There’s something irresistible about the first issue of a new comic. As they launch themselves into the world, they’re often filled with so much hope and promise as to be poignant. And the house ads for them, well, they’re like birth announcements. You have no idea yet what the little thing may grow into, but you still root for them. (Well, I do, anyway.)

So it is with the ad below for the first issue of Boy Commandos, which was originally printed on the back cover of World’s Finest Comics #8 (Winter 1942/1943). I ran across it as Irene and I were going through some old comics and instantly thought, “Man, I have to pick up an issue of that!

Of course, it’s 67 years too late. But Simon and Kirby sure knew how to work their magic, even then.

One interesting difference between comics then and now? Note the announcement of “the first release of a new ‘surprise feature’ that will have you cheering for more and more!” I don’t have a copy of that issue, but based on my reading of the table of contents, I assume it’s reference to the first appearance of the character Liberty Belle. No contemporary comic would ever hide its superheroine away when it could display her in a sexy pose on the cover to boost sales.

But that was a more innocent time. Or maybe just a time when publishers thought their readers were little boys who would go ‘yuck!’ if they saw a girl on the cover.