Ken Aldred

I tend to read a lot of Image titles now, in digital format, when the trade collections are on sale for as little as £2-99, and few Marvel and DC. Lots of good material still being published if you look around. I stopped going to the LCS in 2010. I got bored with the routine, it was a demanding journey for me to make, and I gradually made the exercise redundant by cutting my regular titles down more and more as prices increased. Like conventions and marts, it was something I should’ve given up years earlier, but I’m very stubborn. I don’t miss it at all.

That type of contest is my favourite. I really like the detective work involved. Dan / Bronty also had a great one which was similar, back in 2010.

Hitch’s Authority artwork was made for this format. Large-scale, widescreen cinema-style action and destruction never looked better in a comic book.

I’m from quite a poor working class background, and when I was that age we wouldn’t have been able to afford international air travel. Also, it’s not really as necessary to use it to get across a small, state-sized country like the U.K., anyway. Not intending to sound critical towards your post at all, though. Just explaining my situation back then. The only regular parallel I have is that I’d be given a 50p coin to buy some comics at the bus station newsstand after going on the market with my parents, and that was back in the mid 70s, aged 9 or so. I’d be waiting around for about half an hour while they finished up in the nearby cafe. I still have fond memories of that as a very strong, nurturing introduction to comics, as evidenced by the number of times I’ve mentioned it here. The best travel-related memory I have is one I posted recently in the BA section. I’d placed an order for some Marvel magazines before going on a family holiday, and after a very uncomfortable and exhausting journey by rickety coach and choppy ferry, to and from Germany, I returned home to be pleasantly surprised by a parcel containing Savage Sword of Conan 1 to 10 in really wonderful NM condition. Yup. The association with journeys like ours, whether taken by land, air or sea, can make early comic book memories indelible.

One of his most Ingels-influenced pieces, and a fantastic cover.

I like the Sandman volumes. Not a fan of Garth Ennis. My favourites.. The Authority Vol 1 DC The New Frontier Kingdom Come Planetary Vols 1 and 2 All-Star Superman Watchmen

Yup. I ran out of space, and there were RRP price hikes even before the added complication of a Brexit-induced Sterling exchange rate crash.

Conan 1 to 100, in the late 70s. I only started buying Conan with issue 75 and I had a lot of back issues to find. Difficult at first for me in the UK, with few dealer contacts or even much idea how to go about the task. Getting the BWS issues was a fairly slow process, pricey, and a bit generally overgraded from the source I used. Then, I discovered comic marts in Manchester, and I picked up all the issues from 25 to 50 at one show, NM, about 50p each, apart from the non-distributed, Adams-drawn issue 37. The issues up to 75 were easy to fill in, but the title soon ceased being distributed to the UK, and I was concerned that this would once again impede my then eager progress. However, a few months later there were several dealers at the mart that started selling imported cent copies, and I could continue easily. I got to issue 100, and then stopped. I can't recall why I suddenly lost interest. In parallel with this, I also collected Savage Sword of Conan, managing to find issues 11 up either distributed on the UK newsstand or later as import copies, as with the main Conan title. I ordered 1 to 10 from a mail order dealer here, and, when the family returned from a summer holiday in Germany that year, a parcel containing all the issues in superb NM condition was awaiting me, which was a nice surprise to come back to. I continued to issue 50 with the magazine, and then, once again, suddenly stopped. Definitely a fond collecting memory.

That’s interesting. There’s a stealth suit in Splinter Cell Blacklist that has a resemblance to this design, minus the weapons.

When I was a kid I found the troll from Avengers 1 to be very disturbing...

Hellboy Next Men

I notice that he has hooves. Anything to avoid drawing actual feet.

I'm responsible for mentioning him. I apologise for any distress caused.

Yup. That's the one I mentioned. I just couldn't bring myself to post it and inflict it on the boards again.

It's worse than I remember. As bad as that famous Liefeld Captain America image.

After Iron Man 1963, with the horned helmet design, Silver Centurion is my favourite.

Edna Mode would agree. Many ways they could be lethal.

Better than Troll, anyway. Image at its 90s worst.

There seems to be a lot wrong on the spine. I would’ve gone 8.0, grudgingly. Then again, you know my obsessive-compulsive style of grading really sucks.

A strangely complex one, this. Some find it hilarious, some cute, and some quite surprisingly disturbing. Might as well introduce a bit of variety and choose something that’s the complete opposite to Shadowhawk.

Looks like a gift grade 9.2 on the Batman Adventures. Quite generous there for NM - .

Often considered to have the reputation of being a bit of a fighting beer over here, sadly. Quite the opposite.

Common pub lager in the UK. Not bad, though.

Great idea, I admit. That would be pure nostalgia, as I grew up reading the Marvel UK series such as Captain Britain and Spider-Man Comics Weekly.