BOOT

Those are fantastic. Thanks for posting them and sharing!

Here are a couple of obscure giveaways...

You guys keep driving up the precode...

More from Kurt's commercial world...

Picked up another version of this and noticed... One copy is the 1937 version... One copy is the 1946 version... from the same New York bank! A successful comic promotion!

Yours is in great shape! This one's more worn, but the comic is protected well inside. Love how the addresses are hand-written!

I always enjoy seeing your books, too! Thanks for sharing!

Wow, love it! the artwork on this one is beatiful! – more information? First issued in 1966. Deals with the same themes as the Lou Reed song called "Heroin" for The Velvet Underground, the proto-punk band in 1964 that appeared on their 1967 debut LP. Really grim stuff about heroin addiction leading to total personal downfall. A real issue then and now. Produced by the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in cooperation with the Public Health Service, Health Services and Mental Health Administration, and the National Institute of Mental Health. It was reissued in 1969. A really thick pulpy comic that is worth a read. If you like the VU you might like this. Can't say how well this actually worked at prevention, but far from being camp, this shows the grim reality of the making and unmaking of a junkie.

Pray he never comes to your neighborhood...

Yo, DL, didn't know you collected these!!! That's an awesome commentary about Eisner. I'm bookmarking this thread just cuz of that cool write-up! One impossibly cool book after another! You got me hooked on Bakers and now this! Wait, is that other promo about me? At one convention I talked with Eisner about his educational comics. He told a story of how he tried to sell his comic book services to the Saudi Arabian army for training their truck drivers. He described giving his pitch to a skeptical captain. The captain said, "You think your comic books will help me train men to drive? Watch." He got a new recruit and showed him how to drive a truck. The man started the truck and then stalled it. WHACK! The captain hit the man upside the head with his baton. The man started the truck and stalled it again. WHACK! The captain stuck the man again, harder. His face was red and bleeding where the baton struck. The dazed man pulled himself together. He started the truck again, and this time, he drove off perfectly, without stalling. "There," the captain said to Eisner. "What do I need your comic books for?" Eisner said he had no comeback.

Here's Kurt doing a variety of lovely older ladies...

What a comic!

Anderson?

Another earlier (1956) version of this beauty...

Sponsered Comics Inc. was a company formed in 1950 by cartoonist Zeke Zekley, who started out as an assistant to George McManus, and drew other, lesser known, humor type strips as well. Alex Toth is known to have done work for him, including the cover to a military magazine called "At Ease". So, I'd say there is a pretty strong chance it's Toth. Thanks so much for the info!

This is wrong on so many levels... who thought it was a good idea to have a devil represent their product in a comic book? And then to fill it with weird innuendos...what kind of man wants the devil to make his wife warm? Yeah, it's been folded in half and it's missing a coupon, but it's the only copy I've ever seen...

You know you're not alone, Doc. Promos are one of the unexplored frontiers of comic collecting. There are so many great comics out there that are still undiscovered or under-appreciated. And since they are relatively unknown, they can sometimes be had relatively cheaply. Once something is "discovered", appreciated, listed in a Guide, the prices may increase. To me, there is no greater thrill in collecting than discovering a comic that nobody has ever cataloged before. (Actually there is a greater thrill - getting it for next to nothing.) Mr. Bedrock describes being mesmerized sometimes - that pretty much describes the feeling of opening and reading a previously unknown piece of comic history. I can't think of another area of comic collecting that offers these opportunities like promos. Is there another area in any field of collecting that offers such opportunities? As far as being worth the money, many promos hold a lot of interest to people who don't otherwise collect comics. Many collectors love the allure of a comic book related to their field or area of interest and may pay well to own a rare promo. Here's the downside to sharing them here. Alerting savvy comic collectors to their existence may increase demand for them, and thus prices. We've seen this happen in many areas of comic collecting, for instance with pre-code Atlas. As word spread about how cool they are, prices went up and availability of prime issues dried up. But that may not be an issue with some promos. While many are common, some may be so rare that they can't be had for any price. I've looked for some issues for over 15 years with no success. Certain titles I missed out on thinking I'd see another copy later still haunt me... Don't get me started on the inherent historic appeal of promos... Far from just four color fantasies, these booklets document politics, business, sports, social issues, civic concerns, consumer trends, pop culture, and almost every other aspect of life. /soapbox Keep 'em coming!

"Promo", "giveaway", "educational" - put 'em all under the bigger set of FREE COMICS - comics that were originally given away. Here's a proof of an alternate version of that Picture Parade cover. Posted the original art for both covers and more in the "Defining Atomic Age Cover" thread.

What's great is to see more books from you! Mind blowing what you've got in your secret location. Not just a Louis Zamperini comic, which I've never hear of or even thought existed - but it's signed, too? I think you could bust out promos you haven't posted before all day long without breaking a sweat. I'll do my small part to keep this thread on the first page. Wang Chung everybody, let's have some fun! I got nothin'.

That is stunning. Love that you have all the original material!

Please pardon the non-Golden Age post... Comic promo one sheet for 1960 British flick "Circus of Horrors". Anybody else think this looks like Alex Toth artwork?

Great to see this thread roaring back to life... Cross posting this from a tongue-in-cheek post over in CG wondering about an "Unbroken" movie bump. "Devil At My Heels", comic adaptation of Louis Zamperini's book of the same name, published by David C. Cook, publishers of Sunday Pix, a religious giveaway comic. The comic may collect a story serialized in Sunday Pix. No date on the comic, but it mentions Zamperini appearing on the television show "This is Your Life", which was on from 1952 to 1961. Zamperini appeared on the episode which first ran on April 7, 1954. Here' s another comic-related note about Zamperini. The B-24 Liberator bomber he first flew in was called "Super Man". Super Man was shot up during a bombing run. Zamperini was assigned to another B-24 nicknamed "Green Hornet". This plane had mechanical difficulties and crashed, killing 8 of the 11 crew members, beginning Zamperini's ordeal of 47 days adrift at sea and his subsequent capture and torture by the Japanese.

It's a heavier card stock sort of paper. You are right, it is a well-made object! Really love the hand-coloring! BTW, recently found this full page print from 1870 of the same artist and characters, so he must have gotten some mileage out of them. Check this out - whoa - this guy was 100 years before Starlin and the like!