The sharp white stitching stands out so clean / ‘gainst that sawtooth welt in deep hunter green! Pity the copywriter who had come up with six stanzas for this particular shoe.

Quite an elaborate ad for a comic book, no? I suppose not - you see tennis shoe ads in magazines aimed at young males, but somehow dress shoes seem peculiar. Aren’t these the shoes mom makes you wear? Aren’t these pinchy church shoes, the things you have to wear for school assembles and class pictures (as if anyone would see your feet! Or care! Geez!)

Perhaps it was Thom McAn’s sly way of creating brand awareness before a kid knew he’d care about shoes some day. As you’ll see, they dumped a lot of effort into the campaign.