"HEROES WORLD OF SUPERHERO GOODIES" COMIC BOOK AD

Here's another funny comic book ad from Heroes World. The odd thing is that this time they've went to the dark side...

Early on the page we can see a TIE fighter illustration. But it's not advertising official Star Wars merch, but "STAR FLEET DEFENDERS". It says, "Out of the galaxy comes this diecast armada of space warriors. Choose from ZENON, GALACTUS, or STARREX - all with shooting action". Galactus? That's ironic because this particular ad is from Fantastic Four (issue 223, cover date October 1980)!

I'm guessing that the TIE fighter is there just to attract Star Wars fans' attention, and boy did it work!

To the left of the Star Fleet Defenders, are Star Fleet Walkie-Talkie. They've got "click-click action. Pretend you're talking to Kirk." Thanks for the suggestion, my imagination wasn't sure what to do with them.

But wait! There's more!! Further down the page and to the right is a Star Fleet Wind-Up Robot! "Wind 'em up & watch him move away. Has shooting gun that sparks as he moves."

I recognized the Star Fleet Defenders name from somewhere, so I dug through my other Fantastic Four comics surrounding that one. In issue 216, cover date March 1979, I found 'em! The Star Fleet Defenders!

Boy, that doesn't look like the Galactus I know. He looks more like 'Mazing Man.

Below the drawings of the robots it says, "OUT OF THE GALAXY COMES AN ARMADA OF SPACE WARRIORS. TO THE RESCUE COME YOUR STAR FLEET DEFENDERS! EACH IS MADE OF REAL METAL. YES! THESE ARE DIE-CAST FIGURES THAT ARE MOVEABLE SO YOU CAN POSE THEM! WATCH OUT! THE ENEMY APPROACHES... RAISE YOUR DEFENDER'S ARM... AIM... FIRE! OUT SHOOTS HIS POWERFUL FIST, RESCUING THE ENTIRE STAR FLEET! 3 DIFFERENT DEFENDERS TO CHOOSE FROM: ZENON, THE FEARLESS PROTECTOR. GALACTUS, THE POWERFUL WARRIOR. AND STARREX, THE INVINCIBLE LEADER OF THE STAR FLEET DEFENDERS!!" And then they list the prices.

There is a Star Wars connection in this ad, too. The yellow burst in the top left corner says, "HUNDREDS OF ITEMS TO CHOOSE FROM INCLUDING STAR WARS, SUPER HERO TOYS, BOOKS, ELECTRONIC GAMES, AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!"

Whether you like knockoff TIE fighters, spark shootin' robots, or if you're a fan of 'Mazing Man, the Star Fleet's got you covered!