Comics Flashback: When Hostess Ads Attack, pt 4

 Time to close out the month of September with my final mock ad. Fear not, my hot-headed Hostess hunks, I am working on more and will post at some point in the future.

Text folded, spindled mutilated and © 2020 by Mike Mitchell 

And here's the original:

Originally published in Action Comics #484, June 1978
© 1978 DC Comics, Inc.

Comics Flashback: When Hostess Ads Attack, pt 3

 We're back for some fast fun, with a faster flashback! Here's another poor Hostess Fruit Pie ad that I butchered for the Snicker-Snack Fanzine APA. As you can see, I definitely continue the sophisticated, urbane humor initiated in the last instalment featuring Batman and his not-so-bashful Boy Wonder. This time we find our fleet-footed Barry Allen on the move...

Butchered Text © 2020 Mike Mitchell

I've got to admit; this one is tied with my first Batman as my favorite. I just loved the interactions between the three bad guys.

And here's the original:

From Sad Sack and the Sarge #140, Dec. 1979
© 1979 DC Comics

And yes, that footnote is right. This FLASH ad appeared in a Sad Sack Comic!

Stay tooned for more sugary-sweet parodies!

Comics Flashback: When Hostess Ads Attack, pt 2

 Being an equal opportunity offender, I decided to jump ship and go over to Marvel for some super action. In this case, the indomitable Captain America and Nick Fury found themselves in my crosshairs...

Now, I liked most of this version, except for the final line of dialogue. So, even though the original line is okay, I updated it for this blog posting (and all future reprints).

Text butchered and copyright 2020 by Mike Mitchell

Here's the original dialogue (only the last word balloon is changed).

Text © 2020 Mike Mitchell

And, finally, here's the original as it was appeared waaaay back when.

Come back soon, folks. I've got one more outing to share with you... then I need to get off my own star-spangled ass and make some more of these!

Comics Flashback: When Hostess Ads Attack, pt 1

 As you saw in my last post, I'm a big fan of the Hostess superhero ads that appeared in comics from 1975 thru 1981. These things were a hoot! Having heroes use sugary snack treats to defeat their villains is just too perfectly "comic book" to ignore. 

So... I didn't.

When I joined the Snicker-Snack APA (it's a quarterly fanzine), I decided to have some fun by altering the dialogue to these classic ads... with a bit of a wicked twist.

Here's my first attempt at creating something funny (but naughty) out of a random Hostess Ad. This one established all the rules I would follow in this series:

1. I do not change the artwork until the last panel (see below)
2. I do not change the size of the word balloons.
3. No profanity – innuendo is much funnier.
4. I DO CHANGE the product in the final panel: Whatever Hostess product was there is updated with the Snicker-Snack logo.

Updated Ad Text and art changes © Mike Mitchell
(Click to see full-size)

Here's the original version

Our Army at War #279,  April 1975
© 1975 DC Comics

Tune in soon, same Bat Time and same Bat Channel for our next assault on common decency!

Comics Flashback: When Hostess Ads Rocked the Comics World

 As someone who grew up reading comics in the 1970s and 80s, I was in love with the humorous ads that Hostess ran in the comics. These were BRILLIANT advertising and perfectly suited to their medium: in these ads, there was a random one-page comic ad, drawn by a current comics professional (so it looked exactly "real") and featured our favorite superheroes using Hostess products to foil crime. These included Superman using Twinkies, Batman using Twinkies (and not just as a sidekick!), Hulk using Fruit Pies, and so forth.

The really wild thing was, sometimes the ads appeared in comics by other publishers, so you might see Captain Marvel or Sad Sack appearing in a Gold Key comic! Crazy times.

Here's a link to a guy who took the time to document which ads appeared in which comics:

http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/gallery.php?page=hostess 

And this guy has a great list broken down by individual hero:

http://www.seanbaby.com/hostess.htm

Here are a few of my favorite ads:

These ads are such classics that they often fall prey to parody... and as you'll see in my next blog post, I'm no stranger to such shenanigans, myself!

Archie then and now

Someone at an Archie forum posted some misgivings about thre state of Archie comics then vs. now. Here's the exchange:

Him:

Those were the days.  No alternate realities, no zombie  apocalypse, no look into the future years, no continued issues, just fun and laughter that could stand on its own for every story.

Me:

Gee Bee Not really. There were tons of "alternate" realities like "Archie 1," "The Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.," the various superhero versions. Even Little Archie didn't really jive with the teen Archie, if you think about it (it was fairly well established that Ronnie moved there as a teen and did not grow up there). And what about all the witches, monsters and aliens? Seems like a lot going on that couldn't be fit into a single "universe."

Of course, what really changed was... well, everything. The world, the comics market, and the readers. Archie's has ALWAYS changed with the times. Can you imagine how the readers of the 50s felt when they saw their beloved, innocent teens wearing mod clothing and carrying protest signs? Or actually having those mop-top Beatles appear on a cover? Shocking!

To be very honest, and this isn't an attack, because it applies to me, as well. It's not that the comics today are all bad, it's just that we're getting old. On one thing we will agree, though, and that is that the talent of yore was amazing and, unfortunately, some of today's talent falls a bit short of those halcyon years gone by.

But buck up. We still have the classic comics and back issues aren't going anywhere.

So... what do YOU think?

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A follow-up post by me:

Gee Bee Hey there.  Hope my long response doesn't come off as negative. I do "feel your pain," so to speak. And I definitely have days when I look at comics and feel the same way you do.