CRIVENS CLASSIC COMIC COVERS - POW! #10...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Memory is a funny thing, isn't it?  I know I read a SPIDER-MAN story (his first encounter with The CHAMELEON) in an earlier issue of POW! at school one day (brought in by a classmate) but it may not have been until after I'd acquired this issue, which would make this comic the first time I'd seen Spidey.

If that's the case, it was doubtless DOCTOR DOOM's mention of The FANTASTIC FOUR which made me look through the periodical's pages in the newsagent's and, seeing SUSAN STORM (on whom I had a crush), prompted me to ask my mother to buy it for me.  Or, of course, I may just have read them in their published sequence, and old age now prevents me from being able to recall with certainty.

Regardless, we were calling in to my grandparents' flat that day (which means it was either after school or on a Saturday), and this was another issue that I read while perched on their itchy red bed-settee (see, some things I don't forget), of which regular readers may remember me mentioning several times before.

However, you don't care about any of the personal details I associate with this comic (you'll no doubt have your own), all you're here for is to gawp at this great STEVE DITKO illustration, and his interpretation of the good ol', bad ol' Monarch of LATVERIA.  (Why do I always think of the word 'Lavatory' when I see the name of VICTOR's homeland?)

Anyway, I just love this cover and thought that perhaps you might too.  If so, feel free to recount your own ruminating reminiscences of this collectors' item classic in our captivating comments section.