Page from Superboy No. 117 with the Legion of Super-Heroes

I became a comic book/comic art collector the very day I bought a copy of Adventure Comics No. 318 in early 1964 (or perhaps it was December 1963, since the comic had a March cover date and comics ususally came out 2-3 months before that date). Whatever the exact date, I can still vividly remember buying that comic, along with an issue of Superboy and one of Superman, at the Alpha Beta Market, just south of the Orange Circle, in Orange, California -- the rack was against the front store windows, to the left as you entered the market. My sister was with me, and we both had taken a break from picking out wallpaper with our mother, who was still laboring over that decision at a store across the street from the market. Fortunately, when we got home, my mother was able to find the comics that she had bought for me in earlier years, beginning in late 1959. Included were my copy of Adventure Comics No. 300 and my well-worn copy of Superboy No. 89. MY MOTHER ACTUALLY KEPT ALL MY COMICS, neatly stacked on a shelf for me. Although I had always liked comics and would ask for them when we were at our regular market (a few miles away from the Alpha Beta in Orange), I was just too young to become obsessed with comics in response to those earlier purchases. But my collecting nature had matured just enough by the time Adventure Comics No. 318 appeared, and I quickly became a Legion fanatic, followed shortly thereafter by becoming a comic nut in general -- with other manias to follow. It took a few months for me to learn when (every Tues and Thurs) and where (I won't bore you with that long list) comics could be found in my area, and I actually missed a couple of issues of Adventure in early 1964. But I soon got into the swing of comic collecting and trained my family how to accomodate my need to have every comic book the very day it came out -- Even early on, my mother would pick me up from school during lunch every Tues. and Thurs. and would take me to buy comics. By the time Adventure Comics 322 came out, I had the routine in place, and I never missed another copy of Adventure Comics so long as the Legion continued to appear in that series (1969). I didn't miss many other D.C. comics either, from 1964 until the end of the century. I also remember buying Superboy No. 117 a few months later. This early appearance of the Legion of Super-Heroes in a Superboy story reinforced my conviction that the Legion stories were the greatest literature of all time.