Monday, October 12, 2015

Manic Monday--The Only Habit Worse Than Comic Books?!?

 No, I have no idea what "tuff" means. This is a comic book blog, not a 1970s surfer lingo blog!

Anyway...






This is an interesting cartoon. It appears on the next-to-last page, deep in the dozens of pages of ads that filled the back of the Warren magazines. It was drawn by Frank Frazetta, and GCD says it was written by Archie Goodwin.

There's no indication in the ad that this was sponsored by the government, or an anti-smoking group. Is this just an editorial stance by Warren? Then why bury it? Did they have a sudden shortfall in ad sales, and needed to fill the space?

Anyway, it's a pretty true ad--smoking is one of those vices that nickel & dime you to death, without your realizing it. Those figures above are true at 1971 cigarette prices, which were roughly 33¢ per pack, before any state or local taxes. Today, Michigan has one of the highest tobacco tax rates, so a pack per day of even cheap cigarettes here is going to run you over $1800 per year!

So, save money, get a surfboard, get a Frazetta-babe in your arms? Hell, who wouldn't give up smoking? [Note: the surfboard portion of this might have less appeal in, say, Kalamazoo, or Omaha, or Des Moines, or...]

Man, thank heaven I don't have any habits that suck hundreds of dollars out of me in small weekly doses...

Hey, I can stop anytime I want!! I'm not addicted--I just enjoy them!!

[No, that's not my collection. It's far too well-organized.]

From Eerie #31 (1971)

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