Ken Aldred

Another interesting alternative would be 100 k’s worth of mystery boxes.

I’d want a run of one of my favourite titles, EC’s Weird Science, as highly-graded as possible, minimum 9.4, White pages, preferably Gaines file copies. If there’s ’any change’ left over, a Weird Science-Fantasy 29.

Devil Dinosaur 1 to 9 Gem Mint 10.0 Ambush Bug 1 Gem Mint 10.0

Yup. Classic Copper Age. Consistently well-written, brilliant artwork.

Great choice. That’s from the classic period when the title was really, really good. Gaiman at his peak.

When I was a young, fledgling collector back in the late 70s, I made a rookie error of paying £5 ($13.50, I checked) for a cent copy of Howard The Duck 1, well past its peak. Pence ‘All-Colour Comics’ copies were very cheap, but, youth, desperation for US cent covers, and a lack of understanding about the comics market were no justifications for such manic, extravagant overspending. It’s most likely an embarrassing core memory that served to make me very cautious.

Yup. My limit was circa $500 up to 2014, and with a better exchange rate, and I was lucky in that a few of my keys are now in the $3k + range; books I’ve no intention of selling, books it’d now be impossible for me to acquire in the same grade and presentation. However, I’ll leave actually playing around with four-or-five figure sums to the far, far more affluent, frantic or carefree, and restrict myself to a much safer spectator sport game instead. For me, it’s the only sensible option.

It's incredible, Steve. No visual clues whatsoever.

23 to 34 X-Men by Roy Thomas and Neal Adams Issues 54 to 65 (12 issues) At this stage, there’s really only the first run by Lee and Kirby, and the final run mainly by Roy Thomas and Neal Adams that I still have any interest in re-reading. The first storyline involving the Living Pharaoh is my least favourite, having to wade through two poorly-drawn issues, 54 and 55, significant only for the introduction of Alex Summers, Havok. In issue 56, Neal Adams arrives with art that in places is absolutely brilliant, and the following Sentinels story is an improvement. The solid work by Thomas continues with the Sauron, and Savage Land / Ka-Zar / Magneto arcs, the former being reminiscent of Adams’ Man-Bat over at DC, unsurprisingly. The only real criticism I have is that these stories seem to be a bit rushed at the end, although cancellation of the title wasn’t far off, and maybe that was a factor? So, decent enough Silver Age stories, excellent art. Issue 64 is an interesting fill-in by Don Heck and Tom Palmer, having a go at emulating Adams’ style, and a good attempt, actually. The final issue has some rushed-looking Adams art in places, and a trippy, mediocre story, retconned later as the global-level telepathic event which got Xavier noticed by Lilandra and the Shi'ar, and, in the subsequent Hidden Years series, why the Phoenix Force fixated on Jean Grey.

The Avengers / Secret Wars saga was a memorable highlight from last year's reading for me. Recommended.

It still just sounds to me like a 'quicker' release of a collected edition, trade paperback format. Although, against that, there's also a significant delay in the process as the creators actually get around to finishing the complete story arc. We've seen some titles where the final issue takes many months to be published, gone off schedule. There's also the problem of coherence in extended modern narratives, where main plot details are filled out in side storylines, or those mini-series might meander off with little real relevance to the main story and affect its overall flow and progression. Selectivity about what to incorporate in the collected edition, and when to do so or to exclude.

First appearance of the most powerful character in the entire Marvel universe, The One-Above-All. He seems strangely familiar.

Yup. Here in the U.K. it has been described as ‘so mint it’s like looking at God’ condition.

Yup. Being as realistic as possible about obtaining an ultra high grade copy within a reasonable period of time, and then moving onto another book that you might also be interested in. Otherwise, the time frame for a 9.9 or 10.0 to appear is likely to be headache inducing, not to mention its nosebleed price point. A practical endeavour for a large group of individuals, not just an extremely select, affluent few? Even this last statement I find a bit debatable, as I’m happier with a cheaper, nicely-presenting 9.0 to 9.6; whatever my limited resources can stretch to.

This, to me, is one of the greatest panels of any Age of comics... An iconic level reintroduction.

Amazon UK wants £15-99 to watch it. Twice what it'd cost me at a cinema. A little more expensive than a physical copy Blu-ray. A bit ridiculous. From the reviews here, I'll pass.

These are the hottest blue stars in the known universe. The comic book market is currently even hotter than WR 102. It's that hot.