Worst. Cover. Ever. (part 3)

Another week, another worst cover ever...and this one's a doozy!

Starting as early as the 1940's, comic book companies experimented with mixing real world photographs with comic book characters, getting results that (perhaps even at the time) looked a little strange.  Part of the problem was that the image reproduction technology was still fairly crude, creating "special effect" covers that weren't particularly special OR effective.

Although printing and image reproduction technology had vastly improved from the 40's to the 70's, you'd never know it from the results that had found their way onto comic book covers.  Case in point, the cover of SHAZAM! #6 (1973):

Though obviously intended to be a cozy, heartwarming scene, a whole host of factors conspired to made it simultaneously one of the most boring and bizarre covers of all time.

1. A blank white background with all the homespun warmth of the Phantom Zone.


2. Cap's freakishly deformed right hand (holding the unusually large infinity cover comic book).


3. The garish "hand-tinted" coloring effect on the children. Apparently, the kids were the grandchildren of award-winning DC colorist Jack Adler.  "Hey, grandpa, thanks for the sickly pea-green nightgown!"


4. The boy's wince-inducing helmet hair, triggering far too many painful flashbacks of my grade school photos.


5. The eerie, corpse-like pallor of the child slumped in Cap's arm, a tragic image oddly disconnected with Cap's big, squinty grin.  Add to that the child's huge, clown-like feet and it's safe to say that whatever look they were shooting for here....just didn't happen.

Comments

[Loren]

Three things seem to scream out at me when I look at this cover:

1) The kids look bored out of their minds.

2) The kids look like they've been kidnapped by Captain Marvel and are being forced to listen to tales from Shazam! #6.

3) The kids are waiting for Captain Marvel to finish so they can begin feasting on his brain. ;)

[Mark Engblom]

"The kids look bored out of their minds."

True....although maybe their minds have been completely blown by the awesome paradox of the INFINITY COVER.

"The kids are waiting for Captain Marvel to finish so they can begin feasting on his brain."

You're right...the kids definitely have that zombie-gray skin.

By the way, thanks for the link on your site! Much appreciated!

[Loren]

You're welcome! I've been reading your blog for awhile and enjoying it, but lurking more than anything. I promise to be a more active commenter.

[Kevin Melrose]

Ha! I have that comic. I uncovered it (again) just the other day while looking for something else.

Thankfully, that's the only issue in the run they tried the horrible/terrifying photo-illustration mashup.

[Jesse Holland]

I can say without exaggeration that your take on the Shazam cover had me in tears. I can't stop laughing. Great stuff.

-JH

[Mark Engblom]

Glad you liked it, Jesse! Man...those photo covers were just DREADFUL, weren't they?

[Jim]

Looks to me like the artist just didn't want to finish the cover, so they dropped in a photo. Not a bad cover in line with the others, just a dull one.Had this issue from years ago, and it pales (literally, really) compared to some of your other offerings....