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| Image copyright MARVEL COMICS |
I suppose this one can be considered an unusual cover, in that The FANTASTIC FOUR don't actually appear on it 'in person' - only on a poster bearing their images. This yarn has long-been one of my favourite FF tales, first read in the pages of WHAM!, then later in an issue of MARVEL COLLECTORS' ITEM CLASSICS. Readers were perhaps a tad confused by the ending of the original ish #7, as Mr. FANTASTIC says "There was no reducing gas, Sue!", thus making the preceding events entirely impossible. What he should have said was "There was no enlarging gas, Sue!", which it was amended to in later reprints. Current editions of Marvel Masterworks and Omnibus volumes carry the original error, for the purpose of maintaining archival integrity.
I read all these early stories in black and white in Mighty World of Marvel. It was so intriguing since I knew their stories from the US comics and I knew these were early stories. I always remember when they did strange edits and removed references to US tv or celebs and replaced them with British one's. Like we never heard of these people! And you're trying to disguise the fact these comics were American.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Marvel U.K. were ever actually trying to disguise the fact that the strips had originated in America, Phil, 'cos they freely admitted as much in the letters pages. All they were trying to do was use references that a primarily young British readership would be familiar with, hence the 'strange edits'. On the other hand, Odhams Press (who had reprinted Marvel strips in the '60s) would remove just about all U.S. references. For example, 'a crowded section of Third Avenue' would become 'a crowded section of the street', etc.
ReplyDeleteI first encountered this story on the FF cartoon show from Hanna-Barbera. It was only later that I got the chance to read it in a reprinted form.
ReplyDeleteRip Off
That's interesting, Rip. I wasn't aware that the story had been adapted for the cartoon show. I must see if it's on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteI remember Hawkeye sliding down a rope and mentioning Tommy Cooper. To this day I've always wondered which US celeb they wrote out.
ReplyDeleteTommy Cooper in a Marvel comic. Who'da thunk it?
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