Before I even knew how to read, comic books fascinated me. When I was still very young, probably three or four years old, my sister’s best friend gave me a stack of old Daredevil and Captain America comics from the early 1970s. I used to pore over the art and try to understand what the hell was going on in the brilliantly colored panels. All I knew was that the super heroes were in a constant struggle, battling the bad guys, and trying to set things right. Captain America versus Hydra; Daredevil versus Kingpin. But the other element in those books that had me riveted were the advertisements.
On Saturday, I picked up an old copy of The Mighty Thor (issue #249 from 1976). The cover art sealed the deal for me (see above). It’s done by the late great Jack Kirby with inks by Joe Sinnott in a storyline where Thor is engaged in an all-out war with his father, Odin. This issue’s story is titled “The Throne and the fury.” Flipping through the pages, I was awestruck by the art (John Buscema did the pencils) and even more drawn in by the old ads. Included below is a compilation of what Marvel’s advertising scheme looked like in 1976:
