Spider-Man in "Legal Eagle" (Hostess Ads #72)
| On a site dedicated to making a wiki history of all things comics, comics ads should not be forgotten. Especially the ads for Hostess Fruit Pies, Twinkies, and other snacks. Starting in 1975, Marvel and DC heroes (and the Harvey,Archie, and Gold Key/Whitman characters as well!) spent seven years throwing Hostess snacks at a bizarre line of villains to stop their crimes. Although many of the villains were completely silly, they were created specifically for these ads, and in many cases, not even the names have been used again, since the ads stopped in mid-1982. |
So I thought I'd show an ad here, and make a list of the comics I find it in, as I run across them. This list features: Spider-Man in "Legal Eagle." As noted on the Hostess Superhero Advertisements page:
Crooked lawyer Ralph G. Fake is capable of turning into a greenish human/bird hybrid dubbed the Legal Eagle - and ran into Spider-Man during a theft of the Bill of Rights. Setting up a web snare filled with Hostess Cupcakes, Spidey nabbed the Eagle and saved Washington.
This ad has always offended me a little. This is the most venomous abuse of the Vulture's vile visage that I've ever viewed! Vehement villainy, I say! ...<ahem>...Seriously- what's up with this thing? I have always assumed that the creators working on this ad originally intended to use the Vulture, but were nixed at the last moment, and made these gawd awful changes under the heat of a deadline. This is even worse than the faux Kingpin in another Spidey ad, Spider-Man and the Kidnap Caper.
The aged Adrian Toomes has been around as the high flying Vulture since the May, 1963 Amazing Spider-Man #2! As long as he's not being ridiculed as comedy relief, he looks cool in any scene he's in- I think artists just enjoy drawing his wings. I've always been a fan of the Vulture, but the green costume never made much sense to me. The color choice was due to the restrictions of the four color printing press that was used on comics at the time of his creation. The Marvel Knights design makes much more sense, and looks pretty danged good.
| You Get A Big Delight In Every Bite <71 (Hostess Treats) 73> Enjoy. |
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