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Thursday, November 06, 2014

TBT: Clark Bar Contest Ad

sg
Remember this ad? You couldn't pick up a DC comic in 1978 and not see this beauty filling up the center of the book. Not only does the piece feature a gorgeous group shot by Dick Giordano, but it features one and a half pages of mouth-watering superhero merchandise, like toys, stickers, and posters.

I am curious as to why Aquaman is drawn as part of the group, when he's barely represented in the merchandise, instead of Captain Marvel, who's all over the stuff--thankful, but curious.

One other thing I'm curious about, ever since I was a kid and saw the ad for the first time--if you read the Third Prize description (
click here to see a bigger, readable version), you see that you can win a year's subscription to "your favorite DC or Marvel comic" like "The Incredible Hulk, Red Sonja, Thor, Green Lantern, Plastic Man, Captain America, Justice Society, Ms. Marvel, you name it. Even Little Lulu." 

First up, those are curiously off-brand title selections from both companies. No mention of Superman, Batman, or Spider-Man...but Ms. Marvel? Justice Society? And even more mysteriously, when the hell did Marvel or DC ever publish Little Lulu??


sg

This post originally appeared on January 16, 2008.


3 comments:

Earth 2 Chris said...

Is it okay to admit, that on these iconic licensing jobs, I sometimes prefer solo Giordano over Adams and even...GASP....Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Praise Be His Name?

Dick G's heroes are more buff and solid, and to my mind a bit more powerful. Maybe a tad more stiff than Adams and JLGL...but I can't help it, I likes it. This ad is one reason why.

Although Wonder Woman's nose is kind of weird, if I look at it too much.

Chris

Joseph Brian Scott said...

Giordano put some time into that illustration and it shows; really nice work.

Look at Wonder Woman ready to repel whatever candy bars fly at her!

Anthony said...

Why Aquaman? It's 1978---and Aquaman is on "Super Friends," so of course using him makes sense!

That said, those list of comics are odd, though maybe they really meant "*any* comic book available," though don't know if there was a Little Lulu comic published still in 1978. (Assume they meant "All-Star Comics" for the JSA...)