*Marvel: Concluding the Good Doctor selections this week. The early issues of the Fantastic Four were bursting with characters who would later play pivotal roles in the greatest Marvel Universe, and issue #8 was no exception. This issue saw the introduction of Phillip Masters, the Puppet Master, whose traumatic childhood caused him to seek power, wealth and companionship by controlling the minds of others via a certain radioactive clay isotope, which he fashioned into puppets of the real people to invoke a modern-day voodoo. Appearing multiple times in the Marvel Universe, he remains a bane of the FF to this day – though his one emotional weak spot is his genuine love for his step-daughter Alicia, perhaps born of guilt over Alicia’s blindness, which was caused by an explosion during a dispute between Masters and Alicia’s father, in which Alicia’s father was killed. Alicia herself, originally a pawn of her evil step-father, has assumed a larger role, becoming first the beloved of Ben Grimm, the Fantastic Four’s Thing, sightlessly sensing the noble soul beneath the monstrous facade, and also, pivotally, convincing the aloof Silver Surfer of the value of humanity in the epic ‘Galactus Trilogy’. This is a colour-touched copy of this double debut, with clumsy grey inking above the logo and (we believe) some black at the spine. There is a ragged torn corner off the back cover the size of a large thumb. Other than that it’s a copy that presents well, with gloss and nice pages and only minor wear, but priced down to reflect the damage and restoration. More from the Good Doctor next week.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #8 App VG/FN £185 SOLD