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Post by Knygathin on Jul 4, 2023 9:09:40 GMT
I think the Warren magazines were mostly interesting for their ads. I tried to whip up some enthusiasm over the stories, but fooled myself. The covers were often great, but the inside art of Warren's magazines was generally lousy compared to EC Comics. Except for Corben.
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Post by andydecker on Jul 4, 2023 9:32:04 GMT
Here is another scan of some advertising. It is no Aurora, but one of the countless merchandise statues you could buy. In the 90s you could order this statue of Dark Shadows' Barnabas. The ad was in the short-lived comic book adaption of Dark Shadows from Innovation Comics.
As far as those ads are concerned, it was well made. Better than the comic itself which was meh. One can snark about 'Clarissa Ross' novelizations as much as the day is long, but on the whole they were better made than a lot of latter books, comics, whatever. |
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Post by andydecker on Jul 4, 2023 9:44:45 GMT
I think the Warren magazines were mostly interesting for their ads. I tried to whip up some enthusiasm over the stories, but fooled myself. The covers were often great, but the inside art of Warren's magazines was generally lousy compared to EC Comics. Except for Corben. Let's agree to disagree  The approach of the European artists was very different in terms of story-telling and drawing, and artists like Gonzalez, Ortiz or Marotto delivered some stunning art. But the writing left often much to be desired, and the language barrier didn't help either.
Of course you right with Corben. He always was a class of his own, even when he worked with lousy scripts. I have some of the last work he did for the Hellboy Universe, and it as good as it used to be. The new Hellboy movie is based on his graphic novel The Crooked Man and it will be interesting to see if it translated on the screen.
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Post by ripper on Jul 4, 2023 15:59:10 GMT
The ads from the US comics I bought in the 70s are clearer in my memory than many of the stories. So many seemed to promise so much more than they could deliver...
Sea monkeys, X-Ray specs, mini cine projector, Polaris submarine, sets of soldiers, 7-ft tall Frankenstein monster, and so many more.
Commonly advertised books/courses were how to throw your voice, hypnotise people, body-building with Charles Atlas, learn draughting or another skill, plus ads for boys to deliver the Grit weekly newspaper/magazine.
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Post by andydecker on Jul 4, 2023 16:27:14 GMT
Here are two more which I stumbled upon while looking for the Pirates ad. I know that I have it, just don't know where. Wanted to post them tomorrow, but what the hell. This looks really trashy, and I wonder how big they were in reality. |
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Post by Knygathin on Jul 4, 2023 21:19:36 GMT
... Wanted to post them tomorrow, but what the hell. This looks really trashy, and I wonder how big they were in reality. I had that mummy coffin kit. It was between 15 and 20 cm long. When lifting the lid, there was either the regular mummy or a more live mummy. If I don't remember wrongly, it was operated by a rubberband. The bunk that the mummy is resting on is articulated at both ends, and can swivel around. On the underside is the live mummy. You would wind it up like the propeller of a model airplane. And when opening or closing the lid, the board would spin, and chance decide which of the mummies ended upside. Or maybe I remember it wrongly - it might have been some other mechanism, when closing and opening the lid, that pushed the bunk around. The sacrophagus itself was pretty nicely made. But otherwise, a piece of crap. Badly sculpted mummies. A schoolmate had a model kit of a grave robber (not sure if it was Aurora or MPC, or other). An undead would pop up from the coffin. I know that one was operated by a rubberband. |
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Post by andydecker on Jul 5, 2023 8:08:12 GMT
... Wanted to post them tomorrow, but what the hell. This looks really trashy, and I wonder how big they were in reality. I had that mummy coffin kit. It was between 15 and 20 cm long. When lifting the lid, there was either the regular mummy or a more live mummy. If I don't remember wrongly, it was operated by a rubberband. The bunk that the mummy is resting on is articulated at both ends, and can swivel around. On the underside is the live mummy. You would wind it up like the propeller of a model airplane. And when opening or closing the lid, the board would spin, and chance decide which of the mummies ended upside. Or maybe I remember it wrongly - it might have been some other mechanism, when closing and opening the lid, that pushed the bunk around. The sacrophagus itself was pretty nicely made. But otherwise, a piece of crap. Badly sculpted mummies. A schoolmate had a model kit of a grave robber (not sure if it was Aurora or MPC, or other). An undead would pop up from the coffin. I know that one was operated by a rubberband. Thanks for the info. It sounds like fun. A bit limited in its appeal, but points for the idea. |
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Post by ripper on Jul 5, 2023 9:51:15 GMT
... Wanted to post them tomorrow, but what the hell. This looks really trashy, and I wonder how big they were in reality. I had that mummy coffin kit. It was between 15 and 20 cm long. When lifting the lid, there was either the regular mummy or a more live mummy. If I don't remember wrongly, it was operated by a rubberband. The bunk that the mummy is resting on is articulated at both ends, and can swivel around. On the underside is the live mummy. You would wind it up like the propeller of a model airplane. And when opening or closing the lid, the board would spin, and chance decide which of the mummies ended upside. Or maybe I remember it wrongly - it might have been some other mechanism, when closing and opening the lid, that pushed the bunk around. The sacrophagus itself was pretty nicely made. But otherwise, a piece of crap. Badly sculpted mummies. A schoolmate had a model kit of a grave robber (not sure if it was Aurora or MPC, or other). An undead would pop up from the coffin. I know that one was operated by a rubberband. I had forgotten about the mummy coffin and grave robber models. I can't recall ever seeing them for sale in the shops, but they were among the items seen in comics ads I wanted so badly. |
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Post by Knygathin on Jul 5, 2023 10:50:16 GMT
My first Aurora model was KING KONG, which I received when little more than a toddler, to keep me occupied while my parents were away for the evening. I remember mostly about it that it was made of black plastic, and had glue smeared all over it after I was done.
I think the main reason why few Aurora models have survived, is that they were so bulky and unwieldy. They also easily broke if bumped. My last ones were thrown out of the house in a move, when I was not present to look after my things in the attic.
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Post by ramseycampbell on Jul 11, 2023 8:28:40 GMT
The Tower of London gift shop used to sell a build-it-yourself cardboard guillotine kit, complete with condemned man awaiting the blade. For all I know, they may still do so. Sad that they don't seem to do so anymore. There used to be a recreation of a hanging in amusement arcades well into the 80s, though they must have been many decades old. Put your penny in the slot and a model of a man would walk to the gallows and be hanged. As I recall either Scarborough or Brighton has a small seafront museum devoted to similar exhibits. One of several I used to feed with coins in Southport as a child gave me an idea for a tale decades ago. |
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Post by andydecker on Aug 6, 2023 12:34:09 GMT
Finally I found it! After weeks of spending in the dusty archive, I found the 4 page ad for Pirates of the Caribbean in a DC comic. (I am kidding. Just couldn't find the right stack on the comics shelves.) To my surprise the ad was not in those few issues of House of Mystery or House of Secrets I have, but in one of those obscure Fantasy comics from DC which all crashed und burned circa 1973-1976. I have a handful issues of series like Claw the Unconquered and Sword of Sorcery, in condition read only. Claw is surprisingly well done, written by David Micheline and drawn by Ernie Chan and later Keith Giffen, Sword of Sorcery told - not so well done IMHO - the story of Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, written by Dennis O'Neil and drawn by a young Howard Chaykin and others.
The ad was published in SoS #3, July-August 1973. It is possible that it was used in all of DC books of this month. I looked up a few, this would be House of Mystery 215 and 216, House of Secrets 98 and 99 and Batman 250 and 251. Batman 251 has become a quite famous issue. It is The Joker's Five-Way Revenge by O'Neil and Neal Adams, which has been reprinted countless times.
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enoch
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 117
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Post by enoch on Aug 6, 2023 12:45:34 GMT
Thanks for those Pirates of the Caribbean scans. That ad brings back memories. "Fate of the Mutineers" is the one that I had. Wish I had gotten them all. I looked them up on eBay and see that they now sell for hundreds of dollars U.S.
Another series of comic book ads from that time period that I fondly remember were the ones for Corgi cars.
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Post by Knygathin on Aug 6, 2023 15:14:11 GMT
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enoch
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 117
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Post by enoch on Aug 6, 2023 17:38:08 GMT
Oooo, I had forgotten all about the giant crab! Seeing the picture of it on eBay brought the memory back, though.
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Post by andydecker on Aug 6, 2023 18:50:30 GMT
This is so great  That crab is even better than the skeleton. Click-click-clickety-click. |
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The approach of the European artists was very different in terms of story-telling and drawing, and artists like Gonzalez, Ortiz or Marotto delivered some stunning art. But the writing left often much to be desired, and the language barrier didn't help either.
That crab is even better than the skeleton. Click-click-clickety-click.