"1963 was an insult to all the craftsmen who actually worked to produce American comics in that period. I was appalled—and deeply saddened—by the number of “fans” who embraced the series as a “brilliant evocation” of the comics I’d read as a kid. I tried to tell myself the “success” of 1963 merely served to indicate how hungry fans were for “old fashioned” superhero comic books. So much so that they would embrace travesty as tribute. But eventually I came to see this as yet another harbinger of what was to come—of the ever increasing legions who are embarassed to be caught reading superhero comics, and so would rather see them mocked (or changed beyond recognition, as with current M*****) than simply move on and make room for readers who are happy to enjoy them for what they are. (2005)"