FIN FANG FOOM!

Well, I finally landed a copy of STRANGE TALES #89 for my collection. Back in the day it was just another issue in the long run of this book during the pre-hero days of early Marvel Comics. But the Jack Kirby-created monster in this issue ended up having a new lease on life when he was dusted off and used again in more recent years.

One thing that was definitely going on with the stories and characters created by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko is that Stan Lee was naming them after the completed stories were turned in for editing. Lee had a thing for alliteration and the character of Fin Fang Foom is a classic example of this. If you go back and look at Lee's history of naming characters you will see this illustrated time and again: Reed Richards, Peter Parker, Matt Murdock, Susan Storm, Bruce Banner, etc. It's something that I liked--it stuck in your mind and made the characters a little more solid.

And, of course, there was Fin Fang Foom.

My copy of STRANGE TALES #89. Classic stuff! When I was a kid, this cover gave me nightmares!