thrift store finds: a fantastic four tie

This week’s thrift store find: A novelty tie! A GEEKY novelty tie!

A Fantastic Four tie! Got it for a buck.

Here’s the strange thing about this tie- with ALL the amazing covers the tie makers could have chosen to represent as a piece of neckwear featuring the Fantastic Four, the cover represented here is Fantastic Four #334, one of the least remarkable FF covers I’ve ever seen.

Oh, the cover is drawn by Walt Simonson, so it’s a beautiful interpretation of the characters… but not exactly iconic. The characters are just kind of… standing there. I don’t demand excitement in action in all my graphic ties (though it obviously helps in some cases).

Fantastic Four #334 was a part of Marvel’s big Acts of Vengeance crossover in the late 1980’s. In this big company-wide story, Thor’s brother Loki comes up with the brilliant idea of sending all the various super villans of the Marvel Universe up against heroes they had never fought before, thinking the tactical advantage would bring them success. Even by the standards of the time, this crossover was weak tea.

At any rate, the crossover explains why you can see all sorts of third tier supervillians in the background of this tie. most prominently featured are The Shocker at the tip of the tie and… The Beetle.

That’s right, ol’ Abner Jenkins gets more tie real estate than The Invisible Woman. What a world.