Ken Aldred

I remember the series being a good read.

325 to 361 Wolverine solo series, 1988 onwards... Introductory story from Marvel Comics Presents 1 to 10 (70 pages - equivalent to 3 regular Marvel comics) Wolverine 1 to 25 Wolverine The Scorpio Connection GN Wolverine The Jungle Adventure one-shot Wolverine The Origin 6 issue mini-series (36 issues total) The solo series is a very consistently good read throughout thanks to Chris Claremont, Peter David and Archie Goodwin’s stories, and nice artwork and clear visual storytelling from John Buscema and John Byrne. It’s the period during which we’re expected to believe that one of the most famous mutants ever, with one of the most distinctive haircuts in comic book history, can disguise himself simply by wearing an eye patch, something humorously called out by Peter David. The Wolverine Origin mini-series was quite disappointing, and one of the most significant comic characters of all time deserved better. Many of the situations, and the journey he goes on as a consequence, simply don’t hold up even to very superficial scrutiny. Andy Kubert’s art is quite patchy; very nice in places, but the panel progression at times becomes confusing. The end of the story, both for its writing and artwork, is clearly quite rushed.

A series that's on my reading list.

I'm extremely disorganised. Other than looking at my box of favourite slabs recently and picking stories to read from my shelves of reprint collections, I haven't had a good search through in years. I'm sure there'll be many pleasant surprises that I've forgotten about whenever I do end up seeing what's in there again, and also many embarrassing misjudgements which must've seemed like good ideas at the time, especially back in the 90s.

Savage Tales 1.

The suggestion was on the right track, though.

He possibly also shifted to maximum density as well.

Iron Man 1963, horned helmet. Silver Centurion. Because both look cool.

At least it’s a bit safer than their uranium-fueled atomic experiment set.

The Quasar issue gave it away immediately for me. No need to check GCD.

That would have to be a parallel universe story now. Mainstream 616 universe, no.

That’s really brilliant. Two very talented people there. A great art team. I prefer comics with a darker, richer-looking colour palette, and there’s also a nice sense of depth when compared to the original.

I would get either the softcover Oor Wullie or The Broons Annual, and a couple of hardcover ones. Two Christmases in a row the dog destroyed my annuals, with a combination of chewing and marking its territory.

I thought Scalped was an excellent crime story, but I don't have the personal connection and insight that you have with the other, social components of the storyline. Thanks for sharing.

There are many Masterwork volumes available as even cheaper trade paperbacks. Also, an even cheaper option still for reading material would be to look at Comixology digital collection sales, especially with Black Friday on its way. Last year I saw a lot of heavily-discounted Golden Age and Pre-Code volumes there. I picked a few up for 69p / $1 each.

Isn't G5, "Wants CGC slabbed comic prices for raw comics", actually quite common for raw books that have been graded 9.4 and above? I've seen a lot of it in board threads and with big online dealers who have absolute confidence in their grading ability. Raws priced aggressively close to or at CGC grade prices.

It’s interesting art. Not quite a full-on cartoony style, but not what you’d call realistic either.

I go for presentation. I have a 9.0 GS X-Men 1 white pager that presents as nicely as some 9.6s that I've seen. So, choosing the right 9.0 or 9.2 is tough. However, I had the luxury of time to spare, several years ago, prior to the most recent price escalation. No need to be too snobbish about nice-looking 9.0s. I also have an X-Men 94 that was regraded from 9.0 to 9.4 around the same time back then.

A creative team that was fine on Green Lantern, but this was quite terrible.

Elementals was a good series.

The New Guardians (1988) Manhunter (1988) Starman (1988)

287 to 324 The Steve Ditko Archives As you’ll see, I was a bit disappointed with these. Thankfully, I got them cheap in a ComiXology digital sale. Equivalent to 38 issues. Vol 2 - Unexplored Worlds 210 pages Vol 3 - Mysterious Traveler 225 pages Vol 4 - Impossible Tales 225 pages Vol 5 - Dripping With Fear 200 pages Vol 6 - Outer Limits 200 pages (Science fiction, horror, mystery, western, none of the DC-owned super-heroes.) Certainly, there’s some very good artwork in here, but I’d dispute the claim that it’s the best of Ditko’s entire career. His work at Marvel (their science-fiction, monster and mystery stories from the same period) is far superior, as are Spider-Man and Dr Strange later on. And, to place this Charlton material above the black-and-white masterpieces that he created for Warren magazines, along with their great Archie Goodwin stories, is absolutely laughable. There’s also a degree of misdirection in the presentation, for example, Volume 6, Outer Limits. The title, along with a futuristic space cover, implies at first glance that the collection is going to be science-fiction orientated. A pity then, that 50 pages, about a quarter of the contents, are dedicated to a boring, western, Champion the Wonder Horse clone called Black Jack. Ditko’s artwork aside, there’s nothing positive to be said about this run. The stories are non-stop, tenth-rate, mind-numbing drivel, and there wasn’t one that ended up with a remotely interesting or surprising conclusion. Stan Lee’s stories are on another, higher level entirely to this huge pile of dross. I’ll apply the EC ‘1 issue = 28 pages rule’ here, and, well-deserved after trudging through over a thousand pages of literary garbage.

The Dave Cockrum era for me, a few years earlier, as my favourite Legion GG artist when I was around that same age.

I concur. I was unfortunate to have been raised in a 'tough' northern English working class environment where depression and other forms of mental illness were disregarded; the 'pull yourself together, there's nothing wrong with you', or 'what have you got to be depressed about' dismissiveness, despite the experience of falling into a depressive state being a condition that can control you, not vice versa. Coupled to being an undiagnosed Aspergers autistic and being constantly abused at school, I was pretty much in an abyss for a very long time, dealing with persistent negativity and ignorance. I only started getting psychiatric and social support, and later an Aspergers diagnosis, in my early 40s, and I'm at a stage where I'm really only interested in listening to the experience and opinions either of health professionals or fellow mental health sufferers; individuals on the inside of the problem who might provide positive, constructive, mutually-supportive, group observations. Jimmers strikes me as being a caring, empathic, genuine individual. There's no sense of burden, rather it saddens me to see so extreme a struggle in someone like him.