Fudge Judge

JLA #15, November 1962

Ice cream van

Spotted in Primrose Hill, north London

Click it for closer inspection.

Note that he seems to be flying over Canary Wharf, not Metropolis.

ON YOUR KNEES!

Creepy praying doll...

You click. Make Big.

Scan from the back of The Mighty Thor #267, January 1977

How about a date?

No chance, mate.

This makes me laugh...

This soap joke victim just looks so fed up. It's like the tosser who did this has done it a thousand times before and this poor person is just resigned to being the butt of yet another tedious practical joke! HeeHee!

1979 Fun Factory Ad, scanned from Daredevil #158 - Frank Miller's first on the book!

Strike a light!

Here's a funny thing; for all the fuss Fredric Wertham and his pals kicked up about the pernicious influence of horror comics on the children of 1950s America, they never once complained about ads like this...

(click the ad to spark up the size)

*EDIT: As per usual, I don't know what I'm talking about. A quick Google search reveals that Wertham did mention ads for whips, guns and knives in his testimony before the subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency and Crime. Read what he had to say here.

He probably would have had a pop at this ad, too, if he'd seen it.

Scan from Tales From The Crypt #22, February 1951

Sheik Toxic Moron and the 3-D Confusion Maze

This is genuinely nuts.

1991 ad from Captain America #387

Welcome to my parlour

In this case the kiddies were the flies...

some toy for $1.98.

Maddness (sic) indeed!

Scan from The Superhero Book of Goodies #2, 1977

Help Batman fight bicycle theft!

Click the image to big up The Bat Bike

Ad scaned from Green Lantern Emerald Dawn #3, February 1990.

Doom has written a poem.

Fear Doom's rhyme!

Scanned from a December 1984 ad for Mattel's line of Secret Wars action figures.

Old man slags off youngsters for meeting up and reading comics/Ancient fanzines/An ad

Apparently it's Read Comics in Public Day.

What a load of old wank.

If you're into this kind of thing then there are a bunch of nerds meeting up to read their comics in The Crown, New Oxford Street, just round the corner from Gosh and Comicana. They'll be there at midday, thumbing their copies of Scott Pilgrim and looking stupid. Someone will probably beat them up.

Frankly I like to read my comics in private. I'm too old to be enjoying them and I know it, so why the fuck would I want to attract attention and ridicule by getting them out in public? I'm a 38-year-old man for fuck's sake, if I read Spider-Man in a pub, then I deserve to be laughed at.

I'm not sure why comics fans feel this desperate need to legitimise comic reading anyway. Honestly chums, let's keep this embarrassing secret to ourselves.

Just a stone's throw from The Crown is the Bloomsbury Street Oxfam bookshop. I was back in there the other day buying more decaying early 80s tat - some Avengers, some Defenders a bit of Power Man and Iron Fist. All overpriced at £1 a pop, but hey, by buying them I'm doing my bit for Pakistan, so it's all good. There are still a fair few comics left in there. Get yourselves down if you have the chance - maybe buy a water-damaged copy of X-Force to read in public, that'll impress the grown ups.

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UK Comics legend, Dez Skinn has posted a shitload of old fanzine images featuring hitherto unpublished art by the likes of Dave Gibbons, Brian Bolland, Frank Bellamy and even Jim Steranko! Best thing I've seen on the web for yonks, it's HERE

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The most horrible monster of all time...

Ad from The Defenders #104, February 1982

LLC Recommends Burlesque Paraphernalia and side degree specialities and costumes

Burlesque Paraphernalia and side degree specialities and costumes. Not exactly a name that trips off the tongue. But if you see this Fantagraphics book on the shelves of your local comic shop or book store, then at least give it a look.

It's not a comic but, if like me, you love vintage comic book ads, then this will appeal to you. It's not a book of comic book ads either though (bear with me), Burlesque Paraphernalia is in fact a reprint of a vintage catalogue of machinery and costumes designed to be used in the initiation and hazing ceremonies of early 20th century American fraternities and secret societies.

At the turn of the last century, some 40% of American men belonged to these societies. Organisations such as The Woodmen of the World and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks provided a place for men to get together, fraternize and, err, play pranks on each other!

Taking their inspiration from more serious groups such as the Masons, these clubs often adopted quasi-ceremonial initiation ceremonies and, as unlikely as it sounds, an industry sprang up supplying such groups with the equipment needed to make their ceremonies as authentically weird and scary as possible.

The undisputed leaders in the invention and supply of this bizarre paraphernalia were the DeMoulin Brothers, three fairly earnest looking Victorian men with a taste for sadistic pranks and the capital required to put their Heath Robinsonesque ideas into practice.

Burlesque Paraphernalia and side degree specialities and costumes reprints The DeMoulin Brothers 1930 Catalogue. It comes with an introduction from David Copperfield, who sets the tone by recounting the time that he had a hole burnt in his arse by an antique gunpowder charged spanking paddle from the catalogue. From there we get two lengthy essays on the history of early 20th century fraternities and initiation ceremonies before catalog no. 439 is presented in all its bonkers glory.

What to say about catalog 439? It's a crazy-arse thing, full of richly illustrated intricate drawings of smartly dressed men torturing each other with ridiculous devices. There are electric carpets, exploding mallets, vats of boiling lead, spiked pathways, cages, boxing rings, spiky blocks and branding irons. All items come with gleeful descriptions of the terror which they can inspire in the minds of prospective and unwitting fraternity candidates and detailed illustrations of the gadgets in action. Here's an example of the kind of thing on offer...

De Moulin also sold the costumes for these ceremonies. Along with the devils and goats there was a selection of "Race Costumes" available, all of which are illustrated in the catalog. It's an offensive section which nonetheless provides a fascinating insight into the prevailing attitudes of the day. If looking at the racial masks leaves you with a nasty taste in the mouth, then you can always cleanse your palate by flipping back for a look at some of the mind-bendingly weird initiation gadgets.

With its electric canes and exploding cigars, the De Moulin Bros catalogue was clearly a source of inspiration to the novelty item manufacturers who plied their trade within the pages of the American comic books of the 50s, 60s and 70s. All those joy buzzers and whoopee cushions are after all just shrunken down versions of the prank machinery on display in catalog #439.

What you get with this book then is not just a fascinating glimpse into a little known corner of American social history, but the template for many of the ad pages from the silver and bronze age comics that so many of us comic collectors love. I really enjoyed it and, although it isn't about comics, I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the history of comic book advertising.

For more London Loves Comics recommendations, click the the LLC Recommends tag below.

Fuck your Jekyll Atari, man!

Click the image to read it in big mode!

I like this ad. It's honest. Kids are evil.

"Manholes of Venus? You're fucking lame"

"What kind of a spastic game do you call that cocknose?"

"Later gaylord"

"Your old man bought the wrong computer"

"And he's a fucking paedo!"

There were kids at school we treated like that.

They would have gone and bought the Atarisoft stuff for their Vic20 too.

We would probably have played it while calling them a cunt and telling them that it was lame.

Ad scanned from Power Pack #1, August 1984.

Bonus!

Genuine Atarisoft jingle!

A tiny piece of Texas

Presumably the Sheriff is there to ensure that your ranch stays free of microscopic cattle rustlers.

Ad from Super-Villain Team-Up #12, June 1977

100 LEVELS!

A fine, fine day at the mart yesterday. I scored stacks of cheap comics AND met up with London Loves Comics readers Tam, John and John's missus, Nell.

Huzzah!

An exhaustive and unnecessary survey of my purchases will follow. For now, enjoy this ad from the days when any old herbert could sell their dungeon designs through the pages of a Marvel comic...

Levels within levels within levels.

Christopher Nolan eat your heart out.

Scan from Iron Man #230 May 1988 (25p purchase at yesterday's mart)

A wonderful treat to the eyes!

Yes, while the great and the good of the comics world whack themselves off over Scott Pilgrim, I'm still thumbing through ancient superhero comics and drooling over crappy ads.

I am old.

Scan from Amazing Spider-Man #46 March, 1967

Make Love Not War

The Second World War is over. Soldiers know how to kill men, but they have forgotten how to woo women. Stravon publishers are on hand to ease the transition from battlefield to bedroom...

CLICK THE AD FOR BIG LOVE

1945 comic Book ad, reproduced in Hey Skinny: Great ads from the Golden Age of comic books

Japanese Doritos marketing

FURY commands!

1950 Ad reprinted in Hey Skinny! Great Ads from the Golden Age of Comic Books

Before they were comics

Not feeling too good today. Trying to make myself better by trawling YouTube for good medicine like this...

Sensational Japanese Micronauts ad

C.O.P.S.

ROM!