Video Game Print Ads from 1990's Comic Books


I scanned a bunch of retro game ads that appeared in various comic books from the 1990's - back when I was obsessed with polybags, backing boards, variant covers and keeping things mint (good times!).

To advertise a game back then, you needed to:
  1. Use a pun or double-meaning; or
  2. Note the game's technical prowess
While modern ads today don't really do much of (1) anymore, we still see lots of (2), which is kinda sad. Ten years on, the market is still being driven by graphics, not gameplay. Oh well.

Looking back at these ads, I was surprised that:
  • Some of the games even existed (i.e. never heard of them before)
  • Some of the games look quite good (i.e. might be worth tracking down and trying)
  • A lot of text to describe/explain the game
  • Acclaim did a lot of comic book advertising, which might help explain why they ended up buying Valiant Comics (who owned Turok, Shadowman, etc.)
Anyway, check out the gallery at Photobucket.

1 Response to "Video Game Print Ads from 1990's Comic Books"

  1. Anonymous says:

    Hey thanks for uploading these scans. Looking at them reminded me of a much simpler time -- collecting comics, cards, action figures, playing video games while not having much to worry about. Thanks again.

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