DC Comics Ad Slicks

Eagle-eyed F.O.A.M.er Ilke Hincer pointed me to an eBay auction featuring this handbook of store signage that DC provided comic book specialty shops. Using different pieces of stock art, you could add your store's info to the various-sized ad slicks--in an earlier era, companies like DC, Marvel, Harvey, and Archie would provide newsstand vendors with spinner racks and other related signage.

Aquaman is almost entirely absent, except for the re-drawn Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (PBHN) JLA group shot. Someone at DC has added Lobo, Mon-El(!), and given the Sea King some more hair. Um...okay.

Thanks Ilke!

Justice League Spectacular Header Card

Check out this nifty promotional "header card" DC produced in 1992 for Justice League Spectacular, a double-sized one-shot which featured (from what I remember, clue me in if I'm wrong) some major changes made to the JL franchise. That included the addition of new/old members, like Aquaman, seen at bottom right!

This kind of POP stuff tends not to survive, so seeing it for sale on ebay is a bit of a surprise. Big thanks to F.O.A.M.er Ilke Hincer for pointing it out!

1980 San Diego Comic Con Program

This is the back cover to the 1980 San Diego Comic Con program book, drawn by the legendary Joe Staton, featuring the stars of the DCU--including, thankfully, Aquaman!

This ad is clearly focused on DC's new wave of back-up feature stars: the Sea King, Firestorm, the Huntress, OMAC, Air Wave, Adam Strange, etc. Some wouldn't last all that long, but it's cool seeing DC give them such a nice presentation here. Joe Staton has always been one of my favorite artists, and he never got to do Aquaman much, so a discovery like this (thanks to F.O.A.M.er Ilke Hincer) is always a treat!

Also, with Firestorm being so prominent, this makes for a good Fire and Water Podcast-themed crossover!

Barnes and Noble Display

While shopping for some Xmas gifts, I came across this nifty rack display card at Barnes and Noble. Not only does it feel DC and Marvel characters together (pretty rare!), but check out who is front and center--Aquaman!

Now, of course, this is just taken from the cover to Justice League #15 (by Reis/Prado/Reis), but it's still amazing that an Aquaman-centric image was used for such a mass media purpose. Outrageous!

Justice League: Escape From Monster Island!

Inaugural F.O.A.M.er Chris Franklin sent the Shrine these scans of a new(ish) promotional comic given away inside boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios featuring the Justice League...and in this issue, primarily Aquaman!

Here's Chris' summation of the story:

General Mills and DC are teaming up again and packing their cereal boxes with Justice League comics. This is the classic, Pre-New 52 Justice League, with Cyborg subbing for Martian Manhunter (sorry Frank). I picked up the first comic #5 (continuing the numbering from the previous promotion a few years ago), and I believe this is the issue with the strongest Aquaman presence. Heck, Black Manta is along for the ride too!

The basic plot is Aquaman gets wind that dinosaurs are being abducted from Monster Island (DC’s Dinosaur Island renamed for some reason), and calls the JL in for help. Superman joins him as they arrive on the island to find Black Manta herding the dinos thanks to some mind control collars. It seems Manta is just a hired gun for Ra’s Al Ghul, who is eschewing his usual eco-terrorism for plain ol’ world conquering. Aquaman and a humpback whale put the smackdown on Manta, while the other Leaguers arrive to  free the dinosaurs.

Ra’s thinks he’s going to get away, but Batman shows up and pimp slaps him. Seriously, he back hands him like a chump. The League decides to give Ra’s what he wanted, so he gets to stay on Monster Island, with the dinosaurs he was after...and they ain’t happy! Aquaman gets the spotlight as the League departs in triumph.

All in all a fun, if simple comic. Perfect to introduce kids to the League. Too bad their isn’t an appropriate comic on the stands for them to follow this into. Nice story by Joshua Williamson (who the Shrine has interviewed), and crisp art by Christian Duce. I particularly like his Aquaman. The stubble is a nice touch!

 

 

The Secret of the Sinister Lighthouse - 1980

Watch the Super Friends (simply called "Super Heroes" here) discover "The Secret of the Sinister Lighthouse"!

Oh...this is plot of Dr. Light's? Don't anyone go anywhere, this will probably only take a couple of pages...

Anyway, we find Batman and Robin in the Bat-Plane. They see a light in the sky, initially thinking it's the Bat-Signal. But it isn't: it's a ray of light that is mysteriously drawing the Dynamic Duo in like a magnet! Over in Metropolis, the same thing happens to Superman, followed by Wonder Woman and Aquaman: 

Superman finds himself trapped inside a Red Sun bubble, nullifying his powers. Wonder Woman too finds herself helpless when a ray of light binds her invincible bracelets together. Batman and Robin are dragged out of the Bat-Plane by another beam, and Aquaman is plucked out of the water by a ball of flame!:

Superman remarks that Dr. Light is "Fully capable of destroying us all", clearly confusing him with someone else. At that same moment, Aquaman is already thinking up a plan, like a boss:

The water pressure crushes the Red Sun bubble, freeing Superman. He then heads to the surface, and helps his fellow Super Friends escape from their prisons of light. With the heroes now free, capturing Dr. Light is as easy as a toss of a magical lasso:

We'll be back after these messages!

Okay, some of you may be wondering just what the heck this is. "The Secret of the Sinister Lighthouse" was a mini-comic given away by General Mills in various boxes of Kellogg's cereal, back when comic book companies did that sort of thing on a regular basis.

This was one of a small line of such mini-comics, featuring Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman in solo adventures plus two Super Friends adventures. The first one "Prisoner of the Stars", was fairly humiliating for Aquaman, but this one was a nice change of pace: it's his action that starts the ball rolling, and ends up leading to the Super Friends defeating Dr. Light. Yay Aquaman!

I haven't been able to suss out any credits for this comic, story or art. The inking looks like Vince Colletta to me, but the pencils remain a mystery, much like Dr. Light's career as a super-villain.

(h/t: Scans courtesy The Quarter Bin blog)

 

DC Universe Superheroes Lego Comic Book

Last week's post featuring the DC Universe Lego set--featuring the debut of Blocky Aquaman--was so popular that we're following up with the mini-comic that the set came with--an all-original adventure starring Lego Batman and Lego Aquaman!

We're not going to post the whole book, but here are the Aqua-relevant pages:

...what's funny about this little adventure is that it's no less continuity-shattering than the average Bob Haney story.

In any case, it's good to see that while, yeah, Aquaman does get rescued by Batman, at least he gets some action in by delivering a well-aimed trident, which does the trick on Mr. Freeze. Lego-ized or not, don't mess with the Sea King!

This book was scanned and submitted to the Shrine by our newest F.O.A.M. member Mark Knuth! Thanks Mark, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

DC Comics Archival Print - A is for Aquaman

To be fair, in the New 52 it stands for Atlantis -- but that would be nitpicking!

Just announced via the Source Blog:

DC Collectibles, the exclusive line of collector items from DC Entertainment, continues to build out its recently expanded online store, and now offers a high-end line of custom graphic prints for sale exclusively online. Fans may recall that a limited selection of the custom prints were available for sale at C2E2 earlier this year, and based on popular demand an expanded line-up is now available for sale here. More than 20 prints are currently available, with new prints added all the time. Make sure to visit DC Collectibles store (www.shopdccollectibles.com) regularly as a one-stop shop for the latest prints, statues, action figures and more collectible awesomeness!

And just to tick off rob!, they made a SHAZAM one too (as well as a Starfire that could double as truck mud-flap decal!). Check 'em all out and we'll have something special for the 1st F.O.A.M.er to send us a picture of the above print displayed in their possession!

DC Comics.com "Popular Characters"

I saw this little graphic on the revamped DCComics.com the other day, and my first (and only) response is...it's about damn time!

DC Comics: We Can Be Heroes

DC Entertainment has announced an unprecedented humanitarian effort launched today to combat hunger and starvation in Africa: We Can Be Heroes!
From DC's Source Blog Official Press Release:

The Justice League characters were chosen by DC Entertainment both for their global recognition as well as their demonstration of strength in unity and numbers. The campaign’s graphic identifier features the iconic Justice League characters—Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg—outlined in silhouette against the African continent. Each of these characters is a super hero in his or her own right, but when they band together as the Justice League, they become an unstoppable force for good and right in the universe—a key message of the We Can Be Heroes campaign. While many individuals may feel powerless to effect change on their own, as part of a global campaign such as this, their efforts, combined with those of other donors, can create a world of change.

Key elements of this campaign will include a generous donor-matching program by DCE and the creation of an online community to generate awareness of the African population's struggle to survive. The Aquaman Shrine encourages you to visit the joinwecanbeheroes.org website to consider your participation level and be sure to click on the Justice League link for more info on how the Sea King fits into the campaign! We are sure the Aquaman would find this a cause worthy of our attention.

DC Interactive Logos, Pt. 2

Continuing in the vein of the earlier post, here's an Aquaman and Mera version of the promo shots DC's been sending around featuring various and heroes with the new logo.

Click the graphic to embiggen and download!

DC Interactive Logos

DC made big news the other day, unveiling these new interactive logos, replacing the updated DC "spin" icon that debuted back in 2005.

Some of the new icons are clearly, intentionally visually tied to characters (Flash, Green Lantern, Watchmen), and the Shrine couldn't help but notice a certain Sea King is not represented! Considering that Aquaman is currently one of DC''s top sellers, we thought that was unfair, so:

...you're welcome, DC!

General Mills: Justice League #4

"Breakout!" by Joshua Williamson and Bruno Redondo.

A few weeks ago, the Shrine talked about a series of four JLA-centric comics produced and packaged exclusively for General Mills, and available only with specially-marked boxes of cereal. Now we finally get a chance to take a look at the most Aquaman-centric issue, which opens in Atlantis:

With some well-thrown Batarangs, Batman subdues the waterlogged crooks, who claim he has no jurisdiction here. Bats responds by saying he is doing a favor for their king, also known as...

Cut to: the frozen North, and The Penguin is entering a frozen cave. He's talking to someone we can't see, about a treasure trove of artifacts that Aquaman found from the original city of Atlantis. One item in particular is of interest: "The Penguin Legacy Statue", which of course he "has to own."

The Penguin wants to arrange an underwater jailbreak, and in the chaos he will steal the statue. And who better to arrange an underwater jailbreak than...

A short while later, Aquaman and Batman return to Atlantis, and find Ocean Master waiting for them. While Aquaman deals with his brother personally, The Penguin's plan goes off as planned: the royal guards swim off to help, leaving the Penguin Legacy Statue unprotected.

Meanwhile, Aquaman and Ocean Master have it out yet again:

With that, the rest of the JLA show up, and help round up all the freed criminals, as well as rebuilding the prison. After all the cleaning up is done, everyone wonders, where did Batman go?

Of course, Batman is busy apprehending The Penguin, who was busy escaping with the statue. Batman drags him back to Atlantis, and he and Aquaman point that he technically broke Atlantean law, so...

...The End!


I really enjoyed this book, it has an all-ages appeal that's perfect for this kind of project. Its great that Aquaman gets to take center stage, something that certainly never happened in the old days of cereal premiums. Writer Joshua Williamson mixes a bit of classic comic book Aquaman with the more light-hearted Brave and the Bold version; again perfect for a book like this.

This comic also comes with a JLA pin-up (by Joe Prado, no less), and this credits page featuring a piece by the master of merchandising art, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez:

Special Thanks to Shrine Correspondent Russell Burbage and Jared Baker for providing us a non-cereal-encrusted copy of this comic!

Super Friends Promo Art - 1979

This 8x10" piece of Super Friends promo art was put up on sale on eBay, and pointed out to the Shrine by our newest F.O.A.M. member, Tom Fardy.

The seller didn't provide much info, but when I asked they said it was a promo piece sent out to the network. I dunno; this seems like an odd piece to use for such a cause (black and white? just Aquaman?). Nevertheless, I like it!

Thanks Tom, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

DC Super Heroes - "Prisoner of the Stars"

With General Mills back in the comics business (sort of), I thought it was the perfect time to take a look back at another DC comic given away as a premium in GM brand cereals--namely, the 1979 "Prisoner of the Stars" mini-comic!

This book was part of a four-book series; Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman each got their own, with Aquaman (*sigh*) only making an appearance in this group book.

I had never read this comic before, so of course I was excited to finally see it (I get that way about any Aquaman comic)--that was, until I read it. I've decided to post the whole book without comment, so I'll join you after page sixteen:

Sadly, this is the kind of comic book that really helped cement in kids' minds that Aquaman was pretty useless as a superhero. He's in this story just as a hostage; after page five he's basically an Aqua-cicle. To make matters worse, since this was part of a mass-merchandising tie-in, these General Mills comics were probably more widely read than any regular DC comic of the time, thereby reaching a lot more kids than, say, Adventure Comics ever did.

Also--why are the Super Friends planning to let Xisis go the next day? He did try and kidnap (and transport across planetary lines) a superhero, for Neptune's sake--you'd think that earns him a bit more of a punishment than being stuck in the Metropolis Zoo for a day. "Aw, come on, Aquaman, lighten up--he didn't do anything that bad!"
I don't know who produced this comic; though the cover is clearly by go-to guy Ross Andru. Can any of the regular Shrine readers who actually toiled at DC around this time clue us in?