THE FANTASTIC FOUR MAGS THAT NEVER WERE - (COVER GALLERY) PART ONE...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Okay, the title is slightly misleading in order to attract your attention and pique your curiosity, but there's a strong element of truth to it - from my perspective.  You see, out of 54 Fantastic Four mags whose covers you'll drool over in this two-part post, I never bought, owned, or read most of them when they were first published back in the 1970s.  I started to acquire the previously unknown issues (unknown to me, that is) only recently in order to fill in the gaps in my existing collection, none of which are the original copies I had at the time, but replacements I've mostly had for decades now.

That perhaps requires qualifying.  For instance, I originally bought FF #126 on Friday 6th October 1972 from a newsagent's shop in Hamilton, Scotland, but the three replacements I own today were purchased (separately, by mail order) probably around 30 or so years ago.  I acquired 127 and 128 around the same time, though never had them when they were first published or anywhere near to it.  The ones I did own as a teenager, starting from #126 (which was the first then-current issue I bought while living in my current abode), were 133, 150-153, 158-176, and perhaps, maybe, possibly 200 - though I suspect I got that as a back issue long after the fact - possibly around the time John Byrne became writer/artist on the title.  (Sadly, my memory's not what it was - today that is, though it might be less vague on another day.)

Anyway, not counting #200 due to my uncertainty, that's 25 issues of the FF that I bought brand-new when first published (or at least when they turned up in Britain), which isn't a lot of comics in the scheme of things.  And I have to take my failing memory into account and consider the possibility of there being the odd issue in that lot that I didn't actually own (but think I did because I've confused the original covers with those of the UK Complete Fantastic Four weekly reprint comic), as well as there being one or two I did own, but don't remember doing so.  (Yeah, confusing, isn't it?)

Luckily, I possess the first 14 or 15 issues of the Marvel Masterworks FF volumes (as well as quite a few original issues featured in them), which takes me up to #150 (and a bit beyond perhaps), so I decided to acquire any missing issues between 150 and 200, plus 201, 202 and 203, which amounts to 54 issues in all, 23 of which I once owned back in the day and had since replaced.

I should add that there were times in the '70s when I bought earlier issues of the FF drawn by Jack Kirby, but although they were purchased 'brand-new' from spinner-racks at cover price, they were mostly obtained in seaside resorts, which always seemed to have a plethora of older issues not available elsewhere.  Whether they'd had them in stock for years or they were recent warehouse finds of what had once been ballast on ships I couldn't say, but they were welcome acquisitions nonetheless.  However, I'm not including them here as I think I covered them in a previous post or two.  (Never say never though; I might feature them again someday.)

Anyway, that's my usual long-winded fashion of preparing you for a visual treat.  Before you get to the 'meat and potatoes' though, I feel bound to point out that the Jack Kirby covers are the weakest of the bunch when it comes to quality - though they still retain a certain visual impact.  Sadly, Kirby's skills had deserted him by this stage of his career and there's a lot of 'dodgy drawing' going on in his covers, which even the inking of Joe Sinnott couldn't quite dilute or disguise.  A shame, but there it is.  I'm sure you'll enjoy seeing them (again) anyway.

Right, pull back the curtains and let's look at the first 27 covers - the remaining 27 will be seen in part two once I receive a pair of replacement copies for ones that went missing in the post a couple of weeks back (had to buy them again from elsewhere, should be here in a day or two).  Comments welcome if you can be bothered.

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