Never was and never will be into superheroes.
@tilliban: I think that’s just because readers have become accustomed to perceive "superhero" as a genre. In fact, I think that as anything gets crystallized into a genre by criticism (you need to do that, wasn’t only for purposes of classification and historical placement), a side-effect is a reinforcement of impressions related to preconceptions. Without this, many preconceptions would never take hold so strongly. I am firmly convinced taste has an objective part to it, which can be clearly exposed, criticized, discussed, while of course there is a subjective element due to each one's sensibility.
@narfstar: we must also take into account a fundamental factor: the point in your life when you read a certain comic (or book).
It’s inevitable we get affectioned to certain things, which become part of our background and cultural development.
Personally, I find some of Kirby’s later work truly fantastic, although it has big weaknesses as well. I agree the slant on certain characterizations (and Big Barda is an example, which in my opinion makes Mr. Miracle the weaker of the titles, with due exceptions), but his late 1970s Cap and Black Panther are underrated for no serious reason.
It’s clear the early silver age stories have a specific quality, ineffable I would say, which makes them unique, but I think Jack’s storyline of the vibranium-related "disease" featuring Kiber the cruel is among one of the most thrilling and vaguely disturbing, since the Fantastic Four story arc of the "beehive" (my favorite).
@Paw: Back to the 1940s, I have to read the strip you linked. Do you know if there is some list of british comics dealing with WW2, nazism, national socialisms, et al (either in satire or serious stories)?
