1975: STAN LEE PROMOTES THE TITANS (Marvel UK)

From 1975: Smooth, sophisticated, Seventies super-salesman Stan Lee cranks-up the MARVEL UK hype machine to announce the impending launch of a new weekly!  

Such announcements (along with anything that hinted at a new look, format change, relaunch or free gift) were also most welcome and, in those pre-internet days, usually the first hint that something new was about to land on the shelves of the local newsagent.

Stan was, of course, hawking the new TITANS weekly, which used the new fangled landscape technology to cram two US pages side-by-side on one A4 page.  

The checklist below includes Marvel's adaptation of ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES, which includes a whole pre-title sequence which isn't in the film version (and may... or may not... have been filmed). 

1976: MARVEL UK TITANS-FORMAT WEEKLIES HOUSE AD

From 1976: Two landscape luvlies from the British Bullpen.  This MARVEL UK House Ad appeared in late May. 

1982: ALAN DAVIS WOLVERINE POSTER (Marvel UK)

From 1982: Alan Davis renders Wolverine for the centre-page spread in CAPTAIN AMERICA weekly issue 54 (3 March 1982). 

1982: SCOOBY-DOO AND HIS TV FRIENDS Launch Ad (Marvel UK)

From March 1982: The launch Ad for MARVEL UK's new SCOOBY-DOO AND HIS TV FRIENDS weekly.  

The Hanna-Barbera tie-in was something of a landmark for the Annex of Ideas as it pointed to a future based on licensed properties and titles pitched at a younger audience. 

I've previously posted most of the covers... starting here.

1983: ON SALE THIS MONTH: SPIKE Issue 1 (DC Thomson)

On sale this month in 1983: the first issue of D.C Thomson's boys anthology weekly SPIKE.

This passed me by entirely at the time, it didn't really stand a chance of catching my attention up against Marvel UK and IPC's books.  I was never much of a DC Thomson fan (with the exception of a few issues of WARLORD and NUTTY) so there was no loyalty... and no appeal.  

It ran for 67 issues, between 22 January 1983 (today!) and 28 April 1984.  

Open the door... and twiddle the knob...

1979: RAMPAGE MONTHLY House Ad (Marvel UK)

From 1979: a full-page MARVEL UK House Ad plugging the wares of RAMPAGE MONTHLY, the UK's second regular outlet for Hulk stories (alongside the green-skinned weekly). 

1979: MARVEL UK MONTHLIES HOUSE AD

From May 1979: A MARVEL UK House Ad for three of their blockbuster monthlies...STARBURST, RAMPAGE and THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN. 

1979: NBC SATURDAY MORNING ANIMATION ADVERT

From 1979: Something to keep you from doing the work you should be doing... a NBC ad for their Fall 1979 Saturday Morning Kid-Vid line-up, tarted-up as a quiz and a chance to join the Saturday Morning Peacock Club. 

1982: MARVEL GOES DIRECT-SALES-ONLY

From 1982: Marvel announces that three of its - ahem - lesser selling books (THE MICRONAUTS, KA-ZAR and MOON KNIGHT) were coming off the news stands... but continuing via the new-fangled Direct Sales system... better known as... your local comic book store.

This was a big move at the time... traditional retailers had always been the conduit for reaching would-be readers and, despite the inherent problems (crappy distribution, massive quantities of unsolds, dodgy business practices), was still the dominant outlet.  Comic Book stores were a relatively new phenomenon which would reach a smaller... but more committed readership.  

Compare that to today... when I was in Washington DC, I found only one bookstore that carried any US comics.  None of the myriad of convenience stores (all owned by one chain which appeared to have stitched-up the city centre) stocked any at all.  And I didn't see a single news stand or independent grocery store stocking them.  I realized quite how blessed we still are in the UK with WH SMITH (despite their poor customer service and ever-shrinking magazine sections) and independent newsagents still carrying a good range of magazines and comics.  I really hope we don't go the way of the USA.   

This page appeared in THE MICRONAUTS issue 39, cover-dated March 1982.  

1985: FIFTY WHO MADE DC GREAT One-shot (DC Comics)

From 1985: FIFTY WHO MADE DC GREAT.  This DC Comics one-shot only occasionally surfaces in the back issue boxes... a one-shot comicbook-scaled one-shot celebrating fifty past and present names from DC's history to mark their fiftieth year in print.  

I'm a sucker for this sort of thing so I found it a very enjoyable read.  Some of the names might seem a little weird (SUPERGIRL's Helen Slater for one) but it captures a moment in history and, no-doubt, reflects some internal politics over which of their current collaborators (hello Kenner) should receive some ego-boosting recognition.