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Mars Will Send No More

~ Comic books, art, poetry, and other obsessions

Mars Will Send No More

Category Archives: humor

cute fluffy bunny – coffee table edition

20 Monday Mar 2023

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor

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cartoon animals, cartoon strips, cute fluffy bunny

Cute Fluffy Bunny is a gentle, peace-loving rabbit whose idyllic days with his best friend Happy Little Flower always turn to violence when some jerk tries to mess with them. I made these cartoon strips for my sister in the mid-1990s, and she’s kept the silly things for all these years. If you think you can draw Cute Fluffy Bunny better than me — and honestly, who couldn’t? — then send me your own exquisite renditions.

RATED TV-MA FOR STRONG LANGUAGE, ALCOHOL, SMOKING, AND EXTREME VIOLENCE. YOU KNOW, THE STUFF YOU TUNED IN FOR.

Alien Xmas WTF

11 Sunday Dec 2022

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor, music

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Tags

alien, christmas, christmas music, guardians of the galaxy, holiday, old 97s, Starlord

The older I get, the more I feel like an alien who doesn’t get the concept of Christmas at all. Don’t get me wrong — I like basically anything that lights up, and I think we should all try a little harder to be nice to other people. But what is up with this mythological mish-mash of elves and biolumenescent caribou celebrated by christians on the date of a Roman pagan festival? Why is there an old man with time-travel powers putting lumps of coal into wooden shoes and breaking into my house to shove candy canes in my socks in the middle of the night? What does any of it mean?!

Well, now there is a song made by aliens just for me and everyone else who feels like I do — and it totally rocks.

Soon the elves will all rise up and stab out Santa’s eyes. Ho ho ho ho ho!

This holiday masterpiece was composed and performed by the legendary Old 97’s who have been rocking out for thirty years and spent three hours getting made up like aliens, with lyric from James Gunn who directed this Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special that is available for streaming on Disney+.

big box of comics: Hello Kitty — Hello 40

31 Wednesday Aug 2022

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

book review, books, cats, hello 40, hello kitty, san rio, Silent Issue

The red lettering and bow are shiny and metallic in the print version.

A few weeks ago, I told you the story of my Hello Kitty ice pack. Shout out to my friend Ashley who found a couple on Ebay—but they were like fifty bucks. That’s a lot to ask for an ice pack, so I looked around for some Hello Kitty comic books.

That’s how I ended up with an excellent used copy of Kitty’s fortieth anniversary collection, Hello 40: A Celebration in 40 Stories. Thanks to this blog’s readers, I had just received an Amazon gift certificate that covered the cost, and Hello Kitty has joined the Big Box of Comics.

The hardback edition is gorgeous, from the metallic red lettering on the cover to the overall design and the non-stop cuteness of the short comics that showcase a wide variety of art styles, from watercolor painting to paper cut-outs. While many of the vignettes revolve around Kitty having a birthday party or eating cake with friends and family, she also crash-lands a spaceship and explores another planet, meets a dragon who roasts marshmallows with his flame, goes on a couple of wild roller coaster rides, uses a time machine, stars in a movie, and has fantastic dreams after eating too many cookies before bedtime. Fans of San Rio characters will recognize a few of her friends such as the penguin (Badtz-Maru) and frog (Kerropi).

Sure, some scary or sad stuff happens, but Kitty’s tales always end happily, and no one is ever hurt. When Space Kitty makes an alien monster cry by taking away his shiny new toy—a fallen satellite she and a friend are sent to retrieve—Kitty cheers him up with a giant cupcake, and everyone is happy. Kitty has a knack for winning over her fearsome foes through acts of kindness and irrepressible good humor.

The stories are almost entirely wordless except for text-based sound effects, earning Kitty a place in our wordless comics collection, too. When the characters speak, their words are simple pictures, a kind of emoji-based dialogue.

By now, you know most of my favorite tales involve hyper-violent dinosaur battles, doomed criminals, and ridiculously grim super-hero deconstructions. Hello 40 might seem like an odd addition to my library but, hey, I like some cute stuff too! Whether you’re looking for a kid-friendly book or you want to indulge your own inner child, Hello 40 is sure to bring a smile to your face.

Collector’s Guide: Hello 40 is available on Amazon in hardcover and a Kindle edition.

Around the World in Eight Arms: Traveling with Your Octopus

30 Wednesday Jun 2021

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor

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Tags

book review, books, Brian Kesinger, octopus, steampunk, Traveling with Your Octopus, Victoria

Despite what my recent posts might lead you to believe, not every book I enjoy is full of brutal, blood-soaked dinosaur fights. I like some cute and lighthearted stuff, too! My summer reading list includes 2015’s charming and exquisitely illustrated Traveling with Your Octopus by Brian Kesinger. It’s a flight of pure fantasy where a woman and her octopus go on a round-the-world series of adventures without any regard for the realities of octopodal biology, a journey that takes them to deserts, islands, through the air, and even into space.

Traveling with Your Octopus is not a traditional narrative with prose. The focus is on the illustrations, with one full-page picture on the right-hand side depicting the travelers, accompanied by a facing page that contains only one or two sentences of humorous travel “tips” for that locale. As fun as it might have been to have a proper story, the pictures contain so much detail that they suggest a larger tale for each location and invite you to imagine your own story.

Victoria’s name matches her Victorian, steampunk-style world, a place simultaneously retro and futuristic. The globe-trotting Victoria always has a unique and fun outfit for each setting, even a dress embroidered with octopuses she wears for a Japanese tea ceremony, and she has no shortage of vehicular and animal-based transportation, from a submersible to a blimp to a stubborn camel. Victoria truly is a woman who has it all—and who better to share that with than her octopus friend!

In one of my short stories last year, I described a painting of the lead character done in the style of a multi-armed Hindu goddess, with an octopus supplying the extra arms. I thought that idea was pretty clever, but I discovered later that Victoria and Otto beat me to it years ago! Yes, I am jealous, but I will be looking for a print of this masterpiece. Here it is on a flyer for the original book release party.

The book is a quick read, but a quick read misses the point of savoring the delightful illustrations and letting them fuel your imagination. And if you find you can’t get enough of Victoria and Otto, you’ll be happy to know this is but one book in a series that involves more fun things to do with your pet octopus, from playing dress up to traveling through time, and even a coloring book!

Collector’s Guide: The Internet tells me that Kesinger has an Etsy site and his own website, but they do not appear to exist anymore. So, check out his entire octopus series on Amazon! (That link doesn’t include the 2020 time-travel book yet, but you can find it here.)

indie box: This Is Sold-Out

18 Wednesday Sep 2019

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in first issue, humor, indie

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Augustus Mattick III, black and white, FantaCo, first issue, indie box, Indie Comics, John M Hebert, Roger Green, This is Sold Out, Tom Skulan

This is Sold-Out lampoons the comic book industry of the 1980s, and no one walks away without a few lumps. It’s too bad the creators never did a sequel satirizing the 1990s speculator craze. Long-time comic book fans will enjoy picking out the altered comic book titles on the racks and the ridiculous hyperbole about the medium we know and love.

My favorite moment might be when a rodent and a turtle use random words from the dictionary to come up with the title of the latest black-and-white indie sensation: The Catastrophic Obsequious Belgian Hibernation Retrieval. Someone must create that book!

This Is Sold Out has an outrageous second issue that concludes the story as the “Color Police” get together to eradicate all competition for the black-and-white madness. Absolute lunacy!

Collector’s Guide: From Sold Out; 1986, FantaCo. Last we checked, FantaCo was defunct and this title is out of print.

indie box: Pounded

07 Wednesday Aug 2019

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor, indie

≈ 3 Comments

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black and white, Brian Wood, indie box, Indie Comics, Oni Press, Pounded, Steve Rolston

What’s inside the short-box of indie comic books this week? The punk-rock mini-series that glorifies juvenile debauchery and ill-advised life choices as only Brian Wood and Steve Rolston could bring you: Pounded!

Did you ever have one of those mornings when only the F word will do? Heavy Parker has, too! In the third and final issue of Pounded, after getting his ass beat, Heavy makes it through four whole pages of a lousy morning with just one word to describe his feelings.

Pounded from Brian “DMZ” Wood and Steve Rolston is a quick read but a fun one. It’s much more guy-oriented than Wood’s work on New York Four and New York Five. I got the impression those were written for a young female audience who finds drama in texting and… texting… and more texting about texting… PLEASE KILL ME! But in Pounded, we get rock and roll, tough talk, sex and drugs in the bathrooms of concert venues, brutal fist fights in the street, and plenty of profanity! Man out with Heavy Parker today. Guaranteed to improve your fucking morning!

Collector’s Guide: From Pounded #3; Oni Press, 2002. Reprinted in the Pounded TPB (which is more often in stock).

Underground Comix set: Zap, Young Lust, Crumb

14 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor, indie

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black and white, indie box, Indie Comics, Last Gasp, Robert Crumb, underground comix, Weirdo, young lust

underground comix set zap young lust crumb (2)

Today we flip through pages from Zap, Young Lust, and miscellaneous works by Robert Crumb. These comics were so much fun to read, and we were glad that when we sold them we at least made back the cost of buying them. The lunacy and ribald humor of these adult-oriented magazines merges with artwork ranging from hilarious to adventurous. Not every story in an anthology title works for every reader, but if your sense of humor is warped even remotely as much as ours, you will find something to enjoy.

Normally we put links to buy comics here, but your choices for these underground comix are pretty much local shops, private owners such as eBayers, and a scavenger hunt for any printing still carried by Last Gasp.

underground comix set zap young lust crumb (3)
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underground comix set zap young lust crumb (22)

bizarre sex #7 by kitchen sink

14 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor, indie

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Tags

bizarre sex, black and white, indie box, Indie Comics, kitchen sink, underground comix

bizarre sex 7- (2)

Ah, Valentine’s Day. A day for Americans to observe a Roman pagan fertility ritual in the name of a saint appointed by Italians with plenty of candy hearts and bizarre sex. Speaking of Bizarre Sex, here are a few pages for you to flip through. Due to the explicit sexual content of the comic book, these are just about the only pages we can show you without causing some sort of brouhaha. And today is a day for love, not first amendment battles. Those belong on President’s Day.

Prior to listing it on eBay, we snapped these photos of the interior of a later printing of Bizarre Sex #7; Kitchen Sink, 1979.

bizarre sex 7- (3)
bizarre sex 7- (4)
bizarre sex 7- (5)
bizarre sex 7- (6)
bizarre sex 7- (7)
bizarre sex 7- (8)

A Look Inside Weirdo Magazine

12 Monday May 2014

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor, indie

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

black and white, indie box, Indie Comics, Last Gasp, Robert Crumb, Spain, Trashman, underground comix, Weirdo

Weirdo Magazine Collection (11)
Weirdo Magazine Collection (5)
Weirdo Magazine Collection (8)

Weirdo features the legendary underground artist Robert Crumb and a cavalcade of independent talent. Spain’s infamous TrashMan makes an appearance, as do Kim Deitch, Ed Roth, Peter ‘Hate’ Bagge, and too many to list here: some of the funniest, boldest, and most outrageous artists of an era!

Most of these copies in our photos came directly from Last Gasp publishing, and represent the best condition you can get new copies in. Overall, they have shipped us high-quality books that have been long out-of-print and are depleting rapidly from their original stock. We are willing to accept the occasional roll to a spine or minor ding in a corner to enjoy a classic.

These comic books are not intended for small children! They feature nudity, sexual content, cartoon violence, and frankly degenerate behavior! Using strong language, they talk about dead musicians, the hippie movement, intimate biographical material, bodily functions, subversive and revolutionary ideas, and ALL THE GOOD STUFF. Okay? Not for kids.

Weirdo Magazine Collection (4)
Weirdo Magazine Collection (6)
Weirdo Magazine Collection (7)
Weirdo Magazine Collection (9)
Weirdo Magazine Collection (10)
Weirdo Magazine Collection (12)
Weirdo Magazine Collection (13)
Weirdo Magazine Collection (14)

Robert Crumb’s City of the Future!

19 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor, indie, science fiction

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

city of the future, comix, indie box, Indie Comics, Robert Crumb, underground comix, Zap, Zap Comix

Legend has it that Robert Crumb’s entire set of finished pages for the first issue of Zap somehow got lost. He created a whole new issue from scratch that became Zap #1. When the lost pages reappeared, they saw publication as Zap #0.

Crumb’s mix of absurdity, psychedelia, and satire produced two of our favorite underground comix classics in this issue. Meatball tells the tale of random Americans being struck by flying meatballs until a meatball sensation sweeps the nation.

City of the Future comically spoofs the pop culture tradition of envisioning what our daily lives will be like in some far-off time. But on second read, one might consider the prescience of these predictions from the vantage point of our modern day video games, sex dolls, recycling centers, twitter feeds, and ‘extreme’ sports.

Collector’s Guide: From Zap Comix #0; 1967, Apex Oddities.



Every Child Needs a Real Missile-Firing Tank!

13 Thursday Jun 2013

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advertising, no rocket launchers in the house, tank

One of the great joys of being a kid is driving a fully-operational missile-firing tank through your parents’ house. And, it’s not something you want to do alone. That tank needs to be a two-seater so you can take your best friend, or your sibling, or just some random geek from the neighborhood you claim as a P.O.W. There’s just no sense in making weapons that only adults can use. Let’s blow the $6.98 on a tank and take the inter-generational arms race to the next level!

Robert Crumb’s Meatball!

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor, indie

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

indie box, Indie Comics, meatball, Robert Crumb, underground comix, Zap, Zap Comix

Legend has it that Robert Crumb’s entire set of finished pages for the first issue of Zap somehow got lost. He created a whole new issue from scratch that became Zap #1. When the lost pages reappeared, they saw publication as Zap #0.

Crumb’s mix of absurdity, psychedelia, and satire produced two of our favorite underground comix classics in this issue. Meatball tells the tale of random Americans being struck by flying meatballs until a meatball sensation sweeps the nation.

City of the Future comically spoofs the pop culture tradition of envisioning what our daily lives will be like in some far-off time. But on second read, one might consider the prescience of these predictions from the vantage point of our modern day video games, sex dolls, recycling centers, twitter feeds, and ‘extreme’ sports.

Collector’s Guide: From Zap Comix #0; 1967, Apex Oddities.



Make All-Out War in Your Own Home!

24 Sunday Mar 2013

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advertising, war

What kid wouldn’t jump at the chance to make all-out war in his own home? You get enough nuclear battle equipment for maximum effort warfare and massive counter-attack!

Dude, it used to be you could order guns, tobacco pipes, and ladies undergarments from comic books. You’d see an ad telling you to lose weight because no one likes fat people, then turn the page to an ad telling you to gain weight because no one likes skinny people. You could send away for the secrets of Kung Fu, a fake goatee, x-ray glasses, live seahorses, and necklaces with shark’s teeth.

Basically, if you ordered everything in a comic book, you’d have all the tools necessary to become the most awesome person on earth! Now it seems like it’s all anti-drug ads and video games. Kids, take our advice. Put down the video games, start doing drugs, get a fake goatee, learn Kung Fu, and impress the ladies with your live seahorse collection! And above all, make all-out war every chance you get. Parents love it when you turn their heavily-mortgaged house into a wasteland of trenches, landmines, and human suffering.

Marvel Announces Intent to Use Fewer Exclamation Points!

23 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor

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Stan Lee

Readers who grew up on Marvel Bronze Age books remember fondly how practically every sentence at the “House of Ideas” ended in an exclamation point. For you, we present this humorous column from a 1970 Bullpen Bulletin. And, if you’re feeling especially nostalgic, you can read the whole page below!

Every Child Needs a Fully Automatic Machine Gun!

18 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor

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advertising, automatic firing bb machine gun, war

1956 machine gun ad bb

1956 was a good year to be alive. For a small investment of $1.25, any child could own a fully automatic machine gun. Plus, at no extra charge, that child could become the Commander-in-Chief of a complete combat unit. These days, we hold ridiculous presidential elections to choose our Commander-in-Chief. But in the good ol’ days, it only took $1.25. Times were simpler then.

This ad brings back fond memories of childhood, when we commanded our own combat unit. Every morning, we would rouse our troops from their slumber and begin combat training in the back yard. Dad liked that he never had to mow the lawn, because we dug a series of trenches and fox holes into it. Mom was often disturbed by the presence of space ships hovering above our house as part of our combat unit. But she did her patriotic duty by continuing to load ammo into our automatic weaponry. The neighbors never complained when our shells misfired and took out their houses, because they knew the price of freedom was eternal vigilance.

Best of all, our new toys made our friend’s toys outdated. What a sensational feature! If only we put children in charge of the arms race, we would have destroyed our foes long ago.

Every Child Needs a Nuclear Submarine!

17 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor

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advertising, nuclear weapons, Polaris Nuclear Submarine, war

1967 nuclear sub

1968 was a great year to be a kid. For just $6.98 (plus 75 cents postage) two children could purchase their own fully functional Polaris Nuclear Submarine. Yes, fully functional. It had a real periscope, controls that really worked, and rockets that really fired. Screw you peace-loving hippies! Our kids were keeping an eye on the Red Menace, with their hands on the trigger!

This ad brings back so many fond memories of our childhood, where we routinely fired nuclear missiles at the godless oppressors with our little brothers and sisters. Every day, we’d flush the cooling water from the reactor into a large bucket. Mom would take it outside and dump it on the neighbors’ lawn. The neighbors never did know why all their flowers died and their pets grew hideously-deformed extra limbs. But that was the price of freedom in the good ol’ days!

It makes us sad, looking at the little tykes these days. They grow up with their padded car seats, their baby-on-board window hangers reminding everyone to be careful around them. Their Nerf guns fire foam-covered projectiles that hardly ever put an eye out. We teach them that bullies are bad and that they should not fight at recess. AARRGGHHH! You pussies! Weaklings! Learn how to operate a Polaris Nuclear Submarine! Feel the hot burn of uranium on your face in the morning and learn to love it! Atomize them all and let Jesus sort them out!

Kids these days. For more informative reading about the real joys of atomic weapons, we recommend you visit Atoman and Atomic Follies.

Grog Grows Own Tail!

29 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor

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advertising, dinosaur, grog, grog grows own tail, plants

grog grows own tail

Dude, a dinosaur that grows a tail you can plant and watch turn into a flowering tree. Then he grows another tail — and another — This is blowing our minds! You know all those things on your list of things to do if you had a time machine? Going back to the 1960s to pick up our own Grog for a dollar is number 2 or 3 on ours. Take 50 bucks and get a whole yard full of them!!! The only problem will be exchanging these 2012 dollar bills.This ad comes from the very first issue of X-Men.

The Creature Who Stalked the Seas!

25 Tuesday Sep 2012

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Marvel Classicworks, MMoby, Moby Dick, What The

“Turn Back! Nothing can stop MMoby!” A Marvel Moby Dick? No. This Marvel Classicworks: Strange Tales of Whaling never actually happened. It’s a gag from issue #6 of “What The–?!” Senses-shattering symbolism indeed!

Abstract Expressionist Ultra Super Modernistic Comics!

08 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in first issue, humor, indie

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

first issue, indie box, Indie Comics, Robert Crumb, underground comix, Zap, Zap Comix

We have a special place in our Martian hearts for the indie and underground work of the 1960s and 1970s: comix as opposed to comics! In the world of undergound comix, few magazines hold such a revered place as the first issue of Robert Crumb’s Zap. We preserved our bank account by finding an eighth printing of this far-out book. In addition to many humorous vignettes, Crumb blew minds with more experimental, psychedelic pieces. Dig this three-page Abstract Expressionist Ultra Super Modernistic Comics!

Collector’s Guide: From Zap Comix #1, 8th printing. Find issues of Zap direct from Last Gasp. Much of Robert Crumb’s work has been collected by Fantagraphics in The Complete Crumb Comics.



I Draw the Line at Your Dating Other Guys!

18 Tuesday Oct 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor

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Archie, Josie and the PussyCats, Line Lunacy

Become a TV Remote Control Operator!

26 Friday Aug 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor

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advertising, Become a TV Remote Control Operator, marijuana

We hope you Martians appreciate the fact that we take any and all opportunites to incorporate writing about comic books into our college assignments. When we could analyze any print ad of our choice, there was really only one glorious option: the anti-marijuana ads published in Marvel Comics. This one came from somewhere in the middle of Matt Fraction’s & Greg Land’s run on Uncanny X-Men.

What did our instructor in “Principles of Advertising” have to say? “10 out of 10. Excellent – once in a while I get something from a student that makes ME think.”

Date: June, 2009. Magazine on stands 3 months prior to listed publication date.

Magazine: Uncanny X-Men (ISSN #1083-401X) by Marvel Publishing, Inc., a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc.

Description of Ad: 2-page, centerfold, full bleed.

“Become a TV Remote Control Operator” ad parodies the unmotivated stereotype of marijuana users and warns, “There aren’t many jobs out there for potheads.” The ad abandons traditional moral and/or safety arguments about marijuana usage in favor of a single economic argument. Ad directs readers to AboveTheInfluence.com for more information.

This ad was part of an ad series run in Marvel Comics that year, all with similar layouts and graphic sense, and showing consistent branding and logo throughout. The series included other jobs like “couch potato.” Other ads, also from this company with a somewhat different visual approach but consistent humor include two CGI slugs sitting at a table with a pile of salt, remarking, “What’s the worst that can happen?”

Circulation: 04/09 Uncanny X-Men #508 – 76,442 (Obrien).

Estimated readership: Comic books are often shared with friends and siblings, and many of them are sold 1, 2, or more times on the aftermarket for used books and comics. It’s safe to assume a larger readership than circulation.

Estimated cost: Unknown. Checking with Marvel’s Advertising Department via email on rates. ***note: I contacted the listed email for Marvel’s ad department in the inidicia and no one ever got back to me.***

Target Market: The comic book is rated T+, a Marvel ratings system similar to “PG-13” for movies. The target market for Uncanny X-Men is mostly older teens and twenties, though the readership has a large segment of readers over 30. As a demographic trend, comic books are currently made in the U.S.A. by Gen X-ers for themselves and Gen Y, with a significant number of baby boomers in editorial and creative positions. The reference in the ad to college taking four long years suggests the target market of the ad itself is traditional college age – late teens to early twenties.

Does Ad Work for the audience? The ridiculous title gets your attention and interest. The ad also boasts ideal placement – not only in the middle of the magazine but in the middle of the issue’s narrative. A variety of readers sampled found it humorous enough to read the ad, and some remembered the logo and or website. All, however, remembered the point. It’s efficacy in deterring marijuana usage could not be studied, but it does at the very least succeed in communicating its most essential message.

Further Analysis:

A similar anti-drug ad running in comic books in the early 2000s was truth®. Through bold, sometimes disturbing images, truth® portrayed big tobacco as a liar. truth® invited readers to learn more of the truth about cigarettes on their website – the things big tobacco didn’t want the reader to know. Part muck-racking, part sensationalism, and part public service announcement – but did they work? A study of 50,000 youth “concluded that 22 percent of the overall decline in youth smoking from 2000 to 2002 was directly attributable to the truth® campaign” (Moriarty, 27).

On the other hand, Professor Herbert Jack Rotfeld of Auburn University claims public service advertising “misdirects resources and attention,” and calls it a “wasted effort” (278). “Advertising can’t do anything to help solve the problem,” says Rotfeld.

New Yorker contributor and best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell might agree with Professor Rotfeld. In Tipping Point, Gladwell describes studies on the increase in suicides after the press reports suicides – and the strangely congruent increase in airplane crashes after the press reports an airplane crash. The numbers Gladwell cites suggest that publishing stories about suicide and crashing a plane leads very predictably to more people crashing their planes and killing themselves. One might wonder if publishing ads about drug use might not similarly lead to more incidents of drug use.

Professor Cornelia (Connie) Pechmann of UC Irvine believes that advertising for cigarettes leads to increased intent to smoke among adolescents (171). Marvel’s Editor In Chief Joe Quesada, in a move Professor Pechmann would appreciate, banned all images and instances of smoking in Marvel Comics. His father contracted lung cancer and died – and Quesada used his editorial authority to prevent children from choosing a similar path. But has Quesada defeated his own efforts by frankly addressing marijuana smoking in the magazine through advertising?

Did Marvel’s 508th issue of Uncanny X-Men persuade any readers that marijuana use is uncool, unwise, and economically unsound? Or did its collegiate audience laugh at the joke and decide to smoke? Does the presence of marijuana in the publication amount to little more than product placement? Even if we could track the hits on abovetheinfluence.com, the data only tells us the ad got attention and achieved interaction with the readers. But it would tell us little of the actual results.

Did teenagers around the country log on to the site as they abused marijuana as a prank? Were they horrified by the information there? Were they helped? It is hard to say. Because marijuana is a black market product, we cannot obtain reliable data on product sales or customer usage. Placing these ads right now is mostly an act of faith. If the federal government would allow the commodity to be bought and sold on the open market, regulated and taxed, we could obtain and track reliable data on the efficacy of these ads.

Works Cited:

Obrien, Paul. “Marvel Month-to Month sales: March 2010.” The Beat: The News Blog of Comics Culture. 03 May 2010 .

Moriarty, Sandra E., Nancy Mitchell, William Wells. Advertising: Principles and Practice. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.

War Is Not Healthy for Children and Other Living Beings!

26 Thursday May 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor

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advertising, Donald Duck, Indie Comics

Just how big a dose does Donald Duck desire to see the world in such vibrant colors? And why isn’t the duck wearing any of these groovy patches from the inside cover?

Collector’s Guide: From Donald Duck #153; Walt Disney, 1973. Reprinted by Whitman.

Charles Atlas Ad

26 Tuesday Apr 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor

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advertising, Charles Atlas

What can we say? No vintage comic book collection would be complete without some Charles Atlas ads, even here in Martian cyberspace. And remember kids, violence is the solution to your problems. What you really want to do with your life is get as huge as you can and stomp the &%$# out of anyone who gives you grief. Oh yeah, you might want to hire a good lawyer who handles assault cases, too.

Something’s Sensed My Magnetic Cargo!

17 Thursday Mar 2011

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advertising, orbitrons, Superman, twinkies

superman meets the orbitrons

Normally we skip these Hostess Twinkies ads, but Superman flying a spaceship through a cloud of happy face aliens was just too much!!!

Fruit Stripe Land!

06 Sunday Mar 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in humor

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advertising, Fruit Stripe Gum

You guys are cool! Take the day off and have fun in Fruit Stripe Land! Now available in psilocibin and mescaline flavors.

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