Ken Aldred

Nice to see that Ken's still popular as a name, though.

If climate change activists are right, Earth by 4965 is likely to resemble this, anyway... Welcome to New Venus.

Better maybe to choose sets of five to illustrate the way covers for a certain archetypal character evolved over time...

Having just 4 key Golden Age books and one key Silver Age book doesn't illustrate the evolution of comics across the decades to the present, and just 5 covers is far too restrictive. It would create an impression, a future myth, that all comic books had covers, artwork and subject matter similar to the ones chosen.

Similar thinking to me. I was considering posting a couple of EC science-fiction covers, just in case we’ve been enslaved by that time by alien, machine or cephalopod-like overlords following aggressive first contact. They might like those.

Now that’s an absolutely superb post. Pretty much the exact same evolution that I experienced while developing as a UK-based collector during the same period. If only my parents could have predicted that giving a copy of Fantastic 1 to a three-year-old would end up having such intense and long-lasting consequences.

By then, I’d think a mash-up of American English with Chinese would be far more likely. Properly integrated; not just oriental swearing. Firefly reference.

It’s difficult to decide even within a certain period or Age, let alone across many decades. For example, as an EC fan, would I choose something approaching fine art, such as Frazetta’s Weird Science-Fantasy 29, or something more primal and visceral such as Craig’s Crime Suspenstories 22? Would proof of our legacy matter either way, as the wasteful environmental consequences of turning trees into pamphlets might be the only concern about such a product by then, and physical copies, regardless of the artistry shown by any cover set we choose, might simply be mocked as caveman-primitive, Luddite and ignorant?

5am here.

It's too early in the morning for me to be bothered about Googling what this actually is, but I was thinking initially about making the analogy between modern English and Anglo-Saxon. It sounds about right.

Although no physical paper copies exist in 4965, every comic book ever published is available in digital form, easily and cheaply accessed via a human history node, which implies the continued existence of digital or AI. All of the greatest covers are available, and no need to limit oneself to just 5. Additionally, assuming English is still a dominant language in the future, any text on the covers will be directly unreadable to most people as the language will have evolved into a form quite different to our 20th / 21st century version by then, requiring a translation.

A ‘little bit’ more notice would’ve been useful to avoid the complication and deterrent of extortionately-priced, last-minute hotel accommodation. For LSCC threads there was always a lead time of several months. A poor advertisement.

Of course. She’d be a mutant.

Kangaroo Girl. Only one pouch, not much use. Maybe a bit of extra ammo, although they can punch quite hard as well.

Nice cover. To me, Batman, his cape especially, looks like something Marshall Rogers would’ve drawn, a few years later.

A great selection of images and memories.

What’s the ringing for? I suspect The Swipe Police have had him under surveillance.

Sounds right. Both influenced by Caniff. I forgot Elias did the issues immediately prior to Byrne’s.

Arthur Adams initiated the style with elongated figurework in his early comics such as Longshot. Except, he's really good, and continued to develop and improve his art.

I’ve seen much worse material collected in colour trade paperbacks. Apart from the first appearances, there’s a lot of nice artwork in there; Garcia-Lopez, Starlin, Kubert.

Here’s my favourite for pointless gesturing... Nazi / Asgardian jazz hands. Clearly an influence on a certain modern artist who’s almost my namesake.

Nice. Wood and Orlando. I’ve just been re-reading a couple of their Fantagraphics EC collections.

That’s the type of new comic I’d definitely look at, along with Sean Murphy’s Batman sequel - once it’s finished.

I never realised. That’s quite devious. I now feel used and gullible.

A classic Kirby cover. The energy and excitement in the artwork, even just in Captain America and the other Avengers’ feet alone, is simply incredible, something that Liefeld’s art in its entirety is incapable of matching.