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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 UK 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 US 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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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.)
10 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.)
I remember my brother buying this issue and number 2 ( he gave me the tattoos) at the time I wasn't a bit fan of Superheros preferring UK humour and adventure comics- although I loved Smash, Pow and Wham - Looking back though Fantastic was errr fantastic and in many ways it was better than the Mighty World of Marvel etc . Cant beleive this,was 58 years ago!!
I think Fantastic and MWOM each had their strengths and weaknesses, McS, so it's hard to do a direct comparison, but I'd say they were both good in their own way. Thor's origin appeared again six years later in SMCW, almost to the very day, and that'll be the subject of my next post. Yeah, 58 years, eh? Where did did the time go?
Fantastic had been and gone before I debuted in the world. I have to say that the Secret Brotherhood of Power Scar has to be the most unusual gift ever given away with a comic. As an adult I find it incredibly strange. As a child I guess I couldn't have waited to put it on the inside of my wrist. The other scars and the eye are just as weird. The first time I saw the X-Men was in 1980 when me and my brother were given a pile of Marvel Comics by a relative. I think that was the first time I saw an (American) Marvel comic which lead to us collecting them for about four years. Then I moved on to computer games.
The scars caused a bit of controversy in some sections of the media at the time, M. It was claimed that being unable to obtain the free gift might cause kids to mutilate themselves with homemade scars. I'd have thought kids would simply have drawn their own, either on their skin or on a bit of adhesive paper, not reached for their penknives. Perhaps it was a quiet news night that week, and the media over-responded (as usual).
Today (Feb 8th) is 50 years since SMCW #105 came out - with the classic "gangster snowman" cover.
Spidey looks as if he's in front of the gangster/snowman, though he's actually too small in comparison if he is, CJ. 'Classic' for all the wrong reasons, eh?
It's still one of my favourite UK-only Marvel covers, Kid!
That's the power of nostalgia for you, CJ.
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