Wednesday 28 December 2011

Your favourite cover of all time. The Results.

There are times when you wonder if the Internet can possibly take the strain.

And this is one of them.

Mere days ago, I asked you to name your favourite comic book covers of all time. And you gave me your answers! So, without further ado, here is what you came up with:



Fantastic Four #72. Jack Kirby.
The Silver Surfer shows his peaceful intent by randomly zapping the Earth.
Wasn't this used as the cover for issue #1 of Marvel UK's Super-Heroes comic?
Nominated by Ronnie Poore. 



Action Comics #402. Neal Adams.
This is one of the very first comics I ever bought. I'm glad I did. After all, there was a lot at stake.
Nominated by cerebus660.



Action Comics #406. Curt Swan.
Superman loses his head in a crisis.
Nominated by cerebus660.



Adventure Comics #336. Curt Swan.
At last we find out who Starfinger is. I wonder if it's Clark Kent? I've never trusted that boy. I always felt he was hiding something.
Nominated by Stevenw888 (no relation).



Amazing Spider-Man #50. John Romita.
Spidey turns his back on a life of crime-fighting. Personally, I have a feeling it won't last long.
Nominated by cerebus660.



Amazing Spider-Man #59. John Romita.
Mary Jane Watson's first ever cover - and she's determined to make the most of it.
Nominated by cerebus660.



Conan the Barbarian #24. Barry Smith.
Barry Smith might bow out with this issue but Red Sonja certainly doesn't.
Nominated by cerebus660.



Defenders #16. Gil Kane.
The Defenders vs Magneto and his chums. Clearly, things are in the balance.
Nominated by Ade Salmon.



Fantastic Four #1. Jack Kirby.
Each of the FF gets to demonstrate his/her powers on their debut cover.
Nominated by cerebus660.



Fantastic Four #4. Jack Kirby.
The Sub-Mariner makes his Silver Age return and tries to make off with the Invisible Girl. The Invisible Girl? Personally I don't know what he sees in her. Or have I made that joke before?
Nominated by cerebus660.



Fantastic Four #46. Jack Kirby.
When Black Bolt waves his arms around, you know he means business.
Nominated by cerebus660.



Fantastic Four #51. Jack Kirby.
When Reed Richards starts to get sucked into the Negative Zone, Sue Richards shows her value to the team by just standing there asking the Thing to save him, instead of using her force field to do it herself. No wonder they replaced her with Medusa. Medusa would've saved him.
Nominated by both cerebus660 and Ade Salmon.



Fantastic Four #52. Jack Kirby.
The Black Panther makes his debut.
Nominated by cerebus660.



Fantastic Four #106. John Romita.
Is there any hope for our heroes?
Nominated by cerebus660.



Fantastic Four #5. Jack Kirby.
Dr Doom makes his debut and instantly wrecks the atmosphere. 
Nominated by cerebus660.



House of Mystery #195. Bernie Wrightson.
"Bat Out of Hell!" And not a Meatloaf in sight.
Nominated by cerebus660.



Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #15. Billy Graham.
Nominated by Ade Salmon.



Superman #233. Neal Adams.
Anything Luke Cage can do, Superman can do better.
Nominated by McScotty.



Superman #252. Neal Adams.
I'm totally showing my ignorance here but just who is that man with the bare chest and blue cape?
Then again, who's the man with the flying skis?
Nominated by McScotty.



Swamp Thing #4. Bernie Wrightson.
Nominated by Ade Salmon.



Teen Titans #16. Nick Cardy.
A genuinely wonderful composition from DC's cover maestro.
Nominated by McScotty.



Teen Titans #26. Nick Cardy.
Nominated by McScotty.

Thanks to everyone who took part.

16 comments:

Kid said...

It's surely not possible to have only one favourite cover of all time, you ol' rascal you.

B Smith said...

Bare chested blue cape man on that Superman cover is the Black Condor, originally published by Quality Comics, bought by DC and appearing intermittently since.

Read more about him here

http://www.toonopedia.com/blcondr1.htm


Can't help you with that skier, though.

Anonymous said...

Nice to see these covers, some I hadn't seen before so thanks for this - The bare chested man in blue is indeed as B Smith says the Black Condor (last seen in DCs Freedom Fighters comics although I think that was version 3 of the character), the skier is the Black Racer from Kirby's 4th World Series (Kirbys version of the Grim Reaper in many ways) I think he was in New Gods - McScotty

Steve W. said...

Thanks for the enlightenment, B and McScotty.

david_b said...

Teen Titans #16 was one of the best comics, inside and out. Wonderfully hip story about invaders coming through a portal at a highschool. Far Out.

I didn't partake because I was late, but I'm genuinely amazed at the Neal Adams covers for Superboy in the late 60s.

They are even more gorgeous.

Simon B said...

Some wonderful covers there, Steve! That FF / Silver Surfer cover was indeed adapted for The Superheroes no. 1, minus The Watcher's bald dome.

And I apologise for you having to type my ridiculous nom-de-blog so many times in one post ;-)

Steve W. said...

My main problem was I labelled you "cerebus666" all the way through and then had to go through and change it in every instance.

MikeD said...

Sorry Steve, missed this blog. My fave has to be Avengers #57 - the Vision makes his entrance!

Unknown said...

The bare chested fellow is the original Black Condor and the guy with the skis i think is New Gods Black Racer if am getting his name correct.

Steve W. said...

Thanks, jboy. :)

Cling_peaches said...

Another latecomer here. I bow to no-one in my admiration of Kirby, but far too many FF covers here. Makes the competition seem more like 'best-known cover of all time'. FF covers usually had too many speech bubbles.

I much prefer the extraordinary Kirbysthenics of Black Panther 7
http://i.annihil.us/u/prod/marvel/i/mg/c/80/4bb6e98e3b0f3/detail.jpg

I loved some Manwolf covers - this might be my favourite:
http://bunkybrothers.com/scans/leejerry2_Scan-111215-0046.jpg
Simple, and the art isn't even great, but soooo gripping for the regular reader, who knew exactly how the situation came about, and what kind of deep doodoo the cops are in.

Yep a third nom, but one Manbat cover always stayed with me. He's diving diagonally across the page straight into the floor with his wings outstretched, just really dynamic.
Sorry, couldn't find or scan that one, but it might ring a bell with anyone who ever saw it.

ChuckyV said...

Inside of Superman #252 was a key to who the characters were. Here is a scan of it: http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4149/4845511950_984b6c1c93_b.jpg

ChuckyV said...

Let's try that scan again http://tinyurl.com/6tjaj89

Steve W. said...

Thanks, Chucky. :)

Robert said...

I'd like to belatedly add my personal favourite, Daredevil 182, to the list. Cheers.

R. W. Watkins said...

Well, by keeping a low profile, it seems I’ve been missing out on having my say in several fun matters lately.

My favourite cover? The recently mentioned Captain America No 111 immediately comes to mind among Marvel titles. The horror covers are most memorable from among the DC line; Ghost Castle No 1—with its toadstool sprouting skeletal arms—would be near the top of my list. Gold Key had a lot of great covers—painted, of course. Tarzan 179 stands out in my mind, as does several Magnus: Robot Fighter, Dr Solar, Dr Spector, and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not issues.