Before I was a snot-nose copywriter who collects ads… I was a snot-nose geek who collected comic books.
Lots and lots and LOTS of comic books.
Comics that contain some truly WORLD CLASS ads.
If you’ve read old comic book ads you know of what I speaketh.
Even the dinky classifieds give today’s top copywriters a run for their money.
They just seeped right into your brain and psychology.
And sold everything from crystal balls… to exercise lessons… to muney-making opportoonities… to info products promising you how to draw, play the guitar, and everything else you can can think of.
All so cheap you could buy ‘em without denting your allowance 
We’re talking true copywriting masterpieces that did more selling in 3 lines than today’s big Internet ads do in 30 PAGES. (It’s true — reading old comic ads is humbling.)
The old Charles Atlas ads were my favorites.
All us skinny, pimple-popping pre-teens could relate to the dude getting sand kicked in his face in front of his girl.
Or the scrawny, “gollum-like” geek in the “before & after” photos.
Or the oh-so tempting promise to get studly simply by flexing our muscles a certain way 30 seconds per day.
Anyway, why am I telling you this?
Because with today’s ever-tightening attention spans… being pithy is more important than ever.
And you can’t get pithier than old comic book ads.
Luckily, they are pretty easy to find.
You can find them in older (pre-1990) comic books.
There’s a goldmine of Charles Atlas ads dirt-cheap on Ebay:
I also link to a bunch of cool comic ad sites in my free swipe file report — www.BenSettle.com/blog/free-swipe-file — as well.
Whatever the case, if you want to write ads that make more moolah, study old comic book ads.
They are some of the best “pithy copy” teachers you’ll ever see.
Ben Settle
P.S. A few years ago, I went and scanned all the best comic book ads I could find in my mom’s attic. And I have decided to make these ads (dozens and dozens of ‘em) part of the CD that comes with The Copywriting Grab Bag.
However, I’m removing the discount list sign-up form this week.
So if you want it at a huge discount, now’s the time…
{ 4 comments }
Ben,
Old comic book ads ARE (besides being terrific examples of excellent copywriting) works of art in and of themselves. As I grew up in the early seventies these were “my” comic book ads and I never tire seeing them.
Doug
I hear ya on that one Doug — too bad they stopped using the direct response ads (and regressed to image ads) after the early 1990’s.
Sometimes when I’m reading through the scanned comic ads I have, I STILL get the urge to send .25 cents for that new guide on how to fight like a deadly kung-fu ninja warrior or send for those sea monkeys
Ben
You are speaking my language. Old comic books are the best to look at for swipe files. And I remember those Charles Atlas ads when I was kid reading. I use to love them as a kid. Those were the ones that caught my attention alot.
The cool thing is I still have majority of all those comic books right now. So I can definitely look back on all of this and see those swipes and classic ads pretty easily.
Thanks for reminding me why comics STILL are pretty cool. It was comics that actually taught me how to read and write stories anyway. Great article.
That’s really cool Shanika — I keep hearing from more and more marketers and copywriters who are (or were) big comic book collectors.
And I don’t think that’s a coincidence, either…
Ben
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