Ken Aldred

Not quite what I was thinking about when I said romance comic, more Betty and Veronica, but educational nonetheless.

I thought this was quite interesting...

Anything resembling the DC 100 pagers of my 1970s childhood works for me.

There is a strong similarity, but this is more like how Fisk looks after a fight with Spider-Man or Daredevil...

I felt that he tended to make Spidey himself look too bulky at times, whereas I always saw the character drawn right as looking very slim, but deceptively powerful.

I'm guessing it's an obscure romance comic reference. But I'm not Googling.

The webbing on Spider-Man's mask looks more like reptile scales to me. Here's an Alex Ross cover for a comparison...

The inspiration could just as much be Tor Johnson.

Yup. It’s subjective. For a while I didn’t buy new comics, and arguments about all modern comics being rubbish were common here. When I picked up again reading digitally, I found that there’s still some great material out there, especially when I can buy a digital trade collection for £3, on average. Try Image, for example. They publish a wide range of genres, and you might find something you like there, even if my taste, or my definition of quality, doesn’t match up with yours.

They resemble crossbow bolts too much, and then also remind me too much of The Huntress.

Certainly extremely metal-looking there.

It's a shame in this more liberal day and age to see binary thinking, exclusion and continued intolerance towards the merits of the independent comic book persuasion and lifestyle.

The binge-watching analogy certainly works in my case. I never read the original issues, and the first time I had the opportunity to read Lee's Surfer run was as reprints in a weekly 70s Marvel UK title called 'The Super-Heroes'. Then, it wasn't until the 90s that I read them again in the Essential Silver Surfer collection.

Silver Surfer 1 is a great origin story with superb art, but the constant one-note soapboxing of the character becomes tedious, as Lee repeats it issue after issue. Buscema's fantastic, but continuing reading through the short series all the way to the finish line quickly turns into a chore.

Would've made more sense to have Man-Thing and Groot on there.

Common pronunciation in the UK as well.

I always find it interesting to go back to the original source material, even though it's often extremely simplistic and two-dimensional. From the issues you mentioned, I have a special fondness for the Crime Syndicate's. I read those stories first in the JLA 100 pagers as a kid, but I like the evolution of the team from those early days through to the greater complexity of Justice League New 52 and Forever Evil's more detailed characterisation. As you'll know, they don't do that well in Crisis.

Yup. Somehow I forgot to mention those. Brilliant artwork.

45 to 51 The Death of Jean DeWolff (ComiXology Edition) Contains Spectacular Spider-Man 107 to 110, and 134 to 136 Something I never read back in the 80s, with average art by Rich Buckler and Sal Buscema, but which has a much more engaging look as a digital remaster than when it was originally presented on dull newsprint. I now often find I discover overlooked gems this way. The first story is basically a street level murder mystery, about the identity of a killer called the Sin Eater, and the contrasting attitudes of Spider-Man and Daredevil, together with a look at the psychological issues of the villain. Really excellent, early career writing from Peter David. The second story is not considered as strong, but it’s still quality, primarily focusing on the physical consequences of guilt, and with a downer ending.

I agree. I have his 50s Charlton material as the Fantagraphics digital collections. A lot of very nice artwork in there. Despite his later figure work looking increasingly stiff, Ditko / Wood was a very nice combination, such as DC’s Stalker comic, and I also rate his work on Rom which was inked by P Craig Russell.

Despite being attention deficient, I like a challenge. Ditko's copious writing style won't defeat me.

I keep losing concentration while trying to read an interminable wall of text, which just goes on and on.

The costume looks a bit tight in certain areas. Could've done with some unstable molecules.

He did create, or co-create them.

The Creeper, and Hawk and Dove were late 60s characters created by him.