EXCLUSIVE! Bronze Age X-Men and Marvel Fanfare, plus Marvel Zombies — and they’re all connected…
Marvel in October will offer three Facsimile Editions and all are tied into the company’s new Midnight line launching that month.
The three are Marvel Fanfare #2, The Uncanny X-Men #159 — both from 1982 — and 2005’s Ultimate Fantastic Four #21.
Dig the official solicitation info, which will be formally released by Marvel later in July:
MARVEL FANFARE #2 FACSIMILE EDITION
WRITTEN BY CHRIS CLAREMONT & ROGER MCKENZIE
PENCILED BY MICHAEL GOLDEN & TREVOR VON EEDEN
COVER BY MICHAEL GOLDEN
Iconic X-MEN scribe Chris Claremont teams with acclaimed artist Michael Golden to take a beautifully illustrated trip to the Savage Land — complete with dinosaurs, Ka-Zar and Zabu…and monstrously mutated versions of Angel and Spider-Man?! Can Ka-Zar discover what has happened to Warren Worthington III and Peter Parker and find a way to restore them to their heroic forms? Or will it come at the cost of evil unleashed? Plus: Roger McKenzie and Trevor Von Eeden send Mister Fantastic on a solemn solo mission into the Negative Zone! Reed Richards must triumph over Annihilus alone, even if it means making a painful sacrifice! It’s one of the all-time great Marvel comic books, boldly re-presented in its original form, ads and all! Reprinting MARVEL FANFARE (1982) #2.
32 PGS./ONE-SHOT/RATED T+… $4.99
On Sale 10/28
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UNCANNY X-MEN #159 FACSIMILE EDITION
WRITTEN BY CHRIS CLAREMONT
PENCILED BY BILL SIENKIEWICZ
COVER BY BILL SIENKIEWICZ
Marvel’s mutants face an unholy threat when the immortal Dracula attempts to make Storm his undead bride! The X-Men get called to the hospital after Ororo is the victim of an apparent mugging — but when her recovery doesn’t go according to plan, the alarm bells start ringing. Storm is plagued by strange dreams and has a sudden aversion to sunlight! Soon Dracula arrives at the Mansion — but Ororo isn’t going to be turned to a vampire without a fight, and the X-Men sure won’t stand aside and let it happen! From legendary creators Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz, it’s one of the all-time great Marvel comic books, boldly re-presented in its original form, ads and all! Reprinting UNCANNY X-MEN (1981) #159.
32 PGS./ONE-SHOT/RATED T… $4.99
On Sale 10/14
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ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #21 FACSIMILE EDITION
WRITTEN BY MARK MILLAR
PENCILED BY GREG LAND
COVER BY GREG LAND
The Marvel Zombies make their monstrous debut, courtesy of the blockbuster creative team of Mark Millar and Greg Land! In their short careers, the Ultimate Fantastic Four have seen a lot of amazing things — but nothing will prepare them for what they are about to encounter! Reed Richards has used his scientific genius to contact an alternate Earth, and he’s ready to pay them a visit! But while this parallel dimension and its own First Family may be surprisingly familiar, there’s a frightful twist! Beginning the storyline that birthed the Marvel Zombies franchise, it’s one of the all-time great Marvel comic books, boldly re-presented in its original form, ads and all! Reprinting ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR (2003) #21.
32 PGS./ONE-SHOT/RATED T+… $4.99
On Sale 10/21
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Buncha thoughts:
— The Midnight line debuts Oct. 7, with three titles: Midnight X-Men #1, Midnight Fantastic Four #1 and Midnight Spider-Man #1. They are the only three books Marvel will release that Wednesday.
— This is how the publisher describes the line: “Marvel’s most acclaimed modern creators are given free rein to reimagine heroes with shocking twists and chilling transformations in boundary-less storytelling that will keep readers on edge issue after issue. The X-Men no longer fight for acceptance, they hunger for blood. The Fantastic Four venture into the unknown not to save the world—but to unleash terror upon it. And Spider-Man discovers that with great power… comes something monstrous.” For more info, click here.
— Obligatory Price Comparison #1: An unslabbed, NM+ copy of an original Marvel Fanfare #2 recently sold on eBay for $139.
— Obligatory Price Comparison #2: An unslabbed, NM original Uncanny X-Men #159 went for $20.
— Obligatory Price Comparison #3: An unslabbed, NM original Ultimate Fantastic Four #21 also sold for about $20.
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MORE
— MARVEL Set to Reprint Classic DOCTOR STRANGE AND DOCTOR DOOM: TRIUMPH AND TORMENT. Click here.
— AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1000 Gets TWO Never-Published STEVE DITKO Variant Covers. Click here.
July 17, 2026
The fact that both DC and Marvel keep churning out corrupted and often undead versions of their characters instead of the aspirational ones of the past seems like a metaphor for something
July 17, 2026
So Marvel’s facsimile line in October isn’t dead. However, it is *un*dead.
The continued weird gaps in Uncanny X-Men issues are going to annoy me. Published facsimiles of UXM now include #1, 4, 101, 129-142, 159 (in October), 244, 266, 268, and 274. Argh.
I wish they’d gone with What If Vol. 2 #24, “What If Wolverine Had Been Lord of the Vampires?” It’s a pretty freaky issue in its own right.
July 22, 2026
They also released a facsimile of X-Men 12 (1st Juggernaut) in 2020, though it’s very hard to find a reasonably priced copy now sadly
July 17, 2026
I am a little disappointed Marvel did not include a Silver Age book in this months facsimile release. I thought October would herald some Avengers related books as a prelude to the December Avengers movie release.
July 17, 2026
Well, they sort of just did with the 616 day blind bags. One Silver and two Bronze Age Doctor Doom stories. (Note: you can find them on eBay if you don’t want to hunt in blind bags.)
I’m assuming we’ll get some Doom issues in November/December.
July 18, 2026
I found the Avengers with original rendered cover for between $20 to $50. That’s too much for me. I need 4-6 copies. Too bad. We need more Silver Age.
July 17, 2026
Wow! Whoever paid 139.00 for an unslabbed Marvel Fanfare 2 got taken to the cleaners! You can pick up great-looking copies of that issue up for a song… Even NM copies of issue 1 can be had for about 20 bucks.
July 17, 2026
I’m glad to see Marvel’s still in the facsimile game.
Some other ones I’d love to see:
Amazing Spider-Man #39-40 (and more Lee-Ditko issues)
Avengers #4
Daredevil #168
Iron Man #128
Journey Into Mystery #83 and #85
Luke Cage, Hero For Hire #1
Marvel Premiere #15
Tales of Suspense #46, #50, and #52
(Yes, I know some of these came out in True Believer editions, but a number of facsimiles also got reprinted in True Believer format.)
July 17, 2026
Ummm I think your pricing is off on the Marvel Fanfare #2…..You can still pick up a copy for $5-10
July 17, 2026
That glorious Sienkiewicz X-Men cover always confused me – the X-Men cowering, presumably from vamped-up Ororo…yet her shadow is behind them, not looking over them. With that giant face, it’s not like a shadow is even needed.
July 20, 2026
I just got a nice copy of Marvel Fanfare 2 for $1 Canadian. There were half a dozen more copies in the dollar bin. Why pay more than $100 US for it on eBay?