Entertainment Weekly, a magazine that continues to endear me for how much comic book-related material they cover, has a terrific feature on their website right now, “Comic Books: The One That Hooked Me!”
In it, over a dozen of the top industry talents show what was THE book that brought them where they are today. I like that in many instances the writers and artists acknowledge that they may have picked up something here and there in their youth that was practically throwaway, but here they detail the one that really stuck.
For me?
That’s easy: The New Teen Titans #16

As a kid growing up in the 70s, I was all over ANYTHING to do with superheroes. I’d follow the adventures of the Hulk, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, you name it, on TV. Mom would buy me the occasional comic book of said characters, and artistically I could never have enough superhero coloring books.
But it wasn’t until the family moved cross-country at the end of 1980, and I started figuring out the monthly schedule of comic books at my new neighborhood’s 7-11. The book that locked me in like a tractor beam was this gem by Marv Wolfman & George Perez. The story blew me away as a kid (no happy ending??), but even more so was Perez’s rendering of Robin, someone I only knew as a guy voiced by Casey Kasem (Super Friends), and portayed in the flesh by Burt Ward (Batman). I don’t think think Dick Grayson ever looked so bad-ass in the yellow cape and red & green tights, but it turned out to be a sign of good things to come for the character. Nightwing, anyone? Plus the other characters who were brand new to me (Starfire, Cyborg, Changeling) were instantly easy to connect with.
So what locked YOU in?