Neal Adams Evian Water Sketch

Comics legend Neal Adams posted this sketch on Amazon last week, of Aquaman pitching Evian Water. What the what? Did this campaign ever see the light of day?


(h/t: Newest F.O.A.M.er Neal Patterson)

Mego Super-Heroes Ad

Someone get me all of these for Christmas! I already have some (like Aquaman) but I can always use doubles for when I do "evil duplicate" storylines.


(h/t: The Mego Museum)

Heroes World Ad

There was an Aquaman bop balloon and I never had one as a kid?? I retroactively had a lousy childhood. From a 1970s Heroes World catalog, which were packed cover to cover with mouth-watering licensed merch like this.

The Justice League @ Target

As many of you have noticed, the Justice League is making a lot of appearances at Target stores lately. I've been seeing stuff in the stories, and then there was this two-page fold-out ad in a recent issue of Entertainment Weekly.

Normally, I would use the phrase "tidal wave" to describe the amount of merch the Justice League is being put on--toys, clothes, bed sheets, stationary, temp tattoos, plush dolls, party favors, pool toys--except that, sadly, Aquaman is almost nowhere to seen! In a sadly predictable move, DC and/or the licensors are focusing on "The Big Five", and except for exclusive action figure set, you pretty much won't find the Sea King on any of it.

Between his hit comic series and his appearances on Batman: Brave and the Bold, you'd think that Aquaman's "Q" rating would be high enough that he wouldn't be so shunted aside in favor of The Flash and/or failed movie star Green Lantern. *Sigh*

I read an article somewhere online suggesting that this big branding push was DC's way of priming the pump for a JLA movie, a theory I'm not sure I buy, but it's worth considering. On some level, DC must be so sick of the friggin' Avengers being on everything in the last couple of years, and have decided the JLA needs to step up. They do, it's just a shame it seems that once again Aquaman hasn't been invited to the party.

Heroes World Pocket Heroes Ad - 1978

This is a page from a Heroes World catalog featuring Mego's line of Pocket Heroes. For those of you too young to remember, Heroes World was a company that sold all manner of DC and Marvel-related merchandise via direct mail. Their ads in comics of the time were ubiquitous, offering all kinds of mouth-watering action figures, posters, comics, puzzles, and other stuff featuring your favorite heroes.

The ads were almost exclusively drawn by Joe Kubert and his school (of which I would attend about a decade later). This particular ad is clearly the work of someone else, though that Heroes World mascot up top is by Kubert. Aquaman didn't show up much in Heroes World catalogs, because he rarely got his own stuff in the late 70s--but here he is, dutifully posing in between the Hulk and Captain America, probably the only time we'll ever get to see that!
 

DC Superhero Shop Open For Business!

Unfortunately, this is not a real store--it's a still from a catalog put together by the LCA, the Licensing Corporation of America. The four-page catalog featured all the top licensors of the time, which is why you see so much Mego stuff on display.

There isn't much Aquaman to be found here, but you can see him a little bit--there's a Mego on the top shelf of the glass case, and on the desk you can see a partially-obscured Super Friends Paint by Numbers kit, which featured the Sea King prominently. Doesn't really matter though--if this store did exist at the time, my parents never would have been able to pry me out of there!

(See if you can guess which site we took this image from)

DCU Hot Wheels Display

While I was food shopping the other day, I spied this *awesome* stand-up display (also known in the business as a "dump", though I hate that term), featuring the newest line of DCU Hot Wheels cars.

We talked about the Aquaman Ford Ranchero back in August, but this display is new to the Shrine, and boy does it take me back to my childhood when companies used to do this sort of signage all the time. And check out the list of characters represented--Supergirl, Darkseid, Plastic Man, Batgirl, and Aquaman! Not a Superman or Batman anywhere to be seen! (I guess they didn't have room for the Riddler)

As useless as all these vehicles are for their respective characters, I think Darkseid's "Dream Van XCW" makes me giggle the most. I bet he makes DeSaad drive.

Aquaman, Hostess Pitchman

R.I.P. Hostess Foods, 1930-2012

DC Nation Ad

This is the big ad Cartoon Network is running to promote the awesomely-fun DC Nation shorts.

It's a great ad, highlighting the diverse nature of the shorts, which also represents the once-diverse world of DC Comics. It is missing something, however...click the ad to see what it is!

Japanese Captain Action Ad

Check out this awwwwesome Japanese Captain Action ad, from (presumably) 1968 or so. Out of the dozen or so heroic identities the good captain could assume, his Aquaman set gets the spotlight (alongside The Phantom, Flash Gordon, The Lone Ranger, Superman, and Batman), a nice reminder of how big a marquee name the Sea King was back then.

A few weeks ago, the Shrine ran a video of a kid getting a bunch of Captain Action toys for Christmas (including Aquaman) and mused whether the new line of CA toys might include a DC line, now that they have a Marvel one. While I can't say officially that this is happening, I can say it's a lot more likely now than it was then. Details to come!

Justice League Ovaltine Ad and T-Shirt - 1967

Now this is a weird little object!

F.O.A.M.er Frank Lee Delano sent me a link to a post on Bat-Blog.com (run by another F.O.A.M.er, Tommy Brookshire) featuring this print ad for a Justice League branded t-shirt made my the fine folks at Ovaltine. All you had to do was send them a dollar(!), and in return you got this handsome shirt:

Okay, "handsome" is not at all appropriate: this thing is hideous! Superman looks like he's seventy years old, Batman looks befuddled, Flash looks like he's not wearing a shirt, Green Lantern has T-Rex arms, and Aquaman appears to be falling to his death. I realize that this was the era when character merchandising was in its infancy, but still--didn't anyone designing this thing have access to some comic book art they could have traced?

Like Tommy, I had never seen this piece before. Also like Tommy, I'm sure I'll never own either the poster or shirt, they're so rare. A lot of the merchandise created to tie in to the 1960s Filmation cartoons ended up lost or incomplete, making mint versions worth a fortune now.

Thanks Tommy and Frank!

Plastic Man Special Ad - 1979

A couple weeks ago, Mark Evanier wrote a post on his News From Me blog about a rarely-seen Plastic Man Special that was cobbled together at the last minute by Ruby-Spears (the company producing the series) to promote ABC's other Saturday Morning shows. The special was so completely forgotten that it wasn't even included when the animated Plastic Man show was put on DVD a few years ago.

He posted visual proof of the show, which included a still from it, and the above ad, which ran in TV Guide and was apparently drawn by someone who had a few too many at lunch--yet, there's Aquaman, tugged snugly into Plas' armpit!

It amuses me to think that when more professional ads were being commissioned, often as not Aquaman was dropped. Yet whoever drew this thing--even with a deadline fast approaching--took the time to include the Sea King. We salute you, oh anonymous Ruby-Spears staffer!

"Thrifty" Mego Ad - 1973

With the Christmas season upon us, I would just like to point out that there was a time when parents could get their kid brand-new, MIP Megos of Superman, Batman, Robin, and Aquaman, all for a measly $7.76 (plus tax).

Santa knows I've been an exceedingly good boy this year, and since he can warp space and time (if the 1959 movie Santa Claus is to be believed, and I think it is), I say the least he can do is go back and time get me all four of these for Xmas.

Oh, and I wouldn't mind the sno-cone machine, either.

Mad "Just-Us" League Ad

You know, just because you can make something, doesn't always mean you should.

Ideal Super Queens Ad - 1967

F.O.A.M.er Joe Mello sent in this ad of the 1967 line of Super Queens dolls from Ideal!

Technically, the line was called Comic Heroines (as you can see in the ad), but everyone calls them Super Queens and who am I to argue? Consisting of Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl, and Mera(!), the line was Ideal's attempt to get girls to buy superhero dolls, which was a giant flop.

For that reason, the SQs are extremely rare, and go for thousands upon thousands of dollars when they show up for sale, which is almost never (you can read an account of my one encounter with a Super Queens Mera here). The dolls themselves are a little dodgy, but the packaging is absolutely gorgeous. On top of that, Mera is one of the Holy Grails of Aquaman Collecting, since post-Filmation, she almost never showed up on merchandise, a fact that stayed true for almost thirty years. (BTW, I love the background for this ad--it looks somebody dug out an old Colorforms set and posed the SQs in front of it)

Someday, when I've signed the deal for the Ace Kilroy movie, I'd love to get one of these babies for myself. Until then, this ad will have to do...

Thanks Joe!

ABC Saturday Morning Ad - 1981

Oh, the hurt. The hurt.

This ad for ABC's then-Saturday Morning line-up ran in a jillion comics in 1981, and even as a kid I was irritated--which has only grown into fury with age--that Aquaman was left out of the Super Friends blurb. Yeah, yeah, I know--they only had a that little corner, but check out that line where it says "Wonder Woman"--you couldn't fit "Aquaman" on there?

Why, yes, you could, and I'll prove it:

...was that so hard?

I was content to never post this ad, but after F.O.A.M.er Craig Wichman sent it to me, the old wound opened up again and now you all have to deal with it. You can thank Craig.

Underoos Commercial - 1978

This is a still from a 1978 Underoos commercial, which features various DC and Marvel heroes leaping into the bedrooms of little kids in their underwear. Holy Amber Alert!

For whatever reason, the video on YouTube is not embeddable (boo!), so click the image (or here) to see the whole spot, which is utterly delightful in its un-ironicness. Plus, its got Aquaman featured prominently, without so much as a mention of TV stars like Batman and the Hulk--pretty darn rare!


(h/t: F.O.A.M.er Kyall Coulton)

You Can Be A Hero!

Check out this awesome Japanese ad for Coca-Cola, featuring a whole bunch of Li'l DC Superheroes, including Aqua-Kid (around the :20 second mark)!



(h/t: Newest F.O.A.M.er Michael T. Jones. Welcome Michael!)

DC The New 52 TV Spot

These are stills from the new thirty second TV spot for DC's New 52 line--and as you can see, Aquaman is well-represented! Outrageous!

You can see the whole commercial here--Aquaman in motion!

Ideal Justice League Playset Catalog - 1966

F.O.A.M. member Craig Wichman sent me a link to a Hake's auction of this super-cool catalog flyer from Ideal Toys, promoting their Justice League, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman playsets.

The JLA set came with a lot of pieces, including Aquaman--who can see just to Batman's lower right, seemingly about to knife one of the villains attacking the JLA's Secret Sanctuary. I imagine finding this set nowadays complete is nigh-impossible. If you click the ad, you can see the full piece showing the other sets, where Ideal paired up the Big Three with Robin, Aquaman, and The Flash.

The Superman/Aquaman set remains one of the few pieces of Aqua-Arcana I do not yet possess; maybe someday when I'm a billionaire industrialist. So, never is what I'm saying.

Thanks for the link Craig!