Neal Adams, Flash Farrell and their wide-eyed journey through the Defense Department publicity machine

There was a whole series of these Neal Adams “Flash Farrell” Goodyear ads back in the 1960s, which appeared both in comics and in other youth-oriented publications. I found this one noteworthy, not so much because of Flash’s Jimmy Olsen élan, but for the redundant “guided tour aboard a nuclear submarine” phraseology. Is there such a beast as an unguided nuclear sub tour? Could camera-toting tourists with thick Slavic accents come onboard in the 60s, clipboards and sketchpads in their hands, and aimlessly wander from stem to stern? “Vhere is the reactor on this vessel? As a simple bourgeois American, I vould like to sketch it. Rock-n-Roll! Elvis Presley!”

Anyway. This ad seems like a long way to go just to advertise a Wingfoot 175 bike tire. “We can blow up enemy subs, so please put your baseball cards in our spokes.” But other companies have gone to odd lengths in similar promotions, so…