The first time I laid eyes on the Chris Claremont/John Byrne classic UNCANNY X-MEN #111 was at the house of my friends Larry and James., and this was a beautiful new mint copy, as well!!Featuring the hypnosis mutant MESMERO, this issue was key in starting a globe-trotting epic story that would conclude years later in X-Men 121!
Oh, how I gushed about their new aquisition, wishing I had a copy of it, but at the same time lucky I was able to read their copy so I’d at least know the story- but my jealousy only grew when my friend Herbert got a copy of X-Men 111 shortly thereafter from a classmate at school, too!
To be fair, Herb’s copy was really beat-up, but hey, he got it for free from his friend, and I would have done anything to have it as well!! Luckily for me, fate would soon step in when Me, Herbert and our friend Jas went to the local swap meet that weekend at the Waialae Drive-In. I didn't expect to see anything I liked, so I didn't bring any money with me...
So when we got there, there was a guy selling a copy of X-Men 111 for three dollars, and it was in great condition, too! Desperately, I asked Herb if I could borrow the three dollars and pay him back when we got home. He looked at that perfect condition copy and then thought of his beat up copy at home, and said, I'll make a deal with you- I'LL buy this one, and then I'll sell you MY copy for 3 dollars.
WELL, that was better than nothing, and at least I would have a copy of my own, even though it was a beat-up copy!
Next day at school I gushed to my classmates about how I scored my very own copy of X-Men 111, and when Larry and James heard about it, James came up to me and said, “Hey, can I come over to your house and see your copy?” I was like “SURE!!!”, proud to show it off!
He came over after school and I brought it out for him, but after only glancing at it for a minute, told me I could put it away.
We later met up with Larry and he nodded to James as if to say, “Well?” to which James shook his head, “Nope.” Ehhh? what was THAT all about?
Turns out that Larry and James had misplaced their copy of X-Men 111 and, upon hearing that I somehow got my hands on a copy, came to the conclusion that I must have STOLEN theirs!
Larry had ordered James: “Go to Z’s house and see if he has our X-Men 111”. Of course, when James saw that sad , beat-up copy of mine, he knew instantly that it wasn’t their near mint one! This was one time having a poor copy saved me!
Funny thing is, in the years that have gone by, both Lar and Herb have long since sold off all their X-Men comics and have lost interest in comic collecting in general, and I'm the ONLY ONE who still has his copy and cherishes it like the day I first got it! Man, I should have been the one to get the nice condition one!
