1983: SPIDER-MAN VIDEO GAME UK ADVERT

As a follow-up to the piece on BLIP MAGAZINE's unabashed hyping of the SPIDER-MAN/ GREEN GOBLIN video game, here's how Marvel/ Parker plugged the game here in the UK.

This ran across the glossy four-page centre-spread in Marvel's weeklies (the pages were normally used for strips, single-page adverts and posters... presumably advertisers willing-and-able to advertise across the centre pages were few-and-far between).  The final page reserved for the advert itself.

It's only in the small print that it mentions that the game is for the Atari system.

This particular insert appeared in SPIDER-MAN weekly issue 517 (2 February 1983) but, I think, it also appeared in other titles and, maybe, for more than one week.

The UK-exclusive cover to that issue is below.  Spider-woman is prominently featured because she occupied the back-up strip slot, thanks to the just-started UK broadcast of her animated TV show (which premiered on ITV on 10 January 1983).

1982: MARVEL'S BLIP MAGAZINE AND SPIDER-MAN GAME

Here's a two-for-one entry in the pantheon of long-forgotten geek items... Marvel's venture into the realms of video games publishing, BLIP MAGAZINE (Issue 2, March 1983).  And this issue is understandably hyping the latest release from (appropriately) Parker Brothers games: Spider-man!  Perfect synergy!

It's a great chance to see an early demonstration of Stan Lee's acting chops.

Just to make sure no-one missed the point, Blip even ran an exclusive six-page Spidey strip with John Romita art!

Blip Magazine (February - August 1983) clocked-up a mere seven issues before getting the chop.