Atlas April, Day 1: The Ad That Made a Millionaire out of Chuck

This months's daily feature...well, for April it had to begin with "A," right? Welcome to our stage for 30 days April Atlas, a celebration and a laugh at Mister Charles Atlas, who promised to make a man out of you, at least until Donny Osmond came along and put it to song.

The Charles Atlas ads were basically ubiquious through the entuire history of comic books until around 2001, so unless you're seven years old (present company excepted) you've probably seen, laughed at and/or cut out and mailed in one of those ever-present coupons to get a tough He-Man body so you'll never have sand kicked in your face or down your swim trunks (itchy!) at the beach in front of your best gal. Why, there was a Charles Atlas ad in the very first all-new comic book from DC, the big-ass and thoroughly game-changing New Fun #1, which right from the start promised to turn your granddaddy from a 97-pound weakling into a "NEW MAN of giant power and energy," which, I dunno, sounds like a threat to unleash the Atomic Superman upon us all, or at least upon the beach. The beach would not be protected by Frankie and Annette for more than 25 years later, so heaven help us, we were all subject to Charles Atlas's "Everlasting Health and Strength." Because Charles Atlas died in 1972, your definition of "everlasting" may vary.


Charles Atlas ad in New Fun #1 (DC/National Allied Publications, February 1935), script and (possibly) art by Charles Roman, the advertising exec and later President of the Charles Atlas Corporation from 1929 to 1997
ad copyright ©1935 and 2022 Charles Atlas Ltd.
For every day of Atlas April I'm going to bring you an ad page from comic books for Charles Atlas or one of his competitors, accompanied by a spoof of one of those ads unless I run out of those or forget. Yes, April provides double thrills, double strength and double deltoid development on every day from now until April 30. (Offer not valid if world ends before then.)


"The Armor That Made a Man Out of Mac" from What The--?! #1 (Marvel, August 1988); script, art, and letters by Marc Siry
So, whether you're a hulking he-man or a noodle-armed little stuffed bull, I think you'll enjoy the dynamic-tension™ of Atlas April. (Yes, of course Flex Mentallo will appear!) Tune in all this month! And would it kill ya to eat a salad for once, ya load?