The Christmas FANTASTIC (1967)

When is a Christmas comic not a Christmas comic? When it's reprinting stories that aren't seasonal I guess, but Fantastic still made an effort in 1967. The cover strapline at least added a festive feel to the issue, but it's a pity they didn't add some snow to the logo. 

As most of you know, Fantastic was a weekly comic published by Odhams that reprinted Marvel strips from the early 1960s. This was where many of us discovered Thor, Iron Man, and X-Men for the first time. It only ran for 89 weeks, but it did the job of introducing British kids to the world of Marvel comics. (You'll find plenty of other posts about Fantastic elsewhere on this blog if you use the search facility to your right.)

This issue kicked off with an X-Men cover and lead strip. Odhams always deleted the credits on the strips, yet oddly they'd be happy to tell readers on the letters pages who did what. This is a reprint from X-Men No.25 by Roy Thomas and Werner Roth.

The letters page that issue had no mention of Christmas but I'm showing it here to display how chatty it was. Like Marvel, Odhams treated the readers as though they were friends...

The sole Christmas page in the issue was the editorial, wishing readers a Merry Christmas, and using art clipped from various strips in the Power Comics range.

Thor that issue reprinted the second half of Journey Into Mystery No.116, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, with this resumé page compiled of images from the previous issue.

Johnny Future was a strip originated for Fantastic, drawn by Luis Berjemo. This British superhero became a real fan favourite, and it's easy to see why going by the artwork. Here's the complete episode for that week...

Iron Man reprinted the story from Tales of Suspense No.72 by Stan Lee and Don Heck...

The back page nearly always featured a Power House Pin-Up and I'd cut out and pin these to my bedroom wall most weeks. I din't think I bothered with the rather lacklustre El Tigre though! Sometimes these pin-ups would reprint Marvel images, sometimes they'd be new, as in this case, with art by a young Barry Smith...

As this issue wasn't very Christmassy I'll bring you another festive comic soon! Watch this space!