Ken Aldred

Forgot about those. Great example of a quite appropriate gimmick cover, containing very well-written stories by John Ostrander and dark, Gene Colan- like artwork from Tom Mandrake. Not all comics with such covers are superficial and complete garbage inside. A high quality run.

Much too complicated. I'd just give up and not bother.

Forgot that one. Nice BWS art in the early 90s issues as well.

Pre-Unity Valiants first, especially Solar, Magnus, Harbinger, Shadowman, Rai, X-O Manowar. Extremely good reading material up to and including the Unity mini-series. Some of the best comics of the 90s, actually. Of the reboots in the 2010s, I’ve only read Harbinger, X-O Manowar and Unity; all consistently very good.

IIRC, it was Dave Cockrum who was responsible for many of those redesigns during his short run on the title. As I said, quite memorable for me, as well.

Can't really see how you're not reading real comics if you're reading in digital format. A bit like saying that comic book artists who create their work digitally aren't real comic artists because they don't use traditional board and pencil and inks. Something of a dinosaur attitude, really. As much as I enjoy trade paperbacks and Archive / Omnibus hardcovers- and I have a lot - I can enjoy reading comics from all eras just as much, if not more comfortably, from a large-size, ultra-light, non-cumbersome iPad Pro.

As a 9-year-old, and onwards, I definitely had a thing for sprayed-on costumes. First Dream Girl and Night Girl from Dave Cockrum era Legion of Super-Heroes, Black Widow as above, and then Wonder Girl / Donna Troy in her red, 60s Teen Titans outfit.

I'm pretty much exactly the opposite. The tablet I use is extremely light, large, and I enjoy reading comic books and the daily news on it. Just a different type of tactile.

The Arthur Adams books. Pretty good suggestion.

I read the Claremont run again, recently. The early Jim Lee work holds up well. That's the issue that made you realise he had real talent.

Yup. The key issue here, which is too different, too leftfield, too controversial for Marvel Studios to have the stones to incorporate into Infinity War or The Avengers is this one...

Mike Kunkel is very talented. Great cartoonist.

Interesting issue with many different artists.

Superman 75 X-Men 25

I'd been at university there for four years, and watching it was one of the last things I did before leaving. Memorable. And similar, sort of.

It's tragic that we lost my underground comix mentor, Howard Greber. He would've been tremendously helpful to the OP here.

Yup. As an underground key book, the Plymell copy is one of the easier first prints to identify.

I read my first copy of Skywald's Psycho magazine when I was 9 years old. Not a great idea. Especially the day I had a dentist's appointment.

And, of course, lots more quality, all-ages fun with Scrooge and Donald in the numerous Carl Barks and Don Rosa comic book reprints.

Marvel's Wizard of Oz adaptations by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young.

Quite possible. I saw loads of those caps, several designs, being worn around the London comic shops that summer.

That's a fair decision, under the circumstances.

Pretty much what I was going to say. It presents as a much lower grade copy, despite what the 9.8 sticker, or the seller themselves, might claim. Yup. I’d look at the situation from the opposite perspective; as overpaying for a 9.0 or such by $1000s, not receiving a 9.8 at a price reduced by $1000s below GPA. Misdirection, not a ‘bargain’, especially if the seller failed to provide Nick with a back cover scan and full disclosure. Difficult to believe that anyone who owns an UHG, extremely expensive key would've been unaware of this when they thought about consigning the book to an auction site.

Excessive for a 9.8 A small, colour-breaking crease, maybe. Not a crunch, like that.

Yup. Fond memories of going several times each month to the local bus station newsstand to look at the often rainsoaked, well, okay, slightly-dampened T&P stamped, Marvel All-Colour Comics or pence-stickered DCs, back in the 70s. The frequently-miserable weather in the Manchester area couldn't kill my enthusiasm for these fascinating, imported treasures from the States.