Posted By Dan Greenfield on Apr 12, 2018 | 1 comment

Believe it, True Believers.

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One of the cooler things Marvel’s been doing for the last year or so has been its True Believers line — dollar reprints of material from some of the House of Ideas’ greatest single issues.

Generally, they’re released thematically: Maybe a movie’s coming out one month or maybe a character’s having a special anniversary.

Either way, it’s a neat program and one I’d love to see the Distinguished Competition emulate.

Anyway, Marvel on Thursday announced its latest wave of True Believers comics — celebrating August’s return of the Fantastic Four, by Dan Slott and Sara Pichelli.

Throughout July, you’ll be able to pick up these 12 issues (though it shoulda been 13!):

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TRUE BELIEVERS: FANTASTIC FOUR #1: Reprinting material from Fantastic Four (1961) #1

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TRUE BELIEVERS: FANTASTIC FOUR VS. DOCTOR DOOM #1: Reprinting material from Fantastic Four (1961) #5

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TRUE BELIEVERS: FANTASTIC FOUR: THE COMING OF GALACTUS #1: Reprinting material from Fantastic Four (1961) #48

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TRUE BELIEVERS: FANTASTIC FOUR: THE WEDDING OF REED AND SUE #1: Reprinting material from Fantastic Four Annual #3

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TRUE BELIEVERS: FANTASTIC FOUR: HULK VS. THING #1: Reprinting material from Fantastic Four (1961) #112

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TRUE BELIEVERS: FANTASTIC FOUR: GALACTUS HUNGERS #1: Reprinting material from Fantastic Four (1961) #175

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TRUE BELIEVERS: FANTASTIC FOUR: THE COMING OF H.E.R.B.I.E. #1: Reprinting material from Fantastic Four (1961) #209

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TRUE BELIEVERS: FANTASTIC FOUR BY JOHN BYRNE #1: Reprinting material from Fantastic Four (1961) #232

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TRUE BELIEVERS: FANTASTIC FOUR BY WALTER SIMONSON #1: Reprinting material from Fantastic Four (1961) #337

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TRUE BELIEVERS: FANTASTIC FOUR VS. THE NEW FANTASTIC FOUR #1: Reprinting material from Fantastic Four (1961) #374

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TRUE BELIEVERS: FANTASTIC FOUR: THE BIRTH OF VALERIA #1: Reprinting material from Fantastic Four (1998) #54

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TRUE BELIEVERS: FANTASTIC FOUR: WHAT IF? #1: Reprinting material from What If? (1977) #1

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Mostly, the True Believers series features stories that can already be found fairly simply, but that’s not really the point. If you’re a casual fan, it’s a great way to sample a classic. And it’s a fantastic, ahem, way to get a friend — or even better, a kid — interested.

But even if you have these stories in every format every which way from Wednesday, it’s still a tremendous kick to grab one of these off the rack, go to the register and lay down a buck for a “brand new” Jack Kirby comic. Or a John Byrne one. Or a Walter Simonson one.

Or, hell, one of each.