You get a big delight in every bite…
You may not know this about me but I am a snack-cake connoisseur.
Want some chocolately goodness? Go for Hostess’ Ding Dongs. Need a really bad sugar fix? Little Debbie’s Strawberry Shortcake Rolls will give you the buzz you crave. Feel like Drake’s Devil Dogs? Better have some milk nearby. Taking a walk on the wild side? Bring along some Hostess Orange Cup Cakes.
So it should be no surprise that I really dig those Hostess ads from the ’70s and ’80s that were published not just in DC and Marvel comics, but in Archie, Harvey and Gold Key issues too.
Having one of these outlandish one-pagers pop up in whatever issue you were reading was like getting a bonus back-up feature, even if the whole point was to get a generation hooked on overly sugared, diabetes-driving, chemical-crammed snack cakes.
Simply put, Hostess ads were as much a staple of the Bronze Age as, say, Slurpee cups or Sea Monkeys.
Since there are so many to choose from — more than 350 were published from 1975 to 1982, according to Mike’s Amazing World of Comics — I figured I’d do my due diligence, curate a selection and bring you 13 GROOVY BRONZE AGE DC COMICS HOSTESS ADS.
Naturally, Batman and Superman starred in a ton of them and I could have done a selection with only those two. But there was such a wide variety of characters used — even villains would headline — that I’ve opted to spread the sweetness around. Oh, and to be sure, we’ll be hitting Marvel soon.
Dig it.
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“Great Cheops!” This one was the most memorable for me — and it happens to be the first.
This is the other one I remember the most.
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MORE
— The 13 Wackiest DC & Marvel SLURPEE Cups. Click here.
— The 13 GREATEST COMICS ADS of All Time! Click here.
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Source: Mike’s Amazing World of Comics. Click here.
February 24, 2020
Great memories! 350 of these were published? If 120 of them were published by DC, I’m thinking this would be an AWESOME Deluxe edition. Fill it in with some product pictures. I would so buy this! Thanks again for all you do! I nominate Dan Greenfield to write the introduction!
February 24, 2020
Ha! Thanks, George!
February 24, 2020
These ads look so cool. I wish a professional would restore them.
February 24, 2020
I don’t remember these, and I’m kind of glad. Who knows how much more fat I would have become had I been eating all of that junk food while reading all of those comics.
I agree with Philip Gibson about how much better some of those ads would look if you used image enhancer software before posting. I got mine for free on Cnet or zdnet. It’s called FSViewer and it does wonders for old faded images like some of the pics above.
February 24, 2020
I think Batman vs the Crime Director was the best one.
February 25, 2020
Dan, thank you. I remember almost all of these when they came out. Any historical background why the quality of these ads dropped precipitously after the first one? My brain wants to blame Vince Colletta for anything sloppy in the art of these ads, but I have no direct knowledge and I want to he fair. I feel like Hostess got robbed, as if the whole idea was pitched using a well-polished mummy story with the Dynamic Duo, then a so-so inking of Curt Swan followed after the ink dried on the contract. They couldn’t get a Dillin and Laughlin team to do the Red Tornado story? Seems like Hostess didn’t get the best DC had to offer.
February 26, 2020
I loved those Swan-Colletta Hostess ads, Lois Lane, Hawkman, Aquaman, etc. Yes, Roger, Viinnie did ink those.