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March 29, 2006
FOOM: Friends Of Old Marvel!
Imagine being a kid in the 1970s, a Marvel zombie who sent $2.50 to a P.O. Box in New York City months earlier, going to his mailbox and finding a large envelope that you see here. The Hulk's green smiling head plastered all over, with your name and address inside his mouth. It was the membership kit for F.O.O.M. (Friends Of Old Marvel), Marvel's fan organization. Marvel had tried a fan club before in the 1960s, called MarvelMania, but it failed because it was run outside of the company. F.O.O.M. was orchestrated inside the company by Jim Steranko (at least for the first four issues), the incredible writer-artist who worked on S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America. Steranko's imprint made FOOM special. Besides the envelope, there was an incredible poster (depicting Black Bolt, Angel, Captain America, Hulk, Silver Surfer, etc.) by the master, some stickers, and the first issue of the magazine. 
On the front cover, Stan Lee spouted faux-Shakespearean gibberish about what a great guy I was, just to spend $2.50 on FOOM: "Here in the hallowed circle thou art truly amongst thy peers-thou art truly welcome-thou art truly safe and secure within the fabled, far-flung Fellowship of Foom!"
FOOM, the magazine, was published quarterly, and lasted for nearly four years. Steranko's formula was to creator bios, profile pieces, games\puzzles, and previews of upcoming Marvel Comics. In 1975, they conducted some fan awards. This was before the Internet, before Wizard, before any widely available source of comics news. I've put together a collection of images from my favorite issues of FOOM in Gallery Photon. Besides the Steranko covers, you will see a John Romita Captain America and Bucky cover, a Jim Starlin cover with his favorite cosmic characters, a King Kirby cover, and some amusing jokes like the Incredible Hunk and the Mistress of Kung Fu. If you remember FOOM, give me a holler. Nuff said.
