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Out of the 17 covers you see before you, only four or five were bought by me around the time of their publication or when they first turned up on British shores. These issues are 106, 126, 130, 133, and 140, though the ones shown here aren't my original copies. The rest I obtained years after the fact, some indeed only recently. Some of them I acquired only a few years after publication, others decades, but because of the paradoxical nature of time, the issues I bought within a few years seemed much later, and the ones I bought decades after, well, it sometimes seems like I've owned them for far longer. To reiterate, the ones I originally owned were supplanted by replacements years afterwards as I never kept their predecessors, but I've had them far longer than I ever possessed the originals.
Anyway, I'd already prepared part one of a Fantastic Four cover gallery post which will take us from #150 to 176, and part two will take us from 177 up to 203 or thereabouts, but I thought I'd give you a starter course of the post-Kirby issues I own from before 150. Yes, I know - kindness and generosity are my middle names, but I just can't help myself from spoiling you loyal Crivvies (and even some of the not-so loyal ones). Besides, it would be a sin to let these great covers go to waste, don'tcha think?
Did any of you have any of these issues - in fact, still have them? Then why not tell all us nosy peeps your thoughts about them in our ever-lovin' comments section? You know you want to. And be sure to say which ones are your favourites and why.
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I recently found the figure below in a box so might as well throw it in as a bonus. It came with a reprint of the Sub-Mariner issue (#67) wherein Namor first got his costume. I recently bought the original issue and I'll maybe add both to the post when I can remember where I stashed them. (Now done.)
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| The second cover is as it was originally drawn, the first is as it was published after being amended to give Namor's new costume greater visual impact |
10 comments:
Loved this time period for FF.Romita did not work for me(though apparently sales went up!)However Buscema was brilliant and111 and 112 were classics though 112 was scarce whereas 11q was everywhere.116 was a classic as was the follow up 117 and 118 with a great what if Thing story.126-128 had superb artwork and a grat story.Great to have you back Kid and hope you are well.best wishes FF follower or triple FF to you more to follow.
Triple F again mate.FF 133 came in the middle of a great run of issues 129 the Frightful 4 with Thundra,then the Inhumans,a brilliant Dragon Man /Gideon story followed by an amazing story(to a 10 year old Kid) of a 1950s love in by Roy Thomas and then Mr Miracle stars in a personal favourite.Loved it.Later I learnt that Big John only did layouts on those issues of FF in the 130's so Joe Sinnot was the main artist.Did not notice at the time but 30 years later it is a plausible scenario.
#140 to 149 was my favourite era of the FF which is insane but let me explain.I loved the stories and art by Buckler including the Giant Size issues.That era had so many non distributed issues,the aforementioned G S issues and issues 144,145,146,147,148 that I found so hard to buy that I have built up a love of that era that it does not warrant.....and yet for me it does!Annihilus,Dr.Doom,Darkoth(brilliant)Submariner,The Inhumans and 2 fill in issues staring Thing and Medusa,bonkers but brilliant.An amazing time for me but others may wonder why I loved them but they were brilliant.
Thanks for assembling your post Kid and opening the door to one of the happiest times of my life.Stay well my friend.Triple F.
Thanks for the comments, Triple F, always welcome. Romita didn't quite work for me on FF either, though I loved his Sue Storm on the cover of 106. As you say, Buscema was brilliant on the foursome and was a hard act to follow. Having said that, Buckler and Wilson were also good, and looking at the covers Kirby did for FF once he returned to Marvel, it's probably best that he never drew the interiors as his talents had all but deserted him. His covers were too cartoony, the perspectives weren't quite right, his figures were even more distorted than usual and sales would probably have plummeted had he been drawing the stories.
I was lucky to catch some stories I'd missed in their US presentations when they were reprinted in The Complete Fantastic Four, but it's good to have the colour originals. I found myself surprised by how much I enjoyed reading the tales I never caught at the time (having bought them only recently), thinking they'd probably be second-rate to Byrne's later tenure on the title, but they were very entertaining.
Thanks for the good wishes - hope you're well and that everything's fine with you. Cheers.
I was deep into the Fab 4 during this period. Seeing these issues again in a recent Epic collection made wish that John Romita had done more issues.
At the time, RJ, 106 was the only Romita issue I'd seen before Buscema took over and I thought JB was perfect for the job. Big John had the dynamism of Kirby, but with more realistic anatomy so I was well-pleased. Romita, of course, was a master visual storyteller and had I seen his other FF issues before Buscema took over, I think I'd have been more impressed and I'm sure he'd have made the strip his own given time. So, when I say Romita didn't quite work for me on the FF, I meant with that one issue and only in comparison to Big John Buscema, who wasn't only a hard act to follow, but also to precede in the FF's case after Kirby.
I didn't own any of these issues but they were all reprinted in The Titans, Captain Britain and The Complete Fantastic Four which is where I read them.
I had none of these at the time but picked up issues 111 and 116 about 15 years ago. I have issue 112_(Thing v Hulk) as a True Believers reprint. I m a Romita can and would also have liked to have seen him so more FF. It's strange although I liked the FF I didn't pick up many of their comics during this period maybe as I read so many in UK Marvel but great covers.
As I've got complete sets of all those titles, CJ, I have the reprints as well.
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Romita has stated that he tried to emulate Kirby on the FF, McS, which was perhaps a mistake. Had he drawn the strip in the same way as he drew Spidey, it might have been better. Good as Romita usually is, I'd say that Buscema nailed it first time out, though I'll admit that Romita drew a beautiful Sue Storm (Richards).
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