Spider-Man in "The Trap" (Hostess Ads #102)
Not to be confused with Spider-Man in The Trap.*
| 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 "The Trap." As noted on the Hostess Superhero Advertisements page:
Leader of her own gang, Larcenous Lil had her goons net Spider-Man. Plea-bargaining his way to freedom with Hostess Twinkies, Spidey escaped the gang and webbed up Lil.
*I'm not sure why they did this, but Marvel produced two similar ads for Spider-Man, right down to the title- Spider-Man in The Trap and Spider-Man in "The Trap" -the only difference being the quotes. Story wise, things weren't much different either. Spidey's spider-sense tingles, warning that there's trouble ahead, and a boss tells their henchmen to throw a net over the hero. Bargaining with a flunky, trading Hostess snacks for his freedom, Spidey is freed to take care of the boss. In both ads, the flunky freeing Spider-Man mentions that the boss will be angry, but agrees anyway, as he eats his snack. The only real difference is that in this ad, the boss is at least named- she's Larcenous Lil. In the other ad, he's referred to as the "boss man," which is possibly his name- Boss Man.
The ads were released five years apart, so maybe there was a deadline issue or something, and the solution was just to rewrite an existing ad. From five years ago, who was going to notice? Maybe it was someone's birthday, and having their ad redone in homage was the gift. I dunno. At least we got Larcenous Lil out of it- what a hoot.
| You Get A Big Delight In Every Bite <101 (Hostess Treats) 103> Enjoy. |
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