Ken Aldred

One of my top 10 comic artists of all time, definitely an underground artist, where he started out in the late 60s to 70s. Took a long time to be really accepted by the mainstream. 70s, 80s - Warren magazines, independent and self-published comics, but really only broke through in the late 90s to early 2000s at DC and Marvel. Idolised by many top comic artists such as Eisner and Mignola, now recognised as one of the greatest horror artists of all time, up there with Ingels and Wrightson.

Squeeze Play from ShockSuspenstories 13. Frazetta did a lot of inking over Al Williamson’s pencils on EC’s science-fiction titles. Classic cover to Weird Science-Fantasy 29.

A welcome appearance of my favourite pre-Christmas thread. I haven’t bought original comics for several years now, but that doesn’t stop me from sharing in the amazing enthusiasm that’s always shown here about the books and art which have brought the greatest enjoyment and positivity to other boardies, and during a year constantly, darkly overcast by isolation and uncertainty. It’s an especially important celebration at this time. Looking forward to seeing some fantastic material.

You're young. Modern, so to speak. A lot of Silver and Bronze Age kids here.

For now, but wait until there’s film news.

Unless it’s an obvious British key such as 2000 AD 2 or Beano 1, unlikely worth anything.

Yes, they are. I’d been going through the motions for quite a while, and it was only when I switched to reading digitally, the opposite direction to you, that I discovered a lot of very positive qualities in older comics, in classic artists and stories, that I’d missed previously, as well as the realisation that there is still great material being created today. It doesn’t really matter which extreme of the spectrum or combination, physical or digital, that a comics reader or collector finds works best for them, as long as they can extract the most positivity from these wonderfully imaginative stories. And, of course, this year especially, we’ve needed a lot of that.

It’s not a very consistent way to hit a target, but spinning it can work. I’ve tried it, and I’m rubbish at darts, no Bullseye.

The Kingpin isn't really that interesting a character, made more so originally by his involvement with Frank Miller's version of Daredevil than his formulaic ASM appearances. Those stories worked because of Miller's Mickey Spillane style of crime noir dialogue, but I wouldn't want a full season with that droning on incessantly. Basically, it'd be a gang drama with a limited number of super-hero antagonists, with the tedium of Batwoman. His involvement in the Daredevil TV series as a supporting character was quite enough.

Exactly what I was about to cross-reference.

Alternatively, though, 'The extremely chunky appearance of this unique Cheeto is clearly a natural reference to Wayne Boring's classic, big-boned, Silver Age version of Superman.'

Oh yeah, without a doubt, Kav. But, it's obvious to us because we actually read comics.

Woodgod must be 100 % natural, so can't be transistorised or artificial.

Throw anything against the wall and see if it sticks. The principle in play here. I've seen worse attempts on eBay, such as the Superman-shaped Cheeto.

One of my favourite Bronze Age FF comics. A two-parter. Psychotic Marvel Boy.

I'd missed the MWOMs, and this was the first Marvel UK comic I bought myself. Vividly recall the JIM 83 reprint.

First from a newsstand - I recall the cover of Defenders 5 vividly. First time I'd been given 50p by my gran to go away and buy some comics while she and my mother went for a coffee and some pie in the bus station cafe. Basically, a bribe to stop me pestering them for a while and have some peace and quiet. I was a disruptive, headache-inducing kid. First from a shop selling back issues - A bookshop in my small town started getting in ND Marvel comics, ones that hadn't been distributed to the UK. As a lifelong X-Men fan, I was immediately drawn to an issue 95, and the choice was either that or a Giant-Size issue for 50p. (GS X-Men 1 never turned up there.) When I read it at home the book had the shocking death of Thunderbird in it, which makes that purchase very memorable. First from a comic mart - I was and I still am a Conan fan, and I'd put together a run of 1 to 24 by mail order. I'd gone to my first comic mart with the focused intention of buying even more, and the first one I eagerly picked out of the box was a pence copy of issue 25, then continuing through to around issue 40, until I'd blown all of my meagre kid's allowance on as many of the The Cimmerian's early adventures as I could afford. So, couldn't have been anything else.

Great place to start. Absolutely loved the 100 pagers as a kid. I'd started reading comics regularly only a short time before these appeared, but the excitement I felt going to the newsstand for them each month was incredible. Couldn't wait to see which titles went giant-size, and their selections of older reprints. For me, the Detectives had the best overall quality for both new material and reprints.

It did get hot again after the Guardians of the Galaxy end credits scene and the film speculators then moving in, as did Fear 19. No idea if it has maintained its value.

Shipping’s free though, and expedited. So that’s nice.

Very interesting. I’ve always liked Giffen’s work, but I’d never heard that about his Copper Age LOSH run. I’d only noticed obvious stylistic similarities such as his Kevin Maguire- influenced period in the late 80s, but not outright swiping.

That one might’ve been a possibility for me too, but the earliest issues of the title weren’t brought in to the U.K.

First comic from the newsstand as a kid, 1973, would’ve been either Defenders 5 or Spider-Man Comics Weekly 1, the latter being a Marvel U.K. reprint comic which also had JIM Thor as a second feature. First by mail order I remember well, summer 1977, an overgraded VG Fantastic Four 20. First from a shop selling back issues, autumn 1977, would’ve been X- Men 95, an outrageous 5 times cover price at 50p. First from a comic mart, a U.K. show, autumn 1978, would’ve been Conan 25. First from an American dealer, Savage Tales 1, winter 1979.

No wonder you ended up a lifelong comics fan, being brought up on quality like this; Big Wheel, Rocket Racer, White Chicken (sorry, Dragon.) A classic period. Recall it well myself. Issue 287 by Jim Starlin is also pretty good.

Dragged a bit for the first few episodes but picked up towards the end. Having read Alan Moore's run, no real surprises in the main Swamp Thing storyline, but done well. I was very slow in figuring out who the guy was who kept turning up to talk to Blue Devil, until I noticed his medallion in the hospital scene.