For myself:

1) Superman from Action Comics #1 - The first summer I was collecting, 1993, there was a reprint on the wall behind the counter at my store for $3. I worked hard to gather my money together (and it was all in change) to get it. It was only the Superman story, nothing else, but I thought then that it would be my only chance to read it. I loved it immediately, and wished that somehow, some day, I could read Action Comics #2 for the conclusion. I know now that I VERY much overpaid, but it doesn't really matter. The experience and joy I got from it was worth it. I can't tell you how many times I re-read it!

2) Batman from Detective Comics #27 - It wasn't much later (that winter perhaps) that I saw "A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics" in the library, and that's where I read this, and I enjoyed it. Not as much as Superman, but enough. The big hits of the book to me were Captain Marvel and Plastic Man. I LOVED those! I don't think I actually read the Spirit stories in the book, because for some reason, for years afterwards, I had it in my mind that The Spirit was an aviation strip. Weird.

3) Spider-Man from Amazing Fantasy #15 - This I probably saw in late '94 at the earliest, but probably more like '95, when a friend of mine brought over a copy of Origins of Marvel Comics. He left it here, and never reclaimed it. Spider-Man, in both stories, was my favorite part of the book.

4) Fantastic Four #1 - See above. I thought it was entertaining, but the lack of costumes turned me off a little at the time.

5) Batman (new look) from Detective Comics #327 - This would have been late '93-94. Kroger's had 3 packs of comics for $0.99, and I would go through looking for the ones with Silver Age Classics. I didn't quite understand what was so important about the story until years later, but I really liked it and the Elongated Man back-up.

6) Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76 - Again, one of the Silver Age Classics, and again, I didn't quite grasp the significance, but I really liked the art.

7) Superboy (and the LSH) from Adventure Comics #247 - Another Silver Age Classics find, and probably my first exposure to the Legion, but I didn't really care about them. I was most interested in Superboy.

8) Avengers #4 - This would have been in the Marvel Milestones reprint that I would have likely picked up in 1998 when I started collecting the Avengers because of Perez. I was immediately drawn to Captain America in the monthly, which would have been a big factor for me wanting this book. I was absolutely enthralled.

9) The Brave and the Bold #28 - Still another Silver Age Classics, and if not my first exposure to the Justice League, the one of my first. Most people say that Sekowsky was a turn off for them, I was just the opposite. He was a big draw, and one of the reasons that Justice Leagues would be my largest Silver Age purchases in the years following. (Although that's shifted to Superman related books now.)

10) Avengers #16 - See Avengers #4.

11) X-Men #1 - Also a Marvel Milestone, sometime in the late 90s. I thought it was good, but I don't remember being overly excited beyond the general curiosity that I have for almost all Silver and Gold books.

12) Thor from Journey Into Mystery #83 - Another from Origins of Marvel Comics. Spider-Man was my favorite, this was my second favorite. Or at least the most memorable.

13) Supergirl from Action Comics #252 - Another Silver Age Classics buy. Being Superman, I of course loved it. However, it was years before I ever had the desire to read the Congorilla story.

14) Captain America (origin story) from Captain America Comics #1 - This would have been in Captain America: The Classic Years vol.1, when the TPB came out. I was VERY excited about that book, and read through it often.

-Eric