Don’t Be Half A Man! Thanks to Charles Atlas

December 1972

Jungle Action #2

This one ranks right up there with Sea-Monkeys in terms of just how classic it is – Charles Atlas!

Yes, you too can get a body like that in only 15 minutes a day! And then you can beat up bullies on the beach and all the girls will like you! It’s all so simple, right?

I love how on the form where you can check off your interests, in addition to the standard bodybuilding stuff, there’s also “magnetic personality” – I guess maybe they send exercises for your brain too?

 

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The Nitty GRITty Side of Comic Book Ads

April 1980

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century #7

Here’s something you don’t see anymore – ads trying to get kids to sell stuff. GRIT, a newspaper, was probably the most well known (and most widely advertised) of these.

I love how this one plays on kids’ disappointment over having no money – somehow I don’t think that selling a handful of newspapers to family and neighbors (who are only buying it because they feel sorry for you, because really, why would someone buy GRIT when they could just buy their own local newspaper?) is going to make a big financial impact.

And another thing – why do you have to indicate gender when signing up for this? Does is have an effect on how you sell newspapers? Do they send the girls copies of MS. GRIT to sell??

(And if you want to see another example of GRIT, check out this ad from 1972!)

This same as was also found in The Secret Society of Super-Villains #12, January 1978.

 

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Fabio-lous Action!

December 1989

Wonder Woman #37

While you might associate Fabio with a more… umm… romantic… type of action, here he is as a tough, manly barbarian in order to sell video games – Iron Sword: Wizards & Warriors II, specifically.

I find it interesting that the “ultimate warrior” doesn’t seem to have any battle scars… I guess maybe he’s just so good that no one can touch him (except the ladies, of course)!

So Much Fun For So Little Money!

April 1980

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century #7

OK, time to get back to the classics! I’ve had fun posting stuff from Deadpool #1, but I think that older ads tend to be more fun. I’ve still got some ads from Deadpool #1 that I’ll post at some point, but they’ll be interspersed with the older, more classic stuff.

And speaking of classics, here are tons of them!

I can only imagine how much allowance money went toward the stuff on pages like these… and how much disappoint resulted when the products didn’t live up to expectations.

I think my favorite item on here is the Atomic Mini Pistol – how, exactly, is it atomic? I mean, I guess it’s made up of atoms, but beyond that, I can’t really see how “atomic” applies here…

 

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Violence and Bloodshed – Finally an Appropriate Ad in Deadpool!

January 1997

Deadpool #1

Did you see Deadpool last night? Did you love it as much as I did?? Yep, it was everything I hoped it would be… and so much more!

In celebration of all of the glorious violence and bloodshed in the movie, I’m sharing an ad that’s full of violence and bloodshed – Fighting Vipers, a Sega Saturn game.

With some of its selling points being “certifiably psychotic characters,” and “the most vicious streetfighters ever to terrorize arcades,” to me this ad seemed the most at home in Deadpool (just slightly more than 101 Dalmatians…).

Now go to the nearest theater and see Deadpool – repeatedly!

Hopefully By “Hot” They Don’t Mean Stolen…

January 1997

Deadpool #1

Welcome to post #3 in my Deadpool mini-marathon! The movie is only a couple days away!! Isn’t this the most exciting thing ever?!?!?

OK, I need to calm down. Anyway, here’s something else to get excited about – a contest where you can win remote control cars from Radio Shack!

And not only can you win the cars, you can also appear in your very own custom Marvel comic – The Adventures of Radio Kid! If that’s not excitement, I don’t know what is!

Enter now!!

 

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Deadpool & Disney – A (Strange) Match Made in Advertising!

January 1997

Deadpool #1

So, in continuing our Deadpool-A-Rama-Thon, I present you with another ad from Deadpool #1 – for 101 Dalmatians(?).

Now, keep in mind that this was long before Disney acquired Marvel, so there wasn’t necessarily any connection between the companies like there is now, which, to me, makes it that much odder to find this ad for a family movie in a book clearly aimed at an older audience. There were a few ads in this issue that just seemed very out of place in Deadpool, but I guess that 1997 was just a simpler, more innocent time…

 

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Deadpool vs. The Hulk! (Well, Maybe Not “Versus” Exactly…)

January 1997

Deadpool #1

It’s February, and I can already feel the excitement in the air over that oh-so-special day coming up in a couple weeks!

“Valentine’s Day?”

Well, I guess maybe some people get excited about that sort of thing, but I’m talking about something really important – the premiere of Deadpool’s very own movie!!!!!

OK, for those of you who still insist that Valentine’s Day is important, here’s a compromise I think we can all agree on:

Anyway, for those of you that know me (or have glanced at my list of comics), you know that I LOVE Deadpool like I love no other character, so I don’t think that words can accurately describe my excitement over this upcoming movie.

So in celebration of this momentous event, I’ve decided to post ads from Deadpool #1 for the next couple weeks, in anticipation of the movie.

“But, which Deadpool #1? There’ve been lots!”

Ah, so true. By my count, so far there have been six different comics that could all be considered “Deadpool #1” – released in 1993, 1994, 1997, 2008, 2013, and 2016. And that’s not even counting stuff like Deadpool Corps, Deadpool: Merc With a Mouth, or Mrs. Deadpool and the Howling Commandos (yes, really)! Any way you look at it, that’s a whole lotta DP! (Hey, why are there suddenly a bunch of porn enthusiasts here? Oooh, wait, I get it now!)

Anyway, I’m going with the one that I consider to be the most legitimate claim to Deadpool #1, the one from 1997, the first issue of his first ongoing series.

So what was the first ad in this issue? It’s for The Incredible Hulk: Pantheon Saga – a video game.

It’s a powerful punch to welcome you to the excitement about to unfold on the following pages!

POW!

 

Do you enjoy reading Comic Book Ads? If so, please consider supporting me by clicking here for my Amazon link – I’ll get a percentage from everything you order! Thanks!