Seeking mystery FF story - help required!

[Godwin28]

Hi all,

I'm trying to identify a special issue of FF that I read back in the mid-70s,
probably 1976 or 1977. I say 'special' issue because it was definitely an
annual or a giant-size comic of some sort, and not from the standard run.
It might also have been specific to the UK ... I'm not sure.

Here are the key things I remember:

1. The colouring was unique, in that the FF costumes were deep red,
and The Thing was purple rather than the usual orange. It sounds like
a printing mistake, but everything else about the issue was coloured
correctly, so it must have been a one-off. I read a lot of FF comics
in the 70s, which is why it struck me as so unusual.

2. The story -- as I remember, the final frame had The Thing sitting
alone on a meteor rock which was hurtling towards the earth's
atmosphere, and (presumably) to his doom. The action had previously
taken place on a space station or something.

3. I recently bought a copy of Giant-Size FF #6, thinking it might be
the story in question, but it's not. The one I'm thinking of was not
drawn by Kirby, but possibly John Buscema or Rick Buckler.


I'd love to track this down again after 30 years -- thanks for any info!

[Magneto Rocks]

I can't help you anymore than to advise you browse www.ffplaza.com

It has a summary of a LOT of FF issues, plus the covers of almost all of them. Sorry I can't help more.

[Sir Tim Drake]

2. The story -- as I remember, the final frame had The Thing sitting alone on a meteor rock which was hurtling towards the earth's
atmosphere, and (presumably) to his doom. The action had previously
taken place on a space station or something.

That sounds like "This Man... This Monster" from FF #51. But this story has been reprinted so many times that it would be difficult to determine where you originally read it.

You might have better luck if you posted this query on the Classic Comics board.

[drwho]

Was it the issue where someone pretended to be ben and he somehow stuck ben through one of reeds portals where he was hurling to his doom. Eventually, the man feels sorry for what he did and sacrifices his life to save ben.

[dingo]

Was it issue 110? I know that had a colour print error in some of the run.

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/30929984076.110.gif

[Godwin28]

Hi there,

The colour differences were throughout the issue (and consistent),
not just on the cover.

Was it the issue where someone pretended to be ben and he somehow stuck ben through one of reeds portals where he was hurling to his doom. Eventually, the man feels sorry for what he did and sacrifices his life to save ben.

Sounds possible ... is this the storyline of This Man This Monster ...?

Is there any chance that This Man etc was re-drawn for a special issue
of some kind? Back then, I always associated Kirby with 'old style', and
the item I'm thinking of I remember thinking was 'new style'.

What I'll do is check out the Essential vol. 3 in a bookstore this week,
to see if I can strike this story possibility off the options ... after 30
years the memory might be playing tricks as to the artist, and it might
be This Man after all. It was definitely in those unusual colours, though.

[Albert]

I'm afraid that I can't be too much help here. When reading your description of colorings, it occurs to me that the Torch had a red costume for a while... and that there was a (Counter Earth I think) version of Reed called The Brute, who was a monstrous purple guy. To young eyes, he could have seemed like a purple Thing. Best of luck in your search, and please let us know if you find it.