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Post by Farrar on Nov 18, 2018 13:55:38 GMT -5
We'll be leaving 1968 after next month, so I may as well bring this up now. I was wondering if anyone had this Fantastic Four Big Little Book that was published in 1968. Here's an image of the book (this is from eBay; there are plenty of copies there). After reading about this book online, I bought a copy from eBay a few years ago. The book's story was very familiar to me, so I knew I'd first read this book many years ago, probably when it was first published or shortly after. But I had no recollection of ever actually owning this book and I doubted that any store in my (then-)neighborhood would've carried this item. So I figured I must've read a friend's copy back then.  Well, some months ago my cousins and I were going through a bunch of old photos. We came upon was a faded black and white old photo of a big family gathering that included all of us cousins/kids sitting together on a too-small sofa. I took a closer look and what do you know--well, look what's in my greedy little hands!  So I did have this book after all! It's weird, I can remember where I bought my comics back then (which stores), but I had completely forgotten--until seeing this photo--that back in the day, I'd also actually owned this Big Little Book. |
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Post by beccabear67 on Nov 18, 2018 14:38:02 GMT -5
I had that one, what are the odds though as I think I've only ever had three or four big little books in my life! I had a nice earlier Aquaman one once also in the semi-hard covers, a bit more memorable that one. |
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Post by berkley on Nov 19, 2018 9:53:04 GMT -5
Yes I read that FF and several other Big Little books as a kid. The FF was by far my favourite of them all and the only one I've kept after all these years.
It was also probably one of the earlier FF stories I read in any medium, since when I look at the comics the earliest issues I can remember reading at the time were on the stands in the 2nd half of 1967 (e.g. FF Annual #5). I'm pretty sure I was given the Big Little book for Christmas, so I imagine that would have been the Christmas of 1968, unless it was out early enough for very end of 1967. Either way, it would only have been at most a year and a half after my first FF comics.
I think the artwork in it is quite good. Someone here at Classics, or maybe at the old CBR version, informed me that the artwork was by Herb Trimpe. I think the inks look like they might have been by Sinnott. Trimpe should have had a good long stint on the FF after Kirby left, IMO. I think his style might have worked well with the series and with Sinnott's inks. At least I would love to have seen how it looked.
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Post by Farrar on Nov 19, 2018 21:10:29 GMT -5
Yes I read that FF and several other Big Little books as a kid. The FF was by far my favourite of them all and the only one I've kept after all these years. It was also probably one of the earlier FF stories I read in any medium, since when I look at the comics the earliest issues I can remember reading at the time were on the stands in the 2nd half of 1967 (e.g. FF Annual #5). I'm pretty sure I was given the Big Little book for Christmas, so I imagine that would have been the Christmas of 1968, unless it was out early enough for very end of 1967. Either way, it would only have been at most a year and a half after my first FF comics. It's coming back to me now that when I read the BLB I was annoyed because the story was not in continuity. For example in the FF comics I was reading at the time Sue was several months pregnant, but she wasn't in the BLB. Also, since I remember that when I read this BLB Sue was pregnant but hadn't yet given birth to Franklin, I figure I must have gotten this BLB some time before August 1968, when FF Annual #6 was published (issue in which Sue gives birth). I think the artwork in it is quite good. Someone here at Classics, or maybe at the old CBR version, informed me that the artwork was by Herb Trimpe. I think the inks look like they might have been by Sinnott. Trimpe should have had a good long stint on the FF after Kirby left, IMO. I think his style might have worked well with the series and with Sinnott's inks. At least I would love to have seen how it looked. I have read in several places that the art was by Trimpe and Verpooten, who at the time were mainstays of the Production department. However when I re-read the BLB a few months ago I saw that much of the art, or at least the drawings of the FF themselves, is from -- or at least heavily based on -- images from several Kirby-Sinnott issues. So IMO Trimpe and Verpooten, who had access to the photostats and so on, may have just used the art that was available as their guide (or as their breakdowns). Then they likely tweaked it here and there, such as drawing Sue in the short-lived mini-skirted FF costume she'd sported in FF #68-71. Obviously the idea was to make the BLB art look as close to the Kirby-Sinnott art as possible, and it's pretty d*mn close! Too bad Trimpe didn't get a crack at the FF book after Kirby left (as you suggested), but I guess he was firmly established and too busy as the Hulk artist at that time. BLB FF #49  |
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Post by berkley on Nov 20, 2018 4:36:12 GMT -5
Very interesting. The artwork does sometimes look like Kirby, so this seems plausible to me.
I really liked John Verpoorten's inks with Kirby's pencils in the first few Eternals issues, would like to have seen more of him, much as I like Mike Royer's work.
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Post by Prince Hal on Dec 3, 2018 23:46:12 GMT -5
December 1968Not a busy comics month for me. Can’t remember why. I do notice that a few books I had been buying weren’t among this month’s purchases. I recall at that time finding it difficult again to find certain “lower-tier” titles… especially Secret Six, Metal Men, Showcase, Star Spangled War Stories (Enemy Ace), X-Men and Dr. Strange.
DC
   Adventure 377 Could there be a duller Legion cover? A sadly deteriorating title. For me the glory days were over and I was buying out of hope and habit. Maybe I was aging out of the Legion. Atom and Hawkman 41 DC’s belated answer to Tales of Suspense, Strange Tales and Tales to Astonish was a last-ditch attempt to save two typically DC Silver Age titles that just were not finding it easy to segue into the new Marvel-dominated world of the late 60s. Some great Kubert covers, but you realize how good Marvel was at making those two-fer titles work when you read these issues. In a different world, they would have been “growing pains” issues, but DC didn’t have much patience with all the new titles they’d published. Bat Lash 3 A perfect example of the above. A great comic book, but it needed a chance to build an audience, a chance DC apparently couldn’t afford to give it. Batman 209 Great names for the gangsters in this one: Squelch, Spook, Ginko, Jax, and Fingers Brave and the Bold 82 That kraken looks more like a sad puppy, but Neal Adams was bringing it… still so new and refreshing that any artistic sins were immediately forgiven. A nice design, too, considering they were enlarging the heroes’ logos so much Sad note: the original, dashing B and B guidon is banished for the utilitarian title on top.    Captain Action 3 Any embarrassment I had at buying a comic based on a man-doll was assuaged by Gil Kane’s art. (Pieta alert!) Challengers of the Unknown 66 Another old favorite dying on the vine as the adventurer team genre begins to succumb to the mystery/horror genre. (See Shax’s excellent thread on the Teen Titans for more.) Detective 384 Batgirl? Catwoman? Nope, someone named Heloise! A misleading cover from DC? Shocking! Hawk and the Dove 4 Exhibit C   JLA 69 GA looks like a muscleman, but it was good to see him on JLA covers again. This was his fifth or sixth in a row. Denny O’Neil must have liked him. I wonder when the big change was being contemplated. Our Army at War 203 (80-page Giant) That cover… Kubert never disappoints.
MARVEL
 Spider-Man 70 A nice cover, isn’t it? Has a Golden Age feel to it. Romita was so solid.  Avengers 61 I loved the first couple of pages of this one; still recall how dramatic they were courtesy of John Buscema… and Robert Frost.   Captain America 111 Steranko was all that and a Dali sandwich in ’68. His Cap stories are still a fun ride, indebted to the 1940s serials among other influences. Captain Savage 11 And the Sgt. Fury parallels begin to pile up…   Marvel Super-Heroes 19 (Ka-Zar) The reprints were the main course for me, but the Ka-Zar feature was by Arnold Drake. Have to dig out this one again. Ka-Zar’s cover shot is one more step in Barry Smith’s evolution from Kirby imitator. That’s Conan’s face there, framed by all that blond hair. Marvel Tales 19 Fun, but never as much fun as Marvel Super-Heroes, IMHO. SHIELD 10 Ah, a Christmas story. They weren’t as common as you might think back then. The Hatemonger always was a striking villain.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 4, 2018 6:38:48 GMT -5
We'll be leaving 1968 after next month, so I may as well bring this up now. I was wondering if anyone had this Fantastic Four Big Little Book that was published in 1968. (...) Sorry for the lateness of my reply; I only check this thread sporadically, since 50 yrs ago is still slightly ahead of my time (as I just hit the big 5-0 this year). I had the FF BLB you pictured, and also this one:
As well as this one:
They were in print in the 1970s as well, so I picked them all up off of a magazine rack at the time, probably 1978 or thereabouts. There were also a few non-superhero ones I remember having, specifically two featuring Bugs Bunny (Klondike Gold and the Last Crusader), one with Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge and Hewey, Dewey and Lewey (The Lost Jungle City) and one with Mickey Mouse - I can't remember the title, but it involves him and Goofy finding a community of elves or gnomes living in an amusement park or something like that. |
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Post by brutalis on Dec 4, 2018 8:50:01 GMT -5
December 1968 finds me still not reading comic books but in the 80's continuing my back issue purchases for slowly fulfilling my collections. As usual it is the big three: Avengers 61, Captain Marvel 11, FF 84.
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Post by kirby101 on Dec 4, 2018 8:59:01 GMT -5
Like brutalis, i wasn't collecting yet. The only book I know I read off of the stands was Silver Surfer #3. By the end of the 70s I would own every superhero book Marvel published that month.
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Post by Farrar on Dec 5, 2018 22:22:53 GMT -5
Avengers 61 I loved the first couple of pages of this one; still recall how dramatic they were courtesy of John Buscema… and Robert Frost. I've read that later on Roy Thomas said he screwed this up by not having these be pages 2 and 3, so that they'd face each other. But I remember getting such a thrill when I saw that glorious first page, and then turning to page 2 and coming upon even more -- wow! It was like a bonus. To this day I still get that same impact when I read this particular issue. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2018 10:20:49 GMT -5
We'll be leaving 1968 after next month, so I may as well bring this up now. I was wondering if anyone had this Fantastic Four Big Little Book that was published in 1968. Is this book worth owning and has a good or better story? ... I have never, ever, seen this in my life and I'm a Fantastic Four Fan!!! |
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Post by Farrar on Dec 6, 2018 16:59:13 GMT -5
We'll be leaving 1968 after next month, so I may as well bring this up now. I was wondering if anyone had this Fantastic Four Big Little Book that was published in 1968. Is this book worth owning and has a good or better story? ... I have never, ever, seen this in my life and I'm a Fantastic Four Fan!!! In my case I bought it from eBay only because of the personal nostalgia factor--as I related, I originally had this book many years ago when I was a kid. And you can actually read the story here www.dialbforblog.com/archives/67/ |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2018 19:16:18 GMT -5
Is this book worth owning and has a good or better story? ... I have never, ever, seen this in my life and I'm a Fantastic Four Fan!!! In my case I bought it from eBay only because of the personal nostalgia factor--as I related, I originally had this book many years ago when I was a kid. And you can actually read the story here www.dialbforblog.com/archives/67/ I got one from ebay for $10 and that's includes shipping and I should get in a week from now. |
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Post by Farrar on Dec 8, 2018 12:33:09 GMT -5
December 1968Detective 384 Batgirl? Catwoman? Nope, someone named Heloise! A misleading cover from DC? Shocking! Actually it was supposed to be Batgirl. This was spelled out by DC a few issues later, in response to a reader's question in the lettercol: "Your deduction that the MYSTERIOUS SHE symbolized Batgirl--and the start of her solo series--is correct. We were disappointed that other curious readers didn't get the point. --Editor" |
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Post by Farrar on Dec 9, 2018 15:37:53 GMT -5
On sale in December 1968
Marvel
After the heady experience of buying three, count 'em three Marvels at one time last month at a candy store about a mile from where I lived, I was eager to return to that same store the following month and see if my Marvels--Avengers, FF, X-Men--were available. So I diligently saved my lunch money and after 3 or 4 weeks one day after school I walked that extra mile uptown to that store. Alas, my hopes were dashed--I didn't find any of the comics I wanted. I also went the following week just to be sure but again, nada. I was crushed--I had been dreaming of finding that one single candy store that reliably carried the comics I liked. Anyway I had to go back to my neighborhood stores that month. In terms of Marvel this is all I could find, just the FF and X-Men. Couldn't find the Avengers comic (though I picked it up a year or so later as a back issue):  Fantastic Four #84: An OK issue. I was not a fan of Dr. Doom, and I didn't know anything about the TV series The Prisoner, the premise of which this story was evidently based on. Nothing particularly stood out for me here. X-Men #53: I was very disappointed with this comic because after last month's X-Men story it had seemed that Lorna Dane would become a regular character in the series. But no Lorna here. (Later on I read that this was a more or less inventory story, so that explains why it seemed out of continuity to me.) And even worse was the art, by a newcomer named Barry Smith and which was--in my humble, callow opinion--beyond amateurish. (Later on I read that this was the famous "he drew this on a park bench" story. Guess he also had some FF issues with him on that bench, such FF #63, which featured Blastaar, for reference.) Anyway, I've mentioned that I only read comics for a few years and was away from comics for decades; so I was (pleasantly) shocked in the 2000s when I started reading stuff like the Essentials, Back Issue, and Alter Ego and I came upon exquisite work by "Barry Windsor-Smith"--could this be the same guy, I wondered? We all know the answer to that!
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