Ken Aldred

Sampling, as many music artists have been called out and punished for in lawsuits. If it’s a subtle influence, fine, but there are many examples which are simply too blatant to take seriously as original art work, as a comic book and music fan, this included. Doesn’t impress on a purely emotional level, which to me is more primally important than an ivory tower intellectual analysis. Going to new and different places rather than recycling, something you can apply to both media, not independently.

The sampling argument is fair enough. But when I look at his work it still resembles a kid tracing or light boxing rather than anything original or remotely impressive.

Yup. I like the character as well, despite him, and the family, being a product of another time. Nostalgic, like the JSA, and reminds me of the 70s series and the time of the DC 100 pagers, which contained GA reprints.

If only they'd had Captain Nazi as a villain, then maybe the film would've had greater appeal to contemporary audiences. A missed opportunity.

The art in the RH panel sucks. Terribly-proportioned figure work.

Yup. I had thought of Knorr. Wasn’t that also a 50s Marvel Monster? A dragon, like Fin Fang Foom, drawn by Kirby? Or, perhaps I’m getting confused with The Clangers.

To make the joke work perfectly, you’d need Norman to be spelt with a silent ‘K’ at the beginning. Which would be silly.

Yup. It’s superb.

Also, the excellent Gødland. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godland_(comics)

One of the first comics I picked up during the summer trips to the seaside, Blackpool in this case, in the late 70s, when you could still find older comics in the shops off the seafront. I picked up three that day; the Metal Men 20, Batman 181 (1st Poison Ivy), and Justice League of America 45. I was very pleased with that, and it was only sometime in the 2000s when I was thinking back about them and Googling around online that I discovered that the shop I'd bought them from might've been a bit sneaky. Apparently these June 1966 issues were distributed as a multi-pack over here in the UK, and so the comics had been split and sold separately, the dates being obviously too coincidental. Still, at 10p each I hadn't been too hard done by, even back then.

It's good, but not that good. (IMHO)

Being OCD I always go towards the back of the display, anyway.

Only seeing distortion on my phone.

No. But, the point is, as you say, if this did actually exist it would be very cool indeed. And maybe worth slabbing.

I was thinking of submitting a Bronze Age, late 70s New York phone book on which a pre-fame Frank Miller has doodled early preliminary sketches of Elektra and a brief plot synopsis for Daredevil 168, also signed by the creator. A shame though that, despite its pedigree, the phone book will not be awarded a Signature Series label.

The British ones are barely as thick as a trade paperback these days. Tiny.

That sounds alien to me, for some reason.

It’s easily done. I remember when I lazily abbreviated TPB to TP on here, and a boardie, somewhat confused, enquired why I was talking about toilet roll and not collected editions of comic book story arcs, which would make much more sense on this platform. It’s the big leagues here, and you have to nail the minute details as well.

Piper will be very happy. Long awaited. The Showcase volume was a good read.

I still read a lot of modern comics. Not as bad as many make them out to be. I read a lot of older stuff as well. No Age bias, really.

He’s shifted more towards being a tragic anti-hero in recent years, due to working with the Batman Family of characters rather than against them. Basically, the article is describing something similar to the modern comics era, anyway.

Just curious as to which book these 70s U.K. Marvel reprint covers are from? Lots of nice work by Jim Starlin, I recall.

Guessing it’s Harbinger 1?

I did feel quite sorry while watching the film for someone in his situation having to deal with social support and medication being suddenly withdrawn, and the extreme rebound effect of the latter. Never a good idea.