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Fantastic Four Annual #1
Summer, 1963

ROLL YOUR MOUSE OVER THE IMAGE
TO VIEW THE UNPUBLISHED VERSION

Both versions pencilled by Jack Kirby and inked by Dick Ayers.  My guess is that after finishing the first version, Stan looked at it and said, "Gee, this is too cluttered and you have to read the balloons to figure out what's going on."  So they simplified.  It's also more dynamic not to have all the figures in a scene be the same size.

It's odd though that they didn't add "All New" anywhere on the cover.  One of the things that generally differentiated Marvel covers of this period from the concurrent DC books was that DC annuals were all reprint, whereas Marvel's were all new.  (Well, of course.  Fantastic Four had only been around for two years.  If they were going to do a Fantastic Four Annual, what were they going to reprint?)

Another possible selling point they omitted can be seen on the unused cover where it says, "The Only Unbroken 37-page Comic Mag Tale Ever Printed!"  It wasn't that but it was an uncommonly long (for the time) story.  Stan also dialed down the hyperbole a bit.  The original cover touts "The Origin of the Fantastic Four" as "The Most Requested Saga Ever Printed!" and also says the lead story contains "The Most Eagerly Awaited Battle in All of Comicdom!"  As revised, only the former claim is made.  This is an example of Stan being modest.

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