Comic Coverage

Simply the Best: Around the Round Table

Normally, a cover's artistic merit alone earns it a place in my Simply the Best gallery, but sometimes even a sub-par cover design can make the cut on sheer historical importance alone. One of these major milestones was All Star Comics #3 (1940), which featured the first official meeting of the Justice Society of America. 

Prior to this issue, All Star #1 and #2 featured stories of the individual heroes, but no sign of them interacting with or even being aware of each other. This changed in the third issue, as all of these individual superheroes met as The Justice Society of America for fellowship and to recount their recent adventures. Later issues would feature them heading out on missions and solving crimes as a team, but for now, the fact that they were all in the same room together was the big news. In other words, what we had here was the world's first comic book superteam.

In fact, the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide has long considered the JSA as "a breakthrough concept, second in importance only to the creation of the superhero".  Adding to the JSA's stature is the mystery of what could have inspired such a gathering.  Some believe it could have been an entirely original idea by writer Gardner Fox, while others point to the old myths as possible inspirations..such as the Ancient Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts, a team of famous adventurers (most notably Heracles), each with their own special power or skill to contribute to the quest for the Golden Fleece.

Based on the distinctive circular table pictured on All Star #3, others believe the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table is the most likely precedent for the JSA:

Another possible influence (also featuring a round table) was a 1938 cover of The Shadow magazine, which pictured the mysterious pulp hero and his gang of loyal operatives gathered 'round a meeting table.

However, despite all of these plausible influences, the Justice Society of America seemed like something new. Instead of warriors, knights, or operatives following a single leader, the members of the JSA were considered equals with no single superhero as the group's primary leader or raison d'être. Considering "America" was part of the team's name, I guess their more democratic approach shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but at the same time, the importance of this new group dynamic should be recognized as something special...and the template for all the super teams that followed.

Is it a simple (bordering on crude) cover design? It certainly is, but despite the stiff, endearingly mundane staging, there's an undeniable and surreal power to the scene that's hard to describe. Is it the somewhat eerie appearance of fully-masked (thereby emotionless) characters like the Atom (far left), Sandman (next to the Atom), and Dr. Fate (with the gold helmet) at odds with their grinning teammates? Could it be the presense of the Spectre (wearing the green hood), a nearly-omnipotent living corpse sitting there as casually as a customer at Denny's? Or is it just the moon-bat crazy spectacle of all those colorful, whimsical and occasionally spooky costumes in a single setting?

Well, whatever it is, it's working for me. Oh, and to get past some of the Golden Age drawing limitations of the original, how about a recreation of the All Star Comics #3 cover by Jerry Ordway, which appeared in All-Star Squadron Annual #2 (1982):

Now, I'm not sure getting rid of the original's Big Box O' Words was a completely good thing (did we really need to see the Atom's bare legs?), but its absense does cut down on the visual clutter and crowding. The best part of it? The surreal vibe of the original scene is still very much intact.

How about you? Are there certain covers that remain your favorites despite crude or "past its prime" artwork? If so, what are they?

Simply the Best: Invincible

  Yeah, I've gone on about anniversary issue covers before, but those were the kind with every square inch of real estate bursting with supervillains and supporting cast members.  An equally appealing (and much less crowded) brand of anniversary cover is the Iconic Solo Pose cover, where the star of the title appears in his or her full heroic glory.  After all, accomplishing one hundred consecutive issues is no place for a whining or defeated superhero (we get plenty of that in between anniversary issues), so this is the ideal setting to show them in tip-top form.

A favorite of this Iconic Solo Pose variety is Iron-Man #100 (1977):

Stuff to like:

1.  Prior to this, I don't think any 100th issue cover had been quite this literal.  The giant stone "100" works great as its own (rather obvious) statement, but it also works well as a symbolically primitive counterweight to the high-tech vibe of Iron-Man's armor.

2. Iron-Man covers tend to focus on the armor's more dazzling flight and repulsor ray capabilities, but this cover is a rare display of the raw, brute strength the armor affords Tony Stark. 

3. Although one of my pet peeves is "painted on" superhero costumes (with every possible muscle showing), I'm willing to give the great Jim Starlin a pass with this cover.  Sure, it's unlikely that an iron torso piece would conform to every contour of Stark's musculature (and weren't those chest nodules located higher than nipple-level?), but come on...extravagantly-muscled torsos have always been Starlin's calling card.  To deny The Starlin his torso shot just wouldn't be right.

4. The steely (no pun intended) determination of those eyes is impossible to overlook.  In fact, despite the rather shrimpy size of the head, it's the stare that gives the entire cover an edgy emotional spark.  Quite a trick for a guy wearing an expressionless metal helmet.

5.  Borrowing a trick from the great Jack Kirby, the black-dotted "Kirby Krackle" effect framing the scene makes an already powerful cover literally burst with added energy.

6. Now, if only the word "Invincible" was properly centered above the ever-cool Iron-Man logo (love those rivets)...and if today's comics could also be 30¢...then all would truly be right with the world.

Simply the Best: Superhero + Monster = Perfection

Back in the early 70's, in addition to my new obsession with superhero comics, I was a fan of classic movie monsters as well. One problem, though...unlike easily-obtainable comic books, I'd never seen any of those classic monster movies.  You see, this was back before the era of VCR machines and video rental shops, so there was hardly any way for a kid of modest means (i.e. "no cable TV") to see famous monsters like Frankenstein, King Kong, the Wolfman, or Dracula. 

However, there were a couple of monster "proxies" I could fall back on...such as movie monster paperbacks (loaded with cool photos and facts) and the great monster titles of Marvel Comics. Reading The Monster of Frankenstein, the Tomb of Dracula, and Werewolf By Night gave me at least a taste of what the elusive movie versions might have been like.

As entertaining (and genuinely creepy) as the monster comics could be, imagine my surprise when the Marvel monsters intersected with their superhero universe in Giant-Size Spider-Man and Dracula #1 (1974).  Of course, Spidey and Dracula appearing together in one story wasn't exactly a hard sell...but after seeing this amazing cover by John Romita Sr., that kingly sum of 50¢ was as good as spent.

Although it's been almost thirty-four years since I first grabbed it off the stands, this cover remains one of my absolute favorites for a variety of reasons:

1. Its stars.  I'm still a nut for superheroes and movie monsters, and seeing Spider-Man and Dracula share a cover never really loses its jolt.

2.  The perfection of John Romita's Spider-Man....from that splayed out "Twister Board" pose to the solid physique (none of the too-skinny Spidey we see so much today), I can never get enough of the Jazzy One's wall-crawler.  Oh, and the mask "eye" shapes as well. Nobody's were quite as distinctive as Romita's.

3.  That fantastic color palette. The deep purple and black background help the foreground colors pop off the page, lending a 3D-feel to the Spider-Man and Dracula figures. In fact, the colors of the central figures are so strong, that the rather cluttered use of text boxes and the top-heavy logo section don't take anything away from them. That's quite a feat of design.

4.  Spider-Man's web (besides directing the eye to Spider-Man) is an almost ironic element here, as the spider's traditional role of predator ("Come into my parlor said the spider to the fly") is ceded to the looming Lord of the Vampires.

5.  While clearly not the shadowy, amorphous figure seen in Tomb of Dracula, Romita's somewhat slicker interpretation of the Count nonetheless preserves the essential look and feel of Gene Colan's definitive version.

6.  In graphic design, the "Rule of Three" involves the arrangement of visual elements into eye-pleasing, triangular formations.  This fiddling with "visual architecture" is tricky and takes years of practice to pull off in a subtle yet dynamic way.  Of course, leave it up to a master like Romita to incorporate not one but two triangular formations, which keep the viewer's eye moving and dancing over the cover...yet never "allowing" the eye to entirely leave the central focus of the triangle interiors.

7.  As if Spidey and Dracula weren't enough, the Human Torch pops up in the lower left corner...and to any kid, throwing in a guy who could start himself on fire and fly was always a plus.

8.  Although I mentioned thinking there were too many text boxes on the cover, I have to admit I'm a sucker for that old school Marvel cover hype. Probably penned by Stan Lee protege' Roy Thomas, the wonderful tradition of breathless hyperbole continued with phrases like "First Issue Phantasmagoria" and "The Fightin', Flamin' Human Torch".  To a "Bronze Age Boy" like me, it's "comfort food" in written form.

Simply the Best: Daredevil #53

I love "origin issues".  You know, the comic book equivalent of those flashback TV show episodes when a character says "Why, I remember it as if it were yesterday..." (as the screen blurs out or goes wavy).  Essentially intended to bring new readers up to speed on who the character is and how he (or she) started out, origin stories were often presented within an imaginative framing device, such as providing a subtle clue to a present day mystery or as an occasion to re-affirm the hero's purpose and mission.

Daredevil #53 (1969) was one such origin story, as Matt Murdock took a look back at the tragedies and triumphs that lead to his life as Daredevil.  Creatively symbolizing Murdock's deliberation is this wonderful cover by Gene Colon, a master of evocative, moody illustration:

The looming Daredevil holding a weighing scale brings to mind the famous image of Lady Justice, the mythic personification of our Western legal system.  The comparison is especially apt considering Matt Murdock is not only a lawyer by trade, but is also blind (as a result of the accident that hyper-enhanced his remaining senses).

As I alluded to in a previous Simply the Best post, I'm a sucker for covers showing the original version of a superhero's costume....even Daredevil's!  For as much scorn as the costume (perhaps deservedly) gets, I guess I can cut a blind guy a little slack for using so much yellow (and hey, it was gone by issue number seven anyway). So, I enjoy seeing the original fighting togs on that mini-Daredevil, straddling his measuring pan like a fighter straining at the ropes of a boxing ring (which was probably intentional considering his father was a boxer).

The bad guys?  Two 1960's thugs straight from Central Casting, one obviously hired muscle (t-shirt and blue jeans) while the other is higher up the food chain (indicated by the suit and tie), and probably the man known as "The Fixer" (a crooked boxing promoter responsible for putting a hit out on Murdock's father).

The cover loses some points with the poorly placed masthead logo, which would have looked better centered in the space between the corner box and the opposite corner.  With it touching the corner box, it creates a tangent and visual tension point that easily could have been avoided.

Despite that unfortunate design decision, I'm sure you'll agree that the rest of the cover is so powerful and attention-grabbing, it easily qualifies for Simply the Best status!

Simply the Best: The Race of the Century

Remember that question?  If you do, you'll also recall that it wasn't a question about which superhero could beat a particular supervillain, but rather which superhero could beat another superhero!  With the passion of election year politics, we'd make the case for our champion and why he'd mop the floor with the other guy's champion....all the while completely missing (or flat-out ignoring) the point that good guys aren't supposed to be fighting each other in the first place.

Although comic book publishers usually stayed above the fray, every once in awhile they'd throw us the "hero vs. hero" red meat we all craved....like here on the rip-roaring cover of Superman #199 (1967).

Cover penciled by Carmine Infantino and inked by Murphy Anderson

As it turned out, the actual race was quite a disappointment (to say the least). Instead of the grudge match suggested by the cover scene, the race was actually a chummy charity event. Worse yet, it ended in a lousy tie....completely dodging the question asked on the cover.  Needless to say, it was an early lesson for us junior consumers in sky-high hype vs. the reality (and inevitable let-downs) of the actual product.

However, despite the disappointing story, the cover remains one of my favorites for a variety of reasons:

1.  When I look at the facial expressions of Superman and the Flash, I don't see two guys running a genial charity event.  I see guys who are determined to win the title of Fastest Man Alive!

2.  The cheering "factions" of DC heroes. Though never as contentious or dysfunctional as Marvel's brood of squabbling heroes, DC began introducing a bit more conflict between their famously chummy champions of justice....as you can see from the spirited cheering sections on either side of the starting line.  Note how Batman is vigorously rooting against his long time World's Finest co-star!

3.  I've always been a sucker for covers with a black background. Black, more than any other color, demands your attention on the shelf and, in this case, helps the brightly colored costumes of Superman and Flash pop right off the page.

4.  The distorted or "forced" perspective angles of the scene, giving an almost explosive visual power to the unleashed speedsters.

5.  The "To: Mark, Carmine Infantino" signature.  Oh, wait...that's just on my copy.

Simply the Best: Clash of the Titans!

Remember the old philosophical paradox that asks "What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?"  Well, this is just a guess, but my answer to the question would be Comic Book Clash Covers!

"What's a Comic Book Clash Cover?", you ask?  Let's break it down:

1.  Clash Covers always feature two opposing teams barreling toward each other at top speed.

2.  The best Clash Covers usually freeze-frame the action a split second before the earth-shaking impact.

3.  More often than not, the design of the cover is highly symmetrical, as combatants rushing in from stage left have a corresponding combatant speeding toward them from stage right.

4.  The first and most common type of Clash Cover is the age-old conflict of superheroes vs. supervillains with its primal good vs. evil appeal (click on each cover for a better look):

5.  A second and surprisingly common type of Clash Cover features two teams of good guys ready to smash each other to a pulp, which amps up the already crazy levels of drama by prompting the viewer to wonder "Why the heck are the good guys fighting each other?"

6.  The third variety of Clash Cover also happens to be my favorite.  In this case, the warring sides are different versions of the same team of superheroes, such as when the current lineup of a super-team battles its original lineup.  In addition to the basic drama of opposing sides about to collide, beyond the added drama of good guys battling each other, this third category knocks the drama quotient out of the park with its undercurrents of "old vs. new" generational competition and intramural resentment.

7.  A tiny percentage of Clash Covers defy all classification, as demonstrated by the cover of Justice League #132 (1976).

Thankfully, clashes between superheroes and weapon-toting zoo animals are incredibly rare (I believe this is the only one), making the vast majority of Clash Covers a slam-dunk addition to Simply the Best!

Simply the Best: Let's Go to the Split Screen

Why do I love thee, Invincible Iron-Man #144 (1981)? 
Let me count the ways (from top to bottom)...

1. The upper-left corner shot of Iron-Man. Remarkably effective back in the "squeaky wire rack" days of marketing comic books (when other comics could block out most of the cover).

2. The classic Iron-Man 3D-relief logo, complete with rivets.

3. Iron-Man's eye-catching, iconic superhero pose.  Nobody in real life ever stands with their legs spread far apart with arms bent at 90º angles and clenched fists....but that's why I love old-school comics so much.  When superheroes felt strong emotions, they didn't sit around talking about it...their body language said it all!

4. The strong mirror-image symmetry of the pose earns extra Feng Shui points.

5.  The twin appeal of something new and something old, an ingenious approach when appealing to comic book fanboys.  We love the shiny new stuff (literally, in this case) as much as we love nostalgia, so this split-screen cover was a double-scoop delight.

6.  Although Tony Stark's new "deep space armor" was a major selling point, it was the sight of his original gray armor that closed the deal.  For whatever reason, I'm just crazy about that clunky old suit and every time it would show up on an issue's cover, I'd buy it.  Whether it was an origin flashback (which was the case here) or Tony Stark's "armor of last resort", I didn't care...if the original model makes the cover, I'm buying it.  Simple as that.

7.  The near-hysterical cover copy.  Even though this was the early 80's, the melodramatic style of Stan Lee's 1960's Marvel Comics was still firmly in place, with plenty of exclamation marks to go around.  From a design standpoint, I like how the crashing space station nicely leads the eye from the dramatic blurb in the upper left section down to the dramatic blurb in the lower right.

8.  As much as I love origin stories (see yesterday's blog entry), the prospect of learning "never before revealed" origin details involuntarily sends me reaching for my wallet.

9.  Outer space, machine guns, explosions and a helicopter.  Like flame to a moth for a teenage boy (when I bought it straight off the aforementioned squeaky rack).

10.  The Bob Layton artwork, so much a part of the classic (and unsurpassed) late 70's, early 80's years of Iron-Man.

Simply the Best: Modern Masters and Mythic Power

During the early decades of the 20th century, giants walked the earth. 

No, not giants in the physical sense but rather giants of illustration who applied their mastery of painting and composition to the burgeoning worlds of advertising and publishing.  Instead of being confined to stuffy art galleries and high society functions, the artwork of these modern masters became widely known to and appreciated by the masses, primarily through popular magazines, illustrated fiction, and high profile advertising campaigns (click on the paintings to the left for a larger view).

In particular, artists like J.C. Leyendecker, Howard Pyle, Maxfield Parrish, and N.C. Wyeth brought a mythic power and rugged heroism to their paintings that resonated with American audiences.  Somewhere in between the age of these Master Illustrators and what we know to be the modern comics era came the Golden Age of Comics, whose artists grew up with a steady diet of Parrish dreamscapes, Pyle's flinty pirates, or Leyendecker's Greek gods sporting Arrow dress shirts.

It's exactly this influence that I see at work here on the breathtaking cover of Whiz Comics #22 (1941).  Though he was primarily known for a more whimsical or cartoony approach to drawing Captain Marvel, artist C.C. Beck obviously had no trouble taking things in a more "illustrative" direction from time to time.   

Beyond the simple "iconic" appeal of the scene, it also seems to capture the essence of Captain Marvel's world:  Majestic power (the lightning bolt), a dash of danger (the billowing smoke clouds), coupled with a mythic scope (the mountainous vista), all of it reinforced by the strength and simple decency of the two central characters.

In addition to those basic elements (and the vivid color palette) are the more subtle touches I enjoy, such as young Billy's confident, relaxed body language or Cap's convincing body mass (you get the feeling nothing could possibly budge that guy), which is only amplified by his exaggerated height.

Although I don't belong to the "Billy and Cap are two separate beings" camp*, I can't let that nonsense get in the way of enjoying one of the greatest covers of the Golden Age or, for that matter, any age of comics.

* I've always preferred the interpretation that Captain Marvel is, literally, a magically grown-up version of Billy Batson.  Although there are plenty of examples to suggest otherwise, I stubbornly insist that the powerful wish-fullfilling element of a boy instantly transforming into a super-powered man is one of the major "pillars" (if not THE major pillar) of the character's appeal. Merely switching places with him doesn't seem to have the same mythic punch...know what I mean?

Simply the Best: Anniversary Covers

Prior to the 1960's, so-called "anniversary issues" typically weren't acknowledged on a comic book's cover or, if they were, the publishers were fairly low key about it.  A good example of the more subdued anniversary cover would be something like Superman #100 (1955).

However, when Marvel Comics entered the picture (a publisher few would describe as "low key" or "subdued"), anniversary issues went from non-events or austere cover galleries to bombastic, star-studded celebrations.  In fact, when it came to high wattage covers for anniversary issues, Marvel easily outpaced DC Comics, who could never really muster the same kind of energy for their milestone issue covers.

My favorite Marvel anniversary covers were the ones featuring the title character (of course) along with a blizzard of supervillains and (occasionally) supporting cast members.  Yeah, the stories inside were often a let-down (as the promised horde of supervillains often turned out to be only robots or mind game hallucinations), but the dynamite covers were usually enough to overcome the disappointment.

Here's three of the very best (click for a larger view):

This "Everthing but the Kitchen Sink" style of anniversary cover gradually fell out of favor, especially after the modern trend of celebrating "anniversaries" every twenty-five issues made the whole practice a little less special.  Ah, but for a time, those 100th or 200th issues were something so special, they demanded to be bought!

Simply the Best: Tomb of Dracula #61

 I've been a bit of a latecomer to the Tomb of Dracula series of the 1970's.  I remember seeing it around, but for whatever reason I'd never bought any new issues from the squeaky comic racks (strange, considering how much of a monster fan I was).

That all changed a few years back when I attended the local FallCon and came across a stash of incredibly cheap Tomb of Dracula issues.  Whether it was because it was Halloween season, or just feeling like I needed to finally see what I was missing out on, I ended up bringing home a couple dozen issues.

Well, the stories were not only as good as I'd always heard they were, but actually better than what I was expecting.  Writer Marv Wolfman was much more subtle and restrained than I'd ever remembered him on superhero comics, and the incredibly moody (often spooky) artwork of Gene Colan remains the absolute best of his distinguished career.  Of course, the inking of Tom Palmer had alot to do with that, grounding and substantiating Colan's often whispy, ethereal pencils...yet never altering them beyond recognition.

In the years since then, I've been buying reasonably priced issues of Tomb wherever I find them.  Yeah, I know there's a bunch of cheaper black and white reprints of the series available, but the back issues are still cheap enough (at least for now) that I prefer having the actual comics.

Within that growing collection of Dracula comics, one
of my favorite covers is Tomb of Dracula #61 (1977):

Here's why:

1.  The most obvious reason would be the incredibly disturbing subject matter. In fact, I'm surprised the Comics Code Authority (the stamp in the upper right corner) let this one slide by.  Despite dozens of compelling, frightening covers before this one, the sight of a ghostly dead baby sends this one to an entirely different level of horror.

2.  A more subtle, yet equally powerful aspect of the cover is the wonderful design and implied motion of the scene.  The eye easily moves in a circular motion from the Tomb of Dracula logo, to the bat, to the bat's transformation into Dracula, to baby Janus, to Domini, then up to the curved cloud bank...which brings the eye back to the logo.  The curved motion of the clouds behind Domini also seem to give her arms a feeling of upward motion, as well as suggesting (quite literally) the dark powers behind her bid to resurrect the child.  The section where the bat is morphing into Dracula's still-incomplete form is also full of implied motion...to the point where it almost seems as if I'm watching it happen in a live-action movie.  A perfect example of Colan's mastery of shadowy, amorphous forms.

3.  Besides an uncharacteristic blast of bright colors (not typical for a Dracula cover), the bright magenta dawn sky also serves to crank the drama up even higher (if that's possible), by making Dracula's desperate plea even more frantic, since he's risking instant destruction from the sun's first rays (which you can see farther back on the horizon line).

4.  As if all of that wasn't enough, throw in Domini's weirdly transfixed face and Dracula's shocking request, and you've got a cover few could resist buying (despite the horrifying presence of a dead baby).

So...what are some of your favorite spooky covers? Let me know!