A Visit With The Fantastic Four in Australia

As readers and collectors of Australian editions of vintage US comics we are rather accustomed to odd or inexplicable editorial decisions. Whether it's alternative covers to issues or modified contents,  benign intervention or careless butchery, it's part and parcel of our experience and obsession. 

However, there is one story which has been subjected to such a range of modifications that it warrants special attention. 

When I indexed Newton Comics' Planet of the Apes Annual #1 I noted the bizarre situation in which the splash page to the Fantastic Four story A Visit With The Fantastic Four became the splash page to The Hulk vs. The Thing:

Let's inspect this a little more closely:

Now let's compare it to the printing in Essential Fantastic Four #1 (Third edition, First printing 2008):

The differences are fairly obvious: The Newton edition omits some of the creator credits, and the job code is also omitted.

This story was first published in Australia in Horwitz Publications' Strange Tales #4 in 1963. Take a close look at the splash page in this edition:

On first blush it appears to be a rather faithful reproduction of the version in Essential Fantastic Four, apart from the missing job code and the page number. One might even observe that the linework is distinctly clearer than both the Essential and the Newton editions.

But if you read the text you'll see that the lingo has been altered. Johnny Storm's "I told ya..." has become " I told you...", and the civilian's "Say, fella..." becomes "Say, fellows...". 

Heh. What can I say...? After all, it was the tail end of the Menzies era... And if the singular "fella" needs to be changed to the plural "fellows" to maintain decorum, well, sacrifices have to be made. You'd think it was the ABC newsreader of 1963 editing this comic! Never mind they didn't deem it necessary to correct "standing on line" to "standing in line"! 

If all of that isn't enough to have you running earnestly to your battered original copy of Fantastic Four #11, get a load of this printing in Yaffa/Page Publications' Fantastic Four #200-201:

The title text box has been crudely transplanted atop the first two tiers of the fourth page of the story, in the process eliminating not only the third tier of the page, but wholly omitting the second and third pages, and the splash page image!

I can't think of any other single page reprinted in Australia which has been subjected to as many instances of grievous adulteration.

And after all this, what does the original page look like?

Well, here's an online a scan of the page from Fantastic Four #11:

And while we're at it, here's a few more scans of the page from various editions, beginning with Fantastic Four Annual #3:

And here's a  grey-scale printing of the Fantastic Four Annual #3 version as it appears in Les Daniels' Comix: A History of Comic Books in America:

If you find the muddy grey tones pukey then it might be best to look away as I present to you the version published in the UK in The Mighty World of Marvel #22:

And if you need some Alka Seltzer, this might settle you down a tad:

I'm not sure of the source of this printing - I found it online - but it does a reasonable job of representing the original colours, albeit brighter and cleaner on glossy paper. Initially I assumed it to be from a Marvel Masterworks edition. Then I received a photo of the page from Marvel Masterworks #6, October 1988:

It's arguably more attractive with the new colour scheme, but it cannot claim archive standard fidelity to the source material.

(And to add insult to injury... When Yaffa/Page Publications published The Hulk vs. The Thing in Fantastic Four [Vol. 3] #1, they also managed to omit the original splash page, just as  Newton Comics did in Planet of the Apes Annual #1 - but, unlike Newton, they did not bother to surgically transplant the splash page from A Visit With The Fantastic Four.)

This is just a sampling of the available reprints of this story. The GCD lists a number of US printings and I'm sure there's plenty of international editions. It would be funny if this page was subjected to similar treatment in other international editions. If anyone would like to send me scans I'll gladly post them below.

Thanks to Mark Cannon and Mark Muller for providing some of the scans above.

The strange tale of Strange Tales #4

This is the cover to Horwitz Publications' Strange Tales #4:

The cover is illustrated by Australian artist Maurice Bramley. It appears to be loosely based on the following two images from The Impossible Man in Fantastic Four #11:

This issue reprints both main features in Fantastic Four #11 - A Visit With The Fantastic Four and The Impossible Man - and the pin-up page:

In essence, Strange Tales #4 is a local edition of Fantastic Four #11.

This issue was published c.July 1963. Horwitz reprinted this issue c.September 1965 - again as  Strange Tales #4 - under a new Bramley cover:

This cover image is a montage based on two panels in the Avengers origin story The Coming of The Avengers!, which Horwitz had published c.January 1965 in The Avengers #1:

 

However, the contents of the two editions of Strange Tales #4 are not quite identical. Each issue contains a single-page illustrated feature by Bramley. Strange Tales #4 (1963) includes Stranger Still:

and Strange Tales #4 (1965) includes Goblins:

Strange Tales #4 (1965) was intended to be Strange Tales #7, but Horwitz got their wires crossed in recycling Strange Tales #4 (1963) and the issue number stuck. 

It is not only the last issue in the series, but appears to be the final Marvel super hero issue by Horwitz, which included a single Daredevil issue and the aforementioned Avengers #1. Indeed it appears other Marvel properties published by Horwitz such as Sgt. Fury and Battle Action also terminated around this time. 

The Champions: The complete Yaffa cover gallery

Here's a cover gallery of my complete series of The Champions published by Yaffa/Page Publications:

 #1, published c.May 1978

#2, published c.May 1979

#3, published c.March 1980

 #4, published c.May 1980

#5, published c.March 1981

 #6, published c.July 1981

 #NN, published c.May 1982

The first two issues are regular sized editions. The rest are digest-sized.

The dates for the six numbered issues are all based on newsagency date markings. It is possible some are published one month earlier than indicated - or even one month later - hence the circa qualification.

The final unnumbered issue is a digest-sized reprint of The Champions #1. It was likely published 1982, but it's possible it was published later.

The Champions #6 is the final issue in the series and completes the reprinting of the 17 US issues of The Champions.

Each issue reprinted three US issues. If you do the math you will realise that the final issue must be 'short' one issue. It is indeed - and to make up the page count, this issue features the 'missing' Shall I Call Thee Master? from the Yaffa Super-Villain Team-Up series. 

It is possible there are retitled unnumbered editions of some of these issues, but I have not seen any.

Horwitz Publications' Strange Tales #6: The Mighty Thor and the Journey Into Mystery #88 connection

The Mighty Thor appeared in three eponymous Australian comics series via three different publishers between 1975 and 1986. However, before he had his own series, Thor was published by two other Australian publishers, and the first of these was in 1963 in an anthology series titled Strange Tales.

This is a scan of my rather tired copy Horwitz Publications' Strange Tales #6:

The cover is illustrated by Australian artist Maurice Bramley, swiped from the splash page of the first story:

The Vengeance of Loki! originally appeared in Marvel Comics' Journey Into Mystery #88:

It appears that Bramley was privy to this cover as the lightning from Loki's hand is incorporated into his own cover illustration.

The contents are as follows:

The Vengeance of Loki!, originally published in Journey Into Mystery #88, January 1963

Behind Locked Doors!, originally published in Journey Into Mystery #88, January 1963

Long Live The Queen!, originally published in Journey Into Mystery #88, January 1963

As you can see, all three features hail from Journey Into Mystery #88, which accounts for all the comics features in that issue. In other words, Horwitz's Strange Tales #6 is effectively an Australian edition of Journey Into Mystery #88.

It is also interesting to note that all three features would eventually be published again in Australia in The Mighty Thor #2 via Yaffa/Page Publications c.March 1978

The issue ends with a one-page feature titled Pirates, signed by Bramley:

Two of the advertisements in this issue indicate the date September 1963. 

The Mighty Thor #2: The Newton edition

This is the cover to Newton Comics' The Mighty Thor #2:

It originally appeared on the cover of Marvel Comics' Journey Into Mystery #101:

Note the misspelling of Zarrko on the Newton cover.

The story contents are as follows:

The Return of Zarrko, The Tomorrow Man!, originally published in Journey Into Mystery #101, February 1964

Slave of Zarrko, The Tomorrow Man!, originally published in Journey Into Mystery #102, March 1964

The Return of Zarrko, the Tomorrow Man appears to have been reproduced faithfully in the Newton edition. I have compared it to an online scan of the issue, which appears to be from a Marvel Masterworks printing, and apart from omitting the original page numbers and a negligible couple of centimetres cropped from the bottom of the splash page, the only significant editing is the change in the text box in the final panel from the original Next Issue to Part 2.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the printing of Slave of Zarrko, The Tomorrow Man. This instalment is one of the most egregious examples of Newton's tampering with the material.  This is page 2 of the story as it appears in Journey Into Mystery #102:

This is page 2 of the Newton edition:

This page originally appeared on page 2 of the story "Death" Comes to Thor! from the Tales of Asgard backup feature in Journey into Mystery #102. It is inserted into Slave of Zarrko to maintain the page count at the expense of the recap page, which was deemed redundant in the Newton edition given it recapped events of the preceding story. To add insult to injury, the following page contains, in part, the rest of the recap:

Whilst the rationale for omitting the recap is understandable, the solution is a crude and ineffective surgical procedure, and I'm left to wonder what the young intrepid reader in 1976 made of all this. 

The poster in this issue is Hulk and Ka-Zar:

This originally appeared on the cover of Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk #109, and was also published as the cover to Newton Comics' The Incredible Hulk #12:

There are two in-house advertisements for Newton comics in this issue:

The Fantastic Four #14 and Conan the Barbarian #12 are cover-dated February 1976, as is The Mighty Thor #2. The expiry date for the contest is 21 February 1976, one week after the expiry date for the contest in The Mighty Thor #1. Presumably The Mighty Thor #2 was published very early February 1976 - 7 February is the first Saturday in 1976 - but this is just guesswork, and I'm conscious that reading competition expiry dates and publications dates is a fraught exercise in this particular period of Newton Comics.

This issue was advertised in-house:

This is scanned from The Incredible Hulk #15.

This would be the final issue in the series. The Mighty Thor would appear in subsequent Newton comics, including The Mighty Thor Giant 100 Page Annual in March 1977. 

The Mighty Thor #1: The Newton edition

This is the cover to Newton Comics' The Mighty Thor #1:

It is modified from the original cover art to Marvel Comics' Journey Into Mystery #100:

The story contents are as follows:

The Mysterious Mister Hyde!, originally published in Journey into Mystery #99, December 1963

The Master Plan of Mr. Hyde!, originally published in Journey into Mystery #100, January 1964

The splash page to The Mysterious Mister Hyde! (or, the Mighty Thor! Battles... "The Mysterious Mister Hyde!") has been cropped at the bottom, omitting the page number and the job number X-512:

The significant modification to the story occurs on the final page:

The original story ended with a text box in the bottom panel which has been omitted in favour of a brief End Part One advisory:

This panel is scanned from page 236 of my copy of Marvel Masterworks The Mighty Thor from Journey Into Mystery Nos. 83-100, second printing December 1999.

The splash page to The Master Plan of Mr. Hyde has been similarly altered - and I don't mean as per the previous owner of my copy : 

The text box in the original page referred to "Last issue..." - scan courtesy of my Marvel Masterworks:

The poster in this issue is The Incredible Hulk from the cover to Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk #107:

This poster was also included in Newton Comics' Captain America #3 and The Invincible Iron Man #1, and the image was also used on the cover of Newton Comics' The Incredible Hulk #10. Indeed, the white patch alongside the H on the poster is where Newton placed their A Great Marvel Collector Classic stamp:

This issue includes in-house advertisements for two other Newton comics:

Newton's Giant Team-Up Annual #1 and Captain America #3 are both cover-dated December 1975.

The Mighty Thor #1 was announced in the December 1975 subscription page, and was scheduled for publication 3 January 1976. The expiry date for the contest in this issue is 14 February 1976. It appears this issue was published either on schedule or shortly thereafter.

The Mighty Thor #1 was advertised in other Newton issues:

There would be one more issue in this series.