A few months ago I bought four Teen Titans issues from the late 1960s during a Fearless Readers Online sale. As I flipped through the books, I noticed two things:
- A previous owner had decided he wanted to try his hand at “inking” by using a pen or marker to trace over some lines. (Grrrr…)
- I found some of the ads in these books interesting for various reasons.
So, here are some of those ads, starting with Teen Titans #11 (cover dated Oct. 1967).
I’ve run across these ads (or variations) in various comics I bought in the late 1970s, and while I knew I couldn’t buy any of these items, I really wanted some of them, like the x-ray specs. Did anyone reading this actually buy any of this junk?
All I ever knew of Palisades Park was the song by Freddie “Boom Boom” Cannon. Unfortunately, not even the free Batman slide and Superman’s invitation couldn’t prevent the Park from closing in 1971.
Many of the ads in these Teen Titans issues are for car models. I thought this was a genius way of providing a service to the comic book reader in a form they already understood and inviting participation! The artist, Henry Boltinoff, also created Super-Turtle for DC.
Here’s a house ad. I had never heard of Bomba, the Jungle Boy, and I was a huge Tarzan fan (Johnny Weissmuller!) growing up. I wonder why DC decided to pursue this television tie-in, especially considering it was 5 years after the tv show?
Finally, another house ad of a sort. This is a panel from the issue where the Teen Titans are flying away in the Titans helicopter (complete with their team name on the tail!). Notice the billboard on the left (like you can miss it). Hah! I know breaking that “fourth” wall happens all the time in comics, but breaking it in a comic in which one the characters appears on the tv show that’s shown in the billboard ad is perhaps some sort of a record? Now I want to know if subsequent shots of the Titans flying the helicopter out of their secret HQ show that same billboard, albeit with different ads, perhaps? :)
That’s it for this issue of Teen Titans. I’ll post more ads from yesteryear soon, specifically from Teen Titans #19 next.
Longbox Review 
Boy, I hate to admit it, but not only do I remember that ad, but I actually bought a pair of those as a kid. ;P
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Mark, which issues did you get? Or did you mean the X-Ray Specs? ;)
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I meant the specs. There is no way i could possibly recall what magazine, comic book or newspaper I saw the ad in. I’m guessing I was about 10 and therefore we would be talking c.1960.
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