FOOM

For FOOM (Festival of Original Music), seeFestival of Original Music.

FOOMwasMarvel Comics' self-producedfan magazineof the mid-1970s, following the canceledMarvelmaniaand precedingMarvel Age.Running 22 quarterly issues (February 1973 – Fall 1978), it was initially designed and edited bycomic bookwriter-artistJim Steranko.

FOOM

FOOM#16 (Dec. 1976), with wraparound cover depicting the Marvel office layout at the time.
Editor	Jim Steranko(issues #1-4) Tony Isabella(issues #5–7) Scott Edelman(issues #8–11) Duffy Vohland (issue #12) Chris Claremont(issues #13–14) David Anthony Kraft(issue #15)
Categories	Marvel Comicsnews and publicity
Frequency	quarterly
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First issue	Feb. 1973
Country	United States
Language	English

FOOM,though spelled without periods in both indicia and cover treatments, is an acronym for "Friends of Ol' Marvel".

It was relaunched in September 2017.

Publication history

Steranko,in his first-issue introduction, wrote that he had "dropped in at the Marvel bullpen to rap with publisher,Stan Leeabout the current comic scene "and that Lee told him about plans to start an in-house fan club.EC Comicshad had its "EC Fan-Addict" club in the 1950s, and Marvel theMerry Marvel Marching Societybeginning 1964. After the MMMS had run its course by 1969, Marvel licensed a small company inCulver City, Californiato produce the fanzine/product catalogMarvelmania,which lasted a year. Steranko, writing that he nostalgically "recalled the days ofradiowith all the clubs and super-premiums that were perpetually offered over the air ", volunteered as a designer, writer and comic historian.Ken Bruzenakserved as associate editor, with Marvel editor-in-chiefRoy Thomasas consulting editor and Ed Noonchester, Joel Thingvall, and Gary Brown as staff.

A four-issue subscription cost US$3. An additional dollar bought a club membershipI.D. card,sixdecals,and aposter.The membership kit was also available separately for US$2.50.

The premiere contained a foreword by Lee (on cover = p. 1); an introduction by Steranko (pp. 2/3) announcing a contest to design asuperheroorsupervillain;short biographies (pp. 4/5) of Lee, Thomas, artistsJohn BuscemaandJoe Sinnott,and writerGerry Conway;acrosswordpuzzle (pp. 6/7); a four-page feature (pp. 8–11) on thesuperheroteam theFantastic Four,accompanied by a two-page title and credits checklist (pp. 12/13); a word-search game (p. 14); an in-house ad for therecord albumThe Amazing Spider-Man: A Rockomic!(p. 15); a two-pageboard game,"Moving Target" (pp. 16/17); a six-page "Far-Out Fanfare and Infoomation!" section (pp. 18–23) previewing upcoming Marvel comics; apinup(p. 24) reprinting superheroes from theJack Kirby-drawn cover ofFantastic Four#73 (April 1968); aDr Doomdecoder puzzle (p. 25); a one-page "Recommended Reading" page that featuredThe Steranko History of Comics'and Steranko'sComixscenefor two-thirds of the page; a page of sketches of superspyNick Fury(p. 27), on which fans were encouraged to draw disguises; an in-house ad for b&w mag, "Tales of the Zombie" (p. 28); a one-page humor strip (p. 29), "Fantastic Fear", written by Thomas andLen Brownand drawn byGil KaneandWally Wood;an in-house ad forT-shirts(p. 30); puzzle solutions and in-house coupons (p. 31); back cover (p. 32) [a mailing address label/pin-up page]. Similar fare appeared in subsequent issues.

FOOM#7 (Fall 1974): Back cover art byMike Ploog.

Steranko, who additionally drew the back cover of issue #1 (Spider-Man), the cover of #2 (theHulk), and incidental interior art during his tenure, was succeeded as editor byTony Isabellawith issue #5 (Spring 1974).Ed Hanniganwas by now credited for production, withMark Evanier,Jim Salicrup,and Duffy Vohland as contributing editors.Scott Edelmantook over as editor with #8 (Winter 1974), Vohland with #12 (Dec. 1975),Chris Claremontwith #13 (March 1976), and finallyDave Kraftwith #15 (Sept. 1976). While previous issues had listed the company's overall editor-in-chief on the masthead,FOOM,also with issue #15, was given its own editor-in-chief, beginning withRalph Macchio,followed two issues later by Salicrup.

The back cover of #7 (Fall 1974) featured one ofGhost Riderco-creatorMike Ploog's earliest sketches of thatsupernaturalmotorcyclist,introduced two years earlier. Issue #11 (Sept. 1975) was a Jack Kirby tribute commemorating the legendary comic-book artist's prodigal return to Marvel after a four-year sojourn at rivalDC Comics.

John Byrne's earliest work at Marvel, a Frankenstein drawing inked by Duffy Vohland, appeared in issue #5's "Fan Art Gallery".

Issue # 10 has been debated as possibly the first appearance of the New X-Men, depicted on the cover and in an article, in 1975.

Bruce Wechtenhiser's FOOM membership kit arrived in this colorful Hulk envelope in 1973.

It was relaunched in September 2017.

Character contest

Contest-winning character

Issue #2 (Summer 1973) presented the first of two double-page spreads of fan art submitted for the character-design contest announced in issue #1. Included were the characters "Absorba-Man" by future comics artistSteve Rude,"Novaton" by future Marvel art director, writer and editor Mariano Nicieza and Borgo byKazimieras G. Prapuolenis.A prescient character entry was "The Wolverine" by Andy Olsen, although the character he drew and described was dissimilar from the popularWolverinecharacter that first appeared a year later in the pages ofThe Incredible Hulk#180.

Issue #3 (Fall 1973) included "Heros" by futureMarvel Ageeditor Steve Saffel. The winner, announced that issue, was Michael A. Barreiro ofPittsburgh, Pennsylvania,for the supervillain "Humus Sapiens".Several dozen honorable mentions included futureThe X-Filescomic-book writerStefan Petrucha,listed among those under "Best Presentation", andDoug Hazlewoodsubmitting a drawing of a character named Deathwatch, which also later became a dissimilar Marvel character.

Despite the contest's announced prize, Humus Sapiens was never used in a Marvel comic at the time.Creator Barreiro later inquired at Marvel about the character, but received no response. Comics columnistFred Hembeckin 1979 wrote in the magazineBuyer's Guide to Comic Fandomabout the contest and Humus Sapiens, but nothing came of it. The character eventually appeared 28 years later inThunderbolts#54-55 (Sept.-Oct. 2001), as thefictional mutantHumus Sapien.Barreiro grew up to become a carpenter and a freelance artist living in theCarrickneighborhood, and did a small amount of work for Marvel andDark Horse Comics.

See also

• The Amazing World of DC Comics
• Marvel Age
• Pizzazz

External links

• Ruby, Sam (ed.)."FOOM Contents and Checklist: Issue #1".SamRuby (fansite).Archivedfrom the original on December 17, 2010.through"issue #22".
• Zjaba, Tom (ed.)."Marvel ComicsFOOMSubscription Ad ".Tomorrow's Heroes (fan site).Archivedfrom the original on July 17, 2011.