Did you guys ID artists and writers you liked when you were in your pre-teens and teens?...

It was very easy for me to identify artists when I was young.  Writers, on the other hand, took me longer.  I do remember the first writer I recognized that I DIDN'T like and would avoid his stories, no matter what book I saw him on.

I knew that when Steve Englehart went over to DC I would try his books because I enjoyed his run on Captain America and the Avengers. That was probably the first time I "followed" a writer or an artist.

I believe that the art form of the comic as I have known it, as a printed monthly art and story form, will be extinct sometime during my life.

It simply will not be profitable to continue to do as a going concern or buisness model.

I blame the Nintendo DS.  If kids have any extra money, they are entertained by video games and not by reading a comic book.

Eventually, the adults will lose interest as the investment interest completely falls away.

Specific Gold Age and Silver Age issues will probably hold unique value.