I've written about this before, in the early days on this blog. How the local drugstore in my neighborhood had, for a time in the '70s, a big, replenishing bin of out-of-date Marvel comics, which I later determined had to have been sold to the chain "off the back of the truck" and been reported as pulped. Either way, it gave me a handy target when my interest in the Human Torch led me to seek out issues of FANTASTIC FOUR.
Why did these comics hook me when all earlier attempts at reading Marvel had failed? A few reasons, I think. First of all, I had three issues all at once--typically, the Marvel books I had encountered previously were all continued, and I could never be certain of being able to get the follow-up issues. But here, I got what amounts to a two-parter in the first two books (with a major cliffhanger) and the immediate follow-up to it, which was a large enough chunk to digest all at once.
Secondly--again, especially the first two-parter--this was one of the wackier FF stories done in this era, with the FF captured by the Frightful Four, who then hold open American Idol-style auditions for their fourth member in the Baxter Building. So the content was more upbeat and fun, while still being dramatic, which gave it more in common with the DC books of the time that I liked.
Thirdly, the artwork was much cleaner and more engaging that what I'd encountered in the Marvel books up till this time. Partly that was due to the work of George Perez in the first two issues, but even more of the credit, I think, has to go to Joe Sinnott. Joe's just about my favorite inker ever, whose work always added a clean, sleek finish to any assignment he worked on. A fixture on FANTASTIC FOUR for something in the neighborhood of fifteen years, he kept the characters looking and feeling like themselves throughout, despite any changes of penciler along the way.
Fourthly, I was a couple years older at this point--all of 11--so I had a bit more sophistication coming to the table. And reading these comics was like a voyage of discovery. These days, we talk a lot internally about any given issue possibly being somebody's first, and we try hard to make sure that the reader gets all of the essential information he needs in every issue to follow the story. Well, this wasn't always the case (and we don't always get it right today, either.) So these three issues of FF were very mysterious to me. There were tons of characters to learn about, and they paraded references to their past relationships around seemingly at the drop of a hat, heroes and villains alike. But there was also a wild sense of discovery, as I pieced together the jigsaw puzzle that was this series.
But even this wasn't yet enough to make me a regular Marvel reader. For a short while, I was buying my regular slate of DC titles and FANTASTIC FOUR (and MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS, which reprinted older FF stories). But I didn't immediately branch out to other Marvel books, for which I still had disdain. What can I say, I wasn't the brightest bulb in the rack. And that would soon begin to change, as we'll see tomorrow...
More later.
Tom B
Tom, I really hate that attitude of every comic having to be someone's first.
The first comics I had tossed me right in and if they had stopped and explained more, I probably wouldn't have been so interested in reading more to find out just what was going on. That's a real draw to me, and it is to a lot of kids too, I bet, the sense that you're figuring out something HUGE, like the MU.
Posted by MattDiCarlo on 2007-03-07 16:12:49
I've read titles that I can't make head nor tail of because they were inaccessible. Not bothered with further issues and seen all of them go straight to cancellation.
Posted by Fetsur on 2007-03-07 16:26:47
I'll always remember that cover to "FF" 178, which I picked up cheap in a junk shop when I was a little kid! Classic 70s Marvel right there.
As far as the idea that every comic should be treated as if it were someone's first, I can see how that would be hard to pull off when you consider the very interconnected and complex network of characters in any one book at this point. Something which I really liked from the late 90s was the "Your Guide To The Marvel Universe" recap page, which would either be on the first page or contained in a gatefold of the cover. This guide would not only give the intro speil to the book, but also give a quick glimpse as to who each character was and give a quick recap of the current story. I was reminded of these a few weeks ago when I read "Ghost Rider: Finale," and I know that it is common nowadays for Marvel books to have the recap page. But that 90s style Guide page was totally helpful to a new reader picking up a "Ghost Rider" book from 10 years ago -- I understood who everyone was and what was going on!
Anyways that's just my thoughts on the subject. I'd like to see those style Guides again, even though I know it will never happen. Thanks for listening!
Posted by ljacone on 2007-03-08 08:15:15
FF - New Subscriber I'm a new subscriber and know little about the past happenings of the Fantastic Four. I'll have to look into these older stories at my local shop!
http://mikethomaspe.blogspot.com/
Posted by peimike on 2007-03-09 09:26:52
I agree with Tom about comics where the characters are new and strange being interesting because of the thrill of discovery. I think today's Marvel comics have lost some of that essence with the lack of interconnectedness and focus on just the lead characters. Comics shouldn't be impenetrable, but I think a good example is the Bronze Age Marvel Two-In-Ones and Marvel Team-Ups. If the Thing was appearing with Daredevil you wouldn't get a recap page tellling you DD's whole backstory, but just enough to get you interested in seeking out Daredevil's own comic. It's hard to see that happening a lot these days, as I think it's part of the fun for new readers, and especially as most comics readers are fans who've been reading for a while they can handle guest stars that aren't approached from a lvel of complete unfamiliarity. Admittedly some books like Dan Slott's Thing and She-Hulk are great at this, and it's now slightly better than a few years ago.
Posted by skagandboneman on 2007-03-09 11:41:00
whoops above it should read "it's hard to see that happening these days, WHICH IS SAD as..."
Posted by skagandboneman on 2007-03-09 11:42:55
Fantastic 4 I am a great artist and nedd a college in the midwest where I can get a degree in cartooning!
Posted by Jesse Switters on 2007-03-20 07:53:03
anyone know where one is?
Posted by Jesse Switters on 2007-03-20 07:53:27
Array
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About this blog: Ramblings and musings from the mind of Tom Brevoort. "It won’t be clean. It won’t be fun. It mostly won’t be coherent."
About the author: Tom Brevoort is Executive Editor for Marvel Comics, and oversees such titles as New Avengers, Civil War, and Fantastic Four.
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