FOOM Magazine #4
FOOM #4 (Winter 1973) closes out the Jim Steranko era of Marvel's in-house fan magazine, making it the last issue shaped by Steranko's distinctive graphic-design sensibility before production moved fully in-house with issue #5. As a Doctor Doom-focused number, it offered Bronze Age readers one of the period's most in-depth retrospective spotlights on Victor Von Doom outside the regular comics, blending creator biography, character history, and games in a way that set the template for Marvel's later promotional journalism. The cover — a Jack Kirby Doctor Doom image recycled from an earlier Marvelmania poster — was published while Kirby was actively working for rival DC Comics, making its use an audacious editorial statement about Marvel's claim on its foundational characters and creators. The issue also preserved an early report on an independently produced Spider-Man fan film that circulated at 1970s conventions, a piece of lost-media history that has fascinated comics historians ever since.
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
FOOM (Friends of Ol' Marvel) launched in Spring 1973 as Marvel's self-produced successor to the earlier Merry Marvel Marching Society fan club, with Jim Steranko volunteering to serve as designer, writer, and editor for the first four issues. Steranko was compensated by receiving two advertising pages per issue in which to promote his own publications, including The Steranko History of Comics. For each of the four issues he helmed, Steranko designed a centerspread board game, and the Doctor Doom cover of #4 was drawn by Jack Kirby for a prior Marvelmania poster rather than being new art. With #4 completed, Steranko departed, and Tony Isabella took over editorial duties beginning with issue #5 (Spring 1974), ushering in a new, more conventionally staffed phase of the magazine.
Trivia · 8 facts
- FOOM #4 carries a Winter 1973 cover date (published December 1973) and is the fourth quarterly issue of Marvel's official fan club magazine.
- It is the final issue edited and designed by Jim Steranko, who shaped the look and content of FOOM #1–4 before handing editorial duties to Tony Isabella with issue #5.
- The cover features a Doctor Doom image by Jack Kirby, originally produced for a Marvelmania poster; Kirby was working for DC Comics at the time of publication.
- The issue is Doctor Doom-themed throughout, including a feature article and retrospective on Dr. Doom (Victor Von Doom), a Doom-themed game, and new interior illustrations by Steranko.
- A one-page report on an early independently produced Spider-Man fan film appears in the issue — a film that was screened at Marvel conventions during the 1970s and is considered a notable piece of early comics fan-culture history.
- The issue includes a biography of Jim Steranko with accompanying illustrations, effectively a self-spotlight in his final editorial issue of the magazine.
- A Marie Severin self-portrait also appears in the issue, representing the bullpen-artist cameo content typical of FOOM's Steranko era.
- Stan Lee is listed as Editor-in-Chief, with Jim Steranko, Ken Bruzenak, and Roy Thomas credited editorially — the same core team credited across all four Steranko-era issues.