THE COMPLETE FANTASTIC FOUR COVER GALLERY COMPENDIUM...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Life just isn't complete without a Marvel UK cover gallery - so, Crivvies, I give you The Complete Fantastic Four Cover Gallery Compendium.  No, not every single issue of every single mag of their own they've ever appeared in, but rather all 37 covers of their weekly periodical from 1977/'78, plus an Annual which, going by the contents, was a tie-in to the weekly in that it included The Invaders - just like the last five issues of the comic.  I've also included the back cover of the final ish, so you know there was life for the FF beyond their own title, and that they didn't disappear from weekly comics with its demise.

I've shown these images before, along with pin-ups, puzzles, splash pages, etc., in an episodic series a few years back, but I thought I'd cut to the chase this time and just include the full-colour covers for your perusal.  This was a great wee comic, as testified to by the fact that someone I knew back then who you'd never think would be into superhero comics, also bought it every week.  You could've knocked me down with a feather when he happened to mention it one day.  There's a possibility he first became curious as to what it was all about when he saw me buying it regularly, but I can't ask him now as he died a good few years back.

Anyway, any fond memories of this mag, Crivs, back when you were in the full flower of your youth?  (H'mm, that sounds a bit pervy, but you know what I mean.)  Reveal all in the comments section.  (Gosh, that sounds a bit pervy too, unintentional as it was.  My innocence has been corrupted by the age we now live in.)

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For some odd reason, back then I hadn't kept any of my Mighty World Of Marvel issues which had reprinted the classic '60s FF tales (obtained replacements years later though), so this comic was greatly appreciated by me as it gave me the opportunity to re-experience them, a mere five years after they'd appeared in Marvel UK's flagship title (MWOM).  They didn't have the green spot colour or the occasional full-colour interior pages, but neither were any stories edited to cut them down to a more manageable length (apart from being split over two issues), nor were the tiers trimmed to make them fit slightly different dimensions.

It would be a good many years (decades in fact) before the FF were served in the way they deserved to be in Britain, with Panini's monthly Fantastic Four mag, all in full-colour throughout.  Until then, The Complete FF was the best UK mag the Cosmic Quartet had appeared in.  Whenever I browse through their pages today, I'm whisked right back to the '70s faster than a... (you know the rest, finish it yourselves).     

This 1979 Annual would've been in production at the beginning of 1978 at the latest (possibly even
near the end of '77) when the weekly was still being published, which is why I consider it a tie-in

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