1982: FANTASTIC FOUR NOVEMBER COVER GALLERY (Marvel UK)

This is the second bundle of covers from the 1982-83 revival of the FANTASTIC FOUR weekly from Marvel UK, spanning November 1982.

- To Be Continued - 

1982: FANTASTIC FOUR weekly OCTOBER COVER GALLERY (Marvel UK)

This is, according to the counter to my right, my 400th STARLOGGED post of 2013 so I've been holding this - the first part of my next MARVEL UK Cover Gallery - back to coincide with that magic number.  It remains to be seen whether I can muster another 113 posts to beat last year's final figure of 513.

400 posts.  FANTASTIC FOUR.  You can (kinda) see what I've done here.  I hope.

This 1982-83 weekly clocked-up an unimpressive 29 issues before being merged with SPIDER-MAN's weekly, supposedly to make way for the new THOR and X-MEN books.

The FF had been a British fixture right back to 1972 and the first issue of THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL (and actually back into pre-history thanks to the sixties Power Comics reprints of the same material) but this was Marvel's third crack at making their first family stick as a standalone title in the UK.  THE COMPLETE FANTASTIC FOUR ran for 37 issues between 1977-78 before merging back into THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL, possibly because its cover-to-cover reprints were devouring material too fast to make it sustainable.

The foursome were back in 1980 as part of the POCKET BOOKS range.  With Dez Skinn long gone, the digest-sized line ran out of steam in 1982 but I assume the sales figures on THE FABULOUS FANTASTIC FOUR led directly to the launch of this weekly replacement.

The format followed the post-November 1981formula of 24-pages with glossy covers and centre-spreads with black & white interiors.  This earns it a little footnote in the history of the Annex of Ideas: the last new launch to have (centre-spread not withstanding) purely b&w interiors.  THE MIGHTY THOR would, after a (very) shaky start usher in a new era of colour interiors.

The reprints covered roughly the same timeframe as the FF's last weekly, kicking-off with a rerun of The Monster in the Streets from US FF 105, cover-dated December 1970.

I've blogged about the FF on this side of the Atlantic a few times before:
- Their Hero History, right through to the Panini era, can be found here.
- A Cover Gallery for THE COMPLETE FANTASTIC FOUR can be found here and here.
- An overview of the POCKET BOOKS line can be found here.
- The short-lived MARVEL ACTION HOUR TV spin-off, including the FF, is here.
- Ben Grimm's short-lived solo book, THE THING IS BIG BEN, is here.
- The colour-me-in FANTASTIC FOUR ALBUM is here.
- The FF run in MARVEL TEAM UP is here.
- Their brief stint in MARVEL ACTION is covered here.

- To Be Continued - 

1977: THE COMPLETE FANTASTIC FOUR - PART ONE

It's been a while since I've done a Marvel UK cover gallery so - to make amends - here's the first part of a multi-part rundown of THE COMPLETE FANTASTIC FOUR, from 1977-78.

Marvel's first family had been part of the all-star inaugural line-up of THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL (along with SPIDER-MAN and THE INCREDIBLE HULK) back in 1972, but they didn't graduate to their own solo title until September 1977 (Spidey, by way of comparison, only had to wait until 1973.  The Jolly Green Giant was left holding-the-fort until his own weekly in '79).

TCFF, as the name suggests, ran the equivalent of one relatively recent US issue per week (reprinted from c1973), backed-up by MORE FF dating back to 1961 and US issue 1.

The weekly followed M-UK's standard late-seventies formula: a black-and-white interior (on newsprint) wrapped inside a glossy cover.

A fantabulosa field day for FF fans, but no-one in the US Bullpen (who were, presumably, making these decisions based on the advise of the UK branch) seems to have spotted that devouring one US monthly ever week was going to - eventually - cause problems.  Maybe no-one thought this would survive long enough for it to matter.  Or, maybe, they never planned TCFF to have - ahem - a long shelf life.

True to M-UK form, TCFF managed to survive only a year, returning Reed and family to THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL (from issue 298) after only 37 issues.

The FF flew solo again (talking of flying... I'm not impressed by the utterly unrelated free gifts with the launch issues) in 1980 with the launch of their POCKET BOOK.  That ended, along with the last vestiges of the range, in 1982... just in time for a second (shorter-lived) solo weekly (which also reprinted early seventies fare).

ISSUE 1

28 September 1977

ISSUE 2

5 October 1977

ISSUE 3

12 October 1977

ISSUE 4

19 October 1977

ISSUE 5

26 October 1977

ISSUE 6

2 November 1977

ISSUE 7

9 November 1977

ISSUE 8

16 November 1977

ISSUE 9

23 November 1977

ISSUE 10

30 November 1977

ISSUE 11

7 December 1977

ISSUE 12

14 December 1977

ISSUE 13

21 December 1977

ISSUE 14

28 December 1977

ISSUE 15

4 January 1978

ISSUE 16

11 January 1978

ISSUE 17

18 January 1978

ISSUE 18

25 January 1978

ISSUE 19

1 February 1978

- TO BE CONTINUED - 

THE FANTASTIC FOUR AT MARVEL UK

As we're celebrating (what would have been) Marvel UK's 40th anniversary this year, it seems appropriate to look back at the publishing career of Marvel's first super team... who happened to be there when it all began...

Marvel's first family made their Marvel UK debut, appropriately enough, in the first M-UK weekly: THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL (but, of course, Power Comics readers of the late sixties would already know the foursome).

After that... things got interesting...

THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL (Volume 1)
1972 - 1975

329 ISSUES

1972 - 1979

The FF were part of Marvel's big-three line-up.  And the second to depart, after Spider-man, leaving the Hulk to hold the fort until 1979.

The FF reprints began, predictably enough, with US FANTASTIC FOUR issue 1.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN (Volume 1)

1975 - 1976

39 ISSUES

1975 - 1976

The "in full colour" cover splash was a tadge misleading: Captain Britain and Steranko's gorgeous Nick Fury were indeed in colour but the Fantastic Four, relegated to third-feature status, had to settle for the black-and-white bit in the middle.

But, they had the last laugh.  With sales bottoming out and US reprints of the lead feature sparse, the whole weekly went black and white (with a glossy cover) from issue 24.

But... that wasn't enough... and Britain's champion merged with SPIDER-MAN from 8 July 1976.

THE COMPLETE FANTASTIC FOUR

1977 - 1978

53 ISSUES

The Foursome get some solo action in their own weekly, albeit not for long.

The reprints kicked-off with US FANTASTIC FOUR 133 (April 1973).

The same run of reprints would appear again in SPIDER-MAN from issue 545 (17 August 1983).

The weekly proved short-lived and the FF were back in THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL from issue 298.

THE FABULOUS FANTASTIC FOUR POCKET BOOK

1980 - 1982

28 ISSUES

1980 - 1982

The FF were part of Marvel's first wave of Pocket Books, kicking off a run of reprints from US FANTASTIC FOUR 43.

MARVEL TEAM-UP

1980 - 1981

25 ISSUES

1980 - 1981

Back to the weeklies, and more contemporary reprints, in this short-lived supporting feature slot.

MARVEL TEAM-UP merged with Spider-man (briefly becoming the clumsily titled SPIDER-MAN AND HULK WEEKLY INCORPORATING MARVEL TEAM-UP) from March 1981.

FANTASTIC FOUR WINTER SPECIAL 1980

The 1980 FF Winter Special rolled out a reprint of US WHAT IF 22.

MARVEL ACTION

1981

15 ISSUES

1981

Just a few weeks after MARVEL TEAM-UP had passed on, the FF were back in Marvel's latest weekly: the even more short-lived MARVEL ACTION.

Looking like the kiss-of-death, the FF's new home managed a meagre fifteen weeks on newsagents shelves before merging with CAPTAIN AMERICA, taking the foursome (briefly) with it.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

1981

Here they are again, along with Thor, in CAPTAIN AMERICA weekly from issue 21 (15 July 1981).

FANTASTIC FOUR SUMMER SPECIAL 1982

Presumably to test the waters for their next weekly, the FF went solo again in the summer of '82.

FANTASTIC FOUR (Volume 2)

1982 - 1983

29 ISSUES

1982 - 1983

Reaction to the FF's summer excursion must have been good (or Marvel's management were running out of fresh ideas) as they were back in their own weekly that autumn.

The reprints rolled back to 1970 and US FANTASTIC FOUR 105.

The FF Pocket Book had closed in the summer of '82, the reappearance of a weekly presumably demonstrating that it was one of the more successful.

The new weekly was not a rousing success and it closed after a mere 29 issues.  Marvel's explanation: they didn't have time to produce it AND their two new colour weeklies THOR and X-MEN.  Yup.  Nothing at all to do with lousy sales.

SPIDER-MAN

1983

The FF merged with SPIDER-MAN from issue 529 (27 April 1983), enjoying a reasonable run as supporting feature.  A position they should have been familiar with.  

From issue 545, M-UK began to repeat strips previously published in THE COMPLETE FANTASTIC FOUR, albeit now with some pages in colour.

FANTASTIC FOUR WINTER SPECIAL 1983

What did casual UK readers make of this full-colour (whoa!) reprint of the humorous Fred Hembeck one-shot FANTASTIC FOUR ROAST?

THE THING IS BIG BEN

1984

Marvel Two-In-One, starring the Thing, must have made an impression in RAMPAGE monthly as, suddenly (and inexplicably... unless M-UK anticipated a belated UK outing for the decidedly off-message  FRED AND BARNEY MEET THE THING animated series), Ben Grimm was granted his own weekly.

But... Fame is fleeting (and the animated show never aired in the UK) and, to the surprise of no-one, the hilariously-named THE THING IS BIG BEN suddenly merged with SPIDER-MAN.

SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS

1986

The FF were announced as the third-feature (IE: the one that didn't get its name in the title) in the revitalised Spider-man weekly, beginning with issue 1.  But, apparently, Marvel encountered distributor resistance to featuring two superhero strips and switched the FF for the toy-based Sectaurs (its also possible Marvel were paid to run the strip!).  The FF did appear a few weeks later but, in what would become a SM&Z tradition, only stuck around for one story before vacating the back-up slot.

MARVEL ACTION HOUR

1996

4 ISSUES

1996

A VERY long gap before the FF's next appearance, linked to the belated UK debut of the animated MARVEL ACTION HOUR animated series.

Surprisingly, the fortnightly didn't reprint either the FF or Iron Man strips tied to the TV show published in the States, opting instead for seventies reprints.

Presumably falling victim to poor sales (the BBC ran the TV show early on Saturday mornings) and the declining fortunes of Marvel UK, Action Four vanished suddenly after only four issues.

For more Action Hour: see here.

THE POST MARVEL UK YEARS

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR

2005 - 2006

10 ISSUES

2005 - 2006

Timed to coincide with the 2005 feature film, this companion to ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN and ULTIMATE X-MEN proved the least popular in the UK, ending after only 10 issues.

FANTASTIC FOUR ADVENTURES

2005 - 2012

Panini must have high hopes for the FF movie, adding FANTASTIC FOUR ADVENTURES to their Collectors' Edition line alongside the A4 Ultimate FF.  It proved the bigger hit, running until 2012 (clearing space for the launch of THE INCREDIBLE HULKS COLLECTORS' EDITION).

As with the other titles in the CE format, it reprinted near-contemporary US material.

It rebooted in 2010 with a new number one.

1980: MARVEL UK'S POCKET BOOKS LINE

Back in 1980, as part of his Marvel Revolution Project, Marvel UK boss Dez Skinn was charged with increasing the Annex of Idea's output without devouring contemporary material at an even greater (and unsustainable - special UK strips were already being created by the New York mothership to fuel STAR WARS WEEKLY) rate.  As with Skinn's seasonal specials (launched the previous year), Skinn also looked to his competitors for his next 'innovation': digests!

Rivals DC Thompson and IPC had been cranking-out their pocket library digests for years... considerably longer than Marvel's wannabes would last.

Skinn believed their diminutive size would ensure newsagents placed them at the front of displays, ensuring maximum exposure.  The bitter truth was that they were more likely to get lost in the sea of comics or racked adjacent to the more attractive (colour!) US imports.  Marvel's oft-patchy distribution certainly didn't help.

The A5, black and white, pocket book line largely exploited Marvel's sixties back catalogue with only CHILLER, STAR HEROES and, briefly, SPIDER-MAN running more recent material.

The range (initially THE FABULOUS FANTASTIC FOUR, SPIDER-MAN, CHILLER and STAR HEROES) launched in March 1980 with a second wave (YOUNG ROMANCE, TITANS, THE INCREDIBLE HULK and CONAN THE BARBARIAN) launched in September.

Several of the featured characters (The Hulk, Conan, Spider-man etc.) were already appearing elsewhere in the Marvel UK line-up: an early example of M-UK brand extension.

The first wave was heavily cross-promoted in the Pocket Books range and the wider Marvel line but the second range received much less publicity and, by 1981 (and the first raft of cancellations), Marvel's new management seemed to have lost interest in the digests with barely an editorial nod.

CHILLER POCKET BOOK

28 ISSUES

March 1980 - July 1982

Horror strips including THE TOMB OF DRACULA, MAN-THING and material from the US horror comic and magazine lines.

Issues 9 & 20 were double-length.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN POCKET BOOK

13 ISSUES

September 1980 - November 1981

Conan reprints from US CONAN THE BARBARIAN issue 1 onwards.

This material had previously appeared in the UK in SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN (Volume 1), 1975.

Conan strips also ran in THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN (volume 2) and VALOUR (latterly FUTURE TENSE AND VALOUR) during this period.

Issue 3 was double-length.

THE FABULOUS FANTASTIC FOUR POCKET BOOK

28 ISSUES

April 1980 - July 1982

Reprints from US THE FANTASTIC FOUR 43 onwards.

The FF had previously had a solo run in THE COMPLETE FANTASTIC FOUR (53 issues) from September 1977.

More contemporary FF reprints were also appearing in MARVEL TEAM-UP (1980), MARVEL ACTION (1981) and CAPTAIN AMERICA (1981) during this period.

The foursome graduated to their own weekly (29 issues) from 6 October 1982 - 20 April 1983.

FF POCKET BOOK issue 1 editorial

THE INCREDIBLE HULK POCKET BOOK

13 ISSUES

September 1980 - November 1981

Reprints from US THE INCREDIBLE HULK issue 1 onwards.

Previously reprinted in THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL (volume one), 1973.

Issue 3 was double-length.

The Hulk's popularity was bolstered during this period by the Universal live-action TV show.

The Green Goliath also appeared in HULK COMIC, SPIDER-MAN AND HULK WEEKLY and RAMPAGE MONTHLY during this period.

SPIDER-MAN POCKET BOOK

28 ISSUES

March 1980 - July 1982

Initially a venue for MARVEL TEAM-UP reprints, these strips were swiftly diverted to the new weekly of the same name, replaced here by sixties Spider-man reprints beginning with US AMAZING FANTASY 15.

Despite Skinn's request for mail (above), none of the Pocket Books range ever featured a letters page.

Issues 9 & 20 were double-length.

Spider-man also appeared in SPIDER-MAN weekly and MARVEL TEAM-UP weekly during this period.

The Spider-man reprints continued briefly in THE DAREDEVILS, 1982.

STAR HEROES POCKET BOOK

13 ISSUES

March 1980 - May 1981

13 Issues

Piloted with (the standard-format) STAR HEROES WINTER SPECIAL 1979.

Contemporary reprints of the TV-based BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and toy-based THE MICRONAUTS.

Episodes of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (1978-79) were initially reworked as feature films in the UK.  The TV series did not debut until September 1980 (with some ITV regions airing it considerably later).

A 'rival' Battlestar strip also appeared in LOOK-IN weekly during this period.

THE MICRONAUTS had initially appeared as a back-up strip in STAR WARS WEEKLY.  They would appear next in FUTURE TENSE (1981).

Original X-Men strips, beginning with US THE UNCANNY X-MEN 1, were added from issue 10.  

Becomes X-MEN POCKET BOOK from issue 14.

STAR HEROES HOUSE AD

THE TITANS POCKET BOOK

13 ISSUES

September 1980 - November 1981

Avengers-centric sixties reprints of Captain America, Iron Man and The Mighty Thor.

Issue 3 was double-length.

TITANS was previously a landscape-format weekly (coining the description "Titans format") published for 58 issues between 25 October 1975 and 24 November 1976, merging with SPIDER-MAN from 199.

THE X-MEN POCKET BOOK

14 ISSUES*

June 1981 - August 1982

Issues 1-13 published as STAR HEROES POCKET BOOK.  Issues 14-28 as THE X-MEN POCKET BOOK.

X-Men reprints began to appear from issue 10, with the covers redesigned (see above) to prepare for the change of title.

X-Men reprints began from US THE UNCANNY X-MEN 1.  The same material, albeit in colour and at a larger page size, would appear again in 1983 in X-MEN weekly.

YOUNG ROMANCE POCKET BOOK

13 ISSUES

September 1980 - November 1981

Classic Marvel romance strips, presumably pitched at a female audience (making it a rarity amongst Marvel UK's output of this period).

POCKET BOOKS ASSORTED HOUSE ADS: