Missing Links: An Introduction

I can't remember what my first comic books were, but I remember how I got them – at a flea market or Waldenbooks or any other place I spotted a cover that grabbed my interest. I knew they were part of a larger story because of references in the text, the asterisks (after which I partially named this blog) signaling editor's notes referring readers to previous issues and the tantalizing “to be continued” or “next issue” notes at the end.

But it wasn't until around first grade when the shock of seeing not only a green but a gray Hulk in issue 332 prompted me to actually seek out that next issue and I started collecting a specific series. I didn't have a local comic shop at the time, and I didn't learn until college that Wednesday was new comic book day, so my buying wasn't very consistent.

I followed The Incredible Hulk, under the pen of Peter David, off and on for a while, finally moving on to other titles, probably with an X in the name, around the time the green Hulk started to make his presence known again.

From there, my collecting grew more deliberate. I followed Spider-Man 2099 (also by Peter David) regularly for six issues and was ready to see him take on the future version of the Vulture in #7 – but I couldn't find it.

Rather than grab 8 and let the writing fill in the blanks, which is how I'd gotten into comics in the first place, I held off, waiting to get that seventh issue before dropping money on any others. It wasn't until years later – long after the series ended – that I finally stumbled onto issue 7 somewhere. I picked up a few others after that but still haven't revisited them.

I think a similar inability to track down the second issue of Nightstalkers sunk my collecting of that series as well.

That phase ended and, while I like reading a full story, I don't let a missed issue stop a collection. In fact, while cataloging my comics a while back, I noticed I'd missed a few without remembering it, like Uncanny X-Men #321 or Alpha Flight (vol. 2) #10.

So as a nod to filling in those voids in my collection and a throwback to my early days reading whatever comic caught my eye, the heck with context, I'm starting a series called Missing Links. I'll look at the issue that evaded me on the stands or elsewhere with fresh eyes and get nostalgic about why I was looking for it in the first place.

With the end of October approaching and All Hallow's Eve nearly upon us, I figured I'd kick it off this week with that elusive Nightstalkers #2.

Plus, I can't put my hands on Spider-Man 2099 #7. Again.