The FANTASTIC FOUR #2 FACSIMILE EDITION... (Updated)

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Here's one I meant to show you last week - The Fantastic Four #2 Facsimile Edition.  Indicia in the wrong place (should be under the inside cover's ad), though it's got the 'Continued After Next Page' lines, which adds to its 'archival authenticity'.  Here's a few images to whet your appetite Crivvies - it'll look good sitting next to your facsimile of FF #1.  I wish Marvel would do FEs of all the Lee/Kirby FF issues - that'd be awesome.

At the story's end, one of the Skrulls disappears, meaning Jack perhaps intended him to have died when his rocket-pack exploded after colliding with Johnny, or a page was omitted for reasons of space.  If the former, maybe Stan wanted to avoid casualties, hence there being no reference to any demise.  Four Skrulls are shown tied up in one panel, but unless a page was cut, one Skrull might've been added by another hand to make up the numbers, before Stan decided just to explain the absentee with a hastily-contrived (and inadequate) remark from Reed.  

Below is the cover as it was originally drawn and lettered, before being amended for publication at the behest of Stan (in all probability).  It's likely that the production stat of this (uncoloured) version of the cover was used to re-create the appearance of the published version for reprints years later, with a couple of things being inadvertently overlooked in the process.

Namely, when the blurbs and speech balloons were deleted, part of the tail of Johnny's was missed and some floorboard lines were overlooked when the floor was 'lowered'.  (Where are the proofreaders when you need 'em?)  Though it's possible the original '60s altered cover stat was used (if it survived) and some process white had cracked and dropped off in the intervening years, but to reiterate, I suspect it's a re-creation utilising an unaltered stat of the initial version.

And below is the facsimile cover after I've applied a little smattering of digital technology to remove the 'extended' floorboards and the balloon tail.  My talent knows no bounds.  (Or should that be my bounds know no talent?)  Aside from the price, barcode, and Marvel logo, this is how the cover looked when originally published.