In the past, comics were much more than a platform for telling stories about invincible beings and parallel worlds: they also worked as a giant hub of extravagant advertising. From miniature nuclear submarines to secret-agent pens, from sea monkeys that grew before your eyes to mysterious banned stamps from China, they basically tried to sell one promise after another to young consumers...
Everything was a mix of magic, science fiction, and physical self-improvement, with plans to turn you into a true karate master or a bodybuilder within days of exercise. The names of Charles Atlas and Joe Weider (creator of the Olympia tournaments) appeared frequently, and Arnold Schwarzenegger (essentially Weider's protégé) even became part of those campaigns (with one or two legal conflicts along the way). Needless to say, the vast majority of products were a fraud (sounds a bit like what Wish sells), but the simple idea that we could buy those things was almost irresistible.
Now, there is a name behind these advertisements: Harold von Braunhut. Mainly associated with X-ray specs, sea monkeys, and invisible fish (i.e., a fishbowl with water), von Braunhut claimed to place more than three million ads per month in the publications of Marvel, DC, Charlton, EC, and the rest of the publishers.
However, there is a huge asterisk on his record: von Braunhut, an unquestionable force behind comic advertising and what was sold in them, was a racist like few others. Despite being born Jewish, he added the "von" to his name to distance himself even further from his origins, bought weapons for a faction of the Ku Klux Klan, and frequently visited Aryan Nations conventions. The Los Angeles Times explored that connection twenty years ago.
A Gallery of Vintage Comic Book Ads
Source: Flashbak
