Quarterbox Treasure
FANTASTIC FOUR #347It's sad sometimes what you can find in the quarter box.
When I was 15, Fantastic Four #347 was a crucial element in my plan to be a multimillionaire tycoon comic book investor. According to Jeff, my boss at Atomic Comics at the time--who was most likely full of crap--Arthur Adams appearance as penciller was a surprise. FF 347 was either solicited with Walt Simonson pencils or the majority of retailers overlooked the Adams credit in Previews because Marvel failed to hype it. Regardless, his point was there was a smaller print run on 347 than there would be for 348 and 349, meaning in the future an issue of 347 would be a rarity that could pay for my kids' braces while keeping me chest deep in hot and cold running swimsuit models.
Instead, a near mint copy is now nestled between a water damaged Ewoks and a Web of Spider-Man with a torn cover. How could I not pick it up for a mere 25 cents, especially considering I didn't actually pay the 25 cents in the first place?
6 Comments:
Huh? You stole a 25c comic?
This is the story with the Replacement Fantastic Four, is it not? That was one of Marvel's better ideas, and I'd like to see some more of that team (I recall they popped up in Ages Of Apocalypse(note the 's') too.
Funny Punisher cameo too. I recall that he pops up for about two panels then buggers off again.
The 25 cent bin at my store is more like a garbage can in "rows of short boxes" form where the owner dumps all kinds of extra stuff he gets when he buys collections or reorganizes the back room. I pretty much have carte blanche to take anything I want from there.
The Punisher's appearance was in #249 and the cover bills it as "the world's most exploitative cameo." On the last page, he flies in on a helicopter, then radios back to Microchip that everything appears to be under control and flies away.
Fantasic Four is one of those titles I've just never been able to get into, despite really wanting to. Picking this up, though, has me thinking maybe I should just grab all of Simonson's run on the book.
Yeah the Four have always interested me in concept, but not enough in reality to keep reading. Plus Reed is a pompous arse, and I really can't stand to read him.
That's the way I feel about Thing. He's obviously one of the cooler looking characters, so there's an urge to want to like him, but the execution has always left me feeling like he's that guy all your friends know and are always telling you how cool he is, but that you just don't get along with. He's the kind of guy who gets big laughs with "pull my finger" while you get blank stares with a well crafted play of words or witty observation.
Maybe I should do a column on the cool looking characters who just don't live up to the image. As you can see from my avatar or my art page, I love Two-Face, but the number of times writers have completely screwed with the Two-Face concept could fill an Olympic swimming pool. Moon Knight, Pyro, Emma Frost, and Red Skull all come to mind.
If we're talking about cool-looking characters who get lame writing, add the following to that list:
Doom
That guy made out of bees
Marvel's Dracula
Iron Man
Batman
That comic was the only Fantastic Four comic I've ever purchased. Considering it had Spiderman, Ghost Rider, Grey Hulk, and Wolverine, it was no surprise that I picked up. It was fun.
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