DC had issues of most of their comics that were numbered 1,000,000. It even said so in the publishing info on the first page. (The Starman issue fell at a really awkward time in the storytelling. I was kind of pissed about that.) But there's no issue 417 of Starman, or a 500, for that matter.

To tell the truth, in Starman's 80 issue run, they actually made 82 issues.

You are arguing that FF 500 shouldn't count because they changed the numbering. Matt is arguing that Thor is the first 500, despite the fact that the title changed. Both changes (in number and in title) are rather dubious. But if they didn't put these aside no Marvel title would ever reach 500 and they wouldn't be able to market an issue 500 (Even X-Men changed it's name to Uncanny X-Men).

So, Thor IS Marvel's first Issue # 500.

However, FF is Marvel's first 500th issue, because the title Thor didn't exist for the first I don't know how many issues.

Just like Starman. Starman was on of the first issue 1,000,000's in comics. (I don't know what the first was. Whatever shipped first. But let's say for the sake of argument that Starman shipped first, because it's the only 1,000,000 issue that I have.)
Starman 1,000,000 was the first 1,000,000 issue, but it was not the 1,000,000th issue. Just as Thor, while being the first Marvel 500 issue, was not the 500th issue of Thor.
And technically, FF has probably already reached their 500, if you count -1. (Did they ever have a zero issue?)

--- And so another one sees the light!

Yep, that's what I've been saying all along, that's where Marvel is wrong in their new ad for "Fantastic Four" #500.

And Marvel also says "Thor" is its' 500TH Issue.

Seriously.

Once more...

Lookit! On that scan of the cover!!!

It is an issue that says "#500." It is the 500th issue published in a single volume. It is "500th" in that volume.

'Nuff said.

(Gee, apparently at this many posts, with so many participants going on about the numbering, the subject matter really is of some concern to many. Hmmm....)

But, it is not the 500th issue of Thor, much like Starman 1,000,000 is not the 1,000,000th issue of Starman.

I said it is the first issue of Marvel to be numbered "#500." It is.

I also say that it is the 500th issue in one volume of a series. It is.

I say Marvel said "A Marvel First!" in reference to "THOR" #500. They did.

I say Marvel's ads are touting the new "Fantastic Four as "Marvel's 1st 500th issue" and they are and it is wrong.

You now realize I am right. You now attempt to find any way you can spin things to look like you weren't wrong to challenge what I wrote, but you were wrong in your challenge.

Really, you guys who are fussing about my point: Read my initial post in this thread, and the countless reassertions you guys made a necessity by your constant and determined efforts to get my point wrong and/or twist it to meet your needs.

If you challenged what I wrote about the "500th" issue of "Fantastic Four, " then you are wrong.

It's that simple.

I'm sorry you made a fool out of yourselves debating it, but trying the silly spin-dances only makes it worse for you.

This thread could've ended at page one, with hardly any posts, but those of you that take issue with me or hold grudges from past debates and discussions have wasted everybody's time with nonsense. I think that reveals who needs to get a life.

My assertion as stated in my initial point and onward is correct in this matter.

Deal with it.

Actually, your initial post, before you changed it, said that Journey into Mystery, a title that hasn't even been around for something like 30 years, was the first #500, when in fact it stopped publishing somewhere in the 80s. So, technically, your initial post was wrong.

You need to make up your mind, Matt. You keep saying we should get back to the point and stop flaming you, but when we try to do just that you accuse us of taking your point too seriously.

"Oh, if only you guys wouldn't waste your time trying to explain to me how I've been confused by the subtleties of the english language, this thread could have been over on the first page."

No, they did not such thing as a zero issue.
The only way you can have a -1 issue is if you make it the exact opposite of the +1 issue. Positive or negative.

When you publish a periodical, you publish it within a linear schedule. There are twelve months in a year, seven days in a week, usually four weeks a month. If you publish a periodical weekly, that means it comes out every week, not every other week and is numbered accordingly. You may jump around all you wish, but it does not change what it is.

To get to issue 500, you must have a 417, 418, 419, 420. Please show me Fantastic Four 417, 418, 419, 420. They are not registered in the U.S. Patents or copyrights. I do not own them, and I have bought every Fantastic Four magazine and I have not seen those numbers.

If you do not have the numbers in between, then it is a marketing ploy based on deception and is a blantant lie.

Just because you see a swan and you take a picture of the swan and place it on the cover a magazine and call the animal a robin does not make it a robin. It is still a swan. The same is for Starman 1,000,000 and that marketing lie.

Where are issues 1 - 125 of Thor, Sam?

Are you familiar with the comic title Treasure Chest? They had a new volume each year, published monthly throughout the school year. So, the twenty-fifth year, October issue, would be Treasure Chest Vol 25 #2. Still, no one disputes that Treasure Chest was one title, not a new title every year.

As you know, Bill, they changed the title from Journey Into Mystery to The Mighty Thor, even though the title on the front of the comic changed as early as issue #104. There also is no Action Comics #601 (the next 42 issues being known as Action Comics weekly), yet it is up in the 800s.

Treasure Chest was following many other peridiocals such as newspapers which go by volume and number, when you go through a cycle of a year, one starts a new volume, and unlike Fantastic Four, it was consistent.

The numbering of Journey Into Mystery and Thor was consistent, so it is valid and is unbroken.
If you were to change your name from Bill Hicks to Bill Jemas and were thirty-seven when you did it, you would be thirty eight your next birthday, would you not? Your age would not change because you changed your name correct? You are not an another volume, and the same applies here.

Like Matt, you are confusing # with th.

Treasure Chest Vol 2 #1 is # Vol 2 #1, but it is the 10th issue of Treasure Chest.

There is a Thor #500, but it was not the 500th issue of Thor.

FF #500 will be the 500th issue of FF.