These comics were given away at Pizza Hut during the summer of 1993. The cartoon was still new, and this was the first time the X-Men were used as part of a large marketing campaign outside of comics. I have the first two issues, but never found the others. There were written by Scott Lobdell and drawn by various artists. Any members not in the cartoon were left out, but Lobdell seemed to be treating the comics as if they were in continuity (Jubilee comments that she's on her first trip to the Savage Land in the second issue). Pizza Hut also put the X-Men on cups and personal pan pizza boxes during this month. Pizza Hut claimed at the time that the X-Men month was their most successful kid's promotion ever. A few months later, Pizza Hut also carried X-Men videos, with a few episodes of the cartoon show and a round table discussion with Stan Lee, Bob Harras, Fabian Nicieza, and Scott Lobdell. The videos also came with mini-comics and posters by Bill Sienkiewicz (probably not the most mainstream choice). The commercial for the videos is obviously a classic.
Hi G Kendall.
ReplyDeleteI really like your site.
I’ve been following you since last year, and have had a link to your site on my blog-roll since then. If you like, link me back on yours.
No obligation, of course!
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Mischa KK Bagley.
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Also loving your site. How far are you planning to go? I bought some Moore/Pollina X-Force issues I was missing for a really cheap price today and loved them. I'd love to see you go that far, although I know that falls out of the bracket of early 90s.
ReplyDeleteI never was able to get these Pizza Hut comics, but I remember seeing the ads in tons of Marvel books. The Lee/Harras/Lobdell/Nicieza roundtable video sounded like the coolest thing in the world to my eight-year old mind.
That commercial was fun. I saw lots of the text ads, but this is the first time I've seen the tv commercial.
ReplyDeleteBy 1993, I was in college (but still lived at home, which sucked) and was never home when pizza was ordered. Were these offered with delivery at all or was this a restaurant-only promotion?
ReplyDeleteIf memory serves, they must have come via delivery as well. I had at least two of the tapes, and my family rarely at at the Pizza Hut itself.
ReplyDeleteI remember freaking out at this promotion. This happened just when I first started collecting the comics and I ate this up...um, both literally and figuratively. I remember tearing the cover off of the Gambit and Rogue one and putting it on my wall. Actually, both of Sienkiewicz's mini-posters remained on my wall from then until when I moved out of my parents place, hanging in four different houses over that time. Ah, childhood.
ReplyDeleteDo any of you know if they are worth anything I great condition still in the bag and all four of them...leave a comment ill check back
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