Favorite Comic Book Covers?

[Brainatra]

What the subject says: what's your favorite comic book cover?

For me:
- Action Comics #1: Yeah, it's been parodied to death, but still classic.

- Superman #76 (1952): The first Superman/Batman teamup. (The early World's Finest covers reprinted in the first "World's Finest" Archive looked fairly amusing as well; liked the one with Supes, Bats and Robin in a ship being flooded with water rescuing people, and the one where the heroes are guarding "the world's most secure bank" [some kid's lemonade stand-type outfit]).

- "Flash" #123: the "Flash of Two Worlds" story.

- "Brave and the Bold" #28: the first JLA story, with the JLAers vs. Starro

- The first JLA-JSA teamup story cover (the JLAers conducting a seance)

- The second cover from "Crisis On Earth-Three" (with the JLA vs the Crime Syndicate)

- A cover from the 60's showing Barry somehow punching Zoom back to the 25th century; the story was called "The Mightiest Punch of All Time"

- The first Fantastic Four issue.

- The first Green Lantern/Green Arrow teamup cover.

- A late 60's LSH cover where Superboy and IIRC Phantom Girl are counting a big wad of cash and telling someone they'll save their kid *after* he "pays up first".

- 1978's "Action Comics" #484, with the wedding of the Golden Age Superman and Lois----Superman's flying in the air, carrying Lois with one arm, and carrying the honeymoon car with the other.

- A 70's Batman cover with the Joker towering over Gotham City's skyline. (Maybe from "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge?")

- The Batman "Laughing Fish" cover.

- A 70's Superman comic with two kids standing around staring at a Superman poster, with one asking the other "gee----I wonder whatever happened to him?"

- a 70's "Action Comics" cover with a bunch of people--IIRC, a middle aged woman with hair in curlers, a few kids playing, etc.---sitting around on an inner-city style stoop; one of them's reading a Superman comic, while a kid points up in the air at Superman flying off into the distance. No word balloons shown.

- Anything by Alex Ross

- Kurt Schaffenberger's covers for the 80's Superboy comic series

- Jerry Ordway's covers for "Power of Shazam!"

- a 1993 Superboy "Zero Hour" cover (with the pre-Crisis version punching the post-Crisis one)

There's probably others, but guess that's a start....

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Hmm, I like all of the Schaffenberger covers for the first 50 or so Lois Lane comics.

John Buscema's cover of the Avengers issue of the "Lady Liberators" with Valkyrie standing over an unconscious Goliath.

Conan the Barbarian #100. Typical "holding dead person in his arms" pose, but it is a memorable cover because this was a definite end of an era. The Conan franchise never really was the same after this issue.

Phantom Lady #17 by Matt Baker. Still the best cheesecake cover I've ever seen.

Wonder Woman #2 (Golden Age). This is one of the best examples of HG Peter's idiosyncratic proportions and layouts.

Flash Comics #92 by Murphy Anderson. Taadaa! Black Canary is here!

Batman: Death in the Family TPB--Was this cover from one of the original issues during this run? I don't know, I only read the TPB, and I associate that image with the TPB.

I've got tons of others, but memory of issue numbers is hazy. But I do liked the days when comic book covers were pulpy and action oriented rather than the posed "paintings" that pass for covers these days.

[Sharklady]

'Mad Love'.

Need I say more?

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Been a while since we've done one of these, hasn't it? Off the top of my head...

Put me down for nearly anything that Mark Schulz does, especially his covers for his creator-owned Xenozoic Tales. Too bad glaciers move faster than he draws, or else we'd get more than just covers.

James Jean is a current favorite, especially with his covers for Fables. Too hard picking out just one.

I still love Jo Chen's cover to Runaways #4, where Gert is hugging her pet dinosaur. It's a wonderful cover that works as a poster and which works to draw your curiosity: who is this girl and why is she hugging a dinosaur?

I believe the cover to Batman #1, with Batman & Robin swinging through the Gotham skyline, is probably burned into my memories for eternity. For that matter, the cover to Amazing Fantasy #15, introducing Spider-Man for the first time, is another one that you never quite forget.

That cover to Atom #10 by Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson (reproduced for one of the Julie Schwartz tribute comics), where the Atom is tied to a hand grenade being thrown off a roof, is way cool.

Kaare Andrews' "Where the Wild Things Are" cover during the Bruce Jones Hulk run (#78?). Completely awesome.

Matt Wagner did some great stuff for the original Mage series, and the cover to Trinity #1 was nicely iconic.

Finally, it ain't a party without Jack Kirby showing up somewhere, so I'll pick the cover to Fantastic Four #51 ("This Man...This Monster!"), with the Thing neatly splitting the cover in half with Mr. Fantastic getting swallowed by green Kirby-dots on the left and the Invisible Woman panicking on the right.

-- Ed/Ace

[randomguy]

Fun topic! My list will skew Marvel, just because those are the ones I remember more for some reason.

Here are the obvious ones:
-Action Comics #1, still the quintessential superhero cover.
-Amazing Fantasty #15
-Fantastic Four #1
-Giant-Size X-Men #1
-New Teen Titans #1
-Crisis On Infinite Earths #7 (Supergirl cover)
-Amazing Spider-Man #50 ("Spider-Man No More!")
-Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1st Punisher)

Some of my other favorites:
-Justice League #1 (http://www.moviepoopshoot.com/comics101/images/2005/apr6/justiceleague.jpg), by Kevin Maguire. The entire Justice League staring angrily into the "camera", capped off by Guy Gardner's "Wanna make somethin' of it?" is a classic. Very fun cover.
-Fantastic Four #258 (http://www.ffplaza.com/images/covers/vol1/ff258.jpg), by John Byrne. Doom's hand ripping the cover. The cool part is, you can see the first page where Doom has ripped the cover, and it corresponds with the actual first page of the comic. Very neat.
-The Mighty Thor #337 (http://www.moviepoopshoot.com/comics101/images/2003/june11/thor337.jpg), by Walt Simonson. Beta Ray Bill makes his debut on this cover, swinging Mjolnir and smashing the Thor logo itself. Awesome, iconic cover.
-The Amazing Spider-Man #262 (http://www.samruby.com/AmazingSpider-ManK/Large/AmazSpid262.JPG), one of those photo covers that you get ever-so-rarely. I first saw this cover when I was really young, and I remember it totally blowing me away, just because it was my first time seeing a real person dressed as Spidey. It's still a great cover... the Peter Parker model looks spot-on.
-Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (http://www.moviepoopshoot.com/comics101/images/2004/mar3/cover2.jpg) #4, by Jim Steranko. It's hard to beat the swirling 60's cover goodness.

Some of my more recent favorites include Jock's covers to The Losers, which are fiendishly eye-catching and neat. I thought Adam Strange #1 was gorgeous, and Ace is definitely right about James Jean. I was also blown away by JLA/Avengers #3, and The Ultimates #2 (probably my favorite Iron Man image ever).

[JTurner954]

Batman #477 and #478. Those are the first comics I purchased based on the covers alone (they were also the books that got me into reading DC in the first place).

[DR.MID-NITE]

I can't believe no one mentioned this one. Especially with its new relevance.



http://vu.morrissey-solo.com/moz/perez/cv/crisis7.jpg

[DR.MID-NITE]

And this one. Since it was the first comic I ever bought 26 years and over 5,000 comics ago.....Justice League of America #169

http://www.newkadia.com/NK.php?ipg=2064|151

[RAINMAN]

http://img25.echo.cx/img25/3770/uncanny3917ki.jpg

[Brainatra]

Other comic covers I found wacky-yet-amusing, thanks to the Grand Comic Book Database:

"New Adventures of Superboy" #3: http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/2542/400/2542_4_03.jpg

The story involved some guy in the present who, ticked off about his miserable life, develops the means to travel back in time to Smallville when he was a teenager and try to alter his own past (by turning his past self into a superhero via some weird astral-projection-thingy). Think the story's main point (besides doing the "guy in Smallville gets superpowers and goes rogue" bit that's a cliche of Superboy *and* "Smallville" the TV show) was showing Smallville had been updated to take place in the late 60's---note the hippie-ish rock group on the cover (and a few cues in the story itself---like the "1967" calendar page shown).

Action Comics #127 from 1948 has Superman appearing on the radio game show "Truth or Consequences" (which was played somewhat similar to the familiar "Truth or Dare" game, IIRC):

http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/97/400/97_4_0000127.jpg

Not too wacky, but the cover of one of my favorite comic book stories, the origin of the JSA:

http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/2216/400/2216_4_29.jpg

Wonder Woman at the start of her "Mrs. Peel" phase in the 60's:

http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/277/400/277_4_178.jpg

[Sharklady]

> Wonder Woman at the start of her "Mrs. Peel" phase in the 60's: <

Egads!

Not that it's an unbecoming look on her, but it's, like, *so* last century!

[Brainatra]

> Wonder Woman at the start of her "Mrs. Peel" phase in the 60's: <

Egads!

Not that it's an unbecoming look on her, but it's, like, *so* last century!

Well, the storyline ran during the late 60's and early 70's, so probably not surprising it's so "last century". ;-)

(Basic gist: Wonder Woman gave up her powers for some reason or other, took up martial arts from a Chinese martial arts expert, changed her wardrobe into what's shown on the cover, and fought crime as a nonpowered crimefighter along the lines of the Black Canary. Sometime in the early 70's, she got her traditional powers and costume back.)

-B.

[90'sCartoonMan]

Finally, it ain't a party without Jack Kirby showing up somewhere, so I'll pick the cover to Fantastic Four #51 ("This Man...This Monster!"), with the Thing neatly splitting the cover in half with Mr. Fantastic getting swallowed by green Kirby-dots on the left and the Invisible Woman panicking on the right. True, but I'll go with Fantastic Four #10, where Stan and Jack appeared on the cover.

James Jean is a current favorite, especially with his covers for Fables. Too hard picking out just one. He's awesome, I liked his JSA too.

-The Amazing Spider-Man #262 (http://www.samruby.com/AmazingSpider-ManK/Large/AmazSpid262.JPG), one of those photo covers that you get ever-so-rarely. I first saw this cover when I was really young, and I remember it totally blowing me away, just because it was my first time seeing a real person dressed as Spidey. It's still a great cover... the Peter Parker model looks spot-on. Any idea where they got that guy from or what happened to him?

Personally, I like the way George Perez clutters his covers with people. JLA/Avengers #2 and #3 were awesome. Conversely, I like that Avengers cover that took George the least time to make, the one that's all black and it's Ultron's glowing face (which I stole for my student film).

The funniest cover is What If No One Was Watching The Watcher? Uatu's doing that famous Marilyn Monroe pose.

Am I the only one aggravated by Ultimate Spider-Man's lack of cover creativity? 75 issues and only 12 different covers...sheesh...

[Chad Bonin]

X-Men Unlimited. Don't know the issue number, but it has a Josh Middleton-drawn Psylocke on the cover. Loved it, and have never actually read the issue.

[RAINMAN]

http://img34.echo.cx/img34/3233/Shockwave1.jpg



Best TF cover ever.

[Dark Night]

I love anything by Jim Lee or Brian Bolland.

....and yes, cartoonman, Ultimate Spider-Man covers are pretty lame:yawn: .

[RAINMAN]

Does anyknow the link to wizard covers? They had this one cool spiderman cover from 94 whit him,the lizard,venom and carnage on it.

[fxmatt]

Batman #465. Hands down.

[Zero-V]

Spider-Man Issue 50: "Spider-Man No More", an iconic cover reused a billion times on other comics as measures of parody

Crisis On Infinite Earths Issue 7

...ANY Superman cover from the Silver Age comics (you know which ones, the tyranical "Pope Superman", Superman the Witch Doctor, Superman killing Lois, Olsen faking illnesess to discover Clarks' identity etc)

[Sharklady]

> Batman #465. Hands down. <

Yep, that one's a classic:

http://www.reway.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/batman/pictures/covers/covers/batman465_breyfogle.jpg

[JustJack]

As soon as I saw This (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/grave_chucker/Stuff/cap61.jpg), I knew I had the candidate for my new favorite cover. It's just so amazing thematic and brilliantly displayed. Love it...LOVE IT!

Capt. America #6. (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/grave_chucker/Stuff/cap61.jpg)

[RAINMAN]

Does anyone know the issue number that has spiderman in the rain on the front cover?

[Contrail]

http://img34.echo.cx/img34/3233/Shockwave1.jpg



Best TF cover ever.
Dagnabbit, someone beat me to it :)

[Kieralinn]

I love this onehttp://www.bradmeltzer.com/gifs/identity6_large.jpg

[Kieralinn]

There is just so many things wrong with this that it's great!


http://www.superdickery.com/seduction/7.html

[RAINMAN]

http://comicsmedia.ign.com/comics/image/article/627/627243/power-girl-20050619105136688.jpg

[Sharklady]

^ What comic is that?

[King_of_doom]

^ What comic is that?
I think is the alt. cover of JSA Classified starring Power Girl, well my favorite covers are:

-Spider-man from the first part of Sins of Past

-The New Avengers #1

-Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes #2(the cover looks like from Tales From The Crypt)

-Hack/Slash #1

-Villains United #1

[RAINMAN]

http://www.samruby.com/AmazingSpider-ManO/Large/AmazSpid362.JPG

[James Meeley]

Does anyone know the issue number that has spiderman in the rain on the front cover?
I think the one you are thinking of is Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #43. That's certainly one of John Romita Jr.'s most striking Spidey covers ever! :D

[Sharklady]

Does anyone know the number of the 'Spiderman' issue where he fought The Commuter?

It's not fabulous artwork, but the image of Spidey walking along suburban streets ('cause there's no tall buildings to swing from) is certainly distinctive.

[James Meeley]

Does anyone know the number of the 'Spiderman' issue where he fought The Commuter?

It's not fabulous artwork, but the image of Spidey walking along suburban streets ('cause there's no tall buildings to swing from) is certainly distinctive.
That would be Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #267. Had great art by Bob McLeod and the usual witty scripting of Peter David.

And yes, I was named, by my local newspaper, as "the authority of all things Spider-Man" in my town. Being a fount of useless information DOES have it's perks. ;) :cool:

[Sharklady]

^ Congradulations! :D

This gives me hope for being cited by my hometown paper, as "the local authority on all things shark-related."