Kiss Put Blood, Sweat And Tears (Or At Least Blood) Into Their Comic

1977

Marvel Comics publishes a Kiss comic book with a vial of their blood mixed into the ink.

Kiss's appearance in a Marvel comic book is not their first: the band appeared in issues #12 and #13 of Howard the Duck earlier in the year. This is their first appearance as the heroes, and band members Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss take on their alter egos The Demon, The Starchild, The Spaceman, and The Catman in a storyline that sees them battle against Doctor Doom. It is published in a larger magazine format rather than the regular comic book size. In their usual inimitable fashion, Kiss seize the marketing opportunity afforded by the comic, and arrange for vials of their own blood to be mixed in with the ink used to produce the comic book. The blood was drawn during a concert at New York's Nassau Coliseum on February 21, 1977. It was then mixed with the production ink, in the presence of a public notary, at the Borden Ink Plant in Depew, New York, on May 26th. Marvel Comic Super Special #1 becomes Marvel's biggest selling comic, finally knocked off the top spot in 1990 by Todd McFarlane's Spiderman #1. The Super Special series runs until 1985, for 41 issues, and covers subjects as diverse as The Beatles, Star Trek, the Indiana Jones series and Santa Claus: The Movie. Kiss go on to feature in more comics: A short unlicensed series from Revolutionary comics (1990-1993) is nevertheless endorsed by Gene Simmons and in 1997 Todd McFarlane works with the band on a 31-issue run to tie in with their Psycho Circus world tour. Another 13-episode series follows in 2002, this time from Dark Horse Comics, and the quartet continue their adventures right up to 2013 in conjunction with IDW as "Kiss Kids."