Bryster, you may find on some webpages, usually those that have the latest scrips tend to give little problems, like some things not showing properly. I have the problem with Phoptobucket. The script that displays the direct links is usually under the thumbnail, but in IE8 it only appears if you click the thumbnail first which takes you to the full size pic, and then it displays the script correctly for the direct links.
If you do experience any problems with any web pages... usually forums, first try the 'compatibility view' in the 'tools' menu.