Comics Covers Sunday Returns: Spider-man/Superman & Superman/Spider-man

Today, for you, it's Sunday (but for me it's Friday morning).  And it will take great restraint to schedule this to post later, instead of just posting as soon as I finish it.  However, tradition demands it, because we're bringing back an old Comics And... staple -- "Comic Covers Sunday"!  This feature was originally created by Lee, whom I actually ran into in person a few months ago at our LCS, Cosmic Comix.

In honor of our feature founder, here are a couple of links to some of those bygone posts, one of which features my first comic (and a few of my guest posts in the same vein):

Warning: clicking these links could take you down a rabbit hole worse than being on Facebook!

Comic Covers Sunday 

Comic Covers Sunday: My First Comic

Comic Covers Sunday: DIC Honorable Mentions

Comic Covers Sunday: Frank Miller 

Comic Cover Sundays: Star Trek Fotonovels  (update I now have all of them)

Comic Covers Sunday: Judge Dredd 

Facing Shadows

Now, I'm not promising this will be a regular feature again, but if you want consistent cover coverage, I'd direct you to the excellent 13th Dimension site, which I visit nearly every day and where they often feature cover-themed posts like these.  I credit them for the re-inspiration of this reinstatement.  They've also covered (no pun intended) some of the covers I'm sharing today, but I'm going to add my own analysis and opines...

Unless you've been hiding under a rock or no longer frequent your LCS, you're probably aware of the Marvel/DC and DC/Marvel cross-over of Spider-man/Superman and Superman/Spider-man coming out in late March (DC) and mid-April (Marvel).  And there are a ton of covers, some exclusive, ranging from $7.99 to $8.99 a piece.  So I've got to be judicious on which one to get.  Let's delve into ones I'm considering and a few that I'm not.

MARVEL/DC: SPIDER-MAN/SUPERMAN #1 MARCOS MARTIN VARIANT

Comic Covers Sunday: The Blue Man

First they killed him.  Then they brought him back.  Then they killed his secret identy.  Then they brought the secret identy back.  After all that, what's a company to do with their flagship character?  Call him a clone and write him out of continuity for 2 years????  Naahhhh, that was done by the competition.  How about radically change his powers and costume?  Puuuurrrrfect.  And so was born the year long Electric Superman event.

Superman #123, [Glow-in-the-Dark Edition], May 1997

Pencils: Ron Frenz
Inks: Joe Rubinstein
What better way to celebrate a new costume and new powers than a limited edition, super rare, highly collectible glow in the dark cover?  Sadly, I don't even remember this cover.  I wonder if it's buried in my collection somewhere.  I hope not but, sadly, I wouldn't bet against it.

Comic Covers Sunday: Neil the Horse

Created in the 70's, Neil the horse is a happy, singing and dancing horse who likes bananas and milkshakes. Neil's adventures were syndicated in Canadian newspapers, published in a comic book series, and adapted for a radio musical.  The comic book series featured Neil and his friends Soapy the Cat and Mam'selle Poupée. All three of the characters sing, dance, and play music.

Don't let the sappy intro text fool you.  Yes, the characters like to sing and dance but the cat is as foul mouth'd and dirty as they come.  The series was never adult nor childish enough to be a huge hit so it didn't last long.  But the art is stunning and worth the price alone.

Neil the Horse #1, February 1983
Saba did something with his covers that few have ever managed to do, he made them fun and adult at the same time.  There's a certain amount of childish glee when you see a spaghetti legged horse and a certain amount of "something's not quite right" when the cat is smoking a cigarette.

Comic Covers Sunday: Amazing Cow Heroes

I had a plan for covers this week.  I was all set to go... then I found the series, Amazing Cow Heroes.  It's so incredibly... (insert appropriate adjective here)... that I had to share.   Since I've never seen a single issue and didn't know the books existed before this week I have no clue of they are any good or not.  But as a piece of humor, they're great.  All issues published in 2010.

Best of luck finding a copy...

Amazing Cow Heroes #1
This is a good indication of what you are getting into but this isn't the best cover or character.  Not by far!  Read on because it gets even... (insert appropriate adjective here)... after the break.

Comic Covers Sunday: DIC Honorable Mentions

So, a double post Sunday!  Remember how I asked which deaths were "the best" or "most meaningful" to the guys.  Well, that turned out to be the wrong question.  I (wrongly) assumed that they would limit it to characters who had been around for more than a paragraph, or characters that actually had a story line, or any other number of common meanings.  I didn't get that.  I got so much random crap from the "death" of characters who were no more than text on a page to "deaths" of characters that were resolved in the same issue.  Anyway, there were some good points of discussion so here's the remainder of the list.

Honorable DIC mentions:
SA Supergirl / SA Flash, Crisis on Infinite Earths #7, October 1985

It's funny that everyone always talks about these two deaths in conjunction, but everyone only remembers the Supergirl cover.

Comic Covers Sunday: Friends Who Died

We complain alot of the lack of relevance when a character dies in comics.  In fact, Death in Comics (DIC), has become so meaningless that when the Wasp died, it didn't move the needle.  Damien died recently and we're all just waiting for him to show back up.  So, I asked the guys what "deaths" have had the most meaning for you and this is the response I got... enjoy.

Lori and Judy, The Walking Dead #48, April 2008
Pencils/inks: Charlie Adlard
This has get to be the best DIC in the past few years.  Kirkman was faking this, he just killed'em.  And, he did in probably one of the most horrific ways imaginable.  As DIC goes, this is a classic.

Comic Covers Sunday: Elfquest

Honestly, I have been traveling all week.  Since last Sunday it's been 2 days in Virginia, 3 days in Idaho Falls, 2 days in Maryland, and then back to Virginia.  I don't have the energy for witty banter.  This week, one of the first, and greatest indie books.  Elfquest.

All covers by Wendy Pini

Elfquest #1, April 1979

Comic Covers Sunday: Epic Illustrated

It's Father's Day so I went with a manly magazine this week.  Actually, it's one of the last great comic magazines that was produced!

Epic Illustrated #1, Spring 1980 
Painted:  Frank Frazetta
The first issue not only had a fantastic over by Frazetta but included a Silver Surfer story by Stan Lee and John Buscema, a story by Arthur Suydam, and of course, the start of the Dreadstar saga.

Comic Covers Sunday: Hourman

Even 5-10 years it seems like there is a series that is good, borderline great, that never finds an audience.  The series eventually gets the terrible nickname of "cult classic" which eventually leads to some nerd boy or girl writing fanfiction about it.  Hourman isn't quite there yet but it should be.  Hourman was a critical darling that never sold well but it did feature some of Tom Peyer's best writing and interior art by (little known then) Rags Morales.  It is worth hunting down and here are some of the best covers.

Hourman #1, April 1999
Pencils: Scott McDaniel
Inks: John Dell
As far as an first issue cover, I have to say this does everything right.  The main character is prominently featured.  The villain, all in red, is shown and appears menacing.  The JLA shows up just in case you weren't sure who the character was. 

Comic Covers Sunday: Rocko's Modern Life

After last weeks venture into the obscene, I figured we all needed some good wholesome fun.  This week we look at Rocko's Modern Life which was the 4th Nicktoon ever released in '93 and ran for 4 seasons through '96.  If you like cartoons, the first season is very, very good.  The jokes are clean with just enough bite (read sarcasm and real life situations) to satisfy the adult in the room.  Seasons 2-4 dropped the some of the edgy adult stuff and tended towards more sanitized kid humor.  But for one glorious year it was good family fun.   Interestingly enough, the producer of season 4 went on to create SpongeBob Squarepants!  Anyway, on with the show.

All covers by Darren Auck and Gary Fields

Rocko's Modern Life #1, June 1994
The first issue was very good and captured the essence of the show quite well.  If you liked the show, you were gonna like this!

Comic Covers Sunday: Taboo

Once again, many thanks to Matthew for covering last weekend.  He'd best be careful or he may end up doing it more often! 

This week, in contrast to Star Trek's wholesomeness I offer one of the best horror anthologies out there. Once the comix market died there weren't many true horror books for a number of years.  Don't get me wrong there were plenty of generic horror titles but nothing which was truly unsettling.  Until Taboo that is! 

Taboo #1, Fall 1988
Pencils/ Inks: Stephen Bissette
Now that's a first issue cover!  There can be no doubt what you are getting into if you were to buy this.  On the inside you had stories by Alan Moore, art by Bissette, Vess, Charles Burns, and Cam Kennedy. 

Comic Cover Sundays: Star Trek Fotonovels

To parody John Lennon: "Everybody's talkin' about [Star Trek, Star Trek...]

For your Sunday pleasure this morning, I present some samples of the excellent Star Trek Fotonovel series from 1977 and 1978.  It's a classic Star Trek TV episode in comic book (graphic novel actually) form.  And they are wonderful.  And they speak for themselves:

Comic Covers Sunday: The Silver Surfer in the 90s

Let's start with a huge HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY and the one cover I could find dedicated to Mom's everywhere! 

The Tick Big Mother's Day Special, April 2000
So, if you were to do a search on several of the comic book data bases for a simple word like "mother" you would be shocked at the lack of mother related comics out there.  Actually, you would be more shocked by the amount of adult material that has the word "mother" in the title.  Anyway, being family friendly this is the best I could do... so Happy Mother's Day everyone!.



Now on to Silver Surfer covers and one thing that boys might love more than their Mom... comics.

Comic Covers Sunday: Blackthorne Publishing

Thanks to Matthew for covering last week.  The weekend just got away from me.  Now, on to this week.  Everyone knows the direct market was born in the 80s.  And with it came a publishing boom that brought all sorts of news books to the market.  One of those publishers was Blackthorne.  I was all ready to make fun of them until I realized they had some good books.  Who knew?

Serius Bounty Hunter #1, November 1987

Ok, not all of the books were good.  Take this one about a real serious bounty hunter.  Ugh!  But, prior to this there really were some great books.

Comics Covers Sunday -- The Vigilante

I'm doing a quick pinch-hit for Lee today before Sunday School.  I just listed my Vigilante collection on ebay yesterday and I was impressed about all the great covers.  It really made me want to read the series again.  Enjoy!  And if you're interested you can buy them here:

These are actual scans from my copies.  I remember #19 being one of my favorites with art by Denis Cowan, who drew the Question series (also on sale right now) -- desperate plug.

This series did great job transitioning from the pre-Crisis to post-Crisis universes without missing a beat.

#1 -- Nov 1983 -- Keith Pollard

#11 -- Oct 1984 -- Ross Andru/Dick Giordano

#13 -- Dec 1984 -- Gil Kane 

#17 -- May 1985 -- Paris Cullins+

(Alan Moore story) 

 #19 -- July 1985 -- Denis Cowan

(I remember this being one of my favorites)

#25 -- Jan 1986 -- Dan Day 

#27 -- Mar 1986 -- Joe Kubert 

#28 -- Apr 1986 -- Bill S (I can't spell his name) 

#29 -- May 1986 -- Marshall Rogers 

#31 -- July 1986 --  Denis Cowan 

#35 -- Nov 1985 -- John Byrne 

#36 -- Dec 1986 -- Mike Grell 

#40 -- Apr 1987 -- Howard Chaykin 

#46 -- Oct 1987 -- Tod Smith 

(Series Artist for the most part) 

 #50 -- Feb 1988 -- Ken Stacy

Annual #2 1986 -- Brian Bolland

Comic Covers Sunday: X-Force

Who doesn't fondly remember the 90's and all the wonderful things it did for the comic book industry.  There were foil covers, poly bagged books, and even variants of variant covers.  It's when marketing departments finally took over the industry and nothing has been the same since.  I think one of the books that epitomizes the era the best is X-Force.  I'm not sure I can do Rob Liefeld's X-Force justice but that isn't the point of this post.  Let's talk about the art because, amazingly enough, the series had some great cover artists.

X-Force #1, August 1991
Pencils/Inks: Rob Liefeld
I will not pick any more Liefeld covers.  It's too easy to make fun of them and theres's no sport in that.  But I do love the polybag which ruins any chance of actually seeing what was on the cover.  Not that it mattered because the book came with a baseball card!

X-Force #18, January 1993
Pencils: Greg Capullo
Inks: Harry Candelario
And 20 years later Greg Capullo would be artist on Batman.  I wonder which book actually sold/is selling more, X-Force or Batman? 

X-Force #28, Novemeber 1993
Pencils: Tony Daniel
Inks: Jon Holdredge
Ok, now this is just getting weird because 20 years later Tony Daniel is also drawing Batman.  I really like this cover but I don't think it's the best representation of Daniel's style.  It's also interesting how much Daniel and Capullo were products of Marvel's 90s house style.

X-Force #57, August 1996
Pencils: Adam Pollina
Inks: Mark Morales
Believe it or not, X-Force was actually a good book for a couple of years once all the expectations were off of it.  Pollina was a great artist with a distinct style that was different from most of the other artists on the stands at the time. 

   

X-Force #93, August 1999
Pencils: Jim Cheung
Inks: Scott Elmer
Again, it's amazing the artists that worked on this series.  Cheung is a great storyteller and his covers are just as good today as they were then.




Well, that's all for today.  Now it's time to go watch baseball.

Comic Covers Sunday: Legion of Super-Heroes

How did I manage to get to LSH covers this week?  I have no clue.  Something must have made me think of them.  I started reading LSH during the Great Darkness Saga but apparently there were good stories before then.  I don't know if any of these books have good stories but they have pretty covers!

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #238, April 1978
Pencils/inks: Jim Starlin
I love the cover but I hate the bait/switch that gets pulled on the inside.  This has Curt Swan art which is good but it isn't the same as Jim Starlin. 

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #240, June 1978
Pencils: Mike Grell
Inks: Joe Rubinstein
After the bait-switch of the Starlin cover I decided to check the insides.  In this case we have pencils by Howard Chaykin (layouts) with inks/finishes by Bob Wiacek.  Now that is a heck of a team.  This could be worth looking for in back issues.  I know I'll get a complete story and good art.

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #242, August 1978
Pencils: James Sherman
Inks: Joe Rubinstein
Sherman is one of the beloved LSH artists from back in the day.  I wasn't a LSH fan so I didn't know about him.  But from the random issues I have picked up since, and this cover, he looks great. 

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #250, April 1979
Pencils: Joe Staton
Inks: Dick Giordano
Now this is what I am talking about.  Check out the interior credits, Script: Jim Starlin [as Steve Apollo] (plot); Paul Levitz (script)
You have a great Staton cover and great team on the inside.  This could be another back issue worth hunting for.  The only problem... I've never actually seen it in a long box.

Legion of Super-Heroes #259, January1980
Pencils/inks: Dick Giordano

And eventually, Superboy left the LSH.  What strikes me most about this cover... the rainbow in the background.  It's really kinda weird.



That's all for this week.  Now go watch some baseball.   It's that time of year ya know.

Comic Covers Sunday: The Hostess Ads

Ok, this week isn't about covers but it is about something just as important, THE COMMERCIALS!  If you've read any comic published before 1982 then you've certainly seen these, the Hostess Cupcake ads.  These were so well done that they often appeared to be part of the story.  Ok, maybe not but I'm pretty sure everyone read them and I'm absolutely sure they're better than the "news" in the back of DC comics.

Hostess Ad #1, May-June 1975
Pencils:  Ross Andru
Inks: Mike Esposito
This is the very first Hostess ad.  As the ads go it's ok but I had to start with the first.

Hostess Ad #14, March-April 1977
Pencils: George Tuska
Inks: Mike Esposito
This was one of my favorites!  Why?  Because Spiderman hucks a Hostess Cup Cake right into the ref's mouth.  I don't why he didn't choke but that is one of my favorite panels.

Hostess Ad #42, January 1980
Pencils: Frank Miller
Inks: Joe Rubinstein?
More Frank Miller!  Anyone sick of his art yet?  I loved  the villain Icemaster because he looked so cool.  I searched for other appearances by him but who knew this was his only one.

Hostess Ad #58, May 1981
Pencils: Sal Buscema?
Inks: Chic Stone
I'd always seen this but I never questioned how the Thing was able to use the aliens statis ray to tie them up.  Now that I am older, and nerdier, it seems rather odd.

Hostess Ad #69, April 1982
Pencils: Alan Kupperberg?
Inks: Bob McLeod?
The ads started getting a little strange by the end and this is a prime example.  Maybe it was because I was getting older but I don't think so.   Even I wondered how Nick Fury was able to talk while being choked. 




That's all for this week.  Now go outside and enjoy the sun.

Comic Covers Sunday: Frank Miller

This week I wanted to do something alittle different.  I wanted to highlight the covers of Frank Miller.  But not just any Frank Miller, the young gun Frank Miller before Dark Knight Returns.  So today we look at Frank Miller covers between Daredevil #158, May 1979 and Batman Dark Knight was published in 1986

X-men Annual #3, 1979
Pencils: Frank Miller
Inks: Terry Austin
Talk about unaware!  I never realized this was Miller.  I loved this cover as a kid and of course with interior art by Perez, I loved the insides too.

Rom #3, February 1980
Pencils: Frank Miller
Inks: Terry Austin
And, if you were wondering what got me on this thread, this is the cover that did it.  I wanted to include it in last week's Rom post but decided to break it out as part of this week.  It's amazing how different this cover looks from the X-men cover considering it's the same inker.

Star Wars #47, May 1981
Pencils: Frank Miller
Inks: James Sherman
One of the things I love about this Sunday post is finding new covers.  I would never have guessed this was Miller.  I wonder if he cringes when he see this now?

What If #27, July 1981
Pencils/inks: Frank Miller
This is just like the X-men Annual because I loved the cover as a kid.  While the story is still fun, the interior by Jerry Bingham isn't nearly as much fun as Perez.

Superman, The Secret Years #3, April 1985
Pencils/inks: Frank Miller
Ronin #1 was published in July 1983 and that's really where Miller started to change his style.  This is somewhere between Ronin and Dark Knight.   It's a great cover.  And in this case it's real bait-switch with Curt Swan interiors.





That's it for this week, now go outside and enjoy the snow or sun.