Ken Aldred

I forgot I was watching it on BBC News rather than BBC 1, and I think I've missed probably about an hour or so. From what you're saying, I haven't really missed much, apart from a lot of tack?

I think we are going to see quite a few Olympian knighthoods at the end of the year. Mo deserves one. Bloody brilliant. (thumbs u

Yep just a dream, but that would be the biggest of the big. Can you imagine the queue for a Ditko sketch , You would have to start queuing now. he must be in his 80's now? 84, according to Wiki.

Rob Liefeld, Humberto Ramos, Greg Land, Greg Horn, Chris Bachalo, Eric Canete, side by side on the same row in 'Artists' Alley. Joking. Despite the comedy value, I hope it never happens.

Steve Ditko. Joking. It'll never happen. Just a pipe dream, unfortunately.

Great work there. One of my favourite runs of Avengers, by one of my favourite Modern era artists, Steve Epting.

Some chicks that Garry has the hots for. Standing - Black Knight and Sersi Others from left - Giant Man, Black Widow, Crystal, Captain America, Hercules

I read that earlier today on CBR. A film I'm definitely going to look forward to. I especially like them using the 60s team.

Having been diagnosed gluten intolerant, how I miss battered fish and shop curry sauce. I envy you. Cider rather than lager, ale, bitter or stout for me as well, as a consequence of this.

Is this mainly something for northerners? Fish and chips with curry - another vote for the combination here. +1 (thumbs u It only disagrees with Andrew's much more sophisticated palate, it would seem.

I really enjoyed both DKR and Avengers, including their contrasting styles - nothing wrong with that.

I used to go to the Royal National shows, but eventually I found I wasn't picking up anywhere near enough material to justify the effort and expense. While it's free to get into the event, from Manchester it would now cost me nearly 50 quid for the train fare.

I suppose we should be thankful there are an comic shows left a all. Like you I like to get the full shopping experience once in a while. Of course it's good to be able to look at old and scarce comic books in person, but I found I was leaving with just one or two cheap box Moderns at the end of the show, while Gez was charging more and more for entrance. Eventually it simply wasn't worth the effort for me to continue. That was 2006, even before I started buying comics online or had joined the boards. Eventually I do feel the need to evolve my collecting in order to stay interested and connected - probably my ADD manifesting there. From an empowerment perspective, I also feel it's a very good thing to be in a position where dealers like Silver Acre can be made to seem small and unimportant, and you can comfortably move well beyond and away from them, just as I did with Paramount Book Exchange years before.

The Golden Orbit marts can feel 'same old' very quickly. I stopped going in late 2006. I have heard that attendance is declining significantly at all shows.

Makes sense not to have all the effort of building a video collection go to waste, and to archive it digitally before it begins to deteriorate. It's also possible that some of the material hasn't been released on DVD yet, anyway. You know, in retrospect I wish I'd done some of this. Ah, well.

I tried watching the 60s series, repeated on ITV 4. Same formula every episode, which gets very boring, very quickly. I've never managed to make it through even one season when shown on TV.

I sort of liked them at the time but felt they were poor representations of the comic. And by the time the show finished, in 1968, the comic was doing a fair representation of the TV show... Thankfully, Adams and O'Neil brought that to an end not too long afterwards.

I didn't manage to get around to watching Spider-Man, but DKR is pretty much unmissable and I'm definitely seeing it next Tuesday.

Funniest thing is I don't know who half of those characters are... Other then Dr Strange who are the other 3 tied up? Looks like Nighthawk, Yellowjacket and Valkyrie.

I'm impressed!

I made it down to Kings Langley twice.

You're 12 years short of retirement. (Watched the Ultimate Fast Show box set a few weeks ago. Great stuff.)

Paramount has been there ages. It was the first place I chanced upon during my first visit to Manchester looking for comics, autumn 78. I suppose that's its only significance now, as a bit of a marker of transition away from just buying comics from newsagents in my hometown. Reminds me of a time when access to comic books was still very restricted and unpredictable here. I have to pass the shop on occasion when I'm heading towards the Arndale Centre, and the last time I did this the guy was standing outside, looking in at the window display. I felt very content thinking about how far I've gone over the last 35 years or so, and how small, irrelevant and disposable the shop and its owners seem now. I enjoyed continuing on my way unnoticed, leaving the situation behind. That was good, believe me.

Exactly.

I always appreciate it when someone gives me a lead on comic books but, unfortunately, I steer clear of Paramount Book Exchange because of the following experience. In the 90s they held occasional sales where huge stacks of comic books would be put out at the front of the shop, all priced 25p. Most of it was drek / mid grade, but you could find the odd BA book, stuff like Astonishing Tales, Fear - Deathlok, Morbius appearances. I went in very early one morning when a sale was on, the shop was empty, and the younger of the two brothers was there 'managing'. I knew I'd been identified on previous visits as a collector, and I recall him rushing up to me predatorily, in a bit of a frenzy, demanding... 'Although these are all marked 25p, I'm charging you 50 each!' Thought it was a bit infantile and desperate, felt quite sorry for him and I just replied.. 'Well, that was suicidal, wasn't it?' Turned my back and walked out. Yes, seventeen years ago, never been there since.