Bank Robbery In Progress! (Comic Ads #33)
| Comic Ads are more than just the mountain of Hostess Ads we know and love. Over the years, many a company has used one page comic ads to shill their products in the pages of comic books! So I thought I'd do a list series that showcases those ads, and shows you what issues I've found them in. To me, these are as much a part of comics history as any superhero, and I love 'em for the nostalgia they bring. I hope they do the same for you. Enjoy. |
You've got to understand something about the 1970's: a little imagination made our toys go a long way. So this kind of thing was pure gold. Yeah... knocking the wall down and catching the crooks (one of whom is wearing a convenient "Crook" T-shirt and eye mask, so you know who he is) is only going to be good for about two or three days. Then you're going to start seeing how many of them you can mow down with that cycle. Then you're going to see if you can knock down the people and the building all in one go. Then you're going to fire that motorcycle at your Star Wars figures (oh yeah, we took them out of the box back then- barbarians we were). Then you're going to fire it at the cat, and see how that goes. But eh, it was a fun time.
I mean, understand too: this ad ran in January of 1977. The Atari 2600 wouldn't come out until September, 1977! And Internet? What the hell's an Internet? That was only being talked about in whispered tones by government super geeks or something- very hush hush.
Still, as inundated with information as we are now that we do have an Internet, I could only find two pictures of the toys, and that's from the same catalog page. I had to do a little creative editing and blow it up, but here you go:
Oh, and something else: The name of the police officer on the cycle is apparently John Law. For those not in the Pre-New52 know, for DC, John Law is aka The Tarantula (I), inspiration for Catalina Flores as Tarantula (II), and author of two books: The Tarantula, and Altered Egos: The Mystery Men of World War II. He was even a member of the All-Star Squadron. Inspired by the original Sandman, and able to stick to walls, he might seem like a low-rent Spider-Man knockoff, but think again! The Tarantula debuted decades before our Friendly Neighborhood Wallcrawler!...
 | ...Which come to think of it, might be why House of Ideas has a Spidey villain named Tarantula! Jealous much, Marvel? Whatever the case, even this character is more famous than DC's John Law. Some guys get no respect. |
"John Law" has been used by a few other comic sources, and this isn't one that DC can sic their lawyers on, because the name comes from a very Public Domain term- "John Law" is slang for "policeman."
| Continued on 2nd page following: <31 . |
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