THE STALKER FILE - FINALLY CLOSED AFTER 44 YEARS (UPDATED)...

Copyright DC COMICS

So there I was, sitting on my grandparents' itchy red bed-settee (of which long-time readers will perhaps already be aware) one Sunday late afternoon back in the mid-'70s, perusing #1 of DC COMICS new monthly title, STALKER.  I remember buying it in R.S. McCOLL's, either that day or the day before, and I'd taken it with me to pass the time away.  I probably had other comics along with me as well, but though I likely associate them with that red settee on an individual basis, I don't connect them either to one another or even that particular Sunday.

As far as I know, there were only four issues, and I remember only having the first one, but all that's about to change - more on that in a moment.  At some stage (could've been months, could've been two or three years) I gave the ish to a pal, only to have it returned to me over 30 years later, in pretty much the same condition that I'd given it to him.  (At some stage before giving it away, I'd added 'invisible' tape to the spine to reinforce it.)  Stalker was created by PAUL LEVITZ and STEVE DITKO, the first also being the writer, the second also being the penciller, and WALLY WOOD made three, being the inker on the mag.

I recently saw numbers 1-4 on eBay and purchased them, so when they arrive, I'll add the covers for your personal perusal, but to kick-start the post, I've included a cover scan of the original comic I bought way back in 1975.  A lot of water's run under the bridge since then, but I can still recall reading it on that itchy red bed-settee all those years ago as if it were only a week or two back.  Like I say, there were only four issues, so when I get my grubby mitts on them, I'll read them in one sitting and thereby complete a task begun a whopping 44 years ago.

It's always satisfying to eventually finish something that's been waiting to be completed for any length of time, and this occasion will be no exception.  What about the rest of you?  Are there any comics series that you started as a teenager but never got to finish, though you'd like to now as an adult?  Tell all in the comments section.

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Okay, the issues have now arrived and been added, along with splash pages, to this post.  I've also read all four of them (though despite my aspiration, not in one sitting as I kept falling asleep), and if you're interested in my verdict, I'll be more than happy to tell you.  The first ish sets up an interesting premise, but #s 2-4 fail to deliver, being quite tedious and repetitive, with the story being told mainly through captions rather than dialogue.  One gets the impression that writer Paul Levitz hasn't mapped it all out in advance and is simply making up each individual episode as he goes along.  Surprisingly, I found myself underwhelmed by the Ditko/Wood art, which is merely okay and not the 'knock you out of your socks' masterpiece that you'd expect from two titans of the comicbook medium.

Would it have improved if it had reached issue 5 and beyond?  On the strength of the first four, I don't think I'd have continued buying it back in the day so I'd never have found out!  If you bought, read, and enjoyed the title when it was first published and disagree with my assessment, feel free to tell me in the comments section.

Let's finish how we started.  Here's the cover to the duplicate copy of #1 which I've just received, and look - no 'invisible' tape down the spine.