Last year, we told you about the trend towards product placement in comic book art. Geekanerd blogger Albo thinks it’s finally gotten out of hand, as every page of The Irredeemable Ant-Man #10, which ties into Marvel‘s full-spectrum World War Hulk crossover “event,” features Old Spice on every single page. “Seriously, there is an Old Spice billboard behind everyone,” Albo complains. “Old Spice in apartments, Old Spice flying through the air, and TWO UNIQUE Old Spice products in the stomach of the Incredible Hulk. Like somewhere along his long space journey to New York he stopped off to snack on an Old Spice factory?!”
That deodorant floating around the Hulk’s stomach is pretty darn weird, I gotta admit. When Newsarama picked up the story, though, artist Phil Hester dropped in to explain that, although Marvel had told him Old Spice needed to turn up in the story, it was his decision to plaster the entire comic with logos and products as a joke—”like that Arrested Development episode with Burger King,” as one fan put it. Even if Marvel were upset at the gag, and there’s no indication they are, it’s not like they can do anything more to the creative team: The book is already slated for cancellation.