Marvel Pop Art Productions

[surfer99]

Has anyone else ever wondered...

 

In a lot of ways, I still feel like a kid. Today I watched Saturday morning cartoons. It started with the Regular Show, then Adventure Time, and I saved the best for last...The Avengers. I was happy to see the new Avengers episodes starting. This one featured the Enchantress pulling the strings of Loki and the Wrecking Crew.

 

After I got my cartoon fix, I decided to read The Avengers number 22 from 1965 featuring none other than Enchantress who was manipulating her newest pet, Power Man, to take down the Avengers. I bought a low grade copy of this issue a few weeks back from my LCS and just hadnt had a chance to read it yet...good story. Anyway, I noticed near the Marvel logo on the cover the words Pop Art Productions. I had seen this before on other issues and just dismissed it. Today I was feeling more inquisitive so I looked it up on the Internet to see what it was about. Unfortunately I couldnt find much in terms of how it relates to Marvel, but I was able to learn the Pop Art movement began in the mid 50s and lasted until the early 70s. This matches the timeline of 1965 when the Marvel issues were produced with the Pop Art Productions logo. These are the related issues I was able to identify from that year that had the logo...

 

The Amazing Spiderman 28

The Amazing Spiderman 29

The Amazing Spiderman 30

The Amazing Spiderman 31

The Avengers 19, Vista Publications

The Avengers 20, Vista Publications

The Avengers 21, Vista Publications

The Avengers 22, Vista Publications

Daredevil 9

Daredevil 10

Fantastic Four 42, Canam Publishers Sales Corp

Fantastic Four 43, Canam Publishers Sales Corp

Fantastic Four 44, Canam Publishers Sales Corp

Fantastic Four 45, Canam Publishers Sales Corp

Journey Into Mystery 119, Atlas Magazines, Inc.

Journey Into Mystery 120, Atlas Magazines, Inc.

Journey Into Mystery 121, Atlas Magazines, Inc.

Journey Into Mystery 122, Atlas Magazines, Inc.

Sgt. Fury 21, Bard Publishing Corp

Sgt. Fury 22, Bard Publishing Corp

Tales to Astonish 71

X-men 13, Canam Publishers Sales Corp

X-men 14, Canam Publishers Sales Corp

 

There was also Daredevil 202, but this was many years later and was purely satirical so its not really relevant. If someone was interested, this would make a cool registry set...Marvel Pop Art Productions.

 

If anyone has any further details on Marvel Pop Art Productions, please share.

 

Til next time...

 

 

***

 

See more journals by surfer99

[surfer99]

More on Pop Art itself…

 

Acquiring consumer goods, responding to clever advertisements and building more effective forms of mass communication…back then movies, television, newspapers and magazines…galvanized energy among young people born during the Post World War II generation. Rebelling against the esoteric vocabulary of abstract art, they wanted to express their optimism after so much hardship and privation in a youthful visual language. Pop Art celebrated the United Generation of Shopping.

 

Pop Art, for the most part, completed the Modernist movement in the early 1970s, with its optimistic investment in contemporary subject matter. It also ended the Modernism movement by holding up a mirror to contemporary society. Once the Postmodernist generation looked hard and long into the mirror, self doubt took over and the party atmosphere of Pop Art faded away.

 

Characteristics of Pop Art include…

Recognizable imagery, drawn from popular media and products.

Usually very bright colors.

Flat imagery influenced by comic books and newspaper photographs.

Images of celebrities or fictional characters in comic books, advertisements and fan magazines.

In sculpture, an innovative use of media.

 

[Ronnylama]

That would be a fun set. I have a few Pop Art books but never knew the story behind it. Thanks for sharing

[DoctorWyoming]

I agree that this would make a great set, I'd collect it and I usually don't slab much of anything outside of ASM. Then again early DD is interesting and I'm a fan of the FF.

[surfer99]

Found more on this topic which seems to explain it...

 

In an attempt to escape the stigma of the term "comic books", Marvel changed its name in 1965. It was a natural. Marvel comics had become immensely popular on college campuses. The Pop Art of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein was all the rage. How could it miss? Four issues later, Stan wrote on the Bullpen Bulletins page that, "we never realized how many thousands were intensely loyal to the name Marvel Comics!.... So, once again we fall on our red faces and from now on, we're the Marvel Comics Group once more. SO BE IT!"

 

 

[Ronnylama]

I am surprised Jasper Johns was not mentioned

 

[ShellyN-migration]

Basically all of the Marvel comics were in the form of pop art images with bright colors and shades. I have had all the comic books of superman, spider man with these popart productions that I have read.

[Hepcat]

...,.I noticed near the Marvel logo on the cover the words Pop Art Productions. I had seen this before on other issues and just dismissed it. Today I was feeling more inquisitive so I looked it up on the Internet to see what it was about. Unfortunately I couldnt find much in terms of how it relates to Marvel, but I was able to learn the Pop Art movement began in the mid 50s and lasted until the early 70s. This matches the timeline of 1965 when the Marvel issues were produced with the Pop Art Productions logo. These are the related issues I was able to identify from that year that had the logo:

 

Be a worthwhile project to complete a run of these comics!

 

[Peter G]

Fascinating