Middle-class university families didn’t do comics, so Tintin was about as comicy as it got for me. My favourite character was Captain Haddock – he said things that were completely unsayable. He’s been the model for almost everyone I’ve fancied ever since, which is sad. Photograph: Murdo Macleod
I loved Superman. Because, in addition to being super, he’s hot! Photograph: Suki Dhanda
One of my favourite characters was Up To Date Kate from Diana. Her fashion disasters were hilarious and, in my case, prophetic, as not long after my comic-reading days, I was staggering about in loons and platforms. Photograph: Eamonn McCabe
We always read the Beano as kids, but my favourite comic character was Tintin, because he had a dog and was always going on adventures, and I liked his two friends who were always eating burgers. My brother Jack was more into Dennis the Menace. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images Europe
I liked Desperate Dan in the Dandy. He was like me: big, fat, rough and ready, and ate scouse pies – but he had a good heart. He was super-duper. Photograph: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage
My favourite was Billy Dane (top, right), hero of Billy’s Boots in Tiger And Scorcher. Billy was an unexceptional footballer... until he discovered the old boots of famous striker Jimmy “Dead Shot” Keen in his gran’s attic. When he put the boots on, Billy could suddenly play like Keen. Was it magic? We were never really told. Perhaps it was just confidence and self-belief. But those boots transformed Billy every week. I loved it. Photograph: Martin Argles
I liked the Eagle, and my favourite character was the evil Mekon, leader of the Treens, who did battle with the heroic Dan Dare. Photograph: Katherine Rose
I remember Desperate Dan only too well. All my life I’ve been looking for a meat pie with horns! Photograph: Murdo Macleod
