First of all, congratulations to Al and the admins/mods for such a great site and forum. I've greatly enjoyed the covers, artwork, chat and other goodies. Well done to all the contributors!
I'm a Scottish comic fan, now living abroad. I like 'em all, but especially the ones I grew up with, like most people - that'll be The Topper, any DC Thompson/Fleetway comics from the 60s to the 80s and the inevitable Marvel/DCs. The other big influence was Warrior in the 80s - best British comic magazine ever, IMNSHO.
Favourite creators are Jack Kirby, Dudley D. Watkins and Alan Moore. I also enjoy virtually anything that Pat Mills has done, particularly Marshal Law with Kevin O'Neill. Can't go on without mentioning the mighty Leo Baxendale either.
I'm fortunate to currently live in a country which is nuts about comics - also cinema......you might be able to guess which one - so the local libraries have an amazing selection of stuff (UK - take note), as do the bookshops. Even better, comics aren't just for kids where I am! Yep, hard to believe.
Favourite European comic is the Corto Malteses by the great Hugo Pratt. Didn't discover it until I left Blighty. A marvellous work.
Sadly my collecting days are very much on hold, until I can get the kids up the chimneys. I still skulk about second hand bookshops when I get the chance, only too rarely nowadays, and try to pick up some cheap stuff. Last buy was in a little shop in my home town that used to be a bicycle repair shop, but now thanks to the wonders of gentrification has transformed into a chic second-hand bookshop. Lo and behold there were a few boxes of comics! I feared the worst, but they were only 1 - 3 quid each - I wondered if the collection had come from one of my old schoolmates? My booty was as follows - a Tiger and Speed from 1981 ("Topps on Two Wheels"), a 2000 AD prog. 500 ("Special Souvenir Issue") with the artists sigs alongside pics of their best known characters on the cover - very pleased about that one - Toxic!s no.s 2 and 5 with Marshall Law on the cover - they were all there apart from No. 1 (natch) but I didn't have enough cash - tragic - , and a few Ghost Riders and The Demons from the 80s.
Greatest comic regret - not getting 2000 AD from ish 1. I could have, but I went for something else. Mind you, my Mum would have binned them all by now in any case, but still. My other is wondering what the hell happened to all the Oor Wullie and The Broons annuals going back to the 50s that were stacked up in a cupboard at my grandparents?
Favourite comic reference work - Denis Gifford's marvellous The Complete Catalogue of British Comics, which I got in a sale not long after it came out. I recognised Mr. Gifford's name from a little book called Monsters of the Movies that I "procured" from a local library when I was a kid. I'll return it one of these days......
Finish with an anecdote - my Mum's from the home of DC Thompson. Her grandfather was a communist town councillor who was not impressed with the, cough, let's say less than trades union-friendly approach of the publisher, and banned The Sunday Post from the house. Luckily my Mum was not as militant which allowed my comic education to start with the Fun Section in said "newspaper". (Oor Wullie and The Broons).
I'm lucky enough to have two kids who are comic fans too, particularly the youngest - can't tear him away from them - which gives me great pleasure!
