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.
Date | Page/Reply | Theme (and clickable link) | Pages | Replies |
Oct 2016 | 1/1 | Letter A | 19 | 228 |
Dec 2016 | 20/1 | Letter B | 17 | 207 |
Jan 2017 | 37/4 | Letter C | 18 | 214 |
Feb 2017 | 55/2 | Letter D | 17 | 208 |
Mar 2017 | 72/6 | Letter E | 15 | 178 |
Apr 2017 | 87/4 | Letter F | 15 | 184 |
May 2017 | 102/8 | Letter G | 13 | 157 |
Jun 2017 | 115/9 | Letter H | 16 | 195 |
Jul 2017 | 131/12 | Letter I | 12 | 133 |
Aug 2017 | 143/1 | Letter J | 16 | 194 |
Sep 2017 | 159/3 | Letter K | 19 | 237 |
Oct 2017 | 178/12 | Letter L | 24 | 285 |
Nov 2017 | 202/9 | Letter M | 24 | 280 |
Dec 2017 | 226/1 | Letter N | 19 | 236 |
Jan 2018 | 245/9 | Letter O | 21 | 245 |
Feb 2018 | 266/7 | Letter P | 25 | 295 |
Mar 2018 | 291/2 | Letters Q & R | 20 | 243 |
Apr 2018 | 311/5 | Letter S | 22 | 270 |
May 2018 | 333/11 | Superman’s 80th anniversary | 21 | 250 |
Jun 2018 | 354/9 | Letter T | 21 | 250 |
Jul 2018 | 375/7 | Letter U | 17 | 207 |
Aug 2018 | 392/10 | Letter V | 19 | 228 |
Sep 2018 | 411/10 | Letter W | 20 | 233 |
Oct 2018 | 431/3 | Letter X | 15 | 180 |
Nov 2018 | 446/3 | Letter Y | 13 | 156 |
Dec 2018 | 459/3 | Letter Z | 13 | 156 |
Jan 2019 | 472/3 | Person being carried | 16 | 190 |
Feb 2019 | 488/1 | Real people | 17 | 214 |
Mar 2019 | 505/11 | Homages/parodies | 19 | 224 |
Apr 2019 | 524/7 | Green-skinned people | 17 | 207 |
May 2019 | 541/10 | Wanted posters | 17 | 201 |
Jun 2019 | 558/7 | Boxing rings | 15 | 180 |
Jul 2019 | 573/7 | Empty uniforms | 15 | 177 |
Aug 2019 | 588/4 | Beaches | 25 | 297 |
Sep 2019 | 613/1 | Apes | 28 | 340 |
Oct 2019 | 641/5 | Haunted houses/graves | 21 | 250 |
Nov 2019 | 662/3 | Motor bikes | 21 | 254 |
Dec 2019 | 683/5 | Foreign language covers | 17 | 209 |
Jan 2020 | 700/10 | Playing cards/tabletop games | 23 | 275 |
Feb 2020 | 723/9 | Valentines and Cupids | 22 | 259 |
Mar 2020 | 745/4 | Statues | 21 | 256 |
Apr 2020 | 766/8 | Elephants | 22 | 263 |
May 2020 | 788/7 | Heroes & villains cooperating | 17 | 198 |
Jun 2020 | 805/1 | The Moon | 26 | 322 |
Jul 2020 | 831/11 | Flags & patriotic symbols | 18 | 215 |
Aug 2020 | 849/10 | Foreign locations (non-US) | 20 | 233 |
Sep 2020 | 869/3 | MST3K (with commentary) | 24 | 292 |
Oct 2020 | 893/7 | Vampires and Werewolves | 20 | 245 |
Nov 2020 | 913/12 | Giants | 24 | 286 |
Dec 2020 | 937/10 | Snow & winter scenes | 24 | 289 |
Jan 2021 | 961/11 | Doppelgängers | 32 | 377 |
Feb 2021 | 993/4 | Movies | 23 | 275 |
Mar 2021 | 1016/3 | Cats/cat-themed adventurers | 22 | 263 |
Apr 2021 | 1038/2 | Dogs/dog-themed adventurers | 25 | 305 |
May 2021 | 1063/7 | Big guns/Heavy weaponry | 25 | 302 |
Jun 2021 | 1088/9 | Dinosaurs/Time Travel | 28 | 338 |
Jul 2021 | 1116/11 | Big Questions/Question Marks | 28 | 330 |
Aug 2021 | 1144/5 | Highways, Travel etc | 19 | 232 |
Sep 2021 | 1163/9 | Favourite Covers/Comics | 28 | 330 |
Oct 2021 | 1191/3 | Lineups | 21 | 260 |
Nov 2021 | 1212/11 | JSA 80th Anniversary | 23 | 269 |
Dec 2021 | 1235/4 | Logos in the action | 26 | 317 |
Jan 2022 | 1261/9 | Dynamic Duos | 29 | 348 |
Feb 2022 | 1290/9 | Romantic Scenes | 26 | 313 |
Mar 2022 | 1316/10 | Bridges | 29 | 339 |
Apr 2022 | 1345/1 | Unexpected Green | 23 | 286 |
May 2022 | 1368/11 | Neal Adams | ||
Jun 2022 | George Perez | |||
Jul 2022 | Parents | |||
Aug 2022 | Fairgrounds/Carnivals |
Tags:
Let's see, hmmm, ten different covers at $3.99 each, oh yeah, I'm in. No I'm not. Do people really buy multiple issues? I'd rather buy ten different comics.
I like looking at the multiple covers and do appreciate when they are included within the comic.
Lee Houston, Junior said:
Steve W said:
When I was 10 I was a mad, obsessed Adam Strange fan.
Conversely, I never really got into his adventures (though, years later, I did enjoy Alan Moore's take on the character in Swamp Thing #57 & #58 from 1987). However, when I learned that the JLA had co-starred in one of his stories, I decided I had to get hold of the tale. It would have been getting on for ten years after its cover date of May 1962 before I finally managed to acquire a copy of Mystery in Space #75, "The Planet That Came to a Standstill". It's another beautiful cover from Carmine Infantino and the peerless Murphy Anderson, for a story by Gardner Fox.
Notice the amazingly understated way in which the JLA's appearance is announced on the cover, seemingly almost as an afterthought. I wonder if this could be an example of cover art being produced before the story is written? In such a case, the production department might have been able to modify the cover copy to mention the JLA, but not make any changes to the finished art.
A facsimile edition of Mystery in Space #75 was released a year or so ago.
Peter Wrexham said:
Notice the amazingly understated way in which the JLA's appearance is announced on the cover, seemingly almost as an afterthought. I wonder if this could be an example of cover art being produced before the story is written? In such a case, the production department might have been able to modify the cover copy to mention the JLA, but not make any changes to the finished art.
I think they pretty much intended for the JLA to appear in the story because Kanjar Ro (the other guy on the cover) had previously only appeared in the JLA book.
Dave Palmer said:
Let's see, hmmm, ten different covers at $3.99 each, oh yeah, I'm in. No I'm not. Do people really buy multiple issues? I'd rather buy ten different comics.
Depending upon the print runs of the alternate covers, they must be selling more comics or they’d stop doing it.
All the recent DC anniversary issues were $9.99 per copy with a different cover for each decade and a DC regular issue with a variant cover has gone from the original $3.99 to $4.99 at times for the other image(s) because they started printing them on different stock.
It can really add up.
Remember the big to do over the original Legends of the Dark Knight #1? And all it had was one of five different pieces of colored paper around the actual issue. Was one shade worth more than another?
Did it actually matter?
Personally, I think not, but that's just me.
I think there is a certain type of collector (one who doesn't read the comics, likely) who goes in for the miltiple covers. Regarding the recent anniversary issues, the HC collection is the best deal, as it includes all the covers an usually an additional feature or two. And, yes, I remember the original LotDK (ugh), the comic that started the whole furshlugginer trend. And I remember how they explained it, too: "And the four colors? That's just for fun." Yeah, right.
LotDK #1 was the first comic I bought after a 10-year break. I bought it at the 1989 San Diego Con.
I only bought a single copy. It was a great series.