Ink Stains 187: FOOM 8

FOOM 8: 1974
Editor/Publisher: Scott Edelman/Stan Lee

Hi Everyone! Wow, it's about 3:15 on the first of April and I just NOW realized I have a column to do! AGGGGGG! OK, I picked one that was already scanned (thanks to whomever did it, I cannot seem to find a reference to that person) and more or less ready to go. Luckily, this issue of FOOM has something interesting going for it...it features a still very young and new John Byrne! Below you will see several illustrations throughout this installment from the most famous Canadian Marvel creator! Funnily enough, his Wiki page states that his first professional published work was in an earlier issue of FOOM on the fan page, while working for Charlton would start about a year later. 

Who among the readers has an eagle eye and spot the somewhat obvious mistake on the cover? Hint: there is a Split Enz song that references the error (or, to be exact, you have to insert a "don't" into the song title). Anyway, enough obscure musical trivia, onto the zine!

You can see that Duffy Vohland inked the two pieces above, as well as the others seen below. Duffy's first goal was to be an artist, and he inked Byrne and others early on, as well as inking a good amount of Marvel projects (you can see a checklist here). He also ended up as FOOM editor himself (in this issue, he is listed as contributing editor)! The editor of this particular issue, Scott Edelman, has a little essay featuring Vohland here. You can see the genial dude at left. His column, Duffy's Tavern, was a mainstay of many a zine. 

As for this zine, after the cover, there is a funny ad for subscriptions that promises you can "win Don McGregor!" Seems like Don was augmenting his comic career with babysitting around this time. Don?

As usual, there are some humorous features in FOOM, and you can see one below, with contributions from Marie Severin and Dave Cockrum.
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Following that is some miscellaneous items, then the letters page appears, and after that is an article on Captain American by another CPL​ member, Roger Stern (Sterno to his buds). The two Cap Byrne/Vohland illustrations at top adorn the article, and as a sort of sub article, Manchild in a Troubled Land, featuring Cap sidekick, Bucky, seen at left. There is also a short piece on Cap's other partner, Falcon (with another Byrne/Vohland illustration behind the text). There is also another article, this one focusing on the 1944 Cap film (no shield...or Bucky!). An additional piece follow that, covering Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, who are, as we all know, Cap's creators.

The fan page which Byrne contributed to earlier follow that, and one name I recognize is George Lane! You can fine George on Facebook. Check out the fan page below.

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When I told George about the column, he posted this on Facebook: 

"Issue Eight! That was around 1973 after I was first married. I sent in a bunch of spot illos to Marvel while I was studying Gene Colan and Dave Cockrum from his LSH run at the time. I sent in a Silver Surfer, Captain America, Spider-Man, Vision, Medusa, Reed Richards, and the Banshee that was used. Tony Isabella sent me the artwork back with a request to ink them and send them back with full pages showing different angles of art with assorted characters and panel layouts. I was young, so I did panel layouts with fighting scenes of the original X-Men vs. Silver Surfer, The Defenders attacking the Inhumans, one large panel of the Hulk fighting the Man-Thing, etc. I made no copies of any of the art and sent it in full of the hope of being hired by Marvel! I never heard another word! A few years later, I was meeting Gary Barker at an Indianapolis flea market and he came running up to me to take me to a comic dealer who had the FOOM issue eight that you are covering. He was so excited to show me that I was on the Fan Page of that issue of FOOM! I was not aware of that! I had to buy it!"
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There are several company related ads and articles after that, the Dept. of InFOOMation follows, which nicely condenses several creators remarks on their upcoming/current (at the time) projects. Some creators included are Len Wein, Don McGregor, Doug Moench, Marv Wolfman, Steve Gerber, and more. And that about wraps up this issue. However, I am going to end it with a funny little one pager from Charley Parker featuring Dr. Doom and all powerful Forbush Man! 

​Somewhat related to this post, but definitely to the blog in general, here is a link to Alan Light's TBG Days page...TBG was what got me into fandom in the first place, thanks, Alan!

Have a great April, everyone, and hopefully come back next month for who knows what! Remember to view the whole issue pdf!

Ken Meyer Jr.
[email protected]