1993: OVERKILL House Ad (Marvel UK)

From November 1993: Another House Ad for MARVEL UK's OVERKILL... boasting a very different line-up than the one it launched with the previous year (only WARHEADS were holdouts from the original 'Overkill Five' strips).

It switched from fortnightly to monthly just after this ad appeared... a peripheral victim of the GENESIS IMPLOSION which cut a large chunk out of the US line... but didn't reverse (or even stabilize) plummeting sales across the board. 

1994: DOCTOR WHO POSTER MAGAZINE and BLAKE'S SEVEN POSTER MAGAZINE (Marvel UK)

From 1994: a MARVEL UK House Ad/ Subscription driver for the BLAKE'S SEVEN and DOCTOR WHO POSTER MAGAZINES, two titles that seemed curiously behind-the-times.

Not only were both shows defunct but the idea of Poster Magazines also seemed like a Seventies throwback.  

This ad continued to appear in both titles (and other M-UK books) throughout the short runs of both magazines.

I've previously covered the B7 PM's here and here. 

1983: THE DAREDEVIL POSTER/ PLUG (Marvel UK)

From 1983: MARVEL UK devoted the centre-spread of SPIDER-MAN issue 533 for a glossy plug for their DAREDEVILS monthly.

Come to think of it... it does look pretty appealing.

This appeared in May and DD was defunct by November.  It mustered only 11 issues before folding into THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL. 

1984: CBS SATURDAY MORNING ADVERT

From 1984: the annual Fall Kid-Vid plug from CBS, as seen in multiple US comics.

This was clearly a year where video games (and Role Playing games) held sway with SATURDAY SUPERCADE, POLE POSITION and DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS. 

Younger kids were catered for by the Emmy-grabbing MUPPET BABIES and THE GET ALONG GANG (Conform.  Conform.  Conform). 

PRYOR'S PLACE, starring Richard Pryor, never crossed the Atlantic.  Surely a surprising choice for a Saturday morning TV star, coming only four years after the potty-mouthed multi-award winning comedian and actor had set himself alight whilst freebasing cocaine. 

1986: QUESTPROBE MARVEL COMICS VIDEO GAMES ADVERT

From 1986: A text-tastic US ad for the QUESTPROBE Marvel video games.

Marvel had big plans to support this series with regular new comics pegged to the latest in the ongoing games releases (the first was also released as a MARVEL UK one-shot) but, unfortunately, the games company went bust and the deal disintegrated. 

1976: DRACULA LIVES House Ad (Marvel UK)

From 1976: A MARVEL UK House Ad for DRACULA LIVES (currently featuring The Legion of Monsters).

This appeared in early February. 

1982: SAVAGE ACTION BOWS OUT WITH ISSUE 15 (Marvel UK)

From 1982*: the British Bullpen Spin Machine cranks up again to put a positive gloss on the demise of SAVAGE ACTION Monthly after fifteen issues.  

SA was a "mature readers" comic before the term had been invented... a hotch-potch of adventure and horror fare assembled (for the most part) from the US black & white magazine line. 

As Bernie says, putting a brave face on it, SA was about to fold into the pages of MARVEL SUPERHEROES from 382.  Which also happened to be the only issue to officially incorporate SA although the Night Raven text stories (the only survivor to emerge from the wreckage of SA) did continue. 

* This would have gone on sale in December 1981. 

1975: PLANET OF THE APES BEHIND-THE-SCENES ARTICLE (Marvel UK)

From 1975: A text-heavy behind-the-scenes article from MARVEL UK's PLANET OF THE APES weekly issue 43 (cover-dated 16 August 1975).  

I'd guess this was ported across from one of the issues of the US black & white POTA magazine, which was pitched at a slightly older audience than the UK weekly (although the contents were fairly identical).

It's hard to imagine that any British publication aimed at younger readers would ever contemplate running something like this today... it would be much shorter and much more superficial. 

1975: PLANET OF THE APES and STAR TREK ACTION FIGURES ADVERT

From 1975: More Palitoy goodness... PLANET OF THE APES and STAR TREK action figures.

This striking ad appeared in THE AVENGERS AND THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN (phew!) issue 95, 12 July 1975.  

This was the first combined issue, Savage Sword having floundered after only eighteen issues. 

The two franchises are currently crossing over again, courtesy of a new limited series from IDW and Boom. 

1994: SPIDER-MAN TV VHS COMPETITION (Marvel UK)

From 1994: a blast back, courtesy of MARVEL UK's THE EXPLOITS OF SPIDER-MAN, to the Seventies... and a chance to win a VHS re-release of the SPIDER-MAN movie (AKA the TV pilot). 

Even before the Sony movie series, these TV outings looked a little - ahem - under-resourced so I doubt many fans in 1994 were swept away by the show's sophistication.

These were a mainstay of the VHS era with several re-releases for all three films before the format died.  They would be relied upon to surface in most Woolworth's Home Entertainment departments.  With no DVD release, charity shops are now your best bet...

This appeared in issue 26, 21 September 1994.