I was 14 when I found Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and realized that comics weren't just for kids or about super heroes. So what was your first adult comic?
Good store owner haha
The mask, maaaan was that not like the movie
They really toned down Mahnke's art/ideas in the movie, haha!
Cherry Poptart.
I think I read this. Isn't this straight up nsfw inspired by Archie art?
Yes. it's an Archie porn parody.
I have a 3D issue of cherry!
Spawn. That’s the first series I collected.
I was like 8 when I would sneak around and grab the new issues buy by my brother, I remember keeping hiding the Angela special in my room for months
it’s a manga but berserk. my uncles gave me the first 6 issues when i was in like 3rd or 4th grade. hah
Did he know what they're like?
yeah. they were the ones who got me into manga. my favorite at the time was trigun and when i was at their place for a visit, i was looking through their collection and i started flipping through berserk issue 1 and really enjoyed it. so they got them for my birthday the next time i visited. for some context, the younger of the 2 uncles was like 18 or 19 at the time. and the older one was like 22 or 23. so they weren’t exactly responsible adults yet hahaha
Didn’t the first issue had him having sex with a monster 🤔
first page, actually hahahah
I don't think you've heard about it. It was called Johnny the Homicidal- oh. You too, huh? Poor thing.
And Squee. Shouldn't have read it at that age for sure.
I Feel Sick
I wish I Feel Sick was collected in a trade. I know it's only two issues but still.
Lenore was good as well.
this was peak jhonen vasquez, if I remember correctly, guy who then made invader zim
Yep, I'd love to get his autograph one day.
I know it's not your original question, but I went home with my college roommate for Easter one year because my folks were out of town back home. We went to the comic shop in his hometown where he knew theguy who ran it pretty well and, more importantly, the guy knew him.
As we walk in he greets us and says, "Hey, I got something I think you'll like." and handed him a copy of JtHM #1. First print. Of course we had no idea what it would turn into at the time, so we both bought copies and giggled our asses off about it.
I think I was able to find #2 & #3 before I couldn't get them anymore.
Knee was great, Fillerbunny was mostly filler, but it also had vazquez's best jokes, Invader zim I need to watch more of.
"I have powers that red pinto beans can only dream of!"
"Yum, air!"
"Make him Die daddy!"
what coked-up Nickoldeon Exec read Johnny The Homicidal Maniac and was like "let's give this guy $$ to write a children's show!"!?!??
I think cover #3 said “only 3 killed in this issue”. My kind of comic!
Love the profile pic. That's among my favorite Superman covers.
Without this series, I wouldn't have four longboxes of floppies. I don't know if that's a good thing.
I remember reading this as a kid, but only pirated through black and white Xerox’d excerpts in a high schooler’s small print fan zine. It’s weird to think of how much pre-internet life the early 00s still had.
I AM TESTICLESE, GOD OF RASHY SCROTUMS! FEAR MY NAVEL!
Dirty Pair. Japan at its finest.
The Maxx
I came to say this. It blew my 12-year-old brain out of the back of my skull.
I thought it was going to be something like Youngblood or Wildcats. 11yo me was not ready for that.
The Crow
Dude same here, I think I've read that graphic novel at least a hundred times and it still breaks my heart. I was devastated by that story when I first read it at 12... absolutely a classic
I was 12 and found all twelve issues of Watchmen in the back issue bin at my local.
It was… I was not expecting what was there.
I read that at 18 and still felt under prepared. That’s what good escapism does.
Under prepared for what?
For the work, as a whole. Its themes, its darkness, and how it would resonate with me to this day.
I was like:
“Oh my god that lady is being raped!”
“Why are all the panels the same size?”
Please remember. It’s 1993. I was VERY MUCH into Image Comics at this time (still am).
“…what’s with this Pirate comic?”
“OH! OH MY!!! They killed everyone!”
Really??
I still have my special edition hard cover JTHM, my trade paper copy of Squee, and the individual issues of I Feel Sick. I was a big fan. I'm not sure if it was my first adult comic book, but it's the first one I really remember being super into.
That probably says very bad things about me.
You and me both then.
My wife and I still quote "SOMEBODY PUT SHIT IN MY PANTS" on the regular.
I said that to my wife on Saturday lol.
Omaha the Cat Dancer.
Underrated comic. Porn with a compelling plot.
It's been such a long time since I read it, but I think it ended on a cliffhanger. I had hoped the creators would come back to finish it, but it was like they disappeared off the planet.
The artist (Kate Worley) died
And a minor mystery solved, unfortunately. Thanks!
Came here to post this.
Cherry Poptart.
Power Pack #27 when I was 6.
Holy shit that WAS a dark issue for a children's comic book. Mutant Massacre?? They show morlocks getting GUNNED DOWN, and dead bodies. Crazy.
I thought you were joking, but sure enough that's actually what happened. Crazy.
Would Blankets count? If so that.
Heavy Metal Magazine.
Picked up a bunch at a garage sale.
Heavy Metal was great. My dad gave me a handful of them when I was little.
Ed the Happy Clown by Chester Brown. Before I knew it was from his own comic, I had been given the first paperback collection and was amazed. As a kid reading a strict diet of Marvel and DC …this indie/underground stuff was mind blowing.
Haha! Same here. Had no idea what I was in for loaning it out from my public library. Shared it with my younger sister and brother and we were all astonished and disturbed! I had forgotten about it until about 5 years ago.
It was probably Eerie, Creepy or Heavy Metal. I was given a whole bunch of all three books when I was a kid.
Given by who?
My cousins had all these boxes of old comics that they gave to me when I was a kid.
Vampirella 🥰
Oh, and Evil Ernie
Well... I guess Guyver if we are counting manga... But if it's just Western comics, then way later with The Pro.
My first adult comic was Batman vs Predator, very bloody, great read It takes a crossover idea that you never thought would happen and makes it actually work.
This was R rated? I thought it was pg-13?
Razor. Sex, violence, revenge, guns, drugs, the works.
Did you ever read Faust?
It was Faust for me…
Milk and Cheese
Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers
I used to read the Wonder Warthog strip when it ran in the back pages of Drag Cartoons. That run ended in 1968. I read those strips, along with tons of other comics, waiting with my brothers to get our hair cut in one of our hometown barber shops. Y'see, kids, before the Beatles and all that rock n' roll got big in the 60s, kids would have to get their hair cut at least once a month, or Sr Mary Agony down at the Catholic school would give us crap. Teachers and coaches at the public schools would do the same. I estimate I might have been reading Shelton/Sturgeon when I was 11. My Dad had no idea how subversive that mag was. He was probably glad I was reading about cars and motorcycles, and not that superhero foolishness. Dad was already in college when Action #1 came out. Then he has to go beat Tojo for 4 years. Mom had swallowed all that Dr Wertham/Legion of Decency anti-comics propaganda. They weren't actually allowed in the house, not even tame, Code-approved books. When I ran into undergrounds in the early 70s, there was my old pal, the Hog of Steel!
Loves me some Wonder Warthog and let's not forget Fat Freddy's cat. Great stuff by Gilbert Shelton. Also by him, highly recommended The New Adventures of Jesus. Hilarious !
Gilbert did the Jesus strips as Foolbert Sturgeon. They were a riot! FF Skat vs the Cockroach army!
I have an ancient bound copy of Wonder Warthog. I wish they would reprint it!
I was at a garage sale and I found of bunch of Danzig comics I bought them all cuz I was a major misfits fan and comic books
They were......ok
I worked at a comic shop at that time. One story was so gnarly, I still remember it, and not fondly. ha!
I read preacher at 14 or 15
The Crow.
Still a favorite, and I was old enough for the themes, but it was a damn slight different from what I expected of a "comic"
Transmetropolitan
Fables
Horny Biker Sluts. Probably early 90s
I guess “adult” might mean different things to different people, the first thing I can remember getting that wasn’t a super hero comic was We3 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly (who I knew from the X-Men) and being a little surprised by how violent it was. The scene with the cat moving between the panels still sticks with me.
Gregory.
walking dead
Tokyopop's Priest, Shawn, and mexican nudies that were always set during the western, makes sense, though.
Ultimatium, it bummed me out because I loved Ultimate Spider-Man and the Ultimate universe. It just felt edgy for edgy's sake.
Meanwhile I was reading Wanted, Marvel Zombies, Kick-Ass and Old Man Logan. I felt they had something of value artistically speaking. Some good deconstruction
Probably Spawn and the other Image titles like WildCATS and Maxx. I was around grade 5 or 6 and my cousins from the big city brought home some comics (I come from a small city with no local comicbookshop back in the 90s). It was my first time to read stuff which had violence and ladies with skimpy outfits. In college, studying in the big city, I was finally exposed to Vertigo titles like The Sandman and Hellblazer. I miss feeling that "whoa" factor while reading them.
Same here with Spawn, and then Savage Dragon.
Alien? Sandman? JTHM. Old issues of Creepy
Actually, as a kid, something about comics already felt VERY adult. I grew up in the 90s, watching Batman TAS and the X-Men cartoon, and reruns of the Fleischer Superman (this is pre-Superman TAS and the rest of the DCAU). And I remember going into a comic shop once and picking up some issue with Superboy and some woman that was naked and just being SHOCKED (I assume it was Starfire, but who knows). I must have been six or seven. I also ended up with a copy of Knightfall, because I had the Jean Paul Valley Batman action figure and thought it was really cool, and wanted to read the comic. And it opened with a man getting his ribs caved in. It was so shocking I still remember exactly where I was when I read the comic.
When you’re used to the cartoon versions of all of this, when I was growing up on TMNT and Power Rangers and the Spider-Man cartoon, seeing nudity (albeit obfuscated) and blood felt really visceral and risqué and dangerous. Like I shouldn’t be reading them.
Then HBO and… MTV? Had cartoons like Spawn and Aeon Flux that felt even more scandalous.
I go back now and see how tame all that stuff is, but when I was that young the contrast really kind of blew my mind. I assumed comic books were for adults ever since. By the time I was ten anime and manga was a thing, so the idea of “adult” animation and comics seemed less novel.
JTHM
Does 'Heavy Metal' magazine count?
Metal Hurlant? Oui. My ghod, Corben's Den!
Absolutely!
Vampirella. Hot hot hot
I got my first copy of Tales From the Crypt in an airport magazine shop when I was 4.
It was a reprint, obviously. But despite the fact that I couldn't really read it, or, at the very least I couldn't understand it, I must've gone through the book 3 times on my way home from Disney. Just inspecting every single panel.
I was hooked. Chasing horror comics ever since.
I probably could have read comics when I was 4, although I probably wouldn't have willingly read anything horror until i was 8.
Ah the joys of sneaking HBO in the 90's.
The Crow I had no clue they made a movie
I had all of the JHTMs
Either The Dark Knight Returns or Watchmen.
Probably Preacher.
my parents accidentally got me a Batman V Judge Dredd hardcover as a kid. saw some weird shit my little mind could not comprehend
Killing joke
Either Heavy Metal Magazine or Dark Knight Returns.
Why it look like the house form cruage the cowardly dog
BEST OF DC BLUE RIBBON DIGEST #61, circa 1985; the digest reprinted Alan Moore's "The Anatomy Lesson" (with artists Bisette and Totleben) from SWAMP THING and "Who is Donna Troy" by Marv Wolfman and George Perez from NEW TEEN TITANS - I was about 13 years old, and those stories blew my mind. They were unlike any comic I've ever read before.
I randomly got issue two of Wild Cards when I was a young kid.
Spawn, and it scared me so much as a kid that I ended up swearing off comics for a number of years. The violence and adult content (particularly the ice cream man) was too much for me.
Ed the Happy Clown
Read this one as a kid because I loved Invader Zim and yeah, probably should've googled it first
Hate by Peter Bagge.
Cerebus the Aardvark.
Moonshadow. Way back in 1987.
Hm. Do webcomics count? If so, probably one of those. I don't really remember which one it would be. Maybe Menage a 3 by Lagace and Lumsdon?
Does Watchmen count? If so, that. If not, Rick Veitch Maximortal series
Jessica Jones: Alias
Does “A death in the family” count? If so, that at age 10 in 04. If not, and I didn’t get into comics until I had my own income at 20 in 14 I’d say it was Tokyo Ghost by Sean Gordon Murphy.
Morrison's Doom Patrol, kinda? Stumbled across some panels online in fourth or fifth grade which led down a wiki rabbit hole that had quite the impact on me at the time.
The first I actually read was Watchmen, in middle school. The film was out, I'd never heard of the comic before, and some research led me to discover it was the Greatest Graphic Novel of All Time (according to lotsa folks). It was actually the first comic I ever read, adult or otherwise. No idea why my mom let me buy it, she knew the movie was R and I certainly wasn't allowed to see it. She's not really one of those "oh it's a comic, comics are for kids" types either. Either way, great experience! Then I started reading floppies the next year with the New 52. Less great of an experience!
Omaha the Cat Dancer
I was…12? 🤣
heavy metal magazine
Hell yeah, my little bro brought these to our collection when he was in middle school. We both loved comics. I was like, “Whoa, are one fucked up little dude. I love that about you bro.” We’re still best friends and have the same hobbies, interests and obsessions
I was 16 when I started reading Saga!
Cerebus: I have an autographed "Church and State" phone book with an autograph and a sketch from when I was a kid. Shame the direction he went- I used to love Cerebus.
Faust
Eo or Ego by Tim Virgil. (Something like that). Incredibly detailed art with graphic sex scenes. Perfect for a teenager in the 90s. Lol.
Invincible
In terms of 'disturbing content not fit for children', it's either Sandman or Watchmen.
I would say Preacher. It was my first non-superhero DC or Marvel book. Let to me reading the rest of Vertigo and a whole new type of comics…creatively amazing ones.
Wow.. yeah this one was amazing.. and odd.. I kinda wish he had gone to adult swim.instead of nick.
2000AD
Judge Dredd, Slaine, ABC Wariors, the blue GI guy can't remember the name., W40k
blue GI guy can't remember the name
Rogue Trooper (co-created in 1981 by Dave Gibbons of Watchmen fame)
ps. I've got some good news for you https://2000ad.com/news/duncan-jones-wraps-principal-photography-on-rogue-trooper-movie/
PS. While WH40k wasn't made by 2000AD it was heavily influenced by 2000AD, specifically the series Nemesis the Warlock (1980 - 1999) and Judge Dredd (1977 - present).
Thats the one, sweet a movie!
The movie has an awesome cast, a ton of actors that I like.
I've read Sin City and other stuff but I honestly feel like Crossed is the first really adult comic I've read. Everything else would fly for late teens or whatever but Crossed I feel is definitely 18+
Stuff like Heavy Metal and 2000AD (before that I pretty much just read Mad Magazine, I never really had any interest in superhero stuff by DC/Marvel, I did like Batman TAS though).
MAD switched from standard comic book format to B&W magazine to avoid the Code, so that sorta was an adult comic.
Another B&W I read in the 70s was Pussycat. A collection of sexy strips by Stan Lee & Bill (Torchy) Ward.
Early 90s. Cry For Dawn and the Crow. I was reading stuff well above my age level.
Did you get squee as well?
Absolutely!
Watchmen
Gregory by Marc Hempel. Actually altered my mind.
The Crow. My mother told me I could read it as soon as I could reach it on the shelf (so 6-8 range?). Watchmen not long after that. Don't think i found JTHM and Squee until highschool. I have always loved the dark shit 😛
This one! I just snagged the directors cut edition last week at my LCS. I was very excited to find it.
Black Kiss
Big Ass Comics by Art Crumb
I have a Happy Noodle Boy tattoo. It was my first tattoo back in 2001. I've also got a Freakangels tattoo.
Marshall Law. I was WAY too young for it
Still recovering from the trauma from this one
Ex Machina
Razor: Burn #1 (London Night Studios)
That one, actually. I got the TPB after watching Invader Zim and loved it. I should re-read it again, although I don't know if it has the same appeal it did when I was nine.
Tmnt
Cheech Wizard
Preacher
Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose.
It's not good. I just wanted to see naked women.
Jim Balent needs to grow some balls and draw the men naked. It's so stupid to have a scene where Tarot, Raven, and any other women are standing there full frontal and the one guy in the scene is hiding or covering themselves.
Either watchmen or v for vendetta some time in like sixth grade lol
Crossed on 4chan when I was 13. That was a ride. Then the punisher max series on the same site, that was a ride in a pleasant way.
Oof Crossed is...well we both know what it was.
Psychopath was a trip and a half…
The Maxx
Cry for Dawn, when I was like 12 lol
Black Kiss
Batman the killing joke. it was the first time, i saw "adult-things" in a comic book.
For me it Washington spawn
The venom arc from Ultimate Spider-Man as well as playing the game.
Arkham Asylum (1989)
Sandman.
Wanted to get the trade paperback for my 16yr old niece, but reread it and he uses the word “fag” a couple times and she told me she wouldn’t read it because of the use of that word.
So I figured “Squee” would be alright, nope..he uses it in there too.🤦♂️
At least she likes Invader Zim🤷♂️
I’m reading through all of Invincible for the first time and there’s definitely been some language like that that wasn’t really okay at the time but we just accepted it and hasn’t aged well.
Punisher MAX by Garth Ennis. Greatest Punisher characterization ever.
The first one I read would probably be Spawn or Transmetropolitan, just from going through my uncle's collection before I had my own money. The first ones I was buying myself were Friday the 13th and Army of Darkness.
Maybe the webcomic Flipside?
Probably not actually super duper adult but its frank handling of subjects like sexuality was certainly more than I had experienced as an uptight mormon teenager.
There was also Suicide For Hire but I'm pretty sure that was more a teenager's attempt to shock and offend than anything else.
Does What’s New With Phil & Dixie count? I used to read those strips in the back of Dragon magazines when I was a kid.
I'll allow it. I love Phil Foglio.
Faust. I thought “hey, let’s try some indie comics! This guy looks kind of like a weird cross between Batman and Wolverine, and the cover art shows some skill, it’s worth a shot!”
Oh, oh no. That was a poor choice.
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Thanks dad.
Off of the top of my head: Spawn, followed by Savage Dragon.
Although I probably read NSFW comics far before I read them.
Mine's a manga but junji ito's tomie series, man it was... something. I still have nightmares about it
Probably an issue of The Sandman. I got into it late, at the start of The Kindly Ones. Was still so new into comics I figured I’d catch up like I did with x-men. Nope, not with Sandman, and not with that storyline. None of that shit made sense but I stuck it out.
Fell into Hellblazer around that time too. That one was easier. After that, I ate up all things Vertigo.
Faust. I was too young. My stepfather was into some heinous shit. I would be appalled if my kid found that shit at the age I did. I, however, turned out surprisingly well-adjusted…
The boys
Preacher #27.
Waltz with Bashir. Fuck, those pics at the end definitely messed me up
ElfQuest. Decapitations, disembowlings, and lots of elf orgies. Started reading it when I was in the 3rd grade. Still one of my top 3 favorite comic series of all time. IYKYK.
Watchmen and Maus
Animal Man. Morrison put some odd ideas into my head.
JTHM for sure. My friend lent me the first issue. I read it to pieces and had to replace it for her. Ended up buying myself the individual comics and later the JTHM book and SQUEE.
Warhammer 40,000 Titan: God Machine by Dan Abnett
Omaha, the cat dancer or maybe Faust.
watchmen
Dead High Yearbook, does that count??
Depends on if you count manga as comics. If so, Elfen Lied. If not, The Darkness.
The Yattering and Jack
League of Extraordinary Gentleman. I saw the movie and read the critical reception and I knew a lot of people were saying the comic was better. It was better. Also a lot hornier.
Savage Sword of Conan. It must have been the early 90's though and they were getting hard to find where I lived. I bought every single one I could find with my pocket money and read them until they fell apart. I wish I had found more.
The first 3 issues of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. I was 14. The shop owner said to me "OK, I'm going to sell these to you but I don't want to have your mom in here in a few days asking about these."