Ken Aldred

As polarising as Jonathan Hickman's FF run was, I liked the way he emphasised the importance of the family dynamic of the team.

Being OCD I'd find that sense of powerlessness very, very difficult to handle.

I enjoy reading FF, whether classic, early Silver Age Lee / Kirby, John Byrne's run from the 80s, or the more recent Waid and Hickman runs. It's often been pointed out online that the team feels like something rooted in the Silver Age, is quite retro and difficult to update. As a big, lifelong fan, I hope someone eventually manages a filmic reimagining which proves that bias to be completely wrong.

Yesterday's episode was excellent. I would most likely have thought it was one of the most brilliant Dr Who stories ever if not for the numerous spoilers about the characters returning in the show, which took the edge off it, months in advance.

Yup. I had it for a painful four days, without much sleep, and it felt like infinity.

A common default expression in 1990s comic art, along with shouting. He also looks to be straining much too hard. That can be very dangerous. Look at the tension in those clenched fists.

Which is a pity, as the magazines tend to contain sequential comic art and stories by the same artists and writers who work on standard-sized comics. For some of us, there’s no distinction.

+1 One of Kirby's best inkers. Their artwork on Thor / JIM is often quite superb.

Yup. One reason I prefer reading digital comics, as it negates the old school problem that I experienced as a kid; getting recommendations by book exchange or later on by comic shop employees about issues or stories which they made sound to be something very special. If I couldn’t find the original issue or run for years, or it took years for them to be reprinted, I was sometimes extremely disappointed by what I ended up reading. That's personal taste for you, of course. Easy digital availability destroys that mystique, which my long-term experiences as a comics reader have left me believing really isn't that good a thing. I prefer a more relaxed and fuss-free way to enjoy and to explore my hobby.

I've felt that Marvel have already being doing this for years. One reason I don't read that much of their product anymore. I'd probably feel similarly if I had a close look at DC's recent output. Alternatively, it could be that I'm simply not connecting to more modern art styles.

Yup. They're the only ones that can easily afford Mile High's exorbitant prices.

A very underrated writer.

Well, that explains a lot. I always wondered why his designs and patents were so lucrative.

Mark Waid's run is an extremely good read. I'll second Geoff Johns' later series as well.

If I was after a 9.8 of the book I wouldn't bother with this copy. Quite easy to find plenty of ASM 129s without such a noticeable miswrap. Not that prone to it, compared to, for example, FF 67.

Great thread. True comics fans.

I'm not surprised. Great comic.

Should 'improving' be in quotes?

I can maybe see a hint of Adams' style in the Superman figure, at best.

Yup. Robbins, like Lee Elias, had a heavily Caniff-influenced style, which Caniff had been using since the late 1930s, so not surprising that it was starting to look dated by then.

I was thinking that the hobby may get even more expensive now that it has to absorb old-school jazz fans entering the speculator market.

And, for the price, at least there's some good reading material there.

Unsurprisingly, I totally agree with her. Not exactly an unexpected response. Any reasonably knowledgeable metal fan could see it coming.

Dio was an absolutely brilliant metal vocalist. Simmons doesn't have one iota of his talent.