Ken Aldred

Jack Kamen Kyle Baker Nestor Redondo Alex Nino Charles Burns Lee Moder Lee Weeks Jerome Opena Mike Parobeck Phil Jimenez Jerry Ordway

That must be why it's new to me as well. I only started buying American comics in 1973, and by then maybe they'd already switched to the ampersand.

Because of my northern English accent and my fairly restrained volume, Russ Heath once quite loudly told me to speak up because he was a bit deaf. Which was a fair enough reason to be shouty.

I used to think that John Severin was Herb Trimpe's best inker, but I've developed a bit of an appreciation of Sal Trapani's work; a really nice combination of pencils and inks throughout the Englehart, and early Wein issues.

Unfortunately, not feeling well, I missed the final vote. As with Frazetta, I would've picked Schomburg over Wood for the winner, same reason, I more associate both Wood and Frazetta with pre-Code 50s, and Schomburg with 40s Golden Age. Thanks for doing the contest, Jeff.

After the balls-up I made in a previous round, I decided to focus on greatest relevance to the Golden Age period of the 30s and 40s, and went with Schomburg. I had the same reasoning for going against Frazetta, a creator having much more notable work in the 50s. I feel that Frazetta is so revered here that even if he drew stick figures his style would still be adored as 'genius, artistic minimalism'. Seriously though, of course he's a brilliant artist, but for me he'd have a much stronger position in a pre-Code playoff.

It's been several years since my last tape pull, but I can still feel it, etched into my memory.

Something like that would help. Observing a comic cover violated by even a small tear; the terror on seeing that horrible, horrible, matt-white blemish appearing, surrounded by still-pristine, coloured gloss, no going back now, a pamphlet scarred forever, the helplessness, nothing you can do ... well, it's a traumatic experience, burned into memory for life. Understandably, nightmares ensue, self-recrimination, necessitating a search for a comicbook-related PTSD support group to help you through those repetitive, obsessive-compulsive, excruciating thoughts.

I've always preferred magic tape as I feel it's a less sticky option than standard tape and, in my climate conditions in damp England, it seems to deteriorate more slowly. It does tend to split more easily at the edge of the flap, though. A minor inconvenience.

I remember reading this as a kid, and finding the ending quite shocking and extremely sad.

I've used 3M Magic tape and generic equivalents, and completely remove a piece before sliding the comic book out.

Quite a pathetic thing to do. A very interesting contest, and sorry it got interfered with this way, Jeff.

Maybe so. I also went on GCD just now and noticed that the later issues have Norm Breyfogle art. Adams' work was quite phoned in.

Kav is an interesting example. Having a home, but also being a comic book creator. Effectively, the OP has answered his own question.

I'll raise you Mr T and the T-Force 1 by Neal Adams.

99 to 128 From Marvel Masterworks : Doctor Strange Clearly, Steve Englehart was on something at the time. IIRC, he used to drop acid with Jim Starlin and they would wander around New York tripping. It’s believable, as Englehart keeps this type of cosmic, high-concept storytelling going all the way through to the end of his excellent, classic run. I didn’t re-read all of them, just my favourites. To give you some idea of how out-there it gets, first let’s have look at… Marvel Premiere 13, 14 Time travel story. Chasing Baron Mordo into the past, trying to prevent him from changing history, Strange meets the medieval wizard Cagliostro, who is actually a 31st Century sorcerer called Sise-Neg, who wants to go back to the dawn of creation to gain control of all mystical energy and become the universe’s most powerful entity; that is, God. There’s a chase back through different time periods to before the Big Bang, and from the blackness Sise-Neg triggers the expansion of the universal singularity and the creation of everything, once again, but losing his mind in the process, with Strange and Mordo pushed back into the present, unchanged. Dr Strange 1, 2, 4, 5 (Issue 3 was a fill-in reprint) He’s mortally wounded, but to save himself he withdraws into a realm of bizarre unreality within the Orb of Agamotto, and eventually has to battle through the zone, and out of it, to fight Death itself. Great artwork all the way from Frank Brunner, but at this point Gene Colan takes over again, with a different style but still very, very atmospheric and effective. Dr Strange 6 to 9 The resurrection of Dormammu and his invasion of Earth, power plays with his sister Umar, the back story of Clea in the Dark Dimension. Good stuff mostly, but spoiled by a very disjointed narrative that feels a bit rough around the edges and improvised, and a very weak, hippy, New Age ending. Dr Strange 10 to 13 A Bronze Age classic. The return of Eternity, who forces Strange to confront the way he’s developed over the years; arrogant surgeon, broken derelict, re-empowered magician, trapped in a mansion with a number of copies of himself from those different periods, also, the insanity of Mordo, and the complete obliteration of the Earth and everyone on it, apart from Strange himself, protected by magic. Nightmare has the universal entity, Eternity, imprisoned and comatose. Strange frees and revives Eternity, and convinces him to undo the destruction of the Earth, but he / it can only recreate an exact copy of the world and everyone on it, with Strange the only living thing surviving and subsequently remaining aware of the extinction event. One of the bleakest, darkest mainstream comic stories ever written. Tomb of Dracula 44 and Dr Strange 14 Pretty much self-explanatory. Good story Doctor Strange 15, 16 Satan abducts Strange and Clea to Hell; mind games ensue. There is one more Englehart story after this one, ‘The Occult History of America’, which I didn’t bother reading because the writer was removed from the title partway through, and the story was never completed. The series goes through a bad patch here. I recall getting really bored with it throughout the late 70s, and for me it only became worth reading again once Roger Stern took over in the early 80s, linked to very strong artwork from Marshall Rogers, Michael Golden and Paul Smith. The problem for me is that I read these comics immediately after the Englehart run, and, although they’re very good, they’re a bit underwhelming when compared to the bat-dropping insane, trippy ideas and imagination shown in that Bronze Age material. Marvel Fanfare 5 - average mage vs mage fight by Chris Claremont, saved by some brilliantly imaginative Marshall Rogers art, who would continue to show that same flair on the main title. Along with Brunner and Colan, one of the greats. Issue 47 - fairly standard Colan-illustrated story of a type seen many times before in this title. Issue 48 - Okay story with Brother Voodoo, Rogers art begins. Issue 49 to 51 - Time travel story involving Mordo, the Howling Commandos, and the resurrection of Dormammu (again) in a ritual during World War Two. Nazis are involved, of course. Issues 52, 53 - As a premise a bit ridiculous. Nightmare has Strange chase a soul shard back through time, which must be captured because otherwise it will cause humanity to stop dreaming and Nightmare to die. He visits the Inquisition, Mayan Mexico and manages to stop the shard in Ancient Egypt, at the time of Rama-Tut and The Fantastic Four’s adventure back in the early Silver Age in FF 19, which is the only particularly interesting part of the story, along with lots more inventive Rogers art. His relationship with Clea has been disintegrating for a while, and at the end she leaves him to return to the Dark Dimension. In subsequent stories he’s profoundly depressed by this breakup and develops performance issues with his spell-casting. Issue 54 - fairly ordinary issue, moping about, ruminating on happier times with Clea. Issue 55 - great Michael Golden art, psychological mind games with one of his enemies. Issue 56 - first full issue by Paul Smith, part a recap of his history during a video interview, part a magic slugfest with three obscure opponents from an early issue of Strange Tales, one of whom, Kaecilius, has now become much better known thanks to the film. Issue 57 - a fairly ordinary magic fight issue.

Yup. As a kid all I had available was the British newsstand. I always wished I had wider access to these wonderful books from a distant country, which had fascinated me so much from an early age; 3 or 4, as I mentioned in my previous post. Started reading in 1973, a good 5 years before I went to my first comic shop and comic mart.

My choices... Frazetta Everett Wood Schomburg

The Black Condor's origin is a good one. Adopted by a condor as an orphaned baby, raised in a nest high up in Mongolia, this act of nurture by itself allows a wingless ape to develop the power of avian flight.

Late 60s, she bought me my first comic when I was 3 or 4 years old, a British Marvel reprint title, Fantastic 1. This reprinted X-Men, not FF, as you might think, and they've been my favourite team ever since that early an age. Mid 70s, she, or my grandmother, often gave me 50p to buy some comics from the bus station newsstand after we'd been to the nearby food market. Basically a bribe to get me away so that they could have some time by themselves in the nearby cafe.

Excellent choice. Great story.

A very nostalgic Christmas story, and one of my favourites. Fairly ordinary slugfest issue apart from that.

I think you're all absolutely right. Completely missing the point it's about Golden Age work. Next time I won't post while I've got bad insomnia, and put more thought into it.

You can also get a complete DRM-free run of Walking Dead from Humble Bundle for around $20, including a charity donation. Nearly 200 comics, and a digital bargain.