"AND THERE WERE GIANTS UPON THE EARTH IN THOSE DAYS..."

It was intended to be a single-series, revolving-door showcase for a roster of MARVEL's mightiest heroes, but no sooner had the first issue hit the stands than plans underwent revision. GIANT-SIZE SUPER-STARS #1 starred THE FANTASTIC FOUR, with the second issue scheduled to feature none other than your friendly neighbourhood SPIDER-MAN. (PETER PARKER's amazing alter-ego would doubtless be first choice to launch any new alternating series nowadays, but, back then, the Fab Four were still accorded premiere position in the Mighty Marvel firmament of Super-Stars.)

However, it soon became apparent to the 'powers-that-be' that, rather than restrict the concept to one title, it would be potentially more profitable to give each chosen group or hero their own giant-size mag. And so, Spidey was awarded his own 68 page comicbook series and what would've been the second issue of Super-Stars evolved into GIANT-SIZE FANTASTIC FOUR #2, followed by another four successive issues over the course of the next fourteen months or so.

There were a number of different titles in the various Giant-Size quarterly series on sale back in 1974-'75. GIANT-SIZE SPIDER-MAN, GIANT-SIZE AVENGERS, GIANT-SIZE CONAN, GIANT-SIZE CAPTAIN MARVEL, GIANT-SIZE DOCTOR STRANGE, GIANT-SIZE DRACULA, GIANT-SIZE DEFENDERS and a host of others got the same treatment, proving that when Marvel has an idea, they exploit it to the full. However, it's the good ol' FF that we're concerned with today.

I didn't even know of the existence of these mags at the time they first came out - it wasn't until 1979 or '80 that I obtained the first issue when I ordered it unseen from a back issue dealer in Bournemouth. And that was a battered copy containing only the main story, the back-up features having been 'surgically' removed from the comic. It must have been sometime around the mid-'90s perhaps, before I was able to obtain the full six issue set and finally see the complete contents of issue #1. (Only to find that the missing pages were pin-ups reprinted from FF ANNUAL #1, which had been in my collection for some time.)

The main stories in the first four issues were all brand-new material, with reprints from the early days of the FF as back-up content. (Annual #1, and regular issues #13, 21 & 28.) The last two issues in the series reprinted  FF Annuals #5 & 6 as their main features, with issue 5 also including another tale from the Foursome's early days. (Issue #15, and not the MOLECULE MAN story from #20 as erroneously stated on the cover blurb in the image above.)

 So, let's return to an earlier, more innocent time; the seemingly sun-soaked, care-free days of the sizzling '70s, and enjoy all six scintillating covers in their full, unadulterated, cataclysmic glory.