POOR LITTLE FOXY - R.I.P.

My back garden is so huge, another house could be built on it and still have a bit of garden left over.  Because of its size, foxes like to play and lounge about on hot days, having the occasional snooze.  I usually feed them and some actually take food from my hand, though others do a runner on sight of me.  I haven't fed many lately because I haven't seen much of them, and if I put food out when they're not around, gulls, crows, and magpies scoff it in pretty short order.  I therefore started waiting until I spotted a fox or two and then went out and put food in their dishes.  I always make sure their water bowls are filled so they don't go thirsty, but maybe someone else is supplying them with better quality food than I do, so they've gone elsewhere.

Some years ago there was one particular fox who'd take food from my hand, then lie down a couple of feet away and take a kip when I was resting after filling the bird feeders.  I imagine he's gone to meet his maker, but the fact he enjoyed my garden as a pleasant place to frequent gave me a quiet pride.  Last week when I went out to feed the birds (tuppence a bag), a dead fox was lying on the lawn, looking for all the world like he was sleeping.  He may have been attacked, but it was hard to tell because it was raining and his fur was all matted and wet.  I hope he wasn't poisoned, because other animals are at risk if he was, but whatever caused his demise, I was touched by the fact he sought out the sanctuary of my garden in which to breathe his last.

I considered burying him out there, but then thought better of it in case he was diseased, so I called the Environmental Health Department, who came and took him away to be disposed of.  It was sad to see his corpse, and I wondered if he may have been the baby fox (yes, I know they're called cubs) I photographed in my garden last year.  I sincerely hope not, and he (or she) is enjoying life to the full somewhere with other foxes.  As for the dead fox, I hope he enjoyed whatever span he had and didn't suffer before his end came.

FANTASTIC FOUR #7 FACSIMILE EDITION...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

This is one of my all-time favourites, though I readily confess that nostalgic association likely plays a large part in its exalted status in my estimation.  I first read the tale in 1967 in a UK weekly comic called Wham! and not too long after (around 1968 or '69) in a US issue of Marvel Collectors' Item Classics.  Then it popped up again in The Mighty World Of Marvel in 1973 and The Complete Fantastic Four in 1977, as well as various reprintings of the tale in collected editions down through the years.  Oh, and lest I forget, it also appeared in Panini's monthly Fantastic Four Adventures in 2006. 

The latest is this excellent Facsimile Edition, which includes the mistake in the final panel, where Reed Richards refers to 'reducing gas' when he should've said 'enlarging gas'.  It was corrected in subsequent presentations until Marvel decided to go with a more archival approach and leave the mistakes in instead of correcting them.  In fact, in several instances, they had to restore some errors due to them having been 'fixed' and there being no uncorrected proofs available for printing from.  That meant 'whiting out' the correction and having someone re-letter the original goof, though not always in an unobtrusive way.

The memories this tale conjures up in my mind span all my early encounters of this classic adventure.  I even associate it with the street I used to live in three years before I ever laid eyes on Stan & Jack's space-spanning story, due to having the issue of Wham! with me on a family visit one night to former neighbours in the area in which we'd previously resided.  However, I'll rein in my reminiscences as I'm sure you'll all have your own recollections concerning The Fabulous FF's journey into action and excitement on Planet X, and their confrontation with Kurrgo, its self-appointed Master.  So let's read 'em!

(Incidentally, Panini have just launched a 'new' FF monthly mag, no doubt hoping to capitalise on the new movie featuring the Cosmic Quartet.  It should be available now from all good newsagents and comics shops.  If not, don't blame me.)

Oh, one last thing.  The three UK weekly mags mentioned in the first paragraph reprinted the tale (and others) in two parts over two issues.  It was the first part I had with me when visiting our old neighbours back in '67.  It pays to be precise.

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One thing that's long-bothered me about the tale is that if Planet X is light years away from Earth, would Kurrgo be able to view the FF in real time on his monitor?  Surely the images would take centuries (or ever such a long time) to reach him?  Same goes for the spaceship he sends to our solar system to collect the four and deposit them on X - wouldn't the asteroid have destroyed the planet in the time it takes to make such a journey?  Obviously some space and time warps would be required, but there's no mention of them.  Or am I overthinking things again?