Those In-House Ads...

[bat22]

As I was really getting into comics, which was not long after COIE, the in-house ads within the books really made DC's universe an intriguing and enticing one.

For example, this ad for the Outsiders' crossover with Infinity, Inc. featured a bunch of characters I'd never seen before on books, cartoons, or movies. I didn't know who these heroes and heroines were, but I definitely wanted to find out.

[Gaastra]

A few more--

First time i ever heard of this guy was this ad.

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[bat22]

^ This is the Who's Who ad my memory automatically pulls up.

[The Darknight Detective]

The in-house ads was where I figured out that the date on the cover of a comic wasn't the date it went on sale, FWIW.

[Jim Kelly]

Comic books in our house pre-existed my existence. Being the baby in the family, with older siblings, there was never a time when I wasn't aware of comic books.

Not the oldest comic book I have in my collection, but the oldest one from my family home that has survived with its cover intact (and somehow made it into my comic book box) is THE ADVENTURES OF BOB HOPE 84 (December 1963 - January 1964).

This is a minor miracle, since comic books were considered temporary property. You either traded them away with other kids in the neighbourhood, donated them to charity drives, put them in the trash when they reached the end of their natural lifespan or took them down to the guy at the five and ten cent store.

This guy would give you two cents for them if they had their cover. If they didn't have the cover (a more likely outcome), then he might give you a nickel for a stack of ten. If you wanted to buy comics from him, you could get the ones with the covers on them for a nickel--but he would have written and circled a big 5 in grease pencil on the cover--or you could get the comics without covers for two cents each.

Since bottled pop was twelve cents and you could return the bottle for two cents (meaning the net cost was ten cents), it made sense that comic books were also twelve cents which you could return for two cents (net cost ten cents).

BOB HOPE 84 included ads for a SUPERMAN ANNUAL 8 (Winter 1964) and a BATMAN ANNUAL 6 (Winter 1964). I knew who Superman was, but not Batman. And in December of 1965, when the new BATMAN series was advertised on T.V., I had no idea what a Batman was, nor that when I found out (in January of 1966) it would change my life forever.



Still, I must have seen Batman a lot in the ads from the old comic books in our house. My siblings bought many SUGAR AND SPIKE comics, which my sisters cut up for the paper dolls. All those comics would have had a generous amount of Batman ads. But I guess that never made an impression on me. I probably just thought he was Superman's brother, if I thought about it at all, like I thought that Wonder Woman was Superman's sister.



Only one coverless issue of SUGAR AND SPIKE managed to survive and make it into my collection.

When I finally started to buy comic books--mostly BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS, along with some Superman titles and some Gold Key comics--I spent many hours looking at the ads and wondering about the comics they promoted.

BATMAN 194 (August 1967) had a Direct Currents column showing the cover image for JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 55 (August 1967), with the grown-up Robin. I really wanted to know what that was about; however, I never did find that comic book for sale at the drugstore. I had to wait a couple of decades to get a copy of that issue for myself.

[Stanlos]

I fondly recall this one with the watches. I also remember this being where the concept of time kind of clicked for me. I might be seeing an ad today but it was in fact from DECADES ago. DC Comics--teaching you bleep!
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[bat22]

I fondly recall this one with the watches. I also remember this being where the concept of time kind of clicked for me. I might be seeing an ad today but it was in fact from DECADES ago. DC Comics--teaching you bleep!
Screenshot_20230201_225536_eBay.jpg

I would've liked one of the Bug Sports Watches myself. Official DC Comics product at that!

[The Darknight Detective]

BATMAN 194 (August 1967) had a Direct Currents column showing the cover image for JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 55 (August 1967), with the grown-up Robin. I really wanted to know what that was about; however, I never did find that comic book for sale at the drugstore. I had to wait a couple of decades to get a copy of that issue for myself.

Before the LCS opened in 1978 in the town where I lived as a kid, there were a few places (a stationary store and two different supermarkets) where I was able to find just about every comic I wanted (though it was kind of spotty at first when I was only going to the stationary).

[Jim Kelly]

In late 1971/early 1972, this subscription ad appeared in the comics. It always intrigued me. There weren't any newsstands in Vancouver, as far as I knew--maybe there were in the 1960s--and the newsstand shown in this ad looks so old-timey, like something you'd see in an old movie. The artwork interested me but I've never been able to figure out who did it. Could it have been the man himself, Carmine Infantino, then publisher of National Periodical Publications? There are some Infantino-esque elements to the art.

At that time, the comics were 48 pages for 25 cents. So in the U.S.A. this worked out to a straight deal. Twelve comics at 25 cents each would equal three dollars. But in Canada, paying four dollars would have been over the cover price. The comics sold for the same amount here as in the States, back then, and there was no tax. Plus, to get a money order in U.S. funds would have cost even more than four dollars Canadian.

It was something I considered doing, since it would guarantee me getting the comics I wanted. And I did later subscribe to some titles, when a better deal came along. But the comics that came in the mail were not in perfect condition. I was probably better off in the long run buying comics in the stores.

However, there was no one store that was dependable for getting all the comics I wanted. And, when I became a teen-ager, I would wander further and further away from home, going into new stores in search of comics. I found out that an hour away by foot from our house, there were stores that got their comics weeks ahead of when the stores in our area got them.

By around 1978, there was a comic book store downtown that got all the comics in on time. So, by then, I think I was making the long bus trip to that store each week to get all the comics I wanted. But before then, I had a tough time finding those comics.

[bat22]

Before the LCS opened in 1978 in the town where I lived as a kid, there were a few places (a stationary store and two different supermarkets) where I was able to find just about every comic I wanted (though it was kind of spotty at first when I was only going to the stationary).

LCS stood for Lebanese Community School where I grew up in Nigeria. Instead of comic book stores, my main source for (chiefly DC) comics was the local/international newspaper stand next to a suya stand. I can almost smell that smoked meat when I look over these old images.

[bat22]

In late 1971/early 1972, this subscription ad appeared in the comics. It always intrigued me. There weren't any newsstands in Vancouver, as far as I knew--maybe there were in the 1960s--and the newsstand shown in this ad looks so old-timey, like something you'd see in an old movie. The artwork interested me but I've never been able to figure out who did it. Could it have been the man himself, Carmine Infantino, then publisher of National Periodical Publications? There are some Infantino-esque elements to the art.

At that time, the comics were 48 pages for 25 cents. So in the U.S.A. this worked out to a straight deal. Twelve comics at 25 cents each would equal three dollars. But in Canada, paying four dollars would have been over the cover price. The comics sold for the same amount here as in the States, back then, and there was no tax. Plus, to get a money order in U.S. funds would have cost even more than four dollars Canadian.

It was something I considered doing, since it would guarantee me getting the comics I wanted. And I did later subscribe to some titles, when a better deal came along. But the comics that came in the mail were not in perfect condition. I was probably better off in the long run buying comics in the stores.

However, there was no one store that was dependable for getting all the comics I wanted. And, when I became a teen-ager, I would wander further and further away from home, going into new stores in search of comics. I found out that an hour away by foot from our house, there were stores that got their comics weeks ahead of when the stores in our area got them.

By around 1978, there was a comic book store downtown that got all the comics in on time. So, by then, I think I was making the long bus trip to that store each week to get all the comics I wanted. But before then, I had a tough time finding those comics.

It sounds like such a bygone time for comic book fans to have to put in such effort for their not readily available passion. But I can't think of many comics today that would warrant even a fraction of that effort from a youth.

[The Darknight Detective]

LCS stood for Lebanese Community School where I grew up in Nigeria. Instead of comic book stores, my main source for (chiefly DC) comics was the local/international newspaper stand next to a suya stand. I can almost smell that smoked meat when I look over these old images.

Heh. When I think of buying comics at the local stationary decades ago, a mix of jarred candies that used to be displayed there comes to mind. BTW, do you know when Nigeria began yo have their own comics shops?

[bat22]

Heh. When I think of buying comics at the local stationary decades ago, a mix of jarred candies that used to be displayed there comes to mind. BTW, do you know when Nigeria began yo have their own comics shops?

I can't say. We immigrated from there when I was 12. Until I got Stateside, I'd never been in a comic book store. There was a bookstore where I remember getting a few Tintin books, but it was mostly the paper stands where a comic book may be found. A few of these were "remaindered" comics with the top-quarter of the cover cut out.

[Jim Kelly]

More than likely the longest trek on foot that I ever took looking for a comic book was when I went in search of THE SUPERMAN FAMILY 182, the first Dollar Comic--as advertised.



It must have been on or about December 14th, 1976. We lived on the border between Vancouver and Burnaby--with our house on the Vancouver side. I went up to Hastings Street--which I once read is one of the longest continuous streets in all of North America--and I just kept walking East into Burnaby. Looking in every drug store and convenience store along the way. It had to be at least two hours of walking, until I reached the pot of gold at the end of my rainbow. There it was with its glorious cover by Curt Swan and Neal Adams. Well worth the journey.

[Lee Stone]