by Scott Tipton
COMICS 101
November 16, 2005
COVERING ALL THE BASES: THE PROFESSOR’S TOP 10 COMIC-BOOK COVERS
What makes a great comic-book cover? First off, it’s got to hold your attention. You’ve got to be able to spot it on a crowded shelf of books, and it’s got to draw you in. Secondly, it needs to mean something. Call me old-school, but I hate Marvel’s recent trend of non-content-oriented covers. The cover should give you a taste of what’s going on inside, and make it absolutely imperative that you open that book to see what happens. And finally, it’s got to look good. The best design and most shocking content don’t mean squat if it’s not handsomely rendered. With all that in mind, let’s take a look at your humble professor’s Top 10 best comic-book covers. As always, the following is just one man’s opinion; your mileage may vary.
STARMAN #29 by Tony Harris:
This one is an example of artistry taking precedence over content. At this point in the history of the series, the book was getting some heat, and DC gave it a nice little promotional push, including this issue, a “jumping-on” story intended to introduce new readers to the world of STARMAN. Accordingly, we got this great art-deco-ish cover from Harris, combining his usual fully painted cover work with an unusual team shot, displaying Jack Knight, his father and ex-Starman Theo, and his four friends the Shade, Solomon Grundy, Mikaal Tomaas and policeman Matt O’Dare. Note the great detail of the zodiac symbol from the back of Jack’s leather jacket in the background. Very reminiscent of World War II recruitment posters from the 1940s, this was a little out of the ordinary for STARMAN, yet retained enough of the flavor to not seem out of place.
FANTASTIC FOUR #1 by Jack Kirby:
The one that started it all for Marvel, this is still a great cover in its own right, despite its overcrowding with caption boxes and dialogue balloons. The visual introduction of four brand-new characters works very well, all playing off of the dynamic central image of the Mole Man’s monster tearing his way though the pavement. Also serving the cover well here is the “Fantastic Four” logo, at nearly one-third the size of the cover and in a bright red against the stark white of the background.
UNCANNY X-MEN #168 by Paul Smith:
Here’s one that might not seem like much to people who weren’t reading the book at the time. But in context, this cover was an eyecatcher, with its depiction of the normally untouchable Kitty Pryde (thanks to her mutant power to become immaterial) fighting for her life and clearly taking the worst of it. The cover also packed more impact at the time because of how popular the character was, this being a time when Kitty was second only to Wolverine in terms of popularity with the readers. And from a design standpoint, the fact that we can’t see who or what Kitty is contending with only serves to heighten the suspense.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #197 by George Perez and Mike DeCarlo:
A nice example of the classic “superhero team ready to kick ass” cover, this one also featured something unusual for the annual JLA/JSA teamups: a united team of both Justice League and Justice Society, as opposed to the customary teams meeting in battle or sitting around a table. For readers unfamiliar with the JSA, it didn’t seem too jarring, as you still had Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman on the cover, but there was enough new information to pique their interest: “Why is Superman old? Who’s the Flash in the helmet? What’s up with that pink dude?” And by just showing the backs of the heads of the Secret Society, once more the reader is left in suspense, as to just who was so tough to have gotten the JLA/JSA this horked off to begin with. This is a cover that sells comics.
MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS #4 by Bob Layton:
When this comic book came out, I was in junior high and preparing for a marathon cross-country road trip with my family. I was down at the local secondhand bookstore stocking up on comics for the trip (my small town was still at that point without a comic shop), and I spot this cover. Remember, this is the ‘80s: almost no comics press, no Internet, no PREVIEWS. I’ve never even heard of this book, and here’s the Hulk holding up a mountain, while heavyweights like Captain America, Spider-Man, She-Hulk and Iron Man are already out for the count. How did that happen? What are they all doing together anyway? No question: it’s a “must-buy.” Sadly, in today’s comic market, it’s almost impossible for a comic to have this kind of impact nowadays.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 by Kevin Maguire:
This one is all about attitude. After months and months and months of the tepid, unexciting Justice League Detroit run, this cover put readers on notice that the Justice League was back, ready to kick some ass and take some names, and that it was no longer the home of second-stringers and teenage nobodies. Probably one of the most “homaged” covers of the decade, and for good reason, as it really stood out on the shelf, but none of the later ones ever had the impact of this one. It’s not an easy trick to make Captain Marvel and Blue Beetle look like badasses, but Maguire pulls it off here.
AVENGERS VOL. 3, #1 by George Perez:
I’ll admit it. I’m a sucker for any “super-team” cover that shows every member of the team at once, and this is quite possibly the best example of that ever, as Perez celebrated his return to the series that really put him on the map by delivering this knockout of a cover, which includes everyone who has ever been an Avenger (even squeezing in the then-paralyzed Rick Jones behind the Scarlet Witch’s cloak). After a year of truly terrible Liefeld Avengers covers blighting the shelves, this was a welcome sight indeed.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #39 by John Romita:
There’s something to be said for a cover that knocks the wind out of you with an unexpected turn of events, and here’s a good example. The sight of the Green Goblin dragging a helpless and unmasked Spider-Man behind him, and now obviously with full knowledge of Spidey’s secret identity – well, if that’s not going to get you to pick the book up off the shelf, there’s not much else that will. It’s hard to believe that this was John Romita’s first attempt at drawing both Spidey and the Goblin, as the Goblin face shown here is still the way I think of the character even today. Talk about starting strong…
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #7 by George Perez :
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Remember what I said about the SECRET WARS cover earlier? Well, quadruple it, and you just about get a sense of the reaction from people when this cover showed up on the racks in 1985. No one knew this was coming, and just the sight of it gave me a little chill I remember to this day. Fake-out deaths with a last-minute save have been common in comics for years, but something about this one, whether it was the colors or the intensity Perez gave to Superman’s face – well, I knew instantly that this one wasn’t going to be a copout. And this was DC, mind you! They never killed off their characters, and certainly not one as long-running and widely known as Supergirl. Just didn’t happen. Sure, they’d been wiping out a few of the third-stringers in earlier issues of the book, but no one expected this. And since there was no advanced warning, this cover was powerful in a way it could never be today, having the advantage of shock and immediacy adding to what was already an incredibly powerful and evocative piece of art.
ANIMAL MAN #5 by Brian Bolland:
If there’s such a thing as comic-book cover as thesis statement, this would be it. While the cover cleverly sums up the story inside, a disturbingly realistic analysis of the nature of entertainment and how we as readers/viewers derive satisfaction of the misfortune of fictional characters, it also symbolizes the theme of Morrison’s upcoming 19 remaining issues, as Buddy Baker loses everything he holds dear for the sake of the reader’s entertainment, giving of himself for all of us (hence the symbolic crucifixion here), all at the behest of the normally unseen hand of the writer, shown here as a Chuck Jones-style painter’s brush. It’s eye-catching, it’s heavy with meaning, and it’s gorgeous. The perfect cover.
Undoubtedly, you disagree. Good. Tell me why. Send your picks for best comic-book covers to stipton99x@moviepoopshoot.com, and speak your mind.
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