DC and Marvel’s Silver Age house ads ! What self respecting comics fan couldn’t love ’em ? I’ve loved them since I first clapped my seven year old eyes on them. I hadn’t a hope in hell probably of finding half the comics I saw in them, but those ads were so exciting in and of themselves. So colourful ! And that fantastic hand lettering! These cool little things dotted throughout the issues were so well designed. Both companies put out some terrific ads, but for me DC’s easily eclipse Marvel’s from the same period. You can just feel the creativity bursting through !
Anyway, enough jabbering on about them, lets have a look at the wondrous things, see how both companies’ ads progressed through that wonderful decade !
These earlier ads reflect the differences between the two companies. DC’s are smooth and beautifully polished, great design and presentation, and Marvel’s have that new kid on the block brashness about them. So bold and exciting. You can practically hear Stan Lee’s voice ! I can only imagine how exciting they must have looked at the time. DC’s Showcase starring Aquaman makes great use of black and white ( they didn’t waste their inside covers ), a practice that they kept right through the 60’s. To my mind they’re just as effective as their colour ads. The Rip Hunter one is an absolute masterpiece, just leaps off the page ! Surely must have sent any self respecting comic readers stampeding mindlessly to the spinner rack !
What a nice contrast on these second lot of ads ! Wildly variable styles of comic book art, really accentuating the difference between the two. Marvel may have had the beginnings of a more coherent, joined up universe as opposed to the happy, practically continuity free DC universe, but you can’t deny the colourful appeal of DC’s output. I think DC are still coming out on top with the ads here. The covers on the Marvel ones are terrific of course, absolute classics, but for the most part their ads are more flat on than their competitors. The invention and use and placement of fantastic hand lettering ( the genius of Ira Schnapp) on the DC ones really makes them stand out. Excellent colouring too.
This selection shows a nice progression. DC are clearly ahead with their ads, they’ve introduced the legendary Go Go checks on their covers and have even developed a Groovy Daddy-O hip-speak. They’ve even jumped on The Beatles/ Monkees bandwagon with their Swing with Scooter comic. DC’s comics of this period really have such a great variety, they’re not just sticking to superheroes, which can only be a good thing. Marvel clearly upped their lettering game on that S.H.I.E.L.D. and Sub-mariner ad. It was strange that they didn’t put more of their fantastic lettering on their house ads, they had two fabulous letterers in Artie Simek and Sam Rosen. Far too busy, I suppose ! Anyway, those classic Silver Age Marvel covers speak for themselves.
Wow. What amazing creativity in the above selection. As the Sixties rolled on the ads just got better and better. DC just seem unstoppable house ad wise ! Incredibly colourful stuff. The Scooter, Batman and World’s Finest ones practically leap off the page. Marvel did some wonderful ads where they combined their early merchandising of T-shirts and Plastic pillows (still haven’t seen them in the wild) with newly released comic book covers to terrific effect. Remember drooling over them as an American comics obsessed kid, so well laid out, love to know who put those together. Must make special mention of the Silver Surfer ad. If that couldn’t make you rush out and buy that comic nothing could ! That fantastic John Buscema & Joe Sinnott cover surrounded by those flashing blurbs of lettering, finished off with that swirling banner at the bottom ! Warms the cockles of this old nerd’s heart !
So. Just a small sample of the mountain of great house ads produced by the big two throughout the Sixties. Superb pieces of art in their own right. Surely it’s time they were all gathered together and published in one big beautiful collection ?
