Ken Aldred

Some artists are such great visual storytellers that you can get the gist of the story without reading the text boxes or word balloons.

Here’s an example of a courier delivery, very much in the style of a comic wholesaler such as Diamond. As we can clearly see, the package as received would contain unread comic books, which are therefore all in mint condition.

Yup. That’s the easiest way to debunk the theory; every comic that arrives in, fresh from the wholesaler, is unread and therefore mint? Not the way Diamond handled them.

I don't recall ever cutting out a MVS. It could've been different if I'd had the MVS book to mount them in. I'm basing that on collecting and sticking PG Tips tea cards in albums as a kid. I possibly might've done it under those circumstances, during the period before I got hyper-OCD about my comics.

I think that's a fair assessment for many of us, to begin with. In the 70s, the ridicule and abuse you'd suffer as an out-of-the-closet comic book reader and collector was appalling, but there was a way forward for us. We could use the Charles Atlas program to do something about those breadstick arms, soon making us built like brick outhouses, and, in conjunction with the Count Dante program, we could turn ourselves into unstoppable, unbeatable living weapons, and then get the respect that we deserved, or be capable of taking out the trash if criticised.

It’s just very dated and trying too hard.

Good pick. Prototype for The Abomination.

The one not to show at school in the 70s was Howard the Duck, as you’d have an obvious, mocking response of ‘You mean Donald the Duck, you big * kid !’ I’d feel sorry for them, unable to appreciate Steve Gerber’s fantastic, surrealistic writing, Brunner and Colan’s art, and, of course, Carl Barks’ genius work on his Disney comics. It was quickly evident that my comic book obsession needed to be kept hidden, one member of a misunderstood underground cult. The Giant-Size Man-Thing issues were not distributed to the U.K., and so I avoided making the mistake of taking those to school. In any case, they would’ve been incapable of grasping the brilliance of the Hellcow story.

Here’s a sweeping statement that would be hard to beat. A dealer I used to buy from at comic marts in the U.K. during the late 70s to early 80s, and long after a fairly minor disagreement, made the all-inclusive and extreme claim that ‘only mental defectives like you collect comic books’. A very intelligent statement against all of us from someone who himself collected comics.

Excellent series.

The Mother Box slipcase is just brilliant.

Strong resemblance to Black Widow on that cover.

The vampire story is a classic too; 'Midnight Mess'.

Yup. I’d considered that as a possibility earlier today, but was still faced with the problem that it’s a regular-sized comic book, and would provide insufficient coverage compared to the Treasury Edition.

More like ‘most comic book writers would only need a regular size comic book for this pose, but I need to use a larger Treasury Edition.‘ He’s clearly bragging.

Why not. My personal favourite is "Must-have, double-bag item".

Same here. I was naive and believed it. Or, what if it did become such an item? I'd better make sure I get a copy. Which sounds ominously like modern speculation. Plus ça change.

I got a run of the original series from Mile High Comics around 1992. Very nice condition, from one of their cheapest Specials sections.

Despite the fact we’re talking about artists, also a very good run of stories by Roger Stern. A great combination.

I don't recall ever having more than two copies of any comic.

If you like a fairly classical style, as I do, then Ramos' highly-distorted figurework simply looks jarring and slapdash.

He is up there with the best on the strength of his artwork in the classic "Kraven's Last Hunt" storyline.

Very true. I was just keeping thread specific.

One shilling? British comic. An obscure one.

No shield.