Saturday, December 28, 2013

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 362: Will these house ads save this blog...or ruin it?


House ad for Showcase #76 (August 1968); printed in House of Mystery #174 (May-June 1968)
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino




Wait one durn minute! Who is this guy? What's his name?!?


House ad for Showcase #76 [Bat Lash] (August 1968); printed in Wonder Woman #177 (July-August 1968)
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

The question of whether Bat Lash was going to save the West or ruin it was debated for some time in house ads like these:




House ad for Bat Lash #3 (February-March 1969); printed in (top) The Atom and Hawkman #41; (bottom) Batman #209 (both February 1969)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Nick Cardy
Ads designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

The series featured some great Western cliffhanger moments from DC:


House ad for Bat Lash #4 (April-May 1969); printed in The Brave and the Bold #83 (April-May 1969)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Nick Cardy
Ads designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

Altho' James Garner's popular TV show had gone off the air several years before, I've always felt that Maverick, with its gambling, womanizing hero and light-hearted ribbing of the Western tropes, was an inspiration for Bat Lash.


Cover of Four Color #892 [Maverick] (April 1958), photograph of James Garner as Bret Maverick

Bat Lash has remained a fan favorite, popping up in Crisis on Infinite Earths and Justice League Unlimited. But the slogan was almost popular as the hero, showing up for several DC series advertisements and tag lines:


House ad for Claw the Unconquered #1 (May-June 1975); printed in Shazam! #17 (March-April 1975); ad art: pencils and inks by Ernie Chan



Cover of 1st Issue Special #12 [Starman IV] (March 1976), pencils and inks by Joe Kubert, colors by Tatjana Wood, logo by Gaspar Saladino



Cover of Superboy (1994 series) #23 (January 1996), pencils by Tom Grummett, inks by Karl Kesel



Cover of The Next #1 (September 2006), pencils by Dietrich Smith, inks by Waldon Wong, colors by Chris Chuckry

But of course, that ol' slogan never felt so comfortable as when it was draped over the shoulders of our good pal Bat.


Cover of Bat Lash (2008 limited series) #1 (February 2008), pencils and inks by Walt Simonson

7 comments:

Peder said...

Well, it's your blog and I won't tell you how to run it, but I'm hoping that the new year will bring something daily from Marvel again. MMM!

Bully said...

Peder, I've got somethin' coming up that's Marvel...and DC...and lots of other publishers too? Interested?

Delta said...

I'm pretty sure you could also find a Marvel ad for Rom that uses the same save it/destroy it slogan? Probably some others, too.

Peder said...

Yep, you've got me interested!

Delta said...

Will Odin's gift save Beta Ray Bill... or destroy him? (Thor #339, p. 4)

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/beta1.jpg

BigFella said...

Delta brings the Thor!

Delta said...

THROOBOOM