Air Raid Robertson

Author notes

Air Raid Robertson Strip 30

Air Raid Robertson

on Oct. 28, 2009

This one is a "utility strip", so to speak. In between storylines I like to run a couple of strips that just sorta stand on their own and don't tie into anything. The last time I did this I did a sequence where Air Raid Robertson and Ridley were children. (Strip 16, if my memory serves) This time I'm poking fun at Hostess Fruit Pies.

In the late 70's and early 80's, one could flip open a comic book and find an advertisement where a superhero was fighting crime while shilling fruit pies and twinkies. Everyone from Batman and Spider-Man to Captain Marvel and Green Arrow appeared in these things.

It's interesting to note that the ad writers were forbidden from having the superhero to simply eat the pie themselves. They had to come up with some life-or-death scenario that could somehow be resolved with the aid of a factory processed fruit pie. (Hence Air Raid Robertson's comment in the last panel)

Needless to say, these ads rank among the oddest comics ever published.

I was a little reluctant to do this parody though. These ads have been lampooned many times before. Just off the top of my head, I've seen Hostess parodies in Preacher, Spider-Man/Human Torch, The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, What The?, and The Escapist.

Still, the concept seemed like a good fit for the characters. I stand by it.