Ken Aldred

In the 90s I remember getting a few of their vouchers, called Chuck Bucks. Be careful that they don't try to fob you off with six of those.

Yup. That's exactly why I like it. Really nice cover.

Extremely consistent, high standard of writing throughout. Essential FF reading. Not odd at all. You read some great stuff, and then wanted to check out where many of the characters and concepts you'd just read originated, mostly in a fairly short, incredibly creative SA run.

I had, completely. Never noticed the overcompensating butt clenching there. Not a pretty sight. Small, but hideous.

I can't see much insanity here, but we're an impressively-dedicated lot, for certain.

Spidey had a few opponents who frequently enjoyed bashing their head against a brick wall; Rhino, Hammerhead, and this wannabe.

Sounds like a metal band.

Don't forget the third film... Captured his look perfectly there. Absolutely spot on.

Spider sense. Given how advanced CGI is these days it would be easy to show some wavy force lines emanating from his head.

I did once have a British dealer in the 70s use 'very excellent' to describe a book. It was about VF, in the end.

Modern comics fans can't complain too much here. Not too dissimilar to the bathtub scene from the Ant-Man film, really, in principle.

Believe me, no.

Sorry to learn all the hard work was wasted, especially when you were being merciful. Just not appreciated sometimes. Still, overall, an effort less stressful and traumatising than actually looking at that cover for any length of time. I really dislike it. Just to make it clear. Because it makes my head hurt.

Thanks. Interesting. I'd be lying if I said I knew even a single character.

Don't do it.

That low? Very lenient.

How many Homers do you think this cover art travesty deserves, Steve? Just a rough figure will do.

Not too fond of most Tales to Astonish or Tales of Suspense myself, but a popular choice, and so I decided to discuss a title I feel is quite boring, repetitive and overrated past the first few issues; Silver Surfer. I really don't like it, didn't even as a kid in the 70s, but I appreciate that an LSD-enhanced, 60s college student just might have had quite a different perspective back then.

This. (No, I've no idea whatsoever.)

I saw Comics Buyers Guide for the first time in the early 80s. I wasn’t sure if the ads were from that or from Rocket Blast Comic Collector, which I only discovered a few years ago after buying a couple of Bronze Age copies with Richard Corben covers from the greatly-missed Howard Greber, who also had an ad in one issue. A very interesting fanzine.

I'm probably being a bit thick here, but which paper do you mean, Mike?

The Lee / Kirby FF issues with him in aren't anywhere near as pseudo-intellectual or repetitive.

Barks was a great artist. I wouldn't swap that for some stiff-figured Hogarth, though.