Many Kirby fans dislike Vinnie's inks on anything but Kirby's Thor, but I have a fondness for the way Vinnie made the Thing look, and the story arc of issues 39-43 is one of my all-time favorites. I picked this one up in a trade in April, 2002.

When Clark Ray put this page up for sale, it didn't take me long to decide it belonged in my collection. Why? Mostly because I love this story arc and I love the top-most panel. Thanks, Clark!

Another classic page by the King and Chic Stone. When Anthony Synder announced he was breaking the issue up, my pal Bill Howard pinged me and asked if I wanted in. I did, but didn't have the issue anymore. A frantic drive to Heroes proved fruitless, as they were sold out of the Essentials, so I trusted Bill to pick a page for me.I'm so glad he picked this one, a great fight scene. Love that iglo. Love those punches.... Thanks Bill and thanks Anthony!

Joe Sinnott, Frank Giacoia, and Chic Stone are often cited as favorite Kirby inkers. While I enjoy all those guys' inking over Kirby, no one embellished Kirby's pencils better than Steve Ditko, IMHO. I spyed this baby in a stack of prehero pages at Conrad Eschenberg's booth on preview night for Comic-Con 2002. For the next couple of days, I couldn't get my mind off it, so I bought it first thing Saturday morning. I'm exceedingly glad I did, as I'd wanted to add a Kirby/Ditko prehero page to my collection for quite some time. Thanks, Conrad.

Couldn't believe my ears when Pete Koch told me he'd brought this to Wondercon, 2004, as Conrad Eschenberg told me Pete was trying to put this story back together. Turns out Pete couldn't find two of the pages, so he'd given up his quest. This beauty's got everything thing I'd wanted in a Kirby/Ditko prehero splash from 1960--a cool monster (my daughter thinks he looks "moomballee"), cowering sherpas, a silly editor's note.... Thanks, Pete.

What Marvel prehero fanatic's collection would be complete without a Kirby/Ayers piece? This one's a dandy. Love that hero panel of Gomdulla. Thanks to Steve aka kirbyfan44 for parting with this one at S.D. 2004!