There’s a major pig pile in the Marvel Comics clubhouse, but it appears no girls are allowed. I see Hulk, Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Black Goliath, Thing, Sub-Mariner, Ant Man, Beast, Iron Fist, Thor, and Nightcrawler on the scene, but none of Marvel’s female heroes (unless that’s one of them crushed beyond recognition where the wall is bulging out on the right side).
This despite Dazzler and Spider-Woman headlining Marvel books of their own, according to the “Enrollment Certificate.”
The almost-too-tiny-to-see credit lays the responsibility at the feet of artist Bob Layton.
The fine print tells us to allow ten weeks (!) for delivery, which reminds me of the one time I actually subscribed to a comic book. I kept buying the book off the rack while waiting for my first subscription issue to arrive … and when it did, I found that DC’s subscriptions ran two or three months behind their newsstand distribution. So, in addition to receiving a mangled book in a plain brown (half) wrapper, I also had the privilege of owning duplicates of Batman and Superman books where I was trying to save a couple nickles by subscribing in the first place!
Have your own comics subscription horror stories? Share them in comments, below!
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Longbox Graveyard 
No girls allowed?!?
If I know the secret handshake do you think they’ll still let me in? 😜 lol
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Girls are always welcome in the Longbox Graveyard club house!
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Yeah. ‘Cuz you guys are the nicest, grooviest, most inclusive cats ever! 💋
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Wow, that’s quite a horror story. I’m glad I never got a subscription. I wonder if it’s better now.
Also, I do fondly remember this ad, along with so many others! Looking at the old ads is half the fun of having back issues.
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Subscription copies came later than newsstand books and were invariably in worse condition, knocked about in the post and folded in half before the mailman crammed them through your mail slot. And you saved about a nickle per book. Such a deal!
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Was Black Goliath big enough (pun not intended) at the time to deserve a spot in this ad?
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In this era I think he was, yes. Notwithstanding that he was one of Marvel’s few characters of color, the Bill Foster Giant-Man had some pretty deep Marvel roots, beginning as Hank Pym’s colleague in the early issues of Avengers, through his own brief headlining run, to a continuing role in Marvel Two-In-One which would have been contemporary with this ad.
Looking back on it, he’s really punching above his weight in this collection of characters, but at the time I think Marvel still had some hopes for the character … though if they were looking for “ethnic balance” in the ad it would seem to make more sense to feature Luke Cage, given that Power Man/Iron Fist is one of the titles listed for subscription.
But like a lot of things, it’s probably a simple answer … like Bob Layton liked drawing Black Goliath, and thus he’s in there, something like that …
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