Presenting:
The Vintage Toy Advertiser’s collection of Wonder Woman goodness as seen across the years in print advertising, comic books and toys!
Click images to go bigger, and enjoy this treat of one of the finest superheroes to grace the pages of comic books and the screen!
Wonder Woman N°240. 1978. Garcia Lopez et Dick Giordano.
Lynda Carter as TV’s Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman Japanese Chirashi poster. 2017.
Wonder Woman 1984. Japanese chirashi. 2020.
2000 AD Weekly Order newsagent form. 1983. UK.
Hope you’re staying healthy and well, vintage mates, as we continue on through the 2020 pandemic, into glorious May, and a new monthly edition for TVTA #110!
Today’s post is a surefire blast from the past which will take anyone who was around in Britain in the 1980s on a most pleasant stroll down memory lane.
From a lot of 1983 British comics which I ordered weeks ago – but which was only delivered this week – due to the pandemic – TVTA is pleased to present a range of comic book free gifts and promotions, plus some superb advert goodies from British artist Frank Langford.
Frank Cyril Langford was born Cyril J. Eidlestein in Stepney, London, on 2 June 1926. His earliest work in comics was in Roxy in the late 1950s. His highest-profile work in British comics was “The Angry Planet” (1963) in Boy’s World, some pages of which are signed “Eidlestein”, and the title strip in Lady Penelope (1966-69). From 1969 to 1973 he drew romance comics for DC in the US, in titles such as Secret Hearts, Young Love, Young Romance and Falling in Love.
“The Angry Planet” Boy’s World 1963
Langford also drew “Doctor Who” for Countdown (1971) TV Action (1973) and the Doctor Who Holiday Special (1973), “The Persuaders” (1973) for TV Action, and the daily strip Jack and Jill for the Herald and Sun (early ’70s).
Print adverts
He had a long-standing sideline in advertising strips, from ads for the W.R.A.C., Lyons Maid Ice Cream, Corgi Toys, KP Outer Spacers, and Philips Video Games Club – to name a few. Info adapted from UKComics.Fandom
Philips Video Games Club with Terrahawks game. 1983. UK. Art Frank Langford.
2000 AD advert. 1988.
TVTA is pleased to present a selection of 1970s and 1980s British comic book titles as seen in print adverts found in… 1970s and 1980s British comic book titles 🙂
My memories of British comics.
Many of the titles featured in this post I grew with up. I have fond memories of saving up my pocket money for the weekly visit to the newsagent, and then the Sunday visit to our Grandparents’ house where there would always be a bag of sweets and a pile of comics waiting for us kids as treats. My parents split up when I was young, so when Dad visited this was yet another occasion to receive a pile of comics. As a supplement to the weekly and monthly comic books, Mom always bought us a number of hard cover annuals each Christmas.
Free Gift in this Week’s Issue !!
The kids in the grove where we lived were just as comic-mad, and we had regular get-togethers to share our comics and marvel at the free gifts we had received. Indeed, many of the adverts in today’s post are promotional adverts for free gifts included with the title. Gifts ranged from stickers to toys, badges to posters, and special offers made in conjunction with many popular sweets, crisps and chocolate brands of the day.
One good memory I have regarding comics is the day I accompanied my mom to the weekly launderette run. Completely bored, I was mooching about the premises when I found a Fifty Pence pence piece sticking out from under one of the machines. To a kid in the late 1970s 50p was not to be sniffed at. My mom was a good sport and allowed me to keep it, so I popped next door to the newsagents and came back with comics. Another good memory is of a friend having a clear-out of his stuff, and he gave me about a hundred issues of his old Beano and Dandy comics which kept me in happy reading spirits for months. Another good memory is of rainy days at school when at breaktime we stayed indoors and played toys and games or… read comics. Looking back there was many a good time spent with comics, and it’s been fun browsing some of those old titles again in search of adverts.
So, onto the ads, and there’s a little bit of everything here from Star Wars to Buster to Victor to Dan Dare, Spider-Man and Hulk, Tiger, Roy of the Rovers, 2000 AD and Doctor Who!
Enjoy.
Star Wars Weekly. 1978.
Victor Summer Specials. Victor. 1975.
Wow! Eagle 17 Jul.y 1982.
Buster. Eagle 19 Feb 1983.
Rowntree’s Fruit Gums promotion with Girl. Eagle 31 July. 1982.
Red Dagger. 1980.
2000 AD as advertised by Lemmy. 2000 AD. 1987.
A Close Encounter for Dan Dare. Eagle. 1983.
Doctor Who Weekly. 1980.
Playmobil figures promotion with Buster and Whizzer and Chips. 2000 AD. 1983.
MASK vs VENOM. 2000 AD. 1987.
Battle and Whoopee! Eagle 1983.
Roy of the Rovers. Eagle 12 Feb. 1983.
Bubblicious promotion with Tiger. Eagle 9 Apri.l 1983.
Spider-Man and Hulk.1980.
The Empire Strikes Back Weekly. 1980.
Battle Action Force. Eagle N°156. 1985.
Frantic. 1980.
2000 AD. UK. 1980.
Thank you for finding Fifty Pence pieces with us 🙂
Post updated June 2020 with new images.
TVTA’s going green for this post, as we present comic covers, adverts and whatever else we found rampaging around the office Incredible Hulk related. Gaaarrrrrghhh! Don’t make us angry!
Thank you for losing your temper with us 🙂
Editor’s note, 26/03/19: Big thanks to Tim Robins for artist credit corrections on some of the UK Hulk comic covers.
Zap!! Pow!! Here be Bats! Presenting… a TVTA special: A bat-tastic, bat-load of print ads and comic book treats, magazine covers, catalogues, Batmobiles, Batboats, Batcopters and Batbikes, the occasional Batvillain, and, erm… delicious Hostess Cup Cakes, Twinkies and Fruit Pies… all from the collection of TVTA! Holy Bat Printables! Enjoy 🙂
Thanks for looking 🙂
Spider-Man poster. Art by Al Milgrom. UK. 1983.
Presenting: vintage and modern print adverts, comic covers, card games and merchandise featuring web-slinging superhero Spider-Man plus his friends and arch-enemies – all from the collection of TVTA! Enjoy 🙂
edit: removed the Spider-Sense images temporarily as I was getting a lot of a spam on these images and WP seem more interested in pushing their crappy new editors down our throats than fixing spam and removing junk vitamin tablet accounts. The new WP editor is crap I know because I tried it to edit this post – and it was just a nightmare to use. Good job I still have classic editor at my disposal, though for how long I don’t know…
Thanks for looking 🙂
Post updated with new images September 2019.
Presenting… the Man of Steel, Superman print adverts spanning the 1970s to present day. Superman toys, games, food promotions, films, comics – all from the collection of TVTA. Enjoy!
Thanks for looking 🙂
Post updated July 2020 with new images.
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