More Fun 51 Spectre Ad vs Action 12 Batman Ad - Why are they viewed so differently? 0

[The Mad Irishman]

Hey everyone, I figure this is the best forum to discuss these in-house ads. As a kid, I loved reading through the OSPG and learning about books that I had little to no chance of physically seeing back in the pre-internet days. For many many years I thought that MF51 was the first appearance of the Spectre - it wasn't until I saw an image online that I realized how different the ad was from the finished product. I was even more mystified when I saw that the ad for Detective Comics 27 in Action 12 was a unique image and very similar to the Spectre ad. Given their similarities, does anyone have some insight why the Spectre ad got so much recognition when the similar ad of a much more popular character was virtually ignored for decades? I'm attaching an image of both for comparison. Thanks all!

[N e r V]

Never heard of the Spectre ad being more well known???

[The Mad Irishman]

27 minutes ago, N e r V said:

Never heard of the Spectre ad being more well known???

I should’ve been more specific, sorry. The first Oversteet guide I had was from 1987 and the More Fun 51 ad was called out as the first appearance of the Spectre. The listing for Action 12 has no call out for Batman/Detective 27. In fact it appears that the Batman ad wasn’t called out in the Overstreet guide until the early 2000s. So, I assumed the More Fun ad was better known with casual collectors for years since the Tec ad was not mentioned in the guides. I consider myself a pretty knowledgeable fan (I’ve collected for over 30 years) and I didn’t even know of the Tec ad until it was casually mentioned in Wizard magazine in the late 90s/early 2000s. So, I’m hoping to gain the insight of some golden age collectors to see how these books have been viewed throughout the years. For the record, I don’t consider either one a first appearance but I find it really strange that MF was considered a first while Action 12 wasn’t.

Edited July 16, 2019 by The Mad Irishman

[N e r V]

Ah, ok. Overstreet as far as I know has it  simply as a ad appearance these days.

Overstreet was/is full of so much misinformation I’m surprised they even updated it.

Action #1 has its own ad, Marvel #1 has one in the pulps. All are a cool part of comics history.,,

[OtherEric]

I suspect it was because More Fun #51 was self evidently earlier than More Fun #52.  It's only relatively recently that people have tracked down on sale dates, and even then you can argue it varied from location to location. "On sale at the same time" isn't nearly as impressive as a month earlier.

[The Mad Irishman]

40 minutes ago, N e r V said:

Ah, ok. Overstreet as far as I know has it  simply as a ad appearance these days.

Overstreet was/is full of so much misinformation I’m surprised they even updated it.

Action #1 has its own ad, Marvel #1 has one in the pulps. All are a cool part of comics history.,,

Great point - Overstreet has had its fair share of errors over the years. I knew about the Action 1 ad, but the Marvel 1 ad is something I’d never heard before. Any idea which pulp it’s in? I’d love to check that out.

[The Mad Irishman]

14 minutes ago, OtherEric said:

I suspect it was because More Fun #51 was self evidently earlier than More Fun #52.  It's only relatively recently that people have tracked down on sale dates, and even then you can argue it varied from location to location. "On sale at the same time" isn't nearly as impressive as a month earlier.

Fantastic point - makes sense. Still baffles me a little bit, but I’m glad the Tec ad has gotten more attention over the past few years. I think its a fun bit of comic history that was overlooked for decades.

[bluechip]

Captain America appears in two ads in Human Torch #3 (2) which was on stands before Cap 1.

[aardvark88]

2 hours ago, OtherEric said:

I suspect it was because More Fun #51 was self evidently earlier than More Fun #52. 

Yes, and MF #51 was more common. For some reason, I had 4 copies of MF #51. Sold 3, keeping last one. Only had 1 Action #12. Great comic.

[N e r V]

2 hours ago, The Mad Irishman said:

Great point - Overstreet has had its fair share of errors over the years. I knew about the Action 1 ad, but the Marvel 1 ad is something I’d never heard before. Any idea which pulp it’s in? I’d love to check that out.

 

[Professor K]

Interesting. I never new about this.  So the ad in More Fun 51 came out in the previous issue in which Spectre was introduced in a story.

The Detective 27 ad in Action 12 came out the same publishing month as Detective 27, May 1939.

Did Action 12 hit the stands Detective 27?

[The Mad Irishman]

8 hours ago, Dinosaur jr. said:

Interesting. I never new about this.  So the ad in More Fun 51 came out in the previous issue in which Spectre was introduced in a story.

The Detective 27 ad in Action 12 came out the same publishing month as Detective 27, May 1939.

Did Action 12 hit the stands Detective 27?

Action 12 hit the stands a week prior to Detective 27.

[circumstances]

As an aside, Action Comics #12 is a much more valuable and desirable book than More Fun #51, absent any ads.