A buddy of mine just picked up a load of Marvel comics from the 1960s and has kindly allowed me to peruse them. The artwork and stories are top-notch, but what I am marveling at, as always, is the advertisements. As expected there are a number of body building courses and equipment or junk like fake vomit and dog poop, but what is really interesting to me are the ads that were gently coaxing comics readers into the real world. Whether it was dance lessons or learning to play a musical instrument, there was an understanding that there was a life beyond the juvenile fandom of costumed crimefighters or super spies. Yeah, we’re glad we got your 12¢, kid, but now it’s time to seek life elsewhere, and these dance or music lessons will help you on your way! Of course, there was a profit motive involved, but there is still an underlying understanding that comic readers were going to want to grow up one day.
The ad for music lessons appeared in a Christmas issue of Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD published by Marvel Comics in 1968. I read this issue reprinted in one of Marvel’s treasury-sized holiday specials and always loved it. It’s Christmas Eve, and Fury is called off on an adventure in outer space. Not only does he save the world from the diabolical machinations of The Hate Monger, but he manages to make it back to his swinging pad in Manhattan to open presents on Christmas morning. Great stuff!
