Ken Aldred

It’s been either total disinterest, or ‘Oh, that MUST be worth something’, or a look that suggests pity and that you might be very immature or subnormal in some way, as a general rule. Very occasionally I’ll meet someone who’s genuinely interested, but with nowhere near the intensity that I go about it. Still, little point in mentioning or bothering to pull out the first Thanos or something else that there’s a degree of awareness about because of a film, for a transitory, nonchalant, ho-hum response. I just keep my manic enthusiasm for our favourite medium to myself.

Violator

Mojo...

Crude but effective. As a hardcover collector it's easy for me at this stage to put together the required load to do some flattening out.

I thought it had been established already via many threads, to the point of , that there's no consistency; for example, 1st Wolverine vs 1st Darkseid.

Yup. Sign a restrictive corporate contract or risk languishing in obscure, small-time, small press, independent self-publishing, at best. Very rare at the time for the latter to become quite as lucrative and creator-controlled as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The old saying and justification; nothing personal, just business. Once trade paperback / graphic novel publishing really took off in the late 80s, Watchmen was a self-contained story of a length perfectly suited to that format, and DC wouldn't resist milking that new, very lucrative opportunity for as long as possible, to Moore's understandable, ongoing frustration.

It's superb. The final part co-starring Batman, 'Gotterdammerung', is classic Bronze Age.

I was considering staying with the more humorous material such as Splash Brannigan and Warren Strong... But, maybe ?

The only work of his that I don’t like is From Hell. I didn’t read it under ideal conditions, as I had full-blown chicken pox at the time. Both the story and art felt much too bleak and depressing for me.

I didn't have a problem with any ads and the page loaded instantaneously. I use a good ad blocker, though. From the comic creators' perspective, it's just a variant of my experience as a purist reader and collector; disheartening and frustrating to see a medium you care very deeply about being controlled by a group that's only interested in money.

A tip for figuring that out is to look for the presence of a plain blue shirt. Here it’s absent. Hawaiian or floral patterns, as on the right, don’t count.

Guilt into submission technique. Hate that tactic.

The Hulk 180 page is fantastic, but I also think this is a great collection to have as well. Strange how I can put to one side the thought of all of those comics, no longer intact, for something so unusual to see and to have the opportunity to own.

Yup. It's a classic. Great design. I'm always amazed that Bob Kane created it, someone who ordinarily was a complete hack. About the only time he really raised his game.

I’ve had a look at the Newsstand many times. It’s fascinating. Mainly revisiting the 70s Bronze Age, in my case. Interesting just to play around and put in a random month and year from another comics period as well.

I like the image. I only had a very quick look at it and thought it was Jim Lee. I’ve just noticed the signature, and it’s actually Paul Pelletier. Both very talented modern artists, but I can see your point.

Also, if you had aspirations of becoming the next Shang-Chi or Iron Fist, for a small mail order fee Count Dante could turn you into a living Bronze Age weapon.

Surprisingly popular and a hot comic at the time.

Precisely. Brilliant cover designs, great sequential panel layout and visual storytelling, but his figure work could be very inconsistent, and his story plotting and dialogue wasn't that special.

Never noticed that. Makes it look more like the Victorian costume design from Gotham by Gaslight.

+1 I’d considered posting something from Robbins’ Cap run as well. Excruciating is an accurate description, but between those issues and his Invaders run it’s difficult to choose one standout image that’s much more craptastic than the many others. However, the impasse does lead me into posting this classic panel from the Cap run. It’s still Steve Rogers, after all..

Basically why I got bored with Liefeld's work around X-Force 1, but stayed interested in other creators such as Arthur Adams throughout that decade. Substance as well as just style.

I'd have a problem picking one 70s Kirby double pager, or even a panel, that was most influential to me. So much energy and excitement in his artwork. Difficult not to be impressed.