Paper Bits: Twenty Years of Comic Book Video Game Ads

Paper Bits: Twenty Years of Comic Book Video Game Ads (1982–2002)

Before banner ads, before pre-roll, before everything moved online—there were comic books.

Paper Bits is a curated collection of video game advertisements pulled from comic books spanning 1982 to 2002. These pages weren’t designed to last, but they captured a moment—when publishers were figuring out how to sell games through bold layouts, strange ideas, and whatever printing tricks they could get away with.

This book preserves those ads as they originally appeared, with careful restoration to maintain the character of the source material—halftones, misregistration, and all.

Arranged chronologically, Paper Bits works as both a visual archive and a time capsule of how game marketing evolved across two decades and offers a look back at a version of print culture that doesn’t really exist anymore.

Details:

• 208 pages
• Full color throughout
• 8.5" × 11"
• Soft silk cover with spot lamination
• Interior printed on silk gloss paper