Ken Aldred

Being a bit socially withdrawn, as he was in his later years, doesn't necessarily indicate that. If you read his self-published work, there's a lot of very, very literal black / white interpretations of social situations, both in his writing and his art, and he seems to be incapable of accepting the existence of intermediate, composite, 'grey' interpretations of those same social situations. Instead of someone hiding confidently inside overblown Objectivist philosophy, this viewpoint could also much more simply indicate very narrow thinking and a 'lack of theory of mind', which can be present in autism spectrum disorders, but also in other non-autistic and quite distinct conditions.

Possibly stubbornness. but maybe indicating why he was an advocate of Objectivist thought processes, which dominate his later self-published works.

Don't forget the brilliant costume design. I do like the inventive idea of a hand that can directly translate a radio signal containing Morse Code.

I've restarted twice, as an impoverished student, desperately and naively selling off earlier, smaller collections for a pittance. Not alone there. But, since those early, dark days, I've ended up with a selection of keys and certain nostalgically-significant issues that I'm content with, without really wanting to add anything new to the collection at today's exorbitant prices. As well as restarting or resetting, as asked above, I've also evolved my focus away from physical copies to reading digitally, and much prefer the stress-free detachment and economy associated with this.

I've just read the Comic Book History of Comics by Fred van Lente. He explains the Marvel Method, where Lee gave a very vague plot outline, the artists then added their vision, and Lee finally added dialogue at the end of the process. The artists enjoyed the Method's creative freedom at first, until Lee persistently denied them due credit for their input, and their resentment and frustration snowballed to breaking point. That's the gist of it.

I’m impressed. If anti-comicbook snobs criticise the intelligence of readers of this material, one can point out the use of articulate, polysyllabic words in stories reaching even as far back as the early Golden Age.

A few items from the letter pages of my favourite humour comic, Viz...

Heck’s artwork for Iron Man on the earlier issues of Tales of Suspense was very nice.

His weapon is extremely versatile... Codpiece utilizes a power-suit with a massive groin-cannon. The suit itself was bullet proof and the groin cannon had the following tools/weapons: Blaster Cannon - An explosive cannon blast capable of breaking through concrete walls. Boxing Glove - A cartoon-style gag weapon. Rocket Launcher - A powerful rocket launcher that could launch multiple rockets at a time all with highly destructive capabilities. Scissors - A giant pair of scissors that could cut through bandages. They were not tested on other materials. Claws - A giant set of claws that could grab/throw things. Drill - A precision drill that was used to break into the bank vault. Sonic Emitter - An ultra-sonic emitter that released highly concentrated sound waves.

Interesting cover. The onlookers seem confused, or perhaps it's badly drawn terror, whereas the swimmers seem very happy to be splashing around inside the fishbowl or just diving right in.

He’s actually called Codpiece. That generic. From Doom Patrol, after Grant Morrison’s run.

Or one of Jimmers’ punk bands.

Which then got me thinking that the Amazons’ helmets are clearly modelled on pairs of inverted gonads.

As well as the codpiece, I’ve just noticed the very suggestive appearance of his helmet. Shameless.

39 to 44 The Comic Book History of Comics (digital collection of issues 1 to 6) , written by Fred Van Lente Fascinating and educational. You’ll learn a lot. Covers pretty much every significant development from the Platinum Age through to the underground and relevance period of the late 60s to early 70s.

Some of Valiant's titles have slow, decompressed plot progression which reads best in a (physical or digital) collected format. So, little interest from me in this new imprint with its stated limitations.

2000 AD was actually relatively tame compared to its predecessor, Action, a British weekly comic, apart from a few stories in the earliest issues. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_(comics)

I've read every issue of Frontline Combat and Two-Fisted Tales, just not this year. My all-time favourite war comics. Superb writing and artwork throughout.

That would be House of Hammer, I think? The magazine that Dez Skinn produced before Warrior. I have a few of them. Some good British artists in there such as John Bolton and Steve Parkhouse.

I like Ross as well. Sounds more akin to the Earth X / Universe X / Paradise X series that he did with Jim Krueger, than Busiek's Marvels. Probably mentioned on FB, which I don't participate in.

More ambitious than Jonathan Hickman's Secret Wars? That was quite a journey. The dismantling and rebuilding of a multiverse.

26 to 38 Bloodshot Deluxe Edition Vol 1, containing issues 1 to 13 of the Valiant Entertainment first series. (Humble Bundle digital version) Good, but very derivative; the military super soldier with enhanced healing ability, strength and speed, who’s been given false memories and is basically on a road trip to discover his real memories and identity. Interesting ideas in places, especially the way he communicates with the control system for his nanotech. Extremely violent, more so than the 90s series. Quite decompressed storytelling, patchy artwork by Manuel Garcia and Barry Kitson.

Yup. And the UK's generics manufacturers and NHS for my own daily brain medication.

I never had any problems at the bus station paper stall I went to as a kid. I remember buying a couple of Skywald magazines there. DC's House of Mystery and House of Secrets were distributed here throughout the 70s. Some of the stories in those, while not as explicitly gory as EC's, could be quite psychologically disturbing. The relaxation of the Comics Code, permitting more horror material, and the interpretation of outdated and heavy-handed legislation were in a state of total confusion here, even then.

That’s a concern over here too, of course ; the choking risk.