book that made me really get into comics. Not my first comic, but the first one that made me really want to look at more.

The plot involved the JLA fighting a giant tornado that was called the Tornado Tyrant. It was kind of the evil side of the Red Tornado. Of course, I didn’t know who the Red Tornado was. I didn’t know who most of these characters were. Sure, there was Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman (I knew them from TV shows and cartoons), but who were Green Lantern and the Flash?

All of these colorful characters in the same issue? A huge superhero fight that had more action than all of the Super Friends cartoons combined? An incredibly detailed back story.? A twist ending, where two second-tier characters (Firestorm and Red Tornado) are responsible for beating the bad guys? All of this thanks to art by George Perez & John Beatty and a story by Gerry Conway.

Add to that, a bonus section that was the prelude to All-Star Squadron. Even more characters. Even more action. I didn’t know how these guys related to the Justice League, but who cares. It looked great. Thank-you Roy Thomas, Rick Buckler, and Jerry Ordway.

Of course it takes multiple titles to build an obsession, but it had to start somewhere. My starting point was Justice League of America #193. What was yours?