Stumbled across this vintage piece of promotional artwork by the late great Joe Kubert and was struck by several different aspects of it. First and foremost, the always impressive work of Kubert even in a bit of a throwaway piece such as this, still resonating with some mood. The figures of Superman and Spider-Man dominate, the pair just coming off a highly touted team-up. Batman clearly seen but Captain America oddly concealed. The Flash is front and center but Thor is barely in the picture. Most surprising is the absence of the Hulk, though admittedly he was still a year away from becoming an icon. Weirdly Howard the Duck, a sensation of the moment gets the Kubert treatment, but to be honest doesn't quite look himself, with a decidedly what-am-I-doing-here look on his beak-fronted face. I like that Tarzan and Hawkman are present, and you know it's for no other reason than Kubert likes the characters, two with which he is mostly closely associated aside from the war books. Archie and Jughead are present and accounted for, but what Jughead is doing holding Cap's shield is a story begging to be told. Finally we have Casper, who frankly looks odd, not himself at all and the one true failure on Kubert's part in this wonderful time capsule. But the assembled cast do look genial, waving in a smiling friendly way, at this remote juncture a fond farewell to a time when comics were naively fun.
Here are couple of more promotional pieces by Kubert and his studio. The first featuring Marvel's heroes.
And the second showcasing the DC cast of characters.
Though some top Marvel characters do make an appearance.
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Re: Magazineland Ad – Yes, yes. Way too many goofy smirks going on here. Jughead holding Cap’s shield does indeed seem to be indicative of some sort of mind-control scenario. Howard does appear strangely unaffected and/or hip to what’s going on but this may be because he’s the only non-human present -or maybe they wouldn’t let him use the Men’s Room before the shoot (this being 1977), him being a duck and all. This may also be the first time I’ve seen Tarzan smiling over anything. I’m not sure what’s up with Batman trying to cloak himself behind Spider-Man – (Wertham would have a field day with this pose.) …Casper does look odd as you say…I’ve often wondered if perhaps in some alternate-Harveyverse - he may not actually be the ghost of Richie Rich…Year’s later didn’t the Punisher turn up in Riverdale in an attempt to rectify this whole comic-multiverse abomination? (It all blurs together after awhile...)
ReplyDeleteIt does for us after decades of crossovers,but this was a real novelty at the remote time of the late 70's. Odd artwork and an even odder premise.
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Hi, Rip:
ReplyDeleteYou might want to double-check the Marvel heroes pic.
It's not coming up, and I'd love to see it.
I had quite a bit of trouble loading these images, but I can see them on my machine. Weird.
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BTW, Mego actually had a Jor-El 12" action figure with Marlon Brando's face and the comic book Jor-El's costume (green/red)...which is mis-colored in the ad!
ReplyDeleteI well remember the Megos but I never ever owned one. Too much like Barbie dolls for me.
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I liked them because they were the same scale as the original GI Joes and Captain Action figures.
DeleteI had the two Batmen (Mego & Captain Action) fight it out with the Green Hornet waiting to take on the winner... ;-)