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.

BABE Of The DAY - CATWOMAN...

Copyright DC COMICS

Yeah, only a 'drawing', but she sure is a hottie!

The UNTOLD LEGEND Of The BATMAN...

Copyright DC COMICS

Here's a 'little' beauty that's just been delivered into my eager mitts - The Untold Legend Of The Batman.  I have the original 3-issue series from 1980 (which is how long I've owned it), a standard-size paperback book containing all three stories, and an audio dramatization with reprints of the original comics, but with cardboard covers.  And now I've got a 'treasury size' limited edition for good measure.

What's interesting about it is that it doesn't appear to be a facsimile of a previously published Special, it's more of a 'what if' presentation - y'know, like a 'Lost Annual'.  Some ads from the period are included, but they're likely taken from other '80s mags and included here to give it a touch of authenticity.  Anyway, allow me to show you some pictures from it... and once you've savoured them, feel free to comment.

F.O.O.M. STANDS FOR WHAT...?

Back in 1972/'73 when F.O.O.M. was being prepared, according to commenter Gene Phillips, Marvel asked readers if they could come up with their own ideas for what the initials might stand for, other than Friends Of Ol' Marvel.  I don't know what the result was, but it seems like a great idea to me.  So, Crivvies, what can you suggest might have been a better name for the Marvel club known as F.O.O.M.?

I'll start us off:  Fantabulous Organisation of Marvel.  Or: Far-out Organ Of Marvel.  Or: Followers Of Outright Magnificence.  Or: ???  The floor's now yours. 

The SECRET UNKNOWN WORLDS Of ALAN CLASS - WELL, NOW YOU CAN KNOW...

Copyright relevant owner

Arrived yesterday at Castel Crivens, two items celebrating publisher Alan Class's 30 year career from 1959 to 1989, with Mr. Class still very much around at the ripe old age of 87.  I was originally too tired (and lazy) to scan my own copies, so used images from the Gosh! Comics website when I first published this post, though I've since replaced them with my own items.  (I didn't want you blaming me for  the reflection of the camera flash on Creepy Worlds #250.)

They could be sold out by now, but it wouldn't hurt to try and obtain them if you were a reader of Alan Class mags back in the day.  The 'Secrets Of The Unknown...' tome by Nick Neocleous has some very nice colour cover reproductions to prompt your memory of bygone days from your comics-reading youth, and also contains an interview with Mr. Class himself.

As for Creepy Worlds #250, it contains some nice 'public domain' strips, plus a couple of brand-new ones produced (I think) specially for this anniversary number.  Definitely worth having, especially if you happen to own the preceding 249 issues (and even if you don't).  Both items are autographed by Alan Class and Nick Neocleous, inside the book and on the back of the mag.

LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT - SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY #1...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

In just over a week it'll be 52 years since the very first issue of SMCW went on sale.  If you were around back then and are anything like me, you'll probably find that hard to grasp as it only seems like a few years ago at the most.  Looking at the above cover reminds me of family and friends who are now gone, as well as places that either no longer exist or have changed beyond recognition.  However, while perusing this mag, for a few seconds at least, everything is at it was, and in the back of my mind, still is.  Long may it be so, eh, Crivvies?  Feel free to comment.

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February 10th 1973 was the day SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY #1 went on sale (and the secret of FOOM was revealed to the waiting world).  After sharing the first 19 issues of The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL, the web-spinner was awarded his own mag, backed up by The MIGHTY THOR, with ol' Shell-head, The INVINCIBLE IRON MAN, joining them in issue #50.

A week this coming Monday, is the 52nd anniversary of this collectors' item classic, so I thought I'd treat you to a selection of covers and images from SM's very first pulsating periodical in the U.K.  He'd previously appeared in POW! back in the '60s and then TV21 at the start of the '70s, but this was the first British weekly that presented full, uncut adventures in a publication with him as the title star.

So feast your eyes on the pics that follow, and indulge yourself in warm recollections of when you first laid eyes on them 52 years ago.  (And dig that dynamic JIM STARLIN illo on the back page.  Terrific stuff, eh?)  Okay, ready for your trip back in time?

Then let's go!

It was exactly one day short of six years since this story had appeared in FANTASTIC #1.  Nowadays,
six years seems like only a fart in the wind to me, but back then it felt like half a lifetime away.  In fact,
considering I'd not long turned 14 when SMCW #1 appeared, it practically was.

This Starlin illustration was also used as the cover of MWOM #20

And below is the paper bag mask given away with this first issue.  Were any readers happy with this free gift I wonder?

(This is a slightly revised post of one first published on Tuesday, February 5th 2013.)

LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT - FANTASTIC #1...

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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.)

  

The MISSING LINK copyright relevant owners

And if you'd like to read the complete episode, click here.

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.)

GIANT SUPERMAN ANNUAL #7 (1963) - SILVER ANNIVERSARY ISSUE... (Updated)

Copyright DC COMICS

"Look... up in the space above... it's a bird... it's a 'plane... it's a comicbook!"  I've fancied owning this mag for a while now and finally managed to obtain one at a reasonable price.  John Byrne gave this mag a 'nod' when he drew the 'final' choice of cover for Action Comics #600, the Golden Anniversary issue.  I bought two or three of them at the time, and I thought it would be nice to acquire the Silver Anniversary ish to keep them company, so that's precisely what I did, Crivvies.  (I'm sure you all approve.)

Tell you what, let's cop a gander at the splash pages contained therein.  No, don't try to talk me out of it - nothing's too much trouble for my faithful readers.  All I ask is that you leave a comment in return - now that's surely not too much to ask, is it?  Remember that all images can be enlarged by clicking on them, then clicking again for optimum size.

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Incidentally, 'The Origin Of The Superman-Batman Team!' demonstrates just how 'elastic' DC was with continuity*.  In this strip, Bruce Wayne's parents are still alive (the Waynes having moved to Smallville) and Bruce is a similar age to Clark Kent, not the younger kid he was at the time of Thomas and Martha Wayne's death.  Bruce also displays an 'amazing mind' and is a 'walking encyclopaedia', as well as possessing an 'amazingly athletic body' (his own, natch) - attributes which weren't developed (over a period of years) until after his parents were shot, not before.  (Interesting that the mothers of Bruce and Clark share the same first name.)

(*There are at least three different versions of how they first met, though when one was later reprinted, some lettering was amended to change the story into how they first discovered each other's secret identities.) 

And below is the John Byrne cover from Action Comics #600 (1988) - the Golden Anniversary issue, clearly inspired by Giant Superman Annual #7...

BABE Of The DAY - SALLY JAMES...

Hands up who watched TISWAS back in the day?

Like me, did you watch it purely to ogle at Sally James,

or was it Spit the Dog or the Phantom Flan-Flinger

who sent your pulse racing and fired you with desire?  If

 it was either of the latter two, you're a filthy pervert.