Ken Aldred

394 to 413 Secret Wars Part 5 - Time Runs Out (Avengers 35 to 44 and New Avengers 24 to 33, 20 issues in total) Doctor Doom appears to start getting involved at a late stage in the crisis, although he’s actually been doing a lot more behind the scenes for quite a while. The cause of the collapse of the multiverse is revealed. The galactic empires turn on humanity. The 616 and Ultimate universes come into contact with each other. Finally, the Avengers and Beyonders meet. There’s the realisation that whole universes can’t be saved, but maybe some scraps, some fragments might be. Oversimplified summary of a much more complex storyline, more great stuff from Hickman.

I can’t recommend the 80s series highly enough. One of the underrated gems of that decade. The GN is very good as well, and the later stuff from the 2000s worth a read.

I’m badly OCD, so it would severely irritate me as well. At least it’s not a Shakespeare-level spot problem, in the end.

Yup. Not really making much sense. Everyone knows Sue ‘Invisible Girl’ Storm, but haven’t yet shown any curiosity about the identity of a teenager with one of the most visually-impressive superpowers imaginable?

As a Richard Corben fan, I did once have a copy of his Neverwhere graphic novel in my bag at school. Which was the best of both worlds for the 70s; comics and nudity combined.

I thought the world knew the FF’s identities from very early on?

Maybe largely grade chasing, once ‘tough in 9.8’ or ‘difficult black cover’ gets attached to a certain issue, an obsession then exacerbated by film or TV speculation.

I could find a lot of cheap, high grade Bronze Age at that time, away from the hot characters. The focus was then on moderns, of course.

Happy to oblige. There's such a broad spectrum of experience.

If you’re collecting mementos that remind you of a happy, carefree time that really existed for you, back as a kid, then that to me is fairly healthy reminiscence; stimulating a warm, euphoric response involving actual, positive events from years ago. That’s especially therapeutic now at this time, with all of its stressful, overwhelming, fear-inducing complications. There are collectors here that possibly don’t fit this profile, though. A childhood with persistent verbal, sadistic, psychological abuse at school, from the other kids in the street, and otherwise, where one of the few pastimes that appealed to and provided a sense of escape for an undiagnosed depressed, traumatised, autistic, non-athletic kid was immersion in the inventive stories present in comic books and science-fiction films : a typically nerdy focus, made even more blinkered and obsessive by Aspergers. So, for me, once I realised the warm dopamine and serotonin mood boost that I get from my reading and from going out hunting down comics in stores, at conventions or online was simply distancing me from confronting the real, underlying nature of that childhood, it all started to seem a bit delusional to continue with something so misguided. Basically, as a fan of original series Twilight Zone, I call it the Horace Ford Effect. Here’s the Wiki entry for the episode… “Mr. Horace Ford, who has a preoccupation with another time, a time of childhood, a time of growing up, a time of street games, stickball and hide-'n-go-seek. He has a reluctance to check out a mirror and see the nature of his image: proof positive that the time he dwells in has already passed him by. But in a moment or two he'll discover that mechanical toys and memories and daydreaming and wishful thinking and all manner of odd and special events can lead one into a special province, uncharted and unmapped, a country of both shadow and substance known as the Twilight Zone.” “Horace Ford is a 38-year-old toy designer whose life is dominated by blissfully happy memories of his childhood. His colleagues, wife, and mother have all become increasingly frustrated with his obsession. One day, he decides to revisit his childhood neighborhood. Ford discovers, to his amazement, that it has not changed. He recognizes the boys he played with in his childhood—who have not aged. Frightened, he returns to his apartment, but he visits his old neighborhood again on each of the next several nights. Each night the same scene plays out and he stays slightly longer, before returning to his apartment. On his last visit, he hears his old friends complaining that he did not invite them to his birthday party. He tries to talk to them, and suddenly turns into a boy again. His friends bully and assault him, as Horace realizes that his childhood was not as pleasant as he would nostalgically recall. After his wife finds him, he "grows up"—returning to his own time period and age group with a new-found appreciation for life as an adult.” Pretty much describes my time back then, although a bit more of an extreme and persistent onslaught in my case. There’s no reason for me to deprive myself of comic reading, something which has got me through difficult times throughout my entire life, not just back then. However, it began to seem a bit ridiculous and futile to buy artefacts from the 70s to remind myself of an idyllic, carefree, wonderful time which never actually existed: now, just a distanced mirage. Coincidental with the increase in price of back issues, that largely due to the film speculation boom, was the rise in availability of digital comics, an alternative that allows me to continue reading these wonderful stories without the desperate adrenaline surge associated with hunting them down in the various, old school, physical environments. For me at least, this transition feels much, much healthier, and, finally in touch with my reality.

I like the film. Better than Showgirls. And Robocop 2 and 3.

381 to 393 Conan Epic Collection Vol 1 - Conan the Barbarian 1 to 13 Classic Bronze Age sword-and-sorcery, both Roy Thomas’ REH adaptations and his own material. Great comic artwork from BWS. Even early on his storytelling ability was superb, especially his use of congruent panels to show action progression. Underneath the pre-Raphaelite ornateness, there are still some features of his art at this stage that I’ve never been that impressed by; his faces, especially once he gets out of the early, Kirby-influenced issues, and also his figurework which could sometimes be a bit stiff. Over the long haul, I’ve come to appreciate John Buscema’s work more and more. Perhaps it’s due to some of the pretentious dealers I knew here in the UK, back in the 70s, who had a constantly-snobbish air about BWS’ artwork, which, while I’d agree was excellent comic art from a young creator with tremendous potential, was, in their opinion, the absolute pinnacle of fine art in the medium. Certainly one of the greats of the field, but I’ve always tried to be somewhat more grounded about my comics. Essential Conan reading.

I recently got the complete run in a digital Humble Bundle. Likewise, added to my Everest-high reading pile.

That was the standard response from his partner as well; Crestohl. I experienced that in the mid-eighties. Two like minds.

Yup. The provider effect. And, making more sense than Freud there.

The speculator market is capricious rather than loyal over the long term, so maybe not. Variants, for example, are already well catered for.

Much more accurate than Freud’s nonsense. The threat of being starved or deprived of something stimulates us to hunt it down, especially when you’ve been previously conditioned by the dopamine buzz of success in similar circumstances.

The scarcity of back issues for me as a kid was possibly a strong motivation to begin squirrelling comics away. Certainly, I could find new comics distributed each month in the U.K., but often many issues wouldn’t be brought over. It was several years before I found sources for non-distributed American comics, which were more expensive and there was still a sense of a lack of access or ease of replacement, which together made it sensible for me to hold onto and accumulate, that is, collect. More comic stores opened here in the late 70s onwards, imports and back issues became easier to find than they had been for me as a pre-teen, but the habit was well-established by then.

Very old, clearly in a vulnerable physical and mental state, enfeebled, tired, defenceless; an easy target who'd be likely to put up minimal resistance. Known to have money, and additional, visible convention income. Obvious profile for stimulating this kind of activity. And, it doesn't matter whether the predator is a stranger or immediate family: personality, not relationship.

Plan 9 From Outer Space Ridiculously bad but very entertaining.

Absolutely.

Surprised they made one. Apart from ABBA and Lordi it’s always been a waste of time.

It would’ve been okay to keep in the collection if I’d picked up a nice condition copy for $5 or $10 a couple of decades ago, but it’s not that funny, I agree.

It’s because I have a sense of humour, but not so much that I’d pay a current, nosebleed price for it. Brits like innuendo.

Dislike. Apart from hilarious ones such as the Rifleman cover. There are always exceptions.