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| Image copyright MARVEL COMICS |
I recall lying on the living-room carpet scrutinising this cover back in 1968, and that's where I find myself in memory whenever I look at it today. Many years later I acquired the original U.S. issue of JOURNEY Into MYSTERY (#119) it first adorned, but somehow that comic mag doesn't have quite the same nostalgic appeal as the one above, probably because this is the ish I associate with my childhood.
This was quite a momentous number of FANTASTIC, as it was the last one in which JOHNNY FUTURE appeared. The very next week, TERRIFIC was merged into Fantastic, so this was also the last edition to feature the comic's name on its own.
It may seem kind of ironic for a reprint to have more nostalgic appeal than the original, but I just realized the same thing has happened with me. I associate Batman #198 with my late parents' house, where I grew up, and I associate Marvel Collector's Item Classics #8 and Flash #160 with my late grandparents' house, where we often visited on weekends. But the original comics from which those were reprinted (e.g., Detective Comics #211, Adventure Comics #123, Fantastic Four #10, Suspense #45) would not have any sentimental value for me, since I never had them as a child.
ReplyDeleteWhen I look at the cover of JIM #119, I'm reminded of Fantastic #51, TC, so there's a link between them, but the latter has stronger associations for me due to me having it first, the paper it's printed on, the interiors being in b&w, the other contents, etc. The former in this case is like a shadow of the latter, which is, as you say, ironic.
ReplyDeleteI would say that most reprints (especially Marvel) have more nostalgic appeal for me than the original as it was through the reprints that I first saw and read most of these stories. Saying that the few original US comics I have (by comparison to the weeklies) have a stronger link to the past that the reprints as I was getting at one time 5 titles (plus odd issues of other Marvel UKS) a week so they tent in a lot of cases to all blur together whereas a US original was a wee treat. When I see a Tower comic and a lot of early Charlton and Mighty comics I think of the Alan Class reprints (with a few exceptions Mighty Crusaders being one) .
ReplyDeleteThat Thor cover is a cracker and would make a great poster.
Of course, my memory of this comic is one of utmost disappointment! - At the "GREAT NEWS INSIDE!"
ReplyDeleteI always HATED seeing those words on a favourite comic, of which Fantastic was at that time for me, closely followed by Terrific!
We were now down to only three out of five Power Comics!
But, more "GREAT NEWS" was yet to come....
That's right. Certain comics bring back those powerful childhood memories. My theory is that our senses were working at "11" back then and really good stuff, comics or music, just socked us so hard it left permanent impressions that no matter what, we at this age only have the trace memories of that experience. Those of us lucky enough to be at the right age ( I was born in 1951) really had our senses bashed by "the good stuff" of 60's Marvels.
ReplyDeleteIt would make a great poster, PM - I'm surprised it hasn't been made into one yet. Mabe it'll happen one day.
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Maybe they meant it was 'great news' for readers because they wouldn't have to spend so much pocket-money on Odhams Press comics, JP.
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I think things make more of an impression when we're younger, M, not so much when we're older. That's probably why this U.K. version of the cover lodged in my memory when I was 9, but as I got the original U.S. edition in my mid-20s, it had less of an impact on me.