Tuesday, October 22, 2013

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 295: You can cut off all my fins but to your ways I will not bend


House ad for Showcase #69 [Dolphin] (December 1968); printed in Teen Titans #18 (December 1968)
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp (?)

Okay, I'll confess it: the cover of Showcase #69 is one of my very favorite comic book covers, and the thing is, logically this shouldn't work. There's a huge amount of white green space (that would normally be filled with blurbs), the "Dolphin" is odd and unpolished, and speaking of logos: that hand-lettered "Showcase Presents"...well, that's not the professional, sharp lettering you normally get on a DC cover. It, in fact, looks straight off of a Charlton cover. And yet I think it's an absolutely gorgeous comic book cover...well, maybe it's the leggy aquatic girl in denim cut-offs. With the heroine wearing Daisy Dukes and a wet t-shirt, I am amazed this comic didn't sell one bajillion copies. (I'm just surprised it got past DC editorial with no blurbs on the cover!)


Cover of Showcase #69 [Dolphin] (December 1968), pencils and inks by Jay Scott Pike; possible clean-up inks by Dick Giordano


Wait, this cover was drawn by Jay Scott Pike? Well, there's your reason right there. National shoulda hired more artists who were fish.

1 comment:


  1. well, maybe it's the leggy aquatic girl in denim cut-offs

    Uh, yeah.

    I do think that's Schnapp lettering in the ad.

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