Part of the pleasure of reading all those DC comic books last year in search of Alfreds was discovering the wonderful art of DC House Ads—you know, the in-magazine advertisements promoting their comics and characters. Sure, in my humble little stuffed opinion, Marvel always had the better comic books (your mileage may vary!) but DC definitely, a Power Man/Iron Fist ad or two aside, had the better house ads, especially those gorgeous silver age pages that looked and read like a circus or carnival broadside. (I'm especially thinking of the "Just one second!" ad for The Flash, which I'll be spotlighting sometime this month. You'll also find this year ads heralding the (doomed) DC Explosion, weird subscription forms, the complete stats on Miss Lois Lane (age: 22; weight: 121; ambition: to become Mrs. Superman), "Betcha can't stop at one page," The Big Eight (and Seven, and Six), "Will Robin die tonight? Only you can decide!," Jerry Lewis meets Wonder Woman, "Aquaman is dead! Why?," "They're deadlier than being kicked by a roasted chicken!," "Worlds will live, worlds will die, and the DC Universe will never be the same again!," "It begins with the shreds of a costume and it ends with a single teardrop!," "Here is the heroine thousands of DC readers have been requesting for years!," "Just Imagine...!," "100 Pages for 60¢!," "Will he save the West...or destroy it?," "This famous symbol is your guarantee of the best in comics reading!," ...and Go-Go Checks a-plenty! You're in for a Definitely Crazy 2013!
But let's start (sorta near) the beginning with one of the earliest house ads for the magazine that gave DC its name. I do believe it's both the first and the last time National Comics would describe its flagship comic as "high-stepping!"
House ad for Detective Comics #1 (March 1937), printed in New Comics #11 (December 1936), art by Vincent Sullivan
See ya tomorrow...and all year long for 365 Days of DC House Ads!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQenrY-T9_-EUVG2XBTW-ZiSnvw_V3JFU-8tiFlhrdgKCUBaE56ekbiILucymY9gA-xa4zdGy_z1Njojw78Z-YnlUiN4PIRRurK7GzqoEg3B-PmXl2RJaS1ZaVKVCEHP-m-WVr2xjqailLu1jlzylysiBGc3sVXLXNMFDzAURyrHhKBfcqyO4/s1600/button-libertybellmarch.jpg" "It's...")
11 comments:
Hooray! I LOVE me some DC House Ads! They can be far more fun to read than the oft-stodgy books themselves. Here's to 2013!
Seigel and Shuster? Guess the boys weren't getting any respect from the beginning ...
And I'm guessing 90% of the brilliance of these ads can be summed up in two words: Ira Schnapp.
Don't forget to include Fred Hembeck's tribute to DC house ads at some point this year!
This sounds like a completely fun new project for 2013!
I'd say they should add 'high-stepping' to Detective Comics covers nowadays, but I fear with all this face wearing malarkey they take themselves.
too seriously
(don't know why I hit enter before I'd finished the comment...)
Bummer! Being a Marvelite I'm disappointed to say the least. I have to put up with another year of DC shenanigans every day!? Can we at least see a sprinkling of those Marvel Coloring Books? :)
Let the vintage madness BEGIN!!!!
Dave said: I'm guessing 90% of the brilliance of these ads can be summed up in two words: Ira Schnapp.
Pretty much, Dave! Altho' it's seldom that credits are listed for these ads, I'll be trying to credit Schnapp where it seems apt. He had such a distinct and individual style that it will often be obvious it's a Schnapp ad!
Comic creators getting credit in a DC mag from the mid/late 1930's? Madness! :-)
Bully and Dave: I was going to point out the same thing, although it's really four words — "Ira Schnapp" and "Gaspar Saladino". There was often more lettering than there was [picture] art, certainly original lettering vs. original art, while Gaspar in particular had a pretty free hand in designing the ads too from what I know. When I was a kid, Schnapp-lettered ads in reprints signified what DC looked like "then" and Gaspar-lettered ads (cover copy, too) signified what DC looked like "now"; the work of both men just fills me with an indefinable happiness.
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