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Showing posts with label house ads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label house ads. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 09, 2014

Justice League of America #1 House Ad

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The one that started it all! A beautiful ad, with Aquaman taking his rightful place among the leading lights of the DC Comics universe, circa 1960.


Thursday, July 10, 2014

Aquaman #1 House Ad - 1962

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Aquaman getting his own title in 1962 was a big deal, and DC gave him a good amount of ad space trumpeting the promotion from back-up feature to solo title star. This is just a 1/3rd page ad, but it gets in all the necessary details. Thanks Ira Schnapp!


Thursday, December 26, 2013

Aquaman #20 House Ad

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Fairly no-frills ad, with the kind of layout that seems designed to be used for any issue of Aquaman. Though, to the Shrine's knowledge, it was never used any other ad for the book.

All Hail Ira Schnapp!





Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Showcase #32 Ad

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This drop-dead gorgeous house ad for Showcase #32 is the work of DC in-house designer Ira Schnapp; who is on the short list of people I would go back and visit if I had a time machine.

These DC ads of the 50s and 60s were always jammed to the hilt with text, yet Schnapp had a knack for designing a page that never seemed crowded and always led the eye in an easy, pleasing, yet exciting way--how could you not buy this comic??



Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Atlantis Chonicles Ad

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The Atlantis Chronicles series didn't get a lot ad love from DC; this is the only ad I've ever come across. And while it's beautifully drawn (of course it is, it's by Esteban Maroto!), it really doesn't tell you anything about the story, and a bunch of guys standing around is hardly the most exciting visual to use as a selling point for such a blatantly uncommercial project. Still, nice to see any ad for this underrated series.

And truth be told, I didn't even come across this ad, actually--it was sent in by newest F.O.A.M. member Andrew Kolvek. Andrew sent it to me a few years(!) ago, but I wanted to try and find a better scan, promptly forgetting all about it. Andrew then followed up last week with this perfectly useable version, so he gets double F.O.A.M.er points for sheer dogged determination. Thanks Andrew, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!



Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Aquaman #30 House Ad

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Were the kids who read Aquaman (circa 1966) the same ones who read Our Fighting Forces? Or was DC trying to get a little crossover action going here in this quarter-page house ad?

Go go go!



Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Aquaman #21 House Ad - 1965

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The Shrine hasn't run any classic DC House Ads for Aquaman in a while, and that's just wrong--wrong, I tells you!

This ran as a quarter page ad, so there wasn't a lot of room for anything else outside the covers. But bonus points for pairing up DC's two sea-based books!





Thursday, April 18, 2013

DC Comics Burbank

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Here are some shots of DC's offices in Burbank (or, as Johnny Carson used to call it, "Lovely, downtown Burbank"), including a giant mural that greets visitors as they enter. You can spy Aquaman on the right, above The Flash (I'm sure my Fire and Water Podcast co-host The Irredeemable Shag will be happy to see Firestorm is included as well).

In addition to the mural, a super-angry Aquaman (by Reis/Prado/Reis) looms large over an unknown staffer's office...a mite intimidating to say the least, but still very swanky.

So, um, why do regular format comic books cost $3.99, again?


Thursday, September 06, 2012

JLA: Year One Ad

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This half-page DC house ad for the JLA: Year One mini-series is the single oldest item in the Shrine's "to post" folder, in terms of how long its been there without ever being posted. I kept telling myself, one day, I'll get around to doing a review of the series, and that will be the perfect time to run it!

Well, I'm officially admitting defeat today--with so much current Aquaman content, I don't see myself ever getting around to this series, even though Arthur plays a large role in it. So let's just enjoy the ad for itself, okay?

Monday, July 09, 2012

DC Comics SDCC 2012 Ad

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With Comic Con set to erupt in all its fury later this week, DC Comics is running this ad featuring Aquaman and series writer Geoff Johns in print and media outlets nationwide. Today on the Shrine we'd like to share what we find interesting (and awesome) about it:

While DC has a long track record of omitting Aquaman from media campaigns (rob! has devoted acres of Shrine space to that very topic), it is the gosh-darn Sea King himself aligned with DC's Chief Creative Officer in this high-profile piece. Aquaman. Not Green Lantern. Not even the Justice League or Batman or SHAZAM (all projects currently in Geoff's stable), but Aquaman. Ponder the weight that carries for a moment...


Next, we'd like to comment on Mr. Johns'
attire. No, not the hip leather jacket -- we're of course referring to the classic Aquaman logo cap that he's been showing off at many of his public appearances over the last year. Besides being the envy of every Aquaman fan out there, we believe there is a subtle marketing message within his choice in cap-wear. You see, way back in 2009 Geoff started sporting a Green Lantern logo cap, one which he continued to wear for two years straight right up to the premiere of the Green Lantern movie. So if history teaches us anything...you can see where we're going with this, right?

In any case, the Shrine unfortunately will not be attending SDCC 2012 but if you
are, we'd love to hear from you. We had great F.O.A.M.er participation this year at C2E2 and more recently at HeroesCon so if you're one of the lucky billion fans in attendance, drop us a line, email, or tweet and be sure to let us know!

And we'll be sure to let you know if & when
Aquaman the movie is official!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Who's Who in The DC Universe Ad - 1985

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This double-page spread (click to embiggen) ran in one of the DC Sampler promo comics DC put out at the time. While visually it's kind of a dull piece (think what Ira Schnapp or Gaspar Saladino would have done with something like this!), it's of course awesome that Aquaman is the centerpiece of the ad, as he was in the first issue.

I was so excited when DC mentioned they were going to do a new Who's Who series a couple of years ago, but it seemed to just disappear. A victim of the New 52?

Friday, April 06, 2012

DC Challenge Ad - 1986

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This double-page ad for the DC Challenge maxi-series ran in one of the DC Samplers that were published back in the mid-80s.

Its kind of unfortunate that, of all the DC heroes represented (with their logos, a nice touch), only Aquaman is shown at a weak, non-iconic moment. But since getting stranded in the desert was basically all the Sea King got to do in the series, I guess whoever put this ad together didn't have much choice!

The Shrine covered all of Aquaman's appearances in the DC Challenge, you can find them here, here, here, and here!

Friday, March 02, 2012

Teen Titans Ad - 1966

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Poor Garth has been getting even less attention than usual around these parts lately, so I thought we'd give him a little moment to shine today, with the groovy Teen Titans subscription ad from 1966.

Ten issues for only a dollar! Dig it, hep-cats!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Aquaman Volume 4 House Ad - 1991

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This is another house ad for the 1991 Aquaman series, this time using one of Kevin Maguire's superb covers, that ran in Previews. If I were a villain, I'd be scared if I saw that coming at me!

This was sent in by my Fire and Water Podcast co-host The Irredeemable Shag. Thanks Shag!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Aquaman Volume 4 House Ad - 1991

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This grim, downbeat ad for the then-new Aquaman series (by Shaun McLaughlin and Ken Hooper) was a one-sheet handed out by DC staffers to attendees of the 1991 Dragon*Con, the only time I've ever heard of such direct marketing for a comic book title.

The ad itself is fine (if, as I said, a bit of a downer)--I like how it repositions the Sea King a bit, establishing that this new book will be more than just "Aquaman vs. Black Manta and/or Ocean Master" all the time. But what's with that "Returns in October" chicken scrawl?


Thanks to my Fire and Water Podcast co-host The Irredeemable Shag for sending this in to the Shrine!

Thursday, January 05, 2012

Showcase Ad - 1961

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I loooove finding these old ads for Aquaman comics--in this case, Showcase #32, the fourth and last of the Sea King's "try outs" in that book, which immediately led to his first solo title. Still only 10 cents!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

DC Sampler #2: The New Justice League

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As a kid, I absolutely adored the DC Sampler books, which were free 32-page comics given out that advertised all of DC's new titles, featuring tantalizing glimpses of new characters, new situations, new art...and in this case, a new Justice League of America!

My spotty memory tells me this was the first time I knew something big was happening with the JLA. I was, of course, thrilled to see Aquaman front and center, but who the heck were there other guys?

If you click the graphic to see a larger version, JLA fans will notice that Vixen is sporting a mask (something not seen in the actual book), and Vibe's skin color reminds one of the dreaded "Mego Molt." (Chu not bad, chu sad)


Tuesday, October 04, 2011

The New 52: October #2s Checklist

October kicks off with a month of #2 issues from DC Comics (and a couple more #1s as well)! Here's your download/printable checklist:
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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Aquaman Vol. 8 House Ad - 2011

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Running in this week's books is this ad for Aquaman #1, showing the logo with some different colors than the all-white version we showed off last week.

While I do think the logo is a little on the dull side, I refrained from comment because I figured it could and would be colored differently, depending on the context, and that will make a big difference in how visually striking it is. Plus, the logo does have that slight curve the classic 60s/70s Aquaman logo had, which I dig, as both an Aquaman fan and a graphic designer!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

New 52 House Ad!

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This double-page spread house ad is appearing in DC's new books out this week!

I have to admit, I'm kind of excited about this. I know there's a tremendous downside, but at least DC is trying to shake things up. Of course, in the end its the execution that matters, and we don't know much about that yet. But, for the moment, I remain optimistic. Having the Sea King be such a big part of it helps--I'm not sure how all fired up I'd be if, say, I was running The Atom Shrine.

This will probably be the only time Aquaman and "The New York Times" will be seen in the same space. Until, of course, they review the big-budget Aquaman movie...