A Cover a Day

[Steve W]

Ok, how about this for an idea.  We take it in turns to post a favourite (British spelling) comic cover every day.  This went really well on the comic fan website that I used to frequent.  What we tried to do was find a theme or subject and follow that, until we all got bored with that theme.  I'd like to propose a theme of letters of the alphabet. So, for the remainder of October (only 5 days) and all of November, we post comic cover pictures associated with the letter "A".  Then in December, we post covers pertaining to the letter "B".  The association to the letter can be as tenuous as you want it to be. For example I could post a cover from "Adventure Comics" or "Amazing Spider Man".  However Spider Man covers can also be posted when we're on the letter "S".  Adventure Comic covers could also be posted when we're on the letter "L" if they depict the Legion of Super Heroes.  So, no real hard, fast rules - in fact the cleverer the interpretation of the letter, the better, as far as I'm concerned.

And it's not written in stone that we have to post a cover every day. There may be some days when no cover gets posted. There's nothing wrong with this, it just demonstrates that we all have lives to lead.

If everyone's in agreement I'd like to kick this off with one of my favourite Action Comic covers, from January 1967. Curt Swan really excelled himself here.

[Steve W]

It's well known that Mort would just introduce a new super-power for Supes anytime when sales were slumping in the late golden age, but this particular one never caught on. I wonder why?

[JD DeLuzio]

Sheesh, I hate when people read over my shoulder.

That reminds me, what's October's topic again?

[Dave Palmer]

“Dude, go put on some pants”

[Peter Wrexham]

JD DeLuzio said:

That reminds me, what's October's topic again?

As I suspect you may remember, it's "Vampires and Werewolves"...

Dave Palmer said:

“Dude, go put on some pants”

...and November's theme is "Giants".

Is now a good time to consider what we'll be doing in December and after?

Jeff has suggested the following possibilities (I've deleted a few that match themes we've already used):
- "Logos Into the Act" (Logos destroyed or otherwise affected by the action on the cover) [I would suggest extending this to include characters bursting through the cover, or folding it back to show what's inside the comic, and similar tricks]
- "I Quit" (The hero packs it in and retires)
-"Cheesecake So Good You Can Show It to Your Wife" (self-explanatory)
-"Itentity Crisis" (Doppelgangers)
-"Hero Rampant" (An iconic image the defines the character.)
-"He's Dead, Jim" (self-explanatory)
-"Monocrome" (or limited palette)
-"Liplock" (Kissing) [or is this too close to February's "Valentines & Cupids"?]
-"The Big Reveal" (the hero's secret revealed!)

Philip suggested for December or January
- Snow/winter scenes (but not Christmas ones or those with cold guys like Iceman or Captain Cold)

Older ideas include:
- Two groups of heroes (or a group of heroes and a group of villains) lined up to fight each other.
- The color purple
- A big burning question
- Cats & cat-themed adventurers
- Characters wielding unfeasibly large guns
- Bridges
- Mothers & Fathers
- Falling down
- Robots
- New costumes (either permanent or one-shots)
- Planes
- Time travel

I quite like the idea of snow/winter scenes for December as Philip suggested (seems appropriate, at least in the Northern hemisphere), then maybe "Logos" or "Doppelgangers" in January.  Anyone else want to weigh in?

[Jeff of Earth-J]

My two favorites are both from the Julius Schwartz school: either "two groups of heroes/villains lined up against each other" or "the color purple."

[Peter Wrexham]

And here's a cover that probably wouldn't be suitable for "Cheesecake So Good You Can Show It to Your Wife".

Is this the new Planet Comics cover? Okay, let's go through the checklist.
- Evil foes with rayguns who can't shoot straight.  Check;
- Buff hero with a six-pack.  Check;
- Hot heroine wearing a brass bra and very little else.  Check;
- Bondage.  Check;
- Buff hero rescuing heroine in bondage...What!?!?

Oh, so close!  No, we can't use this.

[Doctor Hmmm?]

OK, so I'm just going to be a big ole nerd and point out that since January is named for the Roman god Janus - traditionally depicted as having two faces, one looking into the past and one into the future, as befits a god of transitions - doppelgangers ain't a bad choice for that month.

[Steve W]

I'm cool with that - Janus for January (Doppelgangers). Anyone else think this is good?

And what about December? I think we want something at least slightly seasonal - snowy scenes would work for me, but this is a democracy, so maybe a vote?

[Steve W]

Back to this month, and it's the eyes that get me on this particular cover. What is Superboy supposed to be conveying with his eyes? Fear - surprise - a fishy expression - blankness? Seriously weird.

[Richard Willis]

If this story came out today, DC would have an action figure for each color costume and at least a couple of statues.

[Richard Willis]

.....and of course, action figures and statues for this.

[Dave Palmer]

Richard Willis said:

If this story came out today, DC would have an action figure for each color costume and at least a couple of statues.