Redartz: Hello everyone; thanks for 'tuning in' today! For your approval and assessment, we are looking at 'house ads'. You remember them: the frequent advertisements that Marvel and DC stuck in their comics during the Silver and Bronze ages. Actually, they are found in comics going back to the Golden age; but I don't know if they are seen much now. Anyway, house ads would feature illustrations of then-currently available comics that the 'house' hoped would entice you into purchasing. Sometimes partial page, sometimes full page, they usually depicted covers; with some sales hype added in. Some were pretty straightforward "now on sale", others (especially DC's late Silver Age house ads) could be pretty well designed and artistically pleasing.
These ads , from today's vantage point, also have a nostalgic appeal: looking at one old comic can, by seeing a vintage book in a house ad, trigger yet more memories. Or generate a bit of historic interest. It was one such ad that inspired today's post: recently I acquired a stack of old coverless comics. In the course of scanning them and loading them on my tablet, I found a particularly interesting house ad in Batman 130. The ad depicted Brave and the Bold 28, with the very first appearance of the Justice League! It seemed odd, yet fascinating, to see such a prominent book advertised so mundanely. Ah, if only there had been a copy (even coverless) of that book in the stack I bought...
And now, here is a selection of those classic bits of advertising, from Marvel, DC and a few others. Enjoy!
Here's a before and after pair; the left ad from 1965, the right from 1980...
