I loved comics from an early age, but I bought them speratically, every now and again when I had a pocket full of change. I would read anything from a random Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comic from Archie, to a Darkwing Duck comic, but the first comic to really HOOK me was Captain America #400 (May 1992). It was an extra dollar and dollars were tough to come by when I was 9. But when I held it in my hand and felt the heavyness of the double sized issue, and took a peek inside, I knew what I was doing was right.
It was part 15 to "Operation: Galactic Storm," which to this day I have no idea what "Galactic Storm" was about. But this issue had a TON of fighting and Cap's rogue gallery shows up, so I got to meet Red Skull, Crossbones, King Cobra, Batroc, Flag Smasher and the Viper! The other stories in the book also introduced me to The Falcon and U.S. Agent as well as gave me a weird, gangland Crossbones story where revengenge is the main theme (not sure if I should have been reading that when I was 9).
But the coolest part of this issue is that it reprints Avengers #4! I witnessed it all when I was a kid, Namor rediculing a tribe of humans for worshiping a block of ice with a man frozen inside, not realizing that he is releasing Captain America from his slumber. Or Cap dealing with emerging from the past 20 years into the future. I enjoyed Jack Kirby's art far more than the new stuff coming out. But that wasn't the only thing going for this comic! On the inside cover were scans of dozens of Captain America covers through the years. From his first battle with Hitler, to Kirby covers and Steranko, to more modern ones with Cap inked by Jim Lee. I loved this comic, I read it over and over again. I destroyed it. It's funny how when you're a kid you'll read the same comic 50 thousand times before you get old of it, and this was my first.
