I remember having an Archie comic, a Great Grape Ape (!!!!) comic, and some others when I was very young.  Most of the ones I had after that were hand-me-downs from my brother.

The first comic I remember buying for myself was JLoA #181, where, ironically, my favorite character at the time, Green Arrow, quit.  (Lotta commas in that sentence...)  I know I bought comics at different grocers and drug stores.

I got my comics from Conn's Mini-Mart, three houses down and across the street from my grandmother's house (in which I now live). I don't remember which was my first comic, but I have a slew of Dell, Gold Key, Harvey, and Archie comics from back then (mid '70s), so it was probably one of those. I'm not exactly sure what my first superhero comic was, but the earliest I still have that I remember buying were:

and

I started with a few Harvey and Gold Key titles as a youngster, then the occasional DC book, all purchased at either Rich's supermarket or at the Grafton Pharmacy. None of the covers stuck in my mind, then I got a look at this......

....and I was hooked. Back then it wasn't M*****, it was Marvel, and they were different and fun.

And Dave Pruitt....no matter how many times you post that cover, I never tire of it. It's just so cool that over the years you have had the chance to get a mint copy of that signed by the participants and you stay with the original. Folks...that's a fan.

February, 1986. I was at the Carnival in Porto Azzurro, a town near to where I live (Portoferraio). I was a big fan of the "Masters of the Universe" tv show, so I was searching for the action figures. I entered into a toys shop with my mom and asked for He-Man, but the shops owner didn't know him. "The blonde one", I told, so she gave me the action figure of Sy-Klone. "This isn't He-Man!", and that eoman "Well, yeah, but he is blonde, too". So, I bought it even if it wasn't the toy I was searching for. Opened the box, I saw a strange little book featuring the characters from the series in an all new adventure. It was entitled "Clash of arms", and it was my first comic book... I didn't knew it yet, but that was the first step of my "career"as a reader!

I was just 3 and I wasn't at the kindergarden yet. Luckily, I was already able to read. The book contained the same story in four different languages, Italian included.

I had stopped reading comics by age 14. ( Mostly 70's Marvels and Batman ) When I was 19, I walked past a spinner rack at The Newstand in Cuyahoga Falls ( no longer in business unfortunately ) and this caught my eye:

I've been enjoying comics ever since ( 22 years and counting!).

Really young I read Richie Rich, Hot Stuff, Sad Sacks, etc...

Also various Horror comics.

One summer my friend down that street had leg surgury and his cousin gave him hundreds (maybe a thousand) comics while he was at home recovering which was to be all summer. This was in the late 70s, almost all marvel Comics. Sweet.

A year or latter I purchased my first comic. Fantastic Four 212, Galactus vs. the Sphinx. More sweetness.

Ian Carroll wrote: A couple of years later at a convenience store in Shoreview, Minnesota...

Ian Carroll wrote: After my family moved to rural Staples, Minnesota in 1981...

Quite a few references to MN there, Ian!  Do you still live in the Land of 10,000 Lakes?  I grew up in Minneapolis (Fridley, to be precise) and moved away in 1990.  Always good to see someone else from the frozen tundra...and I ain't talkin' about Wisconsin!