’74-’85, comic book art and covers

Marvel 50th Premiere. Alice Cooper. 1979. US.

Welcome, vintage mates, to another selection of comic book art, covers and ads. In this instalment we span the years 1974 to 1985 and feature titles from the US and UK. Included (above) is my childhood copy of Marvel’s Alice Cooper – Tales From the Inside. I didn’t know very much about Alice Cooper back in the late seventies apart from the song ‘School’s Out’ – but the crazy story inside that 12p comic managed to fully capture my imagination as a child… and who could resist that cover?

Other comic book goodies included today are Godzilla King of the Monsters (below), more superb examples of the striking cover art as seen in DC’s Weird War Tales, and titles and ads for Marvel, Star Comics, Starlog, Starburst, Doctor Who and Fantasy Modeling.

As always, thanks for looking 🙂

Marvel Comic N°338. 1979. UK.

Weird War Tales

Weird War Tales N°32. 1974. US.

Weird War Tales N°78. 1979. US.

: Weird War Tales 36. 1975.

: Weird War Tales 100. 1981.

: Weird War Tales 106. 1981.

: Weird War Tales 103. 1981.

Various titles

: Starburst Vol 1 N°8. 1979. UK.

: Doctor Who Monthly N°78. 1983. UK.

: Secret Wars II. 1985. US.

: Claw the Unconquered N°11. 1978. US.

: Various comic book titles. 1979. UK.

: Various comic book titles. 1980. UK.

: Advert for Pizzazz. 1978. US.

: Star Comics. 1985. US.

: Starlog Press. 1982. US.

: Fantasy Modeling. 1980. US.

20 thoughts on “’74-’85, comic book art and covers”

Weird War Tales! I love those covers… I know comics tend to grab the imagination, but I think those Weird War Tales covers really are incredible.

And “like being bored?” Haha.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓

The Vintage Toy Advertiser on April 13, 2019 at 09:35 said:

Thanks J. I keep adding those Weird War Tales covers, they’re pretty addictive.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- J. on April 15, 2019 at 16:49 said:
  
  Yeah, they’re definitely my favourite covers (not that the others aren’t great, but they just have really surreal imagery).
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person

Love that Alice Cooper Comic cover! I’ve never seen that. Have you ever heard of Millie the Model or Katy Keene?

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓

The Vintage Toy Advertiser on April 4, 2019 at 23:15 said:

No, but I just had a look and they’re both comic fashion stars – Marvel and Archie comics. Cool. Some of the covers I just saw were brilliant. Didn’t know about those X

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- Resa on April 5, 2019 at 01:55 said:
  
  They featured a page with a paper doll and a couple of outfits in each issue. I have some repros of paper dolls, but not the 2 I have mentioned.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
- The Vintage Toy Advertiser on April 5, 2019 at 08:26 said:
  
  I remember some paper doll kits I had when I was a child. They came free with the cereals, along with some paper knights on horseback. Had some others too that were in a book you could cut out. Was good fun adding the different costumes and accessories 🙂
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
- Resa on April 5, 2019 at 18:27 said:
  
  Huh! Never heard of the cereal paper dolls.
  Sounds neat!
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person

RE-posted on twitter @trefology

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓

The Vintage Toy Advertiser on April 4, 2019 at 12:42 said:

Thank you kindly Tref 🙂

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓

Very cool, never even heard of DC’s Weird War Tales. That’s looks interesting.

LikeLiked by 2 people

Reply ↓

The Vintage Toy Advertiser on April 3, 2019 at 14:09 said:

The cover art alone is worth the price paying imo. The stories inside are pretty good too, and captivated me as a kid.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓

I never knew an Alice Cooper one was made (but I don’t know that much..). Great ‘curation’ of covers – I really can’t pick a favourite this time.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓

The Vintage Toy Advertiser on April 3, 2019 at 14:05 said:

Thanks Wibi. As always was fun putting these together.

LikeLike

Reply ↓

Great to see all those Marvel UK covers, especially for Doctor Who and Marvel comics. Nice cover to that issue of Starburst as well, that was such a great magazine back in the day 🙂

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓

The Vintage Toy Advertiser on March 31, 2019 at 09:16 said:

Thanks. Agree that Starburst issue has a good looking cover. I think it’s the choice of logo that helps make it – looking back at my old issues of Starburst they changed their logo at least four times as I can see between late 70s and throughout the 80s, maybe more.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- Paul Bowler on March 31, 2019 at 15:38 said:
  
  Yes, I think they did change the logo a lot. Back then it was more about articles on movies ect than just hype and reviews like it is now. They did some wonderful issues, with really eye catching covers, and every issues was always a great read 🙂
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
- The Vintage Toy Advertiser on March 31, 2019 at 17:07 said:
  
  Agree. They made good efforts to interview all the different types of people working on a set, like special effects, designers, costume, writers.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person

The Alice Cooper one looks great!!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓

The Vintage Toy Advertiser on March 30, 2019 at 12:02 said:

Thanks. Really pleased I’ve managed to hang onto it all these years.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓

Reply to this blog post Cancel reply

J. on April 13, 2019 at 01:59 said:

Weird War Tales! I love those covers… I know comics tend to grab the imagination, but I think those Weird War Tales covers really are incredible.

And “like being bored?” Haha.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- The Vintage Toy Advertiser on April 13, 2019 at 09:35 said:
  
  Thanks J. I keep adding those Weird War Tales covers, they’re pretty addictive.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
  - J. on April 15, 2019 at 16:49 said:
    
    Yeah, they’re definitely my favourite covers (not that the others aren’t great, but they just have really surreal imagery).
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
Resa on April 4, 2019 at 22:56 said:

Love that Alice Cooper Comic cover! I’ve never seen that. Have you ever heard of Millie the Model or Katy Keene?

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- The Vintage Toy Advertiser on April 4, 2019 at 23:15 said:
  
  No, but I just had a look and they’re both comic fashion stars – Marvel and Archie comics. Cool. Some of the covers I just saw were brilliant. Didn’t know about those X
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
  - Resa on April 5, 2019 at 01:55 said:
    
    They featured a page with a paper doll and a couple of outfits in each issue. I have some repros of paper dolls, but not the 2 I have mentioned.
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
  - The Vintage Toy Advertiser on April 5, 2019 at 08:26 said:
    
    I remember some paper doll kits I had when I was a child. They came free with the cereals, along with some paper knights on horseback. Had some others too that were in a book you could cut out. Was good fun adding the different costumes and accessories 🙂
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
  - Resa on April 5, 2019 at 18:27 said:
    
    Huh! Never heard of the cereal paper dolls.
    Sounds neat!
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
tref on April 4, 2019 at 06:26 said:

RE-posted on twitter @trefology

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- The Vintage Toy Advertiser on April 4, 2019 at 12:42 said:
  
  Thank you kindly Tref 🙂
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
airlandia on April 1, 2019 at 18:45 said:

Very cool, never even heard of DC’s Weird War Tales. That’s looks interesting.

LikeLiked by 2 people

Reply ↓
- The Vintage Toy Advertiser on April 3, 2019 at 14:09 said:
  
  The cover art alone is worth the price paying imo. The stories inside are pretty good too, and captivated me as a kid.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
wibiwonder on April 1, 2019 at 18:11 said:

I never knew an Alice Cooper one was made (but I don’t know that much..). Great ‘curation’ of covers – I really can’t pick a favourite this time.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- The Vintage Toy Advertiser on April 3, 2019 at 14:05 said:
  
  Thanks Wibi. As always was fun putting these together.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply ↓
Paul Bowler on March 30, 2019 at 16:18 said:

Great to see all those Marvel UK covers, especially for Doctor Who and Marvel comics. Nice cover to that issue of Starburst as well, that was such a great magazine back in the day 🙂

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- The Vintage Toy Advertiser on March 31, 2019 at 09:16 said:
  
  Thanks. Agree that Starburst issue has a good looking cover. I think it’s the choice of logo that helps make it – looking back at my old issues of Starburst they changed their logo at least four times as I can see between late 70s and throughout the 80s, maybe more.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
  - Paul Bowler on March 31, 2019 at 15:38 said:
    
    Yes, I think they did change the logo a lot. Back then it was more about articles on movies ect than just hype and reviews like it is now. They did some wonderful issues, with really eye catching covers, and every issues was always a great read 🙂
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
  - The Vintage Toy Advertiser on March 31, 2019 at 17:07 said:
    
    Agree. They made good efforts to interview all the different types of people working on a set, like special effects, designers, costume, writers.
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
2loud2oldmusic on March 30, 2019 at 11:15 said:

The Alice Cooper one looks great!!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- The Vintage Toy Advertiser on March 30, 2019 at 12:02 said:
  
  Thanks. Really pleased I’ve managed to hang onto it all these years.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓

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20 thoughts on “’74-’85, comic book art and covers”

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