It’s interesting though, for Marvel at least, how many of those great concepts came from only a few creators, most notably Jack Kirby. I’m not a big fan of his art, although, for its time, it was revolutionary (I’d much rather look at George Perez’s). Kirby didn’t try to be realistic and detailed (like Perez) and as such he could produce an incredible output (volume). This is sort of how John Byrne operates today (sort of a mass produced style where you can produce more output; the art is good but it lacks the meticulous detail of artists like Neal Adams, George Perez, and Phil Jiminez).

But one area where Kirby’s talent was and remains unparalleled was in his ability to conceive of and create characters and concepts. In this way, he’s almost the polar opposite of Perez. As good as Perez is, he really hasn’t created that many memorable characters or “cool designs,” costumes, etc.

“I have the original Crisis On Infinite Earths series. The worst part is where the original Supergirl dies (issue 7). The other update which I particularly dislike is the death of the original Superboy in The Legion of Superheroes, all for the sake of continuity. This was the Superboy I grew up with in the early 50s, taking the comics off the spinner racks at the local drugstore in Houston, Texas. Turns out that all those years I watched him grow up was really a pocket universe that got wiped out. Continuity is a bitch, especially if you have been reading comics as long as I have. I remember you and Julie spending days at my bungalow in SM reading Warlock, Thor, Dr. Strange, Fantastic 4, Spider-Man, X-Men, etc. Genius stuff in retrospect that no one thinks about today. Can’t you see the next computer generated movie being The Silver Surfer, who 1st appeared in FF #48? Can you imagine those writers and artists churning that stuff out, on deadline, month after month, all those ideas that laid the groundwork for the 21st Century, making pennies per hour for their labor? Incredible. I should have so much imagination. I still have my treasure trove of a collection which I hope will help finance my high school age kids through college.”

Speaking of once great bookstores, my friend and i used to hang out in the 60’s (after swim practice at UCLA) in Bernie Steinman’s 4th Street Comics in Santa Monica, a treasure trove of collectables and where you could always find at least one copy of every book in any series, dating back to the 30’s.