Sea Monkeys, 3-D Glasses & Itching Powder, Updated

Someone left a bag on my front door doorknob this morning; included were a lawn care flyer, a carpet cleaner refrigerator magnet, and a comic book, among other things. None of the items were particularly odd or noteworthy except for the comic book, which is called Race Warrior, "America's Racing Comic Book."

It has a 2000 copyright and cover date, and the staff box attributes the comic to Custom Comics of America Inc. My urge to read the thing is pretty small, but I did flip through enough to notice that besides being a comic about race-car driving in the future, it's also an extended advertisement for Dr. Pepper/Seven-Up and Valvoline products.

A little Googling finds a 10-year-old article in Promo magazine, which tells me that "Dr Pepper/Seven Up Inc., Dallas, and the Valvoline Co., Lexington, Ky., last month initiated sponsorship of Race Warrior, a weekly kids comic-book series that, with Seven Up's help, is being sold in more than 2,500 grocery, drug, and mass merchandise outlets including Wal-Mart, CVS, Kroger, Target, and Winn-Dixie locations...

"Although the project is billed as a years-in-the-making concept being aided with sponsor contributions, the comic book itself comes across as blatant shilling, with brand imagery in every panel and names and marketing slogans sprinkled within the narrative.

" 'The very first comics were created to sell soap,' says Race Warrior creator John Powell. 'In our case, instead of selling sea monkeys, 3-D glasses, and itching powder, we are helping market 7 Up and Valvoline.' "

All that isn't so strange. But what was a decade-old soda pop promo comic doing on my doorknob this morning?