I have to warn you that I'm choosing these for what I experienced back then, rather than for any deep artistic or literary merit or analysis...my choices are fueled by sentimentality and nostalgia. 

As I have mentioned many times here at CCF, my cousins had a stockpile of old DCs that included a cornucopia of Silver Age 80-Page DC Giants.  I loved those DC Giants with their great "album" covers and all those the reprints that exposed me to the wondrous lore of the DC characters.

However...my cousins did not read Marvel; I came to Marvel all on my own (okay, with thanks to the TV cartoons--Saturday FF and Spidey, plus the daily cartoons). The Marvel Annuals had a different effect on me; even though they sometimes contained reprint material in the back-up slots, I loved that prior to 1969 they contained new material that was part and parcel of a series' ongoing storyline. I always felt that reading Marvel back then was akin to reading a serialized novel (I considered most of DC's fare back then closer to short stories. So, two different types of reading experiences. I liked them both, though I felt Marvel's comics were more complex than DC's, more adult).   

The Marvel Annuals named in this poll were a summer treat, something I looked forward to with giddy anticipation when I was reading Marvel. In retrospect the summer Marvel Annuals were a great highlight of my childhood days. I can't adequately convey the thrill, the excitement I felt when I bought each of the issues I'm about to describe; as I have also mentioned before at CCF, these particular comics are my madeleines.

I actually have five, yes that's right count 'em five, Marvel Annuals that I'd like to make note of. First, here are my top three, these are the ones I voted for in the poll.  I bought each of these some time after their initial publications. 


Fantastic Four Annual #5. I saw this cover in house ad in a friend's comic and I was entranced. I hadn't yet read an issue of FF but I knew the team from TV--but there was nary a blue costume on this cover. Sure, there were Ben and a fiery Johnny...but where were Sue and Reed? And just who were all these other characters? I was particularly intrigued by the bright red-haired purple-clad and the orange-haired yellow-clad characters--back then, it was unusual for there to be more than one female on a team or in a superhero assemblage. (Of course I later learned who they were, Medusa and Crystal.) All those colorful costumes set against the white background. The gorgeous linework (Kirby/Giacoia). I loved the off-kilter camera angle it looked like a cyclone had hit, or a traffic jam, or some centrifugal force at play--whatever was going on, I was mesmerized. The characters were all in motion: I loved the parallel figures: Medusa and Johnny, both falling back; Gorgon and Ben trying to climb; Black Bolt and Crystal poised to strike. What a freaking great cover.  Just seeing this cover's energy and vivacity and brightness--those colors against the white background--in the house ads is what set me on my merry Marvel reading path. 

Now, I didn't actually buy or read this comic until a few years later, as a back issue; and I have to admit the FF story's Giacoia-inked Kirby was a bit jarring (I was used to Sinnott-on-Kirby on the regular FF series at the time)...but nevertheless, I loved the story; it involved so many different characters, not just the FF but also the Inhumans and the Black Panther. There was an expansiveness to it. It was evidently cobbled together from proposed Inhuman and Black Panther features.  At the time I read it, it seemed so fresh and innovative to me that the lead story focused on so many different characters and not just on the members of the FF. I will always remember this FF Annual #5 as my gateway to Marvel, as I started seeking out Marvel soon after seeing this comic in the house ads...which makes this comic my #1 favorite Marvel Annual.

Avengers Annual #1. Oh man, this was another one I first saw, and fell madly in love with, in house ads. That cover by Big John Buscema--perfection. The blood-red  background, and again all those characters crashing through that wall!!!   Yes, I knew Cap from his TV cartoon, and I recognized Quicksilver and Hawkeye from the same...but was that the Scarlet Witch? Why was she wearing a different headpiece than what I'd seen on Cap's cartoon?  I also knew Thor and Iron Man from the TV Cartoons.  But who were all the others??  And once again, I liked that there were two costumed women as part of the assemblage, bucking the one token female per team tradition (the Metal Men were also a happy exception back then).   Anyway, seeing this cover in the house ads whet my appetite for the ongoing Avengers series, I really wanted to find out who everyone was.   And once again, I didn't actually buy this comic, Avengers Annual #1, until later on, as a back issue. When I finally read it, I  appreciated the story--the "old" Avengers joining the "new" ones--and the extras in the issue (pin-ups, etc.). But it's the cover that drew me in. 

Fantastic Four Annual #3. Another back issue for me. I remember literally saving my pennies--and nickels and dimes--until I had enough money to buy this for $1.05 from the collectibles store on my block. The FF Annual #3 cover is one for the ages. I'm someone who liked Colletta's inks; IMO his soft-edged work with Kirby here just added to the romantic angle of the story (Sue and Reed were getting married, after all). All those heroes and villains--I loved Stan's dialogue, the wisecracks, the different characters' personalities--sorry, but no one did it better than The Man. Such an unforgettable issue. When I bought this comic back then, it was indisputably the jewel in the crown of my then-just-starting-to-grow comic book collection. 


I'll be back with my two honorable mentions.