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| Copyright MARVEL COMICS |
Assuming that Fantastic #1 went on sale a full week before its February 18th cover-date (as was usually the case with many UK comics), it'll be 58 years on the 11th of this month since the weekly periodical first landed on newsagents' shelves - so let's have a party! Well, maybe not, but let's at least look back and remind ourselves that there once was an actual UK comics industry in this country. Don't worry if you weren't around back then, you're allowed to look at and enjoy these pulsating piccies as well. (And even leave a comment if you want to.)
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Likely launched on Saturday, February 11th 1967, it's been 58 years since Fantastic #1 first appeared on newsagents' counters all across the country. Published by Odhams Press, it was the next stage in the evolution of comic titles like Wham!, Smash!, and Pow!, which featured U.K. humour strips among Marvel reprints. (Or vice versa.) Unlike its companion papers though, the contents of Fantastic weren't resized to fit a British comic's page, instead being granted the privilege of appearing (more or less) in their original format - albeit in a slightly larger size and in black and white.
Credit boxes were omitted, and U.S. spellings, references, and speech patterns were routinely altered ("I ain't" to "I'm not" for example), but just seeing the artwork of Jack Kirby, Don Heck, and Steve Ditko in all its crisp, cataclysmic glory, was what mattered to young readers back in the day. Not forgetting, of course, the power-packed scripting of Stan (The Man) Lee, Larry Lieber, and also Roy Thomas.
The periodical was edited by Alfred Wallace and Robert Bartholomew, aka Alf & Bart. Along with Albert Cosser (Cos), they oversaw the five weekly Power Comics until, like the song's ten green bottles sitting on the wall, there were none left. Fantastic contained some home-grown produce in the form of an occasional humour page, as well as The Missing Link/Johnny Future strip that appeared for 51 issues, drawn by Spanish artist Luis Bermejo.
It lasted only 89 issues, a Summer Special and 3 Annuals, but Fantastic remains one of the more fondly-recalled comics of the '60s by those who were fortunate (and discerning) enough to have bought and relished it at the time. Tell you what - let's now take a look at why it was just so... Fantastic!
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(I obtained my first replacement of this ish towards the end of 1980, just over 13 years after it was first published. Amazing to think that more than 45 years have passed since then.)
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| The MISSING LINK copyright relevant owners |
And if you'd like to read the complete episode, click here.
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| The free pennant-wallet |
Below, trade and newspaper ads for the comic's launch. Note that the first one says the comic comes out on Monday 13th February, whereas the second 'says' it's Saturday 11th. No wonder kids often missed a new comic, if they were looking for it two days after it first went on sale. The comic came out on a Saturday, not a Monday - despite what the cover said.
(This is a slightly revised post of one first published on February 1st 2011.)
2 comments:
The cover date of Feb 18th 1967 was the day after my 1st birthday so I was a bit young for this comic!
Pants on fire, CJ. Everyone knows you're about 70 years of age. (We've seen your avatar photo, remember.)
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