"DARTH VADER LIVES" COMIC BOOK AD

Most funny Star Wars comic book ads are amusing because of their inaccurate illustrations and misspelled character names. Well, this one has those and more! I found this particular sample in Fantastic Four issue 194 from 1978. At the top it announces "DARTH VADER LIVES". Of course he does, not until Return of the Jedi, that is...

It features the Darth Vader with a hood art that I love. Very similar art was featured in the Heroes World catalog, too.

They spell "Vader" right on the header, but in the smaller print it's spelt "Vadar"!

Now here's what's debatably the zaniest part of this ad... It advertises a Star Wars knockoff! As you'll see below, it's the SST Lazar Sword. "THE SPACE ENEMY APPROACHES... OUT COMES YOUR SST LAZAR SWORD! TURN THE SWITCH AND THE GIANT 36 INCH LASER LIGHTS A GLOWING BLUE OR RED-- IT'S ALL YOURS AND THOROUGHLY TESTED-- SAFE! THE SOFT PLASTIC TUBE IS BATTERY-OPERATED & WITH LIGHT FILTER!"

Here's a close up of the kid enjoying his knockoff lightsaber. Man, look at those cheap looking X-Wings in the background!

Here's one last close up. It's the ordering form where they spell "Vader" wrong with two a's again.

This ad was produced by the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art Inc. for Heroes World, like many other comic book ads.