Check Out Those Ads! – Lobo #1

Lobo hit the scene in 1990 with a bang! He is a brash talkin’ foul mouthed killing machine! To be fair, Lobo made his first appearance in 1983 in the Omega Man comic. Lobo started out as a villain in the 80s, faded away and came back as the biker anti-hero we love today. His creator, Kieth Giffen said he created Lobo as a parody of the gritty comics in the 1990s, like Punisher and Wolverine. He created a beloved character that no should love. But as the song goes… If lovin’ Lobo is wrong, I don’t wanna be right!

Before getting his own mini-series Lobo did a stint with Justice League International, then joined up with L.E.G.I.O.N for a couple of years. In November 1990, DC gave Lobo his own 4 part mini-series called Lobo: The Last Czarian. The mini-series was plotted by Lobo’s creator Giffen, written by Alan Grant and drawn by Simon Bisley. The series changed Lobo’s origin story, setting him as the last of his kind. Mainly because he goes on a killing spree and murders every single Czarian…every..one, an entire planet!

The story is fantasic!

Lobo would get a few more mini-series in the early ‘90s and some of the best one shots around. Parodies like LoboCop and Lobo the Duck. Lobo also has the best Christmas Special ever! In the Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special, Lobo is hired by the Easter Bunny to assassinate Kris “Crusher” Kringle. Crusher Kringle isn’t the jolly fat man we all know, he is a dictator running his empire with enslaved elves! If you haven’t read the Lobo Christmas Special, do yourself a favor and read it this Christmas season. Maybe I’ll highlight the ads from that comic in December, if it as any ads.

Lobo finally got his own series in 1994, Lobo Vol 2. It ran a respectable five years with 65 issues. Although the final issue was #1,000,000. I don’t know what became of Lobo in the 2000’s, I’m sure he still travels the universe killing fraggin’ bad guys.

Back to the issue at hand, Lobo Vol 1 issue 1 hit the comic stands in November 1990, the first of a four part mini-series. The eye popping art of Simon Bisley and the incredible writing of Alan Grant make this a great mini-series.

I killed every living thing on Czarnia fer fun. I killed Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny an’ things that don’t even exist, an’ so help me, I tried ta follow th’ triple-fold path o’ peace. I tried my best… but frag me for a bastich, even I got limits!

Lobo

Let’s see what kind of ads they put in Lobo #1…

Right out of the gate we get the best ad in the book! Marked for Death starring the infamous Steven Seagal. I don’t care what Box Office 30 says, Marked for Death is a great movie. Seagal single handedly takes down a group of Jamaican drug dealers that moved into his hometown. It’s the perfect ad for the first issue of Lobo.

Besides Lobo, Seagal may be the only other person to take on a gang of gun-toting drug dealers and walk away unharmed. Maybe Seagal is part Czarian?

We move from Steven Seagal to a DC ad for some of their best stories from the 1950’s. I don’t know what the book included but the picture offers some clues. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Sgt Rock and so many more. I’d love to have this book. I wonder why I didn’t buy it back then? Seems like a missed opportunity.

And then we get hit with a dose of reality. Are you paranoid about having caner? Well I wasn’t until I read this ad! Cancer’s no laughing matter! I think this is the first time I ever saw an ad for the Cancer Society in a comic. DC didn’t charge for this ad, the top sentence says it is provided as a public service. I wonder if there was a law enacted that required them to put it in the comic?

You slap a D&D/TSR logo on anything and I’ll buy it, no questions asked! Avatar is a series of books set in the Forgotten Realms, arguably the best D&D setting ever created. Now the books are in comic form! Yeah, I bought them. The comic is a 3-part mini-series telling the story of the novels in graphic novel format. Worth reading if you are a fan of the Forgotten Realms.

Ah, annuals. I don’t know who came up with the idea for a comic annual, but I looked forward to them every year. In the 90s the annuals turned into crossover events, which was awesome! I bought annuals for comics I didn’t regularly collect and found new favorites, which I’m sure was their plan all along.

Notice the Forgotten Realms annual in the ad. If you’ve been paying attention then you know I bought this one! I collected the entire run of the Forgotten Realms comic. Loved every page of it.

This one looks interesting. The Question Quarterly. I don’t recall ever seeing this. It was a failed attempt at a new format, comics coming out quarterly. It was hard enough waiting a month for a new issue of a comic, I can’t imagine waiting three months. Four comics a year is a hard way to gain a faithful readership.

Neil Gaiman is a god in the comic universe and it all started with his series The Sandman in 1989. The Books of Magic, written by Gaiman is a four issue mini-series. It was created to highlight the mystical side of DC characters.

After the mini-series the title was a ongoing series running for 75 issues. In 2018 the series was resurrected again, The Books of Magic Vol 3 ran for two years with 21 issues, although it wasn’t written by Gaiman.

Another health ad, this time for the Heart Association. Again, provided as a public service. Nothing to say here, except it’s the last ad in the book. Not a good one to end on…

Saved by the back cover! The Atari Lynx. You can tell by the pithy headline and the (small) picture of the Game Boy they are targeting Nintendo. Lynx was a big step forward from the Game Boy. The Lynx offered a color screen in a 16-bit package. Game Boy was a monochrome, 8-bit device. If you don’t know the difference think Nintendo (8-bit) versus Super Nintendo (16-bit). Better graphics, sounds and overall experience.

The crazy thing is the Game Boy was release in April 1989 and the Lynx in September 1989. I wonder why Nintendo didn’t push out a 16-bit version of the Game Boy, the technology was obviously available. Maybe it was the price point, Game Boy $90, Atari Lynx $180, a little pricey for a handheld device in 1989.

The Game Boy won the battle hands down. The Atari Lynx went away in 1995. The Game Boy went through many variations and continued production until 2010. Did you know the original Game Boy was produced until 2003!

That’s a look at the ads from Lobo: The Last Czarian Issue #1. A comic that introduces a great character to the DC Universe. Everyone wants to give Deadpool props for being a wisecracking, foul-mouthed anti-hero but Lobo was doing it long before Rob Liefeld dreamed up Deadpool.

For my money Lobo is the only foul-mouthed, stone cold killer worth reading.

Until next time, keep your comics bagged and boarded…unless you want to thumb through them to check out the great ads!