The only comic I own two copies of..

..is Rogue (vol.1)#2. A somewhat random choice, but there's a reason why.

I recently bought the four-issue Rogue mini-series from late-1994/early-1995, after years of hearing mediocre-to-bad reviews of it. It was one of those days where my X-Men completist guilt kicked in, and I got a cheap copy of the mini on eBay. It's nothing special. It's essentially a sequel to the Gambit mini-series from a year before, which was also a middling affair. This one is a Gambit story (replete with Guilds, Assassins, Externals, and all that other boring stuff), with Rogue playing a larger role than Gambit. Anyone looking for greater insight into Rogue's character or past better turn away. Now, there are some half-decent moments between she and Gambit, and Mike Weiringo's art is nice (even if it's not really suited to a story like this), but that's about it. I recently re-read it and struggled to get through it (which is more than can be said for the Gambit mini, where I resorted to flipping through the last two issues out of boredom).

So how do I end up with a second copy of issue 2? Well, back in late late 1994, when it was released, I bought a copy from the variety store at the top of my grandparents' street. They didn't have much of a selection, and I was hungry for any comic I could get my hands on (especially an X-book), so I got it. I'm sure I enjoyed the story, but what got me was the X-Facts page at the end. It laid out the changes coming in the January 1995 releases - the Age of Apocalypse story was starting, all X-titles were being canceled and renamed for four issues, and an entire new universe was starting. There was also a tiny promo shot of X-Men: Alpha, the one-shot that started the AoA story. I poured over this article, taking in every detail of this new story and brimming with excitement over what was coming and what it all meant. Of course, Age of Apocalypse was a runaway success - a 1990s Marvel event that excited the fanbase while telling a solid story. Due to childhood budegtary constraints, I only bought about a dozen AoA issues when they were actually released, and took years to collect all of it, but it remains a cherished story for me.

So that's why I can't get rid of my original copy of Rogue#2. It's pure comic fanboy sentimentalism, but I love when I can associated specific memories with the day I bought a certain comic. And I'll never forget that afternoon that I discovered the Age of Apocalypse. So a second copy of Rogue#2 sits behind my copy of X-Men: Alpha, and has been since I bought that comic a couple weeks later. And they've both been sitting in the same ratty old plastic sleeve since January of 1995.