The Amazing Spider-Ads

Introducing X-Cards The Spot - My next blog

2011-01-26T19:56:00.000-08:00

Spider-Ads may be no more (at least, as far as new posts go... though I gotta admit I miss working on it sometimes), but that doesn't mean I'm done blogging about comic stuff! Introducing X-Cards the Spot . If you were a child of the 80's and 90's at all you had to have sunk an unfortunate amount of your allowance on trading cards, specifically Marvel trading cards. This blog reviews each and

1975 - ASM #149 - Subscribe with Spidey!

2010-02-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

Well, looks like ol' Stan's brilliant scheme to get you to buy Marvel Comics wholesale to try to sell to your friends didn't work too well, since, let's face it, all else being equal, everyone would rather buy comics from the newsstand or comic book store (the latter was only starting to gain prominence at this time) than from Billy by the sandbox. Instead, we get the far more sensible direct

1975 - ASM #148 - Step Into a Slim Jim When You're Not a Werewolf

2010-02-15T05:28:00.000-08:00

I first heard of Slim Jims at the same time they rose to national prominence in the 90's when they used Machoman Randy Savage to paint what's essentially, uh, mechanically separated chicken jerky, as a snack so extreme that it made a cracking whip sound when you bit into it. I think it was the lack of the sound effect that disappointed me most about Slim Jims. Well, turns out this

1975 - ASM #147 - Seriously, Evel Knievel, Towels? Fine

2010-02-12T05:17:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one surprised that the two ads I've seen in comics so far hawking Evel Knievel merchandise sell 1) a set of action figure toys where Evel's face looks like he doesn't wanna be there, because he really needs to take a crap... and 2) today's ad, which lets you recall the excitement of the greatest stuntman in American history with... towels? The sad thing is the ad for the towels

1975 - ASM #146 - Electroman Wants To Learn You!

2010-02-10T05:05:00.000-08:00

Today frequent comic book advertiser the Cleveland Institute of Electronics steps it up a notch. It's not enough for you to be deathly jealous of your more successful friend's life to sign up for a career "in electronics." No sir, they've called in a friend. They've called in... ELECTROMAN That's right, Jim. Electroman wants you to know two things: one, that his name is written on his shirt.

1975 - ASM #145 - Wijit Works' Hover Spacecraft Won't Work, Idjit!

2010-02-08T05:10:00.000-08:00

I've had a personal fetish for the concept of hovercraft since I was a little kid. I say concept because 26 years on, I still haven't seen a production vehicle that comes close to the promise of what hovercraft are supposed to be (i.e. something Doc Brown and Marty rode around in). So it comes as no surprise that the following ad was something that caught MY eye when I was a kid reading comic

1975 - ASM #144 - Count Dante Sounds Martial-Artsy, Right?

2010-02-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

Martial arts ads usually combined Asian mysticism with American machismo, bringing the mysterious, "previously forbidden" arts to the limelight in a straightforward "I'll kick your ass you look at my girl crooked again" approach. That's why I have no idea why John Keehan, teacher for the Black Dragon Fighting Society, aka, the deadliest man alive, and who certainly looks close enough like it in

1975 - ASM #143 - Monsterman or Sea Horses?

2010-02-03T05:41:00.000-08:00

So let's say you're a kid in 1975. You've just saved up several weeks' worth of allowance and now you have three dollars to waste on something for sale in Amazing Spider-Man #143. You come upon two small ads, right next to each other: The first one, apparently are lessons for how to draw monsters, taught by professional cartoonist Monsterman, who may or may not be an actual monster (I'm

1975 - ASM #142 - Sick and Tired of This Ad!

2010-02-01T05:11:00.000-08:00

Some things are worth more than the sum of their parts: iPhones for example. And families. In the case of ads for correspondence degrees done in the style of comic art, the sum of suckiness definitely adds up. Today's ad is no different. It's for the Cleveland Institute of Electronics, an educational institution that still exists today, despite having a website design from the early 2000's.

Doppelganger Week!

2010-01-30T11:54:00.000-08:00

This week is/was apparently "Doppelganger Week" on Facebook, so it seemed appropriate to change my profile picture to:

1975 - ASM #140 - Giant Seven Foot Tall Monster Robot

2010-01-29T05:44:00.000-08:00

"Scare friends and family when you walk towards them as Life-Size terrifying Monster Robot. This amazing Robot obeys your commands." Spoiler alert: it's made of fiberboard: Actually I am flabbergasted that the ad would actually show how the whole thing looked with you inside, shuffling around in a big refrigerator box, instead of drawing a fantastical super articulated robot with laser rays,

Real Live Monkeys!

2010-01-27T05:11:00.000-08:00

We're taking a little breather from the ads today, but that doesn't mean I'm skipping out on you guys. I recently came upon an article from Comic Book Resources written over a year ago talking about peoples' real life experiences with comic book mail order pets, namely monkeys! Here's a tidbit from Jeff Tuthill, who shares his own experience with receiving his real life monkey: I know it wasn’

1974 - ASM #138 - Buy Cologne from a Kid.

2010-01-25T05:07:00.000-08:00

You may remember Blair and their cologne and beauty products. This classy establishment thought it was a worthwhile use of their advertising dollars to take out full page ads in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man, in order to get some of that juicy comic book reader money. Well, if you find yourself really enjoying Blair and their products, turns out you can probably just go to one of your

1974 - ASM #137 - Buy Marvel, Sell Marvel

2010-01-22T05:08:00.000-08:00

As I've shown time and time again, comic books were rife with ads trying to get you to make money selling things: Carpet cleaning, Locksmithing, Cologne, Magazines, seeds, and many others. But today, we'll see an ad in a Marvel comic that encourages you to sell... Marvel comics! Encouraging you to buy a set of 12 different comics for the price of 8 (two dollars), Spider-Man says "You can

1974 - ASM #134 - Buy Comics from Pajama-Man!

2010-01-20T05:10:00.000-08:00

Kids nowadays don't know this, but until the 1980's the idea of comic book stores was extremely rare. Up until then comics had always been sold on newsstands, drugstores, grocery stores, etc. It wasn't until this period, the 1970's, that a market emerged for comic book back-issues, and that's when comic book specialty shops emerged. In their infancy, many collectors stocked up by contacting each

1974 - ASM #133 - I Can Always Sell Seeds... You Wanna Buy Some Seeds?

2010-01-18T11:37:00.000-08:00

Last time I showed you kids how to make money and win prizes by selling magazines about rural American life. Well, if that sounds too "square" for you, I've got the cure... selling SEEDS! That's right, sell seeds through the American Seed Company: According to "Chipper Luschenat" from New Jersey "They are the only thing I ever tried to sell that people wanted to buy." And sadly enough,

1974 - ASM #132 - Holy GRIT, Fellows!

2010-01-15T05:37:00.000-08:00

Amazing Spider-Man #132, in which today's ad appears, had no less than FIVE half-page or larger ads that was some form of money-making opportunity involving being a salesman for some company, and many even smaller ads. This is a lot, but not too extraordinary at the time; comics being a cheap and, one could argue, lowbrow form of entertainment (albeit one that required literacy), was read both

1974 - ASM #131 - Quote Get Acquainted Unquote

2010-01-13T05:44:00.000-08:00

It's well known my fondness for assuming double entendres whenever people use quotation marks in advertising copy. Today's entry is further proof: Racing legend Dan Gurney would like to "Get Acquainted" with you, and is willing to sell you 10 famous racing decals for only $1.00 for the pleasure. Care to take him up on it? From Amazing Spider-Man #131, March 1974.

But first, a timely aside

2010-01-11T19:08:00.000-08:00

"Hi kids, sit down, we need to talk. As I'm sure you've been hearing rumors for a while now, your daddy Sam and I have decided to get a divorce. I know this is really sad, but given the way things have been recently, we decided this is the best thing to do. We'll always have those fond memories back in 2002 and 2004, though, right?" "Oh, also, I promise you'll have a brand new, hotter dad real

ASM #129 - Blair Iced Cologne - Who the Hell Used This??

2010-01-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

I mean, seriously. In Amazing Spider-Man #129, we are introduced to THE PUNISHER. The purveyor of grim-and-gritty, hyper-macho anti-heroes. And in the very same issue, we get this: Yeah. I'm sure somewhere among the masses who watch Saturday morning cartoons, buy Nazi memorabilia, and are considering a career in locksmithing would be interested in selling Blair beauty creme. Even if you get

1974 - ASM #128 - Evel Knievel Might Be Excited? Maybe?

2010-01-08T05:13:00.000-08:00

Evel Knievel may be the most famous daredevil of all time, but from the looks of him in this ad for his Ideal Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle, he doesn't seem particularly excited about the distinction: In fact, I think it smells bad to him. Too bad, cause this toy was extremely popular in the 1970's, with its durable stunt cycle powered by the Gyro Rev-Booster. He even had tons of accessories like

1973 - ASM #127 - Hypnotize with any TV Set!

2010-01-06T05:48:00.000-08:00

You've learned hypnosis the traditional way. In a pinch, you had your hypno-coin. But if you REALLY need to hypnotise someone (by which I mean a cute girl, with you being a creepy dude) RIGHT NOW, this is the ad for you: "Hypnotize with any T.V. set, 1st Evening or Money-Back!" The ad exclaims. "Television repairman's accidental discovery makes anyone a hypno-tist right away. Secret method

1973 - ASM #125 - Total Self Defense System

2010-01-04T05:08:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I featured martial arts ads, which had been numerous in the '60's. An article I'd mentioned before by Dan Kelly, an in-depth history of martial arts ads in comic books, explains why. After a judge ruled that Joe Weider (yes, that Joe Weider) had made false claims in his advertisements for, among other things, martial arts instruction books, many instructors (or printers

1973 - ASM #123 - Locksmithing Institute Could Use Charles Atlas

2010-01-01T05:21:00.000-08:00

Happy new year everyone! And what better way to celebrate the new year by considering a new career! Well, you're in luck cause this ad will TOTALLY wanna make you rethink your current career strategy. We've showcased more than a handful of ads done in the style of comic art. We've even done comic-style ads selling a second career. All of them are pretty square, some downright creepy, but

1973 - ASM #122 - We Don't Want Skinny

2009-12-30T05:17:00.000-08:00

We've covered ads for weight-gain products before. In them, it is very specifically mentioned just how frustrating it is to be skinny. Obviously, in the post-war/post-depression environment Americans being overly skinny became less and less of an issue. But here we are, in 1973, with yet another ad, and this one is aimed square at young boys, and hits 'em right where it hurts. "We Don't Want