Fans know that Marvel has been making a big deal about Amazing Spider-Man reaching the 1,000th Issue. (And, has anyone ever REALLY done the math on that?) Comic publishers in today’s marketplace made big deals over these landmark issues. Over the long history of comic books, that hasn’t always been the case.
But today’s template of REALLY making a big deal about those numbers comes from Fantastic Four 200, from 1978. Back then, I was a Bronze Age Baby, and the Fab Four was one of my favorite comic books growing up. We didn’t have comic shops back then (the horror, if it all!), and you were lucky if this month’s comic would still be easy to find next month.
Back then, I was still in the eye-candy phase of reading comics, often grabbing whatever comic grabbed my attention. Reed and Doom are facing what promises to be “the long-awaited fight to the finish!” Yep! This kid was in! I had no idea of the significance of a Kirby/Sinnott cover.
Nor did I know much about what would one day be one of my favorite authors: Marv Wolfman. I am not sure how many of the issues I read about leading up to this one in those non-comic-shop days. And, even now, you don’t need to read those other issues to get this issue. But this whole era of the Fantastic Four still has some fantastic stories, even years later. And, the cover was no hype; Doom was taken off the canvas for several years.
Part of what makes this run unique is that, unlike today’s comics, Wolfman did not have a big run-up to the anniversary issue. He only started with issue 195, and leading up to that issue, Wolfman also had to wind down other plot points that needed to be wrapped up or addressed, going back to when Gerry Conway was writing the book in 1973!
Of course, I knew nothing about that! I was hooked by the cover AND the extra pages. I read a lot back then, and most stories were around a puny 17 pages. So, when a bigger issue came my way, it was comic book nirvana!
But, here’s the truly fascinating thing: At the time, the Higher Ups were against a bigger issue, with a higher cost, because they didn’t think it would succeed! Wolfman had to convince them to do it, and that issue was a big seller. And THAT is what opened the door to turning a big year into anniversary issues.
Wolfman talks about that in TwoMorrows, Back Issue 69. The issue was part of the magazine’s 10th Anniversary Issue, in which they look at the 100th, 200th, 300th, 400th, and 500th issues of ’70s and’ 80s-era comics. And, like anything TwoMorrows, it is highly recommended!
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