Worst Cover Ever: Wide Open Spaces

As if growing up during History's Ugliest Decade wasn't bad enough, along came the mid-1970's covers of DC Comics.

Here's the deal:  For years it was a common practice for DC and Marvel Comics to use one artist as their primary cover guy.  Their reasoning was that a single art style would give their line of comics a unified look that potential readers could identify and stick with over time.

Obviously, a big assignment like that required artists with speed, a superior sense of design, and a flair for dramatic imagery.  Hitting all three of these requirements were guys like Neal Adams, Jack Kirby, Carmine Infantino, John Romita Sr., Ross Andru, Gil Kane, and Nick Cardy...all of whom enjoyed long, successful and very memorable stints as cover artists.

Okay, back to the 70's.  Starting about 1975, that decade's stifling mediocrity managed to worm its way onto the covers of DC Comics. During this period, DC's primary cover artist was Ernie Chan who, because of an error on his immigration papers, was forced to sign his work as "Ernie Chua" for a time. Let me make it clear that I've long appreciated Ernie Chan's artwork, primarily his inking over artists like John and Sal Buscema....but for whatever reason, whether by editorial fiat, overwork, or the black hole gravitational pull of mid-70's suckitude, his covers were some of the dullest I've ever seen. Why?  Take a look at the cover of Justice League of America #136 (1976) for a clue:

No, the good guys aren't battling bad guys in the vast nothingness of the Phantom Zone...this completely blank background was actually the norm for DC's covers at the time. Often colored vanilla white or a dreary pastel shade, these minimalistic covers provided zero context, setting, or sense of scale, so the positions and proportions of characters were a confusing jumble of imagery.

For example, is Dr. Light (the guy shooting at Hawkman) standing on the ground or flying in the air?

Is Earth-2 Robin laying on his back or jumping onto The Shade? 

Since the Shade's left foot establishes the ground plane, where exactly is the Joker standing? In a hole?

Is that Hawkman, or a Hawkman-shaped growth sticking out of Batman's left shoulder?

Note how the logos and the copy blurb along the top of the cover are all crammed together, yet there's an open space big enough to drive an SUV through above and to the right of Hawkman.

Throw in some funky foreshortening on Batman's right arm, his oddly-positioned head and the Joker's massive barrel chest, and it's safe to declare this the Worst Cover Ever (at least for this week).

Comments

[meng]

i have to agree with you... Ernie Chua/Chan was a serviceable artist but his covers mostly blew... on a positive note, he did do a couple of cherished covers from my childhood- the issues preceding and following your example, JLA 135 with a giant King Kull battling a plethora of heroes and 137, with my first ever Superman vs Shazam battle.

there may have been something about the format of those 70s covers that didnt help either. even the great Nick Cardy's covers were severely hampered by those tri paneled 100pg giant covers...

[mark w.]

Yeah that's a lousy cover, though I like Ernie's stint on Batman during that time period (I also like a lot of David V. Reed's Batman stories, though I seem to be in the minority on that one)
p.s. Kirby should be in your list of exceptional cover artists--I can still remember the disappointment of opening a comic with a Kirby (or Adams) cover and finding someone else's artwork inside!)

[PLONI VAN ALMONI]

Um man, I haven't gone on C.C for a week and I was sure that now when I go on you would be all over the end of DC Universe Zero but this is beter!

[Kyle]

Mark, sorry to go off-topic, but in case you hadn't seen it ... the Project Rooftop "Iron Man: Invincible Upgrade" contest results have been posted. See the winners here and honorable mentions here.

Oh, and yeah, I've gotta agree with you on the Chua/Chan covers. Not sure I'd have picked JLA #136 as the worst. of. the. bunch. ...but it's certainly a good (bad) representation of the whole.

[Mark Engblom]

"on a positive note, he did do a couple of cherished covers from my childhood- the issues preceding and following your example, JLA 135 with a giant King Kull battling a plethora of heroes and 137, with my first ever Superman vs Shazam battle."

Yeah, those were definitely some of his best (as well as some of my own favorites), which makes the low quality of #136 above all the more perplexing.

"Kirby should be in your list of exceptional cover artists..."

Yeah, you're right. Kirby was definitely one of the best and most prolific. I'll correct my error.

"I was sure that now when I go on you would be all over the end of DC Universe Zero..."

I was! Click here to read my reaction to DCU #0's final panel (I stuck it at the end of an Iron-Man post).

"Mark, sorry to go off-topic, but in case you hadn't seen it ... the Project Rooftop "Iron Man: Invincible Upgrade" contest results have been posted."

Yes, I did see them the other day. It looks like my entry got an "Honorable Mention". There were certainly some impressive entries, and it was fun to take part in the contest. Thanks for the heads up, Kyle!

"Not sure I'd have picked JLA #136 as the worst of the bunch..."

Yeah, there's certainly a bunch to choose from, but this one has always bugged me whenever I've come across it. It's just so blatantly "phoned-in" I thought it deserved some Worst Cover Ever treatment.

[MMFK]

Reminds me of another similarly dull cover you posted about: The Amazing Spider-Man #10.

(I liked your Iron Man design - especially the helmet - a bit more than some of the higher-ranked stuff, but there were a lot of great designs on there!)

[Mark Engblom]

Thanks, MMFK...glad you liked the armor design. Yeah, some of the higher ranking ones were a little esoteric...but hey, it's their website and that's the kind of stuff they prefer, right?

[Wes C]

Ok this is another one I'm going to have to disagree with you Mark.

Once again (like the Wonder Woman cover) I don't think it's a "great" cover, but it's not that bad.

There are things I'm not wild about on it, but overall I think the image has "impact"

For once I kinda like the white background.
Of course you have to worry how dirty those covers will look like after the kids have had them awhile.

I don't find the foreshortening that bad.
Yeah Dr. Light is kinda funky and Hawkman could be positioned better. But like I said
I'm willing to let this one pass.

Maybe I'm just getting soft in my old age ;)

BTW: I liked you Iron Man design much much better than most of the entries I saw.

There were some good ones, but man some of those were really goofy looking (much like the fashion runway vs real world clothing designs) but that's just my opinion

[Mark Engblom]

"I'm willing to let this one pass."

Sure, you let this one go, and who knows HOW many lousy covers are going to be rationalized away? ;)

Seriously, I guess we can agree to disagree. I suppose much of my distaste for the cover stems from the larger trend it represents (dull mid-70's covers), so even though it may not be the absolute worst of that era, it's certainly representative of where they went wrong (such as the vast, empty backgrounds).

[Wes C]

Oh so now I'm an enabler huh? ;)

I thought I was part of the solution, I guess I'm just part of the problem.

I admit it's not a great cover compared to some of the issues right before and after it (the Neal Adams cover with Adam Strange was a knockout) but I kinda like it for some reason.

BTW: Do any of you listen to the "Tom Vs. the JLA" podcast? I love 'em. I don't think I'd get most of the 70's JLA's even out of a ¢25 box, but he makes them sound fun and interesting

[Mark Engblom]

"BTW: Do any of you listen to the "Tom Vs. the JLA" podcast?"

No, but I'd be willing to give it a shot. Got a link? I share your skepticism on 70's JLA issues (I'm just not a fan of Dick Dillin's artwork), so maybe Tom can get me to reconsider.

[Wes C]

http://tomvsjla.libsyn.com/rss

It's well worth your ten minutes of time.

He reviews an issue, and he does it with warmth and a good bit of humor.

I don't share his art tastes - He really liked Dillin and Don Heck's artwork

He's on the Around Comics podcast too.
That's usually pretty worthwhile listen as well.

http://www.aroundcomics.com/

BTW: Dick Dillin while obviously a solid professional (no late books on his watch) was as exciting as white rice. Competent but just really really dull. I feel the same way about Don Perlin. The artwork will move the story along well enough, but man o man will it be dull.

[Julie O.]

I enjoy your site even though I dont know jack squat about comics, I am learning a lot though and have been able to amaze my friends at parties with my ever expanding comic knowledge. I am commenting because I was thrilled to see two of the websites I usually waste time on converge, The Institute of Cheer and this one. I enjoyed laughing at The Gobbler all over again. Honestly, if it looked that that still I would book a room tomorrow.

[Mark Engblom]

"I enjoy your site even though I dont know jack squat about comics..."

Julie, you just made my whole day. I always try to keep things accessible for people who are interested, but not immersed in comics, and it's great to know "comics rookies" like you are enjoying the blog. Keep reading and I'll keep trying to expand your comics knowledge...okay?

Also great to come across a fellow Lileks fan. He's been one of my favorite writers for years and years, and I've been meaning to link to his inspirational site for awhile now. James was blogging before the term was ever invented, and remains one of the very best (as you well know). The rest of you? Check out The Institute of Official Cheer at Lileks.com.

[lauren]

This cover has always bothered me. Even when I was a little kid I knew it was crap.

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/batman/273-1.jpg

[Dan McFan]

Here are some Chua/Colletta covers to look at for those who care to find them in GCD.

Batman #282 Awesome
Detective #466 Great Depth
Ghosts #51 Hauntingly Good
House of Mystery #248 Eerie Art

Being a Colletta fan I became familiar with Chua's pencils and I Love'Em!

Dan

http://ismarkevaniermentallyill.blogspot.com/

[Steve Diamond]

Let us not forget the Gawd awful covers on various titles Gene Colan did in the 1970's yikes! Gene's Tomb Of Dracula panel work was PRIME of course his "Swan Song" Title no question about it...but that DareDevl-Iron Man work and the few covers Gene did for those titles (mainly Colan's DD cover art) was lousy.period. Gene's DD and Iron Man panel work wasn't to sweet either-Captain America,Doctor Strange and Brother Voodoo-He ROCKED! BUT even most of his TOD covers were among the weakest cover for that title minus only-#61 in my humble opinion.