Great Covers – SUPERMAN #53

A great Jerry Ordway SUPERMAN cover that takes its inspiration from the blatantly patriotic covers the character was featured on during the WWII era.

Great Covers – CAPTAIN MARVEL ADVENTURES #126

A super cool and graphic CAPTAIN MARVEL ADVENTURES cover by C.C. Beck. It’s a very simple idea–three logos to communicate the fact that there are three stories in the issue starring the Big Red Cheese. Again, good use of a black background to help provide contrast.

Great Covers – BATMAN #1

Impossible to say for certain who drew this iconic beauty. It’s signed by Bob Kane, and he may have even laid it out. But it’s more likely that assistants and ghosts such as Jerry Robinson and George Roussos had a greater hand in it. Either way, you couldn’t ask for a more classic image to … Continue reading Great Covers – BATMAN #1 →

Great Covers – AVENGERS ANNUAL #2

As best as I can determine, this brilliantly drawn John Buscema beauty from AVENGERS is the first use of that classic trope of two super-teams racing at one another to engage in battle. You would think that the back background on this piece would make it more difficult to see–white or another very light color … Continue reading Great Covers – AVENGERS ANNUAL #2 →

Great Covers – AQUAMAN #42

A great Nick Cardy AQUAMAN cover, from a sketch by Carmine Infantino. This was during a period when DC was getting bold and aggressive with its covers, and one of the innovations that Infantino played with was to integrate the series logo into the image in the style of Will Eisner. It’s a great triangular … Continue reading Great Covers – AQUAMAN #42 →

Great Covers – CLUE COMICS v2 #1

I have no idea who the artist was on this issue of CLUE COMICS, but the image is super-cool and dramatic, even if some of it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. That shadow in the foreground, for example. Nonetheless, by filling up the picture plane with that horrified face, and centering the colors … Continue reading Great Covers – CLUE COMICS v2 #1 →

Great Covers – FANTASTIC FOUR #170

Covers in the 1970s tended to lean towards the cluttered, with tons of characters and blurbs all crammed into a relatively tiny space–a more-is-less approach that kept most of them from being truly memorable images. But this Ed Hannigan FANTASTIC FOUR cover isn’t too bad in this regard. Still, it requires a burst, two captions … Continue reading Great Covers – FANTASTIC FOUR #170 →

Great Covers – CAPTAIN AMERICA #46

Another great Alex Schomburg CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS cover, this one illustrating in horrific fashion the fate actually befalling Jews trapped in Nazi territory. Schomburg often leaned on horror as well as action in his covers, but this may have been his most horrific cover of all–because it was really happening.

Great Covers – BATMAN #9

Possibly the quintessential BATMAN cover of the 1940s, by Fred Ray and Jerry Robinson. This image was strong enough for it to have been reused seven issues later, albeit with some other elements added in. It’s got great drama, and also illustrates the essential contrast between the shadowy Batman and the bright and carnival-style Robin.