First there was the Merry Marvel Marching Society (of which I was a proud member), then came Marvelmania International which lasted only a few years (which I might've joined but I don't remember getting anything). But after all that the Bronze Age Marvel fan got F.O.O.M. which stood for "Friends Of Ol' Marvel" (which I didn't join because I was too cool for it at the time--I got over that).
This fan club managed to hang on through most of the rest of the 70's putting out its final issue as the rise of the direct sales market began to glimmer. I've gathered several issues of F.O.O.M. over the years, though I never saw an issue during the time of its run. They're fun, like most fanzines of the time, at once breezy, friendly, and informative.
Above is a gallery of the F.O.O.M. covers, the best scans I could gather from various sources.
Oh and where did the name come from? It was a favorite sound effect at Marvel, but perhaps a certain inscrutable dragon knows for sure.
Rip Off
Does anyone know who drew the Doom cover? I've a sticker of that image on the back of my Danelectro that Panini gave away on the cover of some Marvel reprint or another. Often wondered who was giving it their best Kirby for that 'un.
ReplyDeleteI think that is "King" Kirby in all his glory. The image is re-purposed from a Marvelmania poster, one of the many that Kirby produced just before he skipped off to DC.
ReplyDeleteOne source credited it to Steranko, so it's possible it's redrawn I guess, but it looks like the real McCoy to me.
Rip Off
Jim Steranko designed, edited, and oversaw the first 4 issues of FOOM, along with drawing and/or creating the covers.
ReplyDeleteTo me, his style was always reminiscent of a "refined" Kirby, so many folks mistake some of his bolder "splash" images as Jack's.