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!

Comments

[suedenim]

I think my favorite Clash "Cover" ever is the end of this intro:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MCrnKZ3yf0

The pure awesomeness of this intro means that the show itself can't help but be a letdown... because the implicit promise is not merely the Best Show Ever, but the Best THING Ever!

"Banded together from remote galaxies...."

(And note that being forbidden by Standards and Practices to even have someone throw a punch didn't stop them from having a Clash Cover!)

[Hube]

God I love that AVENGERS #141 cover with the Squadron Supreme. I even had a binder-style notebook with that cover on it in 6th grade, it was so popular. The funny thing is (was), the writers couldn't get the Squadron Sinister and Squadron Supreme straight either in the cover nor in the storyline (which is a classic, BTW). They're not the same thing, after all. After the cover faux pas, in the interior of #141, Steve Englehart has Hyperion saying "That's Supreme, not Sinister, Avengers -- just so you'll know who creamed you!" But then he blew it in AVENGERS #148 when Iron Man was fighting Supreme's Dr. Spectrum: IM bests his foe with an ultraviolet blast, stating "I'm sure you remember it!" and there's a footnote with an IM issue (mid-# 60s). But that Doc Spectrum was from the Squadron Sinister so there's no way the Squadron Supreme Doc Spectrum would/could "remember it"!

[Mark Engblom]

Suedenim- WOW! I'd forgotten about that bit from the Super Friends intro! Thanks for the link! Yeah, that's EXACTLY what I'm talking about...with the added dimension of actually seeing them running toward each other at full tilt! Thanks for the blast from the past!

[Mark Engblom]

Hube-

Great points, as usual. Now that you bring it up, I also recall being a bit confused over which Squadron the Avengers were fighting in their various appearances. Obviously, the one with the bigger lineup is the one from Counter Earth, but their behavior and motivations seemed to shift from writer to writer. Are they a cranky-yet-benevolent super team or, essentially, an evil Justice League? The creators didn't seem too sure themselves...resulting in more than a little confusion here on the reader's side.

[cinephile]

Great post! I love those Avengers covers, too, which I was just looking at the other day (again, Mark, you always read my mind (:). In the spirit of suedenim's link, here's another:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpjVRaSjewg&feature=related

I love it because it's a parody of the face-off, but also works in a more sincere way as a genuine fight, suggesting just how much affection the show's creators had for the superhero traditions they were playing with.

[Mark Engblom]

Hah! Excellent link, my friend. You guys are great!

[Tommy]

Ha Ha, I love the multiple covers with all the characters charging each other, that's hilarious! The cool thing is I remember a lot of these issues & had them as a kid. Thanks for bringin' back the memories.

BATMAN FAN?
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Tommy

[M1ndbender]

Any readers have an idea what comic cover was the first to display the Clash? Easily my all time favourite cover cliche. Man I want to read all those books right now!

[Mark Engblom]

That's a really great question. I personally have no idea....though it seems likely that a simple layout of two opposing teams heading toward each other could have first appeared decades earlier during the Golden Age of Comics.

After doing a little poking around, the earliest Clash Cover of the Silver Age I've been able to find is X-Men #9(1965), featuring a rumble between the Avengers and the X-Men. The Justice League cover above was published in 1967, so unless there's something earlier than X-Men #9, that's what I'm sticking to for now.

Anyone else have any insight?