Thursday, June 21, 2007

Subscription ads oughta be fun!

Marvel subscription ad
Art by John Byrne
Printed in Marvel comics dated October 1984 (this was in Secret Wars #6)


Marvel subscription ad
Art by Luke McDonnell
Printed in Marvel comics dated February 1985 (this was in Secret Wars #10)


Marvel subscription ad
Art by John Byrne
Printed in Marvel comics dated September 1984 (this was in Secret Wars #5)


Marvel subscription ad
Art by Marie Severin
Printed in Marvel comics dated May 1984 (this was in Secret Wars #1)



19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Man, THOSE take me back.

Extra points for Marrina :) Loved the original Alpha Flight, too.

Thanks for the smile, Bully.

Take it and run.

S Bates said...

Wouldn't the comic Johnny Storm is reading burn to a cinder?

And the prices of those subscriptions are all over the place. They start off at 43c per issue, then to 44c per issue, then 41c and finally 42c. It must've been hell for the subscription department to sort all those forms out.

Bully said...

Wouldn't the comic Johnny Storm is reading burn to a cinder?

It's harder to see at the size I've reproduced it on, but Johnny's hands are not flamed on!

Or, he's reading The Amazing Asbestos-Man.

Beta Ray Steve said...

Not lookin' so tough now, are ya "World War" Hulk?

Anonymous said...

..."hoppin' down the Bully trail..."

I caught it. :)

SallyP said...

Heh. The Hulk in a diaper one, just makes me giggle uncontrollably.

Anonymous said...

Sigh, 60 cent comics. I miss those.

Or heck, 75 cent comics, even....

FoldedSoup said...

That's the slutty Aurora, not ze prim et proper one, n'est-ce pas?

Anonymous said...

Eef I was ze dull and boring Aurora, would I be to let ze Sasquatch hold ma derriere like zo? Mais non! Eet is me, slutty Aurora. Tee hee!

Anonymous said...

It seems almost quaint (in a good way) that a superstar like John Byrne drew house ads for Marvel.

Truly an entirely different era, wouldn't you say?

Anonymous said...

These ads make it seem like the characters are all just players in some kind of superhero™ rep company, and this is one of the things they all have to do in order to pay the bills. I love it.

Anonymous said...

Ah, 1984...when "Jump" by Van Halen was a hit song. When comic book characters, even members of Alpha Flight, could shill comic book subscriptions. Those were the days, yes, sireebob.

Anonymous said...

A simpler time, when Iron Man built metallic Santa suits to wear over his armor as he delivered toys to children. Back when Iron Man was...um...likeable.

EM said...

I'm almost embarassed to say this, because it's one of the geekiest things I do, but when I'm reading old comics and see the subscription ads, I like to run down the list of titles and make a mental tally of how many are still around, who's been cancelled, who's been rebooted, etc.

Mike Baehr said...

Dude, I remember alla them. That Sasquatch is one happy fella. It occurs to me that his "modesty" is provided by a cascade of what could only be described as pubes.

Bill D. said...

I always liked the one with the Hulk in a smoking jacket and sitting in an easy chair in front of a fire, discussing Marvel subscription savings in a high-fallutin' manner.

rachelle said...

It's funny, I just saw that Iron Man as Santa ad for the first time the other day and was blown away by its greatness.

Anonymous said...

Yeah. Iron Santa just may be the single most adorable thing I have ever seen in my entire life. And I've owned newborn kittens.

Jeff Rients said...

I'm with em. When reading back issues I always check out the subscription ads for what books were available that year.