COMIC BOOK COVER GALLERY: Comics received as gifts in the '60s and '70s

In the spirit of this season of giving (and, y'know, receiving), this week's cover gallery showcases a number of comic books I received as gifts in the '60s and '70s. Of these, only the Marvel Super-Heroes and Vampirella issues were specifically Christmas gifts; the rest were books given to me by various folks over those years, including an absolute treasure trove of 1960s books that my sister's boyfriend bequeathed to me when he was heading off to college in 1970. There was also a smaller stash of then-recent '70s books passed on to me by...I don't remember. I think it was the neighbor of a friend of my sister or brothers, or maybe a neighbor of my babysitter. I can't explain why adolescent me didn't keep better track of this stuff.

We also have a handful of funnybooks given to me during hospital stays, an Adventure Comics that a friend on my school bus let me borrow but then told me to just keep, a hand-me-down Dracula book from another friend, my first issue of The Avengers (given to me by my sister Denise and cousin Cheryl one summer '66 afternoon when we were visiting our grandparents in Missouri), and a Justice League Of America that my Aunt Rose and Uncle Art bought for me at Carl's (no relation) Drug Store in Liverpool when they were taking care of me one evening in 1967.

Although not gifts per se, I'm also including a number of comics my parents and/or older siblings brought into the house independently of my direction. And that category gave me 80-Page Giant # 14, a 1965 Lois Lane special that is the earliest comic book I remember having read to me. From small things, mama, big things one day come.

(I'm deliberately excluding comics I asked my parents to buy for me. We see plenty of those in just about every edition of Comic Book Cover Gallery.)

We'll be sticking exclusively to the '60s-'70s era of acquisition. As always: These aren't actual photos of comics in my collection. But I did have each and every one of 'em at some point in time.

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I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. You can read about our history here.