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Post by berkley on May 5, 2015 21:27:45 GMT -5
Quick question: does anyone know what Fantastic Four issues were plotted by Gerry Conway but not credited to him? On this podcast, 18 minutes in, Gerry Conway says he produced a couple of uncredited plots for the Fantastic Four right when he started work at Marvel. www.stitcher.com/podcast/kevin-knight/eat-geek-play/e/eat-geek-play-podcast-54-gerry-conway-37291329It has to be before his regular stint began with FF 133. My guess is it was probably the two part return of the monster from the lost lagoon, 124-125 (I have various reasons). I left a question on Conway's Facebook page, so hopefully he'll remember and get back. But has anyone heard that before? No, I had stopped reading the FF and comics in general around that time, but I hope it's the Crystal/Pietro story so I can saddle Gerry Conway, whose writing I've never taken to, with that disaster, and stop being annoyed with Roy Thomas, whom I usually like, over what I see as an arbitrary and senseless alteration to my favourite FF character.
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 15, 2016 17:54:34 GMT -5
I checked Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four, Volume Three, out of the library - AGAIN! - and it sat there for a few weeks and all I read was #27, and I decided it wasn't fair for me to have it and not read it, so I decided to take it back over the weekend. And I looked at the contents and I asked myself "Which of these stories do I REALLY need to read before I take it back?" And I ended up reading #23 to #36 over the last two or three days. I love this story! I think I may secretly realize that Fantastic Four #57 to #60 really should be my favorite Doctor Doom story, but I didn't read it until I was 30. Whereas the first time I read Fantastic Four #23, I was 12 and I saw it in a Marvel Treasury Edition! And I've read it over and over through the years. This is Doom as he was before he was somewhat ennobled by Fantastic Four Annual #2. He's nothing more than a petty, revenge-seeking armored gangster using super-science! He recruits three New York ne'er-do-wells with special talents, enhances their human abilities and his master plan unfolds, a revenge plot against the Fantastic Four! I love it! "Handsome Harry" listening to the Invisible Girl's footsteps and knocking her out with sleep gas, Bull Brogin luring the Thing to Yancy Street, Yogi Dakor surprising the Torch with his immunity to fire. And then the final revenge as the Fantastic Four has to figure out how to escape being sucked into another dimension when the magnetic waves sweep over the house with the one room that's been exposed to astral particles. (It has never bothered that this makes no sense.) And then Doom is defeated because he didn't know about Sue's nascent force-field power! Ha! Do your research, rust-face! Fantastic Four #24 is not a nostalgic favorite. I didn't read it until I bought a copy of Marvel Masterworks, Fantastic Four, Volume Three, in the 1990s. (I still have it but it's in storage.) But I love it anyway just for being so crazy! It's like one of those stories from Tales of Suspense or Journey into Mystery (or even Strange Adventures! I saw a DC story with the same basic premise in a reprint, but without super-heroes) that's flown completely off the rails and is completely out of control! And I love the bit where the gangsters get involved and are completely outwitted by the mischievous alien infant! Ha! Reading it yesterday, I noticed a bunch of stuff that makes no sense! I think it's been a long while since I actually sat down and read it closely panel by panel. It's hilarious. And then there's the epic tale of the Fantastic Four meeting the Avengers and fighting the Hulk in Fantastic Four #25 and #26! I consider this my second favorite comic book story ever, only surpassed by Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. This is another one that I've read over and over. It was reprinted in a Marvel Treasury Edition in the mid-1970s that I got second-hand ... and it was missing the last four pages of #26! A few years later, I bought my own copy of #26 (for only $11!) and I finally had the whole story! (Plus, it's reprinted in Fantastic Four Annual #4.) Reed is sick from studying viruses, the Torch gets messed up and goes to the hospital and Sue's force-field power is still pretty new and she can't really challenge the Hulk. So that leaves the Thing and he keeps getting beat up and coming back for more! And then the Avengers show up in #26! The Fantastic Four have recovered and the two super-groups keep getting in each other's way! So much fun! And the cover to #26 is one of my favorite covers of all time.
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Post by tolworthy on Apr 16, 2016 2:30:34 GMT -5
For me the issues from 13 to 43 are the most magical of all. Because in Britain "Fantastic Four Weekly" reprinted 1-12 (I think) as backup strips, and "Fantastic Four pocketbook" reprinted them from 44 onward (the Sinnott issues). So as I collected the complete set (mainly as reprints) there was this magical gap, 13-43. It took me years to track them down, after reading and adoring all the others. It was a kind of lost dark age, a golden age of unattainable awesomeness, So when I finally got my hands on those issues it was like finding the holy grail. That period has a unique style and importance that has never been equalled. Love those issues. Thanks for your post.
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Post by Bronze age andy on Apr 16, 2016 6:05:04 GMT -5
Remember when you had to be a top drawer writer to write the FF? Englehart's run in the 80's was my favorite. But he followed Byrne,Stern,Wein,Conway,Lee/Kirby amongst others . Followed by Simonson and DeFalco. They've had some great ones in the last 20 years yet Marvel's constant reboots have sapped the power of the Worlds Greatest Comic Magazine. Here's to hoping that the "powers that be" need the original "compass" to set every other title right. Just saying. It's weird seeing new comics on the shelf...and no FF.
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Post by Icctrombone on Apr 16, 2016 6:06:18 GMT -5
For me the issues from 13 to 43 are the most magical of all. Because in Britain "Fantastic Four Weekly" reprinted 1-12 (I think) as backup strips, and "Fantastic Four pocketbook" reprinted them from 44 onward (the Sinnott issues). So as I collected the complete set (mainly as reprints) there was this magical gap, 13-43. It took me years to track them down, after reading and adoring all the others. It was a kind of lost dark age, a golden age of unattainable awesomeness, So when I finally got my hands on those issues it was like finding the holy grail. That period has a unique style and importance that has never been equalled. Love those issues. Thanks for your post. Oh Yes! I Agree. Those first 50 or so issues will always have a magical space in my heart.
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Post by Icctrombone on Apr 16, 2016 6:09:24 GMT -5
Remember when you had to be a top drawer writer to write the FF? Englehart's run in the 80's was my favorite. But he followed Byrne,Stern,Wein,Conway,Lee/Kirby amongst others . Followed by Simonson and DeFalco. They've had some great ones in the last 20 years yet Marvel's constant reboots have sapped the power of the Worlds Greatest Comic Magazine. Here's to hoping that the "powers that be" need the original "compass" to set every other title right. Just saying. It's weird seeing new comics on the shelf...and no FF. I believe that top shelf Writers still continued to write the book, Clarmont, Millar, Mcduffie to name a few.
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Post by The Captain on Apr 16, 2016 6:32:36 GMT -5
Remember when you had to be a top drawer writer to write the FF? Englehart's run in the 80's was my favorite. But he followed Byrne,Stern,Wein,Conway,Lee/Kirby amongst others . Followed by Simonson and DeFalco. They've had some great ones in the last 20 years yet Marvel's constant reboots have sapped the power of the Worlds Greatest Comic Magazine. Here's to hoping that the "powers that be" need the original "compass" to set every other title right. Just saying. It's weird seeing new comics on the shelf...and no FF. I believe that top shelf Writers still continued to write the book, Clarmont, Millar, Mcduffie to name a few. Mark Waid had a nice long run on the title as well.
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Post by Bronze age andy on Apr 16, 2016 7:18:47 GMT -5
You're both absolutely right. Great writers all the way through. I liked Fraction's run on it. Waiting for one of the new big dogs to grab Marvel and say "I got this!"
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Post by tingramretro on Apr 16, 2016 8:02:51 GMT -5
For me the issues from 13 to 43 are the most magical of all. Because in Britain "Fantastic Four Weekly" reprinted 1-12 (I think) as backup strips, and "Fantastic Four pocketbook" reprinted them from 44 onward (the Sinnott issues). So as I collected the complete set (mainly as reprints) there was this magical gap, 13-43. It took me years to track them down, after reading and adoring all the others. It was a kind of lost dark age, a golden age of unattainable awesomeness, So when I finally got my hands on those issues it was like finding the holy grail. That period has a unique style and importance that has never been equalled. Love those issues. Thanks for your post. I'm afraid you're misremembering, slightly. The Complete Fantastic Four reprinted the FF's early adventures as backup strips from 1977-1978, a total of 37 weekly issues beginning with #1 (though the last few issues split the FF backups in half, as a third strip- The Invaders-had been added). Fantastic Four Pocketbook ran for 28 monthly issues from 1980-1982, beginning with a reprint of #44 as you said (plus the wedding of Reed and Sue), and then in the Summer of the same year a second weekly, titled just Fantastic Four, began a 29 issue run with reprints beginning at #105.
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Post by tingramretro on Apr 16, 2016 8:04:56 GMT -5
Remember when you had to be a top drawer writer to write the FF? Englehart's run in the 80's was my favorite. But he followed Byrne,Stern,Wein,Conway,Lee/Kirby amongst others . Followed by Simonson and DeFalco. They've had some great ones in the last 20 years yet Marvel's constant reboots have sapped the power of the Worlds Greatest Comic Magazine. Here's to hoping that the "powers that be" need the original "compass" to set every other title right. Just saying. It's weird seeing new comics on the shelf...and no FF. I believe that top shelf Writers still continued to write the book, Clarmont, Millar, Mcduffie to name a few. I psrsonally hated Claremont's run, and would only really qualify Mark Millar as "top shelf" in that, in British newsagents, the top shelf is where they keep the porno magazines...
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Post by tolworthy on Apr 16, 2016 12:53:36 GMT -5
I'm afraid you're misremembering, slightly. The Complete Fantastic Four reprinted the FF's early adventures as backup strips from 1977-1978, a total of 37 weekly issues beginning with #1 (though the last few issues split the FF backups in half, as a third strip- The Invaders-had been added). Fantastic Four Pocketbook ran for 28 monthly issues from 1980-1982, beginning with a reprint of #44 as you said (plus the wedding of Reed and Sue), and then in the Summer of the same year a second weekly, titled just Fantastic Four, began a 29 issue run with reprints beginning at #105. My inability to summarise well strikes again. My original post (before editing and sending) was much longer, but I figured nobody would read the endless trivia, most of which was about me. I finally decided that "FF weekly 12 issues" and "pocketbook from 44" got the general meaning without boring people with details. So here are the boring details. Yes, you are exactly right. "The Complete Fantastic Four" (TCFF) reprinted a complete FF issue each week, plus part of an earlier FF issue as a backup. The main stories were from FF 133 to FF 170 (missing FF 154 which was the FF's first ever "dreaded deadline doom" mostly reprint issue). That is why FF 133-170 are the definitive benchline for the FF for me. Note that FF 133 and 134 are very big o long term continuity. This is also why FF 171 became my all time favourite FF issue. It was where the FF reprints returned to Mighty World of Marvel (MWOM), so it was promoted on the MWOM cover. So I paid more attention to it early on, when I was still discovering the FF. FF 171 was also about long term continuity, and I still consider it the most perfect FF issue ever written. The impact (giant gorilla!), the story (sexy Sue researching new powers on her own, subtly guiding the others - mentioning that Alicia wants children - angry Ben looking back and trying to fit into a changing world, amazing high tech, other worlds, hints of Galactus, humour, George Perez, Joe Sinnott, hints of issue 1 on the cover, etc., etc), every word, every frame, blew me away. The scene where Ben tears off his Thing suit is burned into my memory. That was the moment when I said "I must have every issue of this book!!!!" As you say, TCFF reprinted more than FF issues 1-12, though from TCFF issue 32 (reprinting FF 165 and part of FF 16 IIRC) the Invaders took some space, meaning those reprints became too short to follow easily. That leaves FF issues 1-15 reprinted in sufficient length that a newbie like me could get a feel for them. But recall that at this stage I was not yet committed, so there were huge gaps in my collection, and this particular gap was the last to fill. At the time I focused on British comics (more story on each page). Even back then I was extremely sensitive to price. So most of my comics were from jumble sales (= rummage sales?) - I lived in Nottingham from 1978-1986 and jumble sales were everywhere. It was the golden age for second hand comics: plenty of people were outgrowing kids' comics and dumping old collections, and comics still sold enough for the industry to be healthily competitive. I.e. comics were still good. So every Saturday I'd pick up 30-100 comics for around 2 pence each. It was heaven! Anyhow, the second hand scene is key to my gap in the FF. The inclusion of the Invaders is a strong hint that TCFF was not selling well, and sure enough I didn't come across the later issues until much later. So in the crucial early days when my ideas of the FF were forming, I had a complete run of FF 1-12 as reprints, and sporadic issues thereafter, with almost nothing from 13-43. Except for MWOM 39, reprinting the first half of the Super Skrull story, and it was stunning. I still maintain that some stories are much better when split into two and read on large paper in black and white (with a touch of green). At that moment (1980) the monthly pocketbooks hit the market. As you say, they began with FF annual 3 and carried on with 44-104 IIRC. They set the standard for quality. I will never forget issues 9 and 20: double sized, 100 pages, each with FIVE classic Kirby issues back to back. Needless to say, when the American FF 600 came out, the next 100 page title, I compared it to my previous 100 page issues and to say it was disappointing is an understatement. My bar for FF stories is set VERY high. But I digress. When the monthly was cancelled it was replaced with FF weekly, with reprints starting with FF 105: the first completely non-Kirby story arc, and on the very first page Crystal gets sick and has to leave later that issue. If ever there was a bad omen! Still, Crystal was too good for the ******** who let Kirby go, so I suppose they were too ashamed to keep her around, or realised they just didn't have the writing chops to handle her (rant, gnash, chew). Naturally I bought every issue: my first ever printed comics letter (AFAIK) was in issue 23. But the comic just wasn't good enough value to sell, and after 29 issues it folded. By that point in my collecting career I had a good number of comics from the previous time those stories were reprinted (in MWOM, Captain Britain, etc.) so that was OK. I gradually filled in all the missing issues. The last consecutive issue of the FF reprinted in Britain was probably FF 234, in Marvel Action 21 or 22. By that time they were almost contemporary with the American issues and since Byrne was drawing them and the comics scene was expanding the originals were easy to get, either new or second hand. The reprints by that time were so short (sometimes just four pages a week) that it was hard to care. The glory days were gone. I began buying the new American issues with FF 251 (the Negative Zone "holiday"). by that time my obsession was with continuity: I saw the story as one continuous epic. So Byrne's decision to set the clock back was a kick in the gut. I felt like he had killed the Fantastic Four. Plus his art was not up to Kirby or Perez standards (but what art is?) Still, this was the FF and his stories were reasonably well composed so I stuck it out. But back to the magical issues 13-43. As I said, I saw the story as a complete epic. But while I was slowly filling the 13-43 gap, those issues were very patchy, so I resisted reading them until I could read them all at once. For me the pleasure comes from seeing the big story develop, not the individual issues. Issue 1-12 and 44 on were so different that I was dying to see what happened in between. This was a busy time of my life. I was a teenager: I was growing up! Which means of course that I spent even longer buried in the corner under a mountain of books. Fiction, non-fiction, I read it all. So I put off reading those last magical FF issues until I had the complete set. Such anticipation! Finally I had only one issue left to find: MWOM 74, reprinting half of FF 33. Despite being a cheapskate I could wait no longer for jumble sales to provide the missing link (why did nobody buy this issue??) so I ordered it from Dangerous Visions (the mail order service that advertised in the pocketbooks and elsewhere). Finally I had it in my shaking hands! The complete set from issue 1 to the present! I was finally ready to read the lost Fantastic Four years!!!! And it was worth the wait. So much happened. These issues were so fun, so creative, so light and breezy, yet crucial - so much changed and began in these issues. This is the only time in my life when all at once I had the mother lode of the greatest stories by the greatest writers of the greatest book of all. All at once. I cannot overstate the impact that had on me. Ever since then I have hoped to regain that feeling. I hoped that one day the Fantastic Four would resume their epic story, where everything was connected and the team grew and matured and everything was new and exciting. I wanted to look forward with excitement again. But over the years that dream died. Ever since Englehart was defeated by editorial, the FF has only ever looked backward. And the further we get from the glory days the harder it is for new writers to see what made the FF great. So I finally began a web site where I try to show why the FF was great. I try to show the FF as a single story. But as you can see from this reply, I am not good at putting an idea into a few words. So despite my thousands of words the FF remains my private pleasure. The FF (issues 1 to 333) is a place where I can still explore and discover amazing new things. It is still a doorway to a childhood where everything was growing and changing and exciting and there were no limits. Which I suppose is how comics are supposed to be. And that, folks, is the long version of why FF 13-43 are magical to me. Ah, memories.
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Post by tolworthy on Apr 16, 2016 12:54:33 GMT -5
I would only really qualify Mark Millar as "top shelf" in that, in British newsagents, the top shelf is where they keep the porno magazines... Your one thousandth post. And it was perfect.
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Post by Icctrombone on Apr 16, 2016 16:58:55 GMT -5
I believe that top shelf Writers still continued to write the book, Clarmont, Millar, Mcduffie to name a few. I psrsonally hated Claremont's run, and would only really qualify Mark Millar as "top shelf" in that, in British newsagents, the top shelf is where they keep the porno magazines... I didn't like Claremonts run either but He WAS considered to be a top writer .
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Post by String on Apr 16, 2016 18:43:23 GMT -5
Just saying. It's weird seeing new comics on the shelf...and no FF. Absolutely. Marvel should be ashamed. My first ever issue of FF was: Yes, if memory serves, it was because of the cartoon. (So does that make HERBIE a guilty pleasure?) Later, Bryne's run really drew me into the characters and around that time, Marvel was doing an Official Index series to the title and I remember trying to find every issue because I wanted to learn the history of the book and team. The Essentials reprints were decent but I recently bought the Epic Collection that reprints the first 15 issues I think. After all, the best way to enjoy these classics is within all of their four-color glory.
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Post by tingramretro on Apr 17, 2016 4:57:56 GMT -5
I'm afraid you're misremembering, slightly. The Complete Fantastic Four reprinted the FF's early adventures as backup strips from 1977-1978, a total of 37 weekly issues beginning with #1 (though the last few issues split the FF backups in half, as a third strip- The Invaders-had been added). Fantastic Four Pocketbook ran for 28 monthly issues from 1980-1982, beginning with a reprint of #44 as you said (plus the wedding of Reed and Sue), and then in the Summer of the same year a second weekly, titled just Fantastic Four, began a 29 issue run with reprints beginning at #105. My inability to summarise well strikes again. My original post (before editing and sending) was much longer, but I figured nobody would read the endless trivia, most of which was about me. I finally decided that "FF weekly 12 issues" and "pocketbook from 44" got the general meaning without boring people with details. So here are the boring details. Yes, you are exactly right. "The Complete Fantastic Four" (TCFF) reprinted a complete FF issue each week, plus part of an earlier FF issue as a backup. The main stories were from FF 133 to FF 170 (missing FF 154 which was the FF's first ever "dreaded deadline doom" mostly reprint issue). That is why FF 133-170 are the definitive benchline for the FF for me. Note that FF 133 and 134 are very big o long term continuity. This is also why FF 171 became my all time favourite FF issue. It was where the FF reprints returned to Mighty World of Marvel (MWOM), so it was promoted on the MWOM cover. So I paid more attention to it early on, when I was still discovering the FF. FF 171 was also about long term continuity, and I still consider it the most perfect FF issue ever written. The impact (giant gorilla!), the story (sexy Sue researching new powers on her own, subtly guiding the others - mentioning that Alicia wants children - angry Ben looking back and trying to fit into a changing world, amazing high tech, other worlds, hints of Galactus, humour, George Perez, Joe Sinnott, hints of issue 1 on the cover, etc., etc), every word, every frame, blew me away. The scene where Ben tears off his Thing suit is burned into my memory. That was the moment when I said "I must have every issue of this book!!!!" As you say, TCFF reprinted more than FF issues 1-12, though from TCFF issue 32 (reprinting FF 165 and part of FF 16 IIRC) the Invaders took some space, meaning those reprints became too short to follow easily. That leaves FF issues 1-15 reprinted in sufficient length that a newbie like me could get a feel for them. But recall that at this stage I was not yet committed, so there were huge gaps in my collection, and this particular gap was the last to fill. At the time I focused on British comics (more story on each page). Even back then I was extremely sensitive to price. So most of my comics were from jumble sales (= rummage sales?) - I lived in Nottingham from 1978-1986 and jumble sales were everywhere. It was the golden age for second hand comics: plenty of people were outgrowing kids' comics and dumping old collections, and comics still sold enough for the industry to be healthily competitive. I.e. comics were still good. So every Saturday I'd pick up 30-100 comics for around 2 pence each. It was heaven! Anyhow, the second hand scene is key to my gap in the FF. The inclusion of the Invaders is a strong hint that TCFF was not selling well, and sure enough I didn't come across the later issues until much later. So in the crucial early days when my ideas of the FF were forming, I had a complete run of FF 1-12 as reprints, and sporadic issues thereafter, with almost nothing from 13-43. Except for MWOM 39, reprinting the first half of the Super Skrull story, and it was stunning. I still maintain that some stories are much better when split into two and read on large paper in black and white (with a touch of green). At that moment (1980) the monthly pocketbooks hit the market. As you say, they began with FF annual 3 and carried on with 44-104 IIRC. They set the standard for quality. I will never forget issues 9 and 20: double sized, 100 pages, each with FIVE classic Kirby issues back to back. Needless to say, when the American FF 600 came out, the next 100 page title, I compared it to my previous 100 page issues and to say it was disappointing is an understatement. My bar for FF stories is set VERY high. But I digress. When the monthly was cancelled it was replaced with FF weekly, with reprints starting with FF 105: the first completely non-Kirby story arc, and on the very first page Crystal gets sick and has to leave later that issue. If ever there was a bad omen! Still, Crystal was too good for the ******** who let Kirby go, so I suppose they were too ashamed to keep her around, or realised they just didn't have the writing chops to handle her (rant, gnash, chew). Naturally I bought every issue: my first ever printed comics letter (AFAIK) was in issue 23. But the comic just wasn't good enough value to sell, and after 29 issues it folded. By that point in my collecting career I had a good number of comics from the previous time those stories were reprinted (in MWOM, Captain Britain, etc.) so that was OK. I gradually filled in all the missing issues. The last consecutive issue of the FF reprinted in Britain was probably FF 234, in Marvel Action 21 or 22. By that time they were almost contemporary with the American issues and since Byrne was drawing them and the comics scene was expanding the originals were easy to get, either new or second hand. The reprints by that time were so short (sometimes just four pages a week) that it was hard to care. The glory days were gone. I began buying the new American issues with FF 251 (the Negative Zone "holiday"). by that time my obsession was with continuity: I saw the story as one continuous epic. So Byrne's decision to set the clock back was a kick in the gut. I felt like he had killed the Fantastic Four. Plus his art was not up to Kirby or Perez standards (but what art is?) Still, this was the FF and his stories were reasonably well composed so I stuck it out. But back to the magical issues 13-43. As I said, I saw the story as a complete epic. But while I was slowly filling the 13-43 gap, those issues were very patchy, so I resisted reading them until I could read them all at once. For me the pleasure comes from seeing the big story develop, not the individual issues. Issue 1-12 and 44 on were so different that I was dying to see what happened in between. This was a busy time of my life. I was a teenager: I was growing up! Which means of course that I spent even longer buried in the corner under a mountain of books. Fiction, non-fiction, I read it all. So I put off reading those last magical FF issues until I had the complete set. Such anticipation! Finally I had only one issue left to find: MWOM 74, reprinting half of FF 33. Despite being a cheapskate I could wait no longer for jumble sales to provide the missing link (why did nobody buy this issue??) so I ordered it from Dangerous Visions (the mail order service that advertised in the pocketbooks and elsewhere). Finally I had it in my shaking hands! The complete set from issue 1 to the present! I was finally ready to read the lost Fantastic Four years!!!! And it was worth the wait. So much happened. These issues were so fun, so creative, so light and breezy, yet crucial - so much changed and began in these issues. This is the only time in my life when all at once I had the mother lode of the greatest stories by the greatest writers of the greatest book of all. All at once. I cannot overstate the impact that had on me. Ever since then I have hoped to regain that feeling. I hoped that one day the Fantastic Four would resume their epic story, where everything was connected and the team grew and matured and everything was new and exciting. I wanted to look forward with excitement again. But over the years that dream died. Ever since Englehart was defeated by editorial, the FF has only ever looked backward. And the further we get from the glory days the harder it is for new writers to see what made the FF great. So I finally began a web site where I try to show why the FF was great. I try to show the FF as a single story. But as you can see from this reply, I am not good at putting an idea into a few words. So despite my thousands of words the FF remains my private pleasure. The FF (issues 1 to 333) is a place where I can still explore and discover amazing new things. It is still a doorway to a childhood where everything was growing and changing and exciting and there were no limits. Which I suppose is how comics are supposed to be. And that, folks, is the long version of why FF 13-43 are magical to me. Ah, memories. See, now if you'd only said that in the first place, there'd have been no confusion! I loved Marvel UK, I still have thousands of them. I loved the way, for almost a decade, they maintained continuity with the reprints no matter how many times individual strips moved from one title to another (sadly, that mostly stopped in about 1981 or '82). And by the way, I got a warm glow when you mentioned Dangerous Visions. Ah, the good old days...
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