Cadillacs & Dinosaurs: A Masterclass In Comic Book Branding
Mark Schultz’s Cadillacs and Dinosaurs franchise was diversified across so many different forms of media, it was at one point a candy bar!
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Despite having maybe the most rad title in the history of comic books, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs doesn’t get brought up a lot in modern pop culture discussions. And that’s strange, because besides the acclaimed books, C&D also was adapted into an incredibly popular arcade game, home console games, a Saturday morning cartoon, a line of action figures, trading cards, an RPG, and… a candy bar. Wait, what? This is going to need some explaining.
But first a brief history of C&D. The series’ genesis began in 1986 when Kitchen Sink Press began publishing Xenozoic Tales, an alternative comic from writer/artist Mark Schultz. The stories were set roughly 500 years in the future, after a geological cataclysm in the early 21st century has forced most of the Earth’s population into massive underground shelters. When humanity finally emerges, the people are shocked to see that the planet is now filled with seemingly every life form that has ever called Earth home, including, naturally, dinosaurs. Despite receiving critical acclaim and winning multiple Harvey Awards and Eisner Awards, the series ended in 1996 after only 14 issues.
A trade paperback of the early stories was released in 1989 under the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs moniker and Marvel’s Epic Comics imprint began reprinting the comics under the same name, as would Kitchen Sink. In 1994, with Schultz’ blessing and input, Topps Comics began running its own C&D series, parallel to Xenozoic Tales, but that run was short-lived, too, with only nine issues released. But something about C&D clicked with the cultural zeitgeist of the 1990s, considering all that followed.
Perhaps on account of the public’s increased interest in dinosaurs following the release of Jurassic Park, 1993 was a big year for C&D. CBS launched the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs cartoon, which also led to the introduction of a line of action figures, as well as a side-scrolling beat ’em up arcade tie-in from Capcom. 1994 saw the release of Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm for the Sega CD.
But long before all of that, C&D was already a candy bar. Schultz explained in an interview for Fred Perry’s book Modern Masters Volume 15: Mark Schultz that the idea for a candy bar promoting the series was “the first real bit of merchandising we did beyond print material.” He explained that the idea came from Kitchen Sink Publishing founder Denis Sink, who had noticed a lack of snacks in comic shops and thought the candy would serve as a perfect impulse buy. The packaging featured original art from Schultz and would eventually become a sort of holy grail for die hard C&D fans. As of the time of this writing, one of the cigar-style boxes is listed on eBay for $99.99. Even just the wrappers themselves go for $5 apiece.
So that’s the story of how one short-lived and under-appreciated comic became somewhat of its own miniature empire. While there are obviously still Cadillacs and Dinosaurs fanatics out there (just look at the prices on some of the eBay listings), the franchise doesn’t seem to get the acclaim it deserves, even if only for its brand diversification and brilliant use of pre-internet marketing. But a word to the wise: if anyone happens across one of the candy bars, as tempting as it may be, it’s probably not a good idea to eat chocolate from three decades ago.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/cadillacs-dinosaurs-smartest-franchise-comic-history/