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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

"The World of Adventure in Books"

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F.O.A.M.er Aaron Bias sent me this page from a 1950s issue of Adventure Comics, a PSA promoting local libraries. I'm posting it here as part of the Shrine's "Missed Opportunities" segment, because why the heck isn't Aquaman in this baby? He was co-starring along side Green Arrow (and, earlier, Shining Knight) in Adventure at the time, and it's not like the Sea King didn't have some books he could talk up--20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Mutiny on the Bounty; heck, the whole Herman Melville canon!

Of course, coming out of the 1940s, Green Arrow was considered a bigger draw--he frequently appeared on the covers to More Fun Comics while Aquaman never did--and of course Tomahawk had his own title. But man I would have loved to see him in there instead of SK. *Sigh*

DC did a bajillion of these PSAs in from the later 1940s to the very early 1960s, and I find them utterly charming. If I had a scintilla of free time, I'd start a blog devoted just to them--who knows, even though they aren't Aqua-related I'll put one of them up here every so often, just so we can all learn something! 


1 comment:

Earth 2 Chris said...

It's easy to forget how popular Tomahawk was, and how long the Shining Knight hung around. So odd to think DC/National didn't keep the Golden Age Green Lantern or Flash going, and put them as back-ups in place of lesser characters.

Aquaman is conspicuous by his absence! Maybe he was waiting around for a kooky 50s adventure "The Undersea Library"!

Chris