What Kind of FOOM am I?

After two weeks in my new flat in Elgin, I'm still living among tall piles of boxes, some of which were packed in Cumbernauld Road back in mid-July ( and in a hurry, so several went unlabelled, with the removal van arriving a day early)   I'm finding just how many multiple copies of books I own and the chaos means I haven't finished hanging pictures in the bigger bedroom, which I wanted to use as a library-cum-study-cum-"mancave".

I plan to decorate with my Batman poster from the 2017 Rutherglen comic con; a Capaldi Doctor caricature from the 2017 Clydebank comic con; the Sienkiewicz New Mutants and Giffen LSH posters from the 80s; and the Steranko FOOM poster from 1973.

As you may know, as part of its Legacy initiative in November 2017, Marvel released a one-off FOOM Magazine: a modern -day tribute to the fan club mag of the 70s. It was a pleasant and respectful nostalgic read this morning ( an ebay purchase from the US). In addition to previews of the Avengers and a Deadpool feature, Tom Brevoort delivered a pastiche of Smilin' Stan's cod-Shakespearian prologue; Joe Quesada was interviewed and Flo Steiberg was remembered. It was, perhaps, more purely a marketing device than the charming club newsletter of the Seventies, with its board games and puzzles but I had a happy glow, reading it in bed, before coming here to the library. FOOM was a huge part of my life, in early adolescence.

Staggeringly, the original FOOM kit was available for 50p, as I re-discovered when I was culling the British weeklies I had stored since 2005 in the Cupboard of Shame and Fear in my former Glasgow flat. Issues 1 & 2 ( with poster, membership card and stickers) were available in May and June of 1973. I subscribed immediately, as a ten-year-old and issue 3 arrived in the post in August. Issue 4 followed in November.


The fifth issue of FOOM Magazine, with a spotlight on Rich Buckler's Deathlok was never available in the UK for reasons unknown to me. Perhaps someone who reads this post could tell me why. Nothing quite compared, in any case, to the culture shock of  the decidedly more mature b/w mags, Dracula Lives, Tales of the Zombie, Monsters Unleashed and the revived Savage Tales, previewed in the first pair of issues and the brainchildren of Stan's heir, editor Roy Thomas.

Issues 6 to 8 were available to Brit-kids from June of 1974. The two-part Jarvis interview began in issue 6 in July, continued in 7 in October ( my first proper sighting of Mantis) and 8 ( Cap! Nomad!) was mailed the following January. The wait for them arriving in the post was tortuous and my early diaries record my daily expectation of the longed-for envelope.

For financial reasons at home, I expect, I missed out on issues 9 through 11, with the All-New X-Men and Kirby's return to Marvel (more about the King and his Prisoner adaptation next time!) It wasn't until sixteen months later that I asked my parents yet again for a cheque for issues 12 to 14, beginning in May 1976, at the end of S2. That's a very long time for a young teenager.

I can track the 1977 issues, 15 through 17 from March, July and possibly November - the issue that made a KISS fan of my little brother. After that, the release dates are unclear to me; when I eventually unearth my 1978 diary in the new flat, I can date exactly when I first saw Jean Grey as Phoenix, in tiny b/w thumbnails or learned more about the Barsoom novels through issue 20.

The final FOOM mag of the 70s may probably have coincided with me leaving Strathaven Academy, almost 17, for what we now call the Senior Phase, at Hamilton Grammar School. Also, it marks the point where, aside from Byrne's X-Men and Avengers, DC  (particularly 60s Legion stories in vintage Adventure Comics) had replaced Marvel in my affections, even as my beloved Conan- especially the savage splendour of the Sphere novels -was beginning to pall. Yet without Roy Thomas and his love for pulp fiction, licensing Conan, Kull, Thongor et al for Marvel comics and the spicy magazine line- I probably wouldn't have read fiction in school and I probably wouldn't be teaching it now.


Next time, I hope to post about the Walmart 100-pagers and our school comics club. I also have the artists edition of Kirby's Prisoner waiting at home. I've found most but not all of my Dark Horse Conan reprint paperbacks, so they might feature soon. Also, I still have two Star trek novels from the summer to read and finally hope to write about those voyages and Strange New Worlds in prose and comics- at least before Christmas. However, I'm currently reading the inspirational  I Am Malala for school and Josephine Tey's Franchise Affair for fun.


Take Care and Stay Aware.
DC
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