FOOM #3 was the third issue of the fan magazine put out by the Marvel fan club of the same name, edited and composed by Jim Steranko and evidencing his design sensibilities. It’s a window into the world of the Marvel-that-was, the Marvel of yesteryear. When the venture was started, nobody involved was quite sure whether the focus should be on new young fans or older established die-hard readers. So these early issues split the difference.
Since the first issue, FOOM had been running a “Create a hero” contest, with the winner set to appear in an upcoming Marvel comic. This was later expanded to the prize-taker being introduced as a member of the new X-Men team that was being developed. This issue reveals the winner, Humus Sapiens, but the prize wasn’t to be. Chris Claremont in particular hated the character and swore that he’d never use him in X-MEN. Eventually, some 25 years or so later, Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza, Patch Zircher and I made good on this promise by introducing Humus Sapiens in the pages of THUNDERBOLTS #54. A bunch of runners up are listed in different categories on the right which includes contributions from future creators such as Trevor Von Eeden, Grant Miehm and Tom Lyle
Steve Saffel, who created HEROE, would later go on to work in Marvel’s sales department and to also edit MARVEL AGE, a successor of sorts to FOOM.
Likewise, Grant Miehm’s and Tom Lyle’s submissions are shown on this page.
We’ll look at more from FOOM #3 at some future date.
The Tom Brevoort Experience 
In some parallel universe there’s a Humus Sapiens movie opening soon. I notice Trevor von Eeden in the “most entries” category.
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