Ken Aldred

For me, the significance of X-Men 94 is that it’s the start of the classic run in which the team transitioned from a failed title reduced to Silver Age reprint oblivion and guest appearances into comics megastars. Certainly the first series is bookended by some very nice material; Lee and Kirby, Thomas and Adams, but it’s generally quite boring in the long period in between. It took a while for Claremont and Byrne’s run to gain wide recognition, but, once it did, you can understand how there’d be backtracking and a focus on the starting point of the ascent within the main title, as well as the Giant-Size.

Frazetta would be one, a master comic artist and an Italian name as with the Turtles.

I finished one round of NG+ on Demon Souls PS 5. Problem was biasing my build strongly towards a mage in the first run through, so second time out even the weakest characters could deflect my shield block away with a single hit, and levelling up by this stage required so many souls to improve stamina that it wasn't possible to compensate that much for melee combat. A shame, because I like mixing up attack types.

Getting a bit frustrated with Witcher 3 PS 5. All of a sudden starting suffering from frequent crashes.

Never seen that one. I’d say inspired. Same idea applied very differently.

Skyrim Syndrome. Pointless, excessive hoarding. Doing it again with Witcher 3 PS 5. Go about 10m, pick a plant. Herbs, herbs, herbs for all those millions of potions I'll likely never make.

Never knew that. Even after 50 years you can still learn something.

I'm ready to wait a while as I only have a PS5. Can't see it remaining Xbox exclusive forever. Hope not.

It used to be bad enough to receive a comic book with a story page or part page missing. Making the inverse of that acceptable is getting a bit ridiculous. Receiving a page or part page with, otherwise, an entire comic missing. 'So, the right page or panel clipped from a wreck can still bring joy' Or, to many, the pain of devastation. Shows how wide the spectrum of obsessive-compulsion and FOMO can be.

Both great examples. FF 51's a classic, and Byrne's MTIO 50's a good read as well. Especially like his version of The Thing as he was originally.

Great stuff. I was hoping we'd see some air guitar to Eddie Van Halen's solo as well, and wasn't disappointed.

Easy to get confused. From a distance the Hornet looks to me like he’s got a leafy shamrock on his face.

For me, they’re up there with The X-Men and Avengers. All the team books have had peaks and troughs in quality, not just the FF. I first read all of them during the same period in the 70s when they were being reprinted by Marvel U.K. Exciting times.

Will the buyer of the Batman fragment shown above also be searching for a matching Joker and Catwoman fragment from the comic? To me, it’s an unhealthy descent into an obsessive-compulsive pit.

I’d rather read the entire story in a DC Archive Edition. I suppose by these standards I’m not a real collector, not dedicated enough.

It was the label on a bottle of wine I once saw in a pizza cafe. Being quite visual I immediately thought it was a terrible name, given the image it produced in my imagination.

Getting to be a bit desperate.

Absolutely. Jack Cole was a comics genius. Far more inventive with Plas than Kirby was with Mr Fantastic.

I agree. Quite readable, despite the criticism.

Yup. I understand they’re a relic, but I still like them. I’ll go off and read some Jack Cole Plastic Man comics now.

Similar to Superman. A character that can now seem a little old school as well. At least his portrayal in film has been better than the FF’s.

X-Men 1 wasn’t polybagged, but you get my point.

That’s right, expanding on my brief comment. No polybagged collector’s item, can’t lose, sure to pay your college tuition, first issue reboot by a super-hot, new, young comic artist. Great Arthur Adams art in that storyline.

It’s a shame that the FF got the criticism because, let’s face it, there were some terrible Spidey and X-Men storylines during that same period as well, despite the extra excitement produced a little earlier by the likes of Lee and McFarlane.