Chew the Fat: F.O.O.M.!!!

 


Redartz:  Back in the Bronze age, many of us enjoyed our comics fandom in solitude, or with the company of a few choice friends. But thanks to Marvel, there was a cool club, an ongoing organization of 'friends of ol' Marvel'. Or, as the acronym spells, "FOOM"! You sent in your fee, and got (in a pretty impressive Hulk mailer) a gorgeous Steranko poster, stickers, gold membership card, and a subscription to "FOOM" magazine. The magazine was filled with news,
previews, art and articles on all things Marvel. I was one of the many who joined up, and awaiting each issue of FOOM was almost as difficult as waiting each month for the next Amazing Spider-Man installment!

Redartz' official membership card...

 
 


Unfortunately, about all that remains of my membership is the card (which I still proudly keep among my comics). It would be nice to reacquire that poster, and a few of the magazines. I did pick up the new FOOM, which Marvel released quite recently- part of their current attempt to reconnect the past and present. It was nice to see that they remember a bit of the Bronze, after all. 

 

How many former FOOMers are out there among us? Chew the fat, and tell us your FOOMemories...

 

Short Cuts: Poster Mania...

Redartz:  Our buddy (and my esteemed partner) Marti recently did a post about concert tees. That got me thinking, there were some of us who generally didn't spend their shekels on apparel. Could be we  (I was, anyway) were more apt to use those funds to decorate our walls.

And we're not just talking concert posters. The only limit to posters in the Bronze Age (and now too) was what imagination could create, and what your wall could hold.  For instance, in my pre-teens, my folks bought me a psychedelic black light poster (which was impressive, as they were not exactly counter-culture types). Within a couple years, my own tastes dictated the contents of my walls. Specifically, the FOOM poster- a prized part of the membership kit, featuring a Steranko-rendered array of Marvel's mightiest. Additionally, I had a fondness for vintage advertising posters. So Coca Cola, Dr. Pepper and other drink makers got free ad space on my walls. Then there were baseball posters, comic art posters, and so on. And later, in the ever exciting Eighties, I had the requisite Patrick Nagel poster. No bare surfaces in Redartz' digs...

 

 

Ok, so you've had a peek at some of my old prints. What posters, novelties, ads, and art graced your private spaces?