Young boys reading superhero comics saw a lot of body building ads and ads to get taller, thinner, and richer. Every gallerys images are by their original company or artist. A lot of ads in old comic books just wanted your money. See more ideas about comic books, vintage advertisements and classic comics. Simpson to advertise a line of cleats for football and baseball. Like every other young lad dreaming of adventure, i would read spiderman, superman and the hulk comic books as a form of escapism. In the lavish mailorder mysteries, demarais supplies a chronicle of the more popular and infamous products.
One of my favorite ads thats on the back of at least 75% of my comic book collection. I was never really a fan of the stories except superman and richie rich, but for some reason i loved the advertisements. If kids were feeling pickedon at school, they could learn the worlds deadliest fighting secrets and take back the power for free. As was typical with comics back in the day, you would almost always find an ad page inside with the publishers hawking their monthly subscriptions. Many of these amusements and gizmos are now highly collected by baby boomers. The ads were usually over the top in their promises to teach you how to smash bricks with your head, turn invisible, fight 12 attackers at one time, and kill a man with your pinky finger. The heyday of comic book mail order ads lasted from the 1950s to the 1980s. And when i thought about it further it seemed a rather silly career optionthere was no pay. Mans account of ordering a live monkey from comic book ad. I dont want to burst mr barrys bubble, but there is no way that jump shot was a 30. If you read a comic book between the 1940s and 1980s then you were inundated by cheap looking ads for everything from toy soldiers to girlenticing muscles. When i was a kid, my brother collected comic books. At some point my brother and i were lucky enough to get our parents to. Probably because its drawn by mad magazine superstar jack davis.
Subscribers receive 30% off on collected editions trade paperbacks and hardcovers. These ads are now collectible and sell on ebay and other online sites. With ebay, you dont have to choose sides, because we have plenty of any option. Have you ever bought anything from a comic book ad. If they dont, its a shame, because a lot of the enjoyment came from these strange little adverts directed at kids. From the very early 1950s, through the mid1980s, comic book companies printed the beloved, nowclassic advertisements for toy soldier sets in the infamous back page mailorder ads of most typical comic books.
Comic book adverts of the 1960s70s its been so long since ive opened up a new comic book, i dont even know if they still run ads anymore. No joke, you absolutely could order live seahorses from the back pages of comic books. Part of this course entailed me showing a pile of scans of books, australian, usa and otherwise. That money back guarantee was also a sham, since you had to pay for the return postage properly packaged and insured. Many kids who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s saw ads like this on the backs of comic books. That was 5 candy bars, or 3 candy bars and a comic book, or a toy off the rack. Please help out our channel by donating to our patreon page. Shop for books at and browse categories like young adult books, childrens books, mystery books, adult coloring books and cook books. A tribute to comic book back cover advertisements panjo.
Thus comic books became common ground for people searching for the sensational and those wanting to sell it to them. In todays comic books you dont see the advertisements you used to no ads with outrageous promises to be taller or more muscular. Get in on the latest original romance, comedy, action, fantasy, horror, and more from big names and big names to be made just for webtoon. Comic book ads from the1950s and 1960s barrys pearls of. Sprinkled amongst the exploits of these superheroes were advertisements with grandiose claims of miraculous muscle development, xray glasses and the wonders of keeping pet sea monkeys. I think that ads from comic books are uniquely fun pieces of history, and my goal is to share them with others who appreciate them like i do.
A lot of us just looked at them and wished we had the scratch to get them. We offer modern, bronze age, silver age, and golden age comics. I wasnt into comic books back when this issue was on the stands, but if i had beenand had the money, i would have subscribed to several of the titles listed. At least, thats what vintage comicbook ads would have you believe.
The strange world of comic book ads say no to crack. It wasnt just us that remembered, kaxe member melanie from brainerd called in her memory of her miniature monkey capricorn. Comic books usually have advertising and even if vintage comic books and the ads are no longer applicable, all comic books are serialized, therefore not eligible for media mail prices. They were sold by mail order forms and were often found in the back of popular comic books, just like mine were. These classic ads in the back of comic books tricked kids from the 50s through the 80s. Any item that can apply for periodicals is not eligible for media mail and comic books are periodicals publications. These toys were called comic book combat flats in the advertisements of the time. View market values for books, store your collection, and meet fellow comic fans. Truth be told, after 1984, quite a few comic book ads were paid for by sponsors of whatever company paid the ad space inside the books, as well as on the back cover. The wait could take forevereven upwards to 6 to 8 weeks. It was isometric exercises dedicated to specific muscle groups with tips on. Fruity and cocoa pebbles were a huge sponsor of getting print ads inside comic books and magazines, and chances were that if you picked up an archie comic printed between 1988 and 1991, you would see at least one appearance by fred and barney on the back of the comic. See more ideas about old comic books, old comics and comic books. Comic book ads have taken a dramatic shift over the past several years.
And the ads in the back of comic books like xray specs, throw your voice, charles atlas and your new real live, miniature monkey. Many of these ads didnt even use the characters inside the books. Comic books from the era featured ads with the image of count dante striking a menacing pose, grabbing the attention of young comic book readers. My backlash with comic book advertisements letterpile. Oh well, that was the charge, and thats what we had to pay. There were several, including one thatresembled a comic book page. Vintage comic book ads that were too good to be true. The below images are ads for martial arts courses that appeared in comic books and other magazines of the late 50s through the early 80s. Fantastic ads like these ruled the back of my beloved comic books with every issue. A comic book or comicbook, also called comic magazine or simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes.
Most of these magazines way back then were brought over to glasgow as ballast on cargo ships delivering goods and produce from america and beyond. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and written narrative, usually, dialog contained in word balloons emblematic of the comics art form. If we dont, add it to your want list and well notify you when its in stock. Six years ago, artist and historian kirk demarais, who runs the brilliant gen x nostalgia site, secret fun spot, became determined to uncover the truth behind these comicbook. And be sure to check out the full list of kitschy comic book novelties below. Before hitting doublefigures in years id given up on joining the the avengers or the justice league and was happy just to read of their incredible adventures in the pages of comics. Usps media mail regulations comics general cgc comic. If you were a regular reader of comic books in the 60s and 70s, you probably couldnt help but notice the recurring ad that offered you your very own kidsized polaris nuclear submarine all for the low price of about seven bucks. I was never going to be spidermanno matter how i tried to swing from washing lines or scale neighborhood walls or tumble out of trees. Cheesy ads promoting all sorts of questionable items have appeared throughout the history of comic books. But if you look in older comic books youll see a treasure trove of sneaky ads, crazy claims. Back in 1970 i was 1415 i did purchase the charles atlas course. I keep seeing all the neat ads when the back covers are shown and it got me wondering how many people actually purchased something from a comic book ad.
Choose from our affordable domestic and international shipping options. Obviously being a superhero was not all it was crackedup to be. Here are a 10 crazy vintage comic book ads i recently stumbled across. And a sevenfoot submarine you and a friend could pilot. If youre looking for a hard to find back issue, we probably have it. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Most comic book lovers pledge allegiance to either dc comicsfeaturing that famous alien from krypton and aquaman, among many othersor marvel comics, which gave us the webslinging spiderman, the new mutants and patriotic captain america.
For all the deserved praise we bestow on the front covers of comic books, sometimes the advertisements on the back cover are almost just as visually striking, impactful, and interesting as what. Those little soldiers from the backs of comic books. Apr 9, 2020 back of the the book advertisment in old comic books and magazines. Being born and raised in scotland meant an intermittent supply of such comic books capers. Advertisements in comic books have promised unbelievable products for decades. In the back pages six ads are reproduced from comics, typical examples that seduced americas youth mostly boys of course and if you want to see more of these check out hey skinny great advertisements from the golden age of comic books, a large size paperback that reprints in colour comic book ads from the forties and fifties. Vintage 100piece toy soldier set with footlocker storage. The ebay item number can be found in the middle of the listing page, inside the item description tab. While most people saw these items as ripoffs, gimmicks, and junk, others now look back fondly on them.
Comic book adds were one of the few pleasures we never knew we were having in the 70s and 80s. My enthusiasm for imitating peter parker always ended in disaster and bruised limbs. Gone are the days of ads for tv star posters, bubble gum and various and sundry gimmick products. The bright yellow background ads featuring a smiling o. If christmas was the atomic bomb, ordering dumb shit from comic books was like scattering happy landmines throughout the year. Comic book resources has a fantastic firsthand account of ordering a live miniature monkey from a comic book advertisment. In some ways, the entertaining comic ads brought back to life the feel of the classic advertisements featuring snake oil medicine, over. A few years back i ran a short course at the wea here in adelaide on the history and appreciation of comic books in general.