{"id":2828,"date":"2021-10-13T10:10:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-13T17:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=2828"},"modified":"2024-01-10T10:15:39","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T18:15:39","slug":"maggies-world-095-ads-and-comics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/maggies-world-095-ads-and-comics\/","title":{"rendered":"Maggie’s World 095: Ads and Comics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n
\n

MAGGIE’S WORLD BY MAGGIE THOMPSON<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maggie’s World 095: Ads and Comics<\/h1>\n\n\n
Maggie Thompson<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"HD<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"
In olden times (in this case, February 4, 1934), newspapers\u2019 Sunday comics sections ran advertisements designed to fit right in with the storytelling strips surrounding them. (In that day\u2019s Chicago Tribune<\/em>, this ran\u201414 inches wide\u2014beneath Gaar Williams\u2019 A Strain on the Family Tie<\/em>.) \u00a9 2021 Procter & Gamble Company<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Comics ads have been around for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey Skinny!  . . . Yer ribs are showing!\u201d \u201cHow a 97-lb. weakling became the \u2018world\u2019s most perfectly developed man.\u2019\u201d \u201cTired of being picked on?\u201d \u201cThe insult that turned a \u2018Chump\u2019 into a \u2018Champ.\u2019\u201d \u201cThe insult that made a Man out of \u2018Mac.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all the ads for Charles Atlas\u2019s \u201cDynamic Tension\u201d training were in comics form\u2014but the comics panels that showed a bully kicking sand in the face of a guy at the beach were so well known that they formed the basis of a wide variety of pop culture responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it came in \u201cI Can Make You a Man\u201d from the 1973\u20131975 Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/em> musical or in Jack Kent\u2019s delightful The Once-Upon-a-Time Dragon<\/em> (1982) children\u2019s book, audiences knew the reference. (Admittedly, in the case of Jack Kent\u2019s book, it\u2019d be the adult reading to the child who would understand the reference. But I digress.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the reasons for its resonance are that (a) the ads seemed to be everywhere and (b) their pictures were clear and made the saga memorable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The campaign was a prime example of the power of comic art to convey a message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
It wasn\u2019t just in comic books that the long-running Charles Atlas campaign [in this case, from Captain Marvel Adventures <\/em>#74 (July 1947)] set up the situation in strip form before making the pitch. \u00a9 2021 Charles Atlas Ltd.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hey, what the heck? In order to sell its Twinkies, Hostess took this Marvel characters ad in Gold Key\u2019s Uncle Scrooge <\/em>#149 (February 1978). \u00a9 2021 Marvel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comics Ads Grab Customers<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

According to Wiki, it was in 1929 that Charles Atlas (1892\u2013 1972) involved his Charles Atlas Ltd. with ad man Charles P. Roman. Roman produced those catchy strips that promoted the Atlas bodybuilding course. And Roman wasn\u2019t alone, as an increasing number of advertising designers reached customers via comics. Distinctive comics characters were invented to introduce compelling stories about products for sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When media planners decide where and how to place their ad dollars, comics have been part of the mix for quite a while. Those planners have to figure out how to best send their message, and it looks as if comics have paid off for many years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s time for a tip of the Thompson Topper to Woody Gelman (1915\u2013 1978). If you\u2019re not familiar with his name, it may be because you weren\u2019t beginning to get into comics in the 1960s. As Wiki notes, his Nostalgia Press \u201cpioneered the reprinting of vintage comic strips in quality hardcovers and trade paperbacks.\u201d I don\u2019t think most of us knew that his earlier connection to comics included that he\u2019d co-created DC\u2019s \u201cThe Dodo and the Frog.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case, Gelman had joined artist Ben Solomon to set up a company that developed ad campaigns that included comics. Comic books packed with their own characters soon contained full-page stories featuring Popsicle Pete. A gum company beckoned, and Solomon became art director and Gelman became creative director of Topps. And Bazooka gum (which began in 1947) soon contained little comic strips themselves, eventually featuring Bazooka Joe. (Heck, eventually Gelman also came up with more, including Mars Attacks!<\/em> Just saying.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comics to Ads<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, though, it was pre-existing comics characters that became identified by ad agencies as friendly partisans that could spread their messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marjorie Henderson Buell\u2019s Little Lulu<\/em> first appeared as the concluding cartoon panel every week in The Saturday Evening Post<\/em>. Not only did she get a translation into full-length story adventures in comic books and animated cartoons\u2014but she also became the spokesgirl for Kleenex tissues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Popeye promoted spinach and then Instant Quaker Oatmeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The animated stars of The Flintstones<\/em> appeared for both vitamins and (yes, \u201ca Winston break!\u201d) cigarettes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hostess hired both DC and Marvel super-characters to let readers know that they\u2019d get \u201ca big delight in every bite\u201d of its treats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advertising took to animation eagerly, sometimes with bonus comics. Quisp, Quake, Cap\u2019n Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Lucky Charms, Trix  . . . You can come up with many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what the heck? Every once in a rare while, a commercial product would get its own comic book!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Stanley, for example, wrote Choo-Choo Charlie<\/em>, a one-issue Gold Key title (December 1969) that featured the TV-ad character known for recommending Good & Plenty candy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, of course, there were ads for<\/em> comics\u2014in <\/em>comics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Comic book ads reached out to provide a variety of messages to their readers. Bob Hope starred in DC comic books, including in some of its public service messages; this one ran in Superboy <\/em>#112 (April 1964). \u00a9 2021 DC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Heck, this ad in EC\u2019s Two-Fisted Tales <\/em>#30 (November\u2013December 1952) not only promoted a promising new series, it also clearly identified some staffers (and taught readers to look for signatures). \u00a9 2021 EC Publications, Inc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ads Subsidized Comics<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The topics of comics economics and distribution can be complex. (As in: Dell was a distribution company that handled its own racking in the 1940s and 1950s, so its costs differed from those of companies that hired other firms to maintain stock in newsstands.) But comic book prices stayed relatively low for years, thanks in part to support from the advertisers that filled many comic book pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DC\u2019s Action Comics<\/em> #1 (June 1938) was made up of 68 pages of which more than 65 (including the cover) were filled with editorial content. It was just getting started, and most of the ads promoted company material, though the back-cover ad was devoted to the ever-intriguing Johnson Smith & Co. catalog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, Action Comics<\/em> settled down to a pretty normal page count of 36 (including the cover), and, dipping in now and then, we find that ads filled a substantial number of them. In 1971, issue 402 was priced at 15\u00a2 for 36 pages, of which roughly a third were ads. In 1976, #456 (25\u00a2) had 44 percent of its 36 pages as ads. And so it went. In 1999, #760 ($1.95) had 36 pages, of which about 30 percent were ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, Heck . . .<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Come to think of it, if you grab The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide<\/em>, you\u2019ll find an entire section labeled \u201cPromotional\u201d\u2014meaning that it contains information on giveaway comics that were used to, well, promote things. Which is to say they were ads. Among the long-running comics in the section are Adventures of Big Boy<\/em>, Buster Brown Comics<\/em>, Gulf Funny Weekly<\/em>, and the champ: Western\u2019s March of Comics<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come to think of yet something else, Maggie\u2019s World <\/em>#50 was a pretty deep dive into the topic\u2014which involved comics that were ads for themselves\u2014and brought up the matter of Free Comic Book Day. Remember: Every Free Comic Book Day, some releases have functioned as their own giveaway ads for comics soon to be on sale. (Tip: The 20th anniversary of Free Comic Book Day will be in 2022!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because even comics ads<\/em> can be a treat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Maggie\u2019s World by Maggie Thompson appears the second Tuesday of every month here on <\/em>Toucan!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Written by<\/p>\n\n\n

Maggie Thompson<\/div>\n\n\n

Published<\/p>\n\n\n