This thread is a companion to the "A Cover A Day" discussion. Click here to visit that discussion or here to view the last reply. It is intended for the discussion of potential new themes and topics for "A Cover A Day", voting on these themes, and the gathering and reporting of statistics.
The following index lists all the themes that have been chosen to date. The clickable link, where present, takes you to the first reply of the given theme, so that you can browse through the posted covers for that month. "Page/Reply" gives the page number in the thread where the topic starts, and reply number (1 to 10) within the page. The index also gives the total number of "Pages" and "Replies" occupied by each theme, as a rough indication of their relative popularity.
Ning 3.0 website update
As a result of the move to the new version of the website:
- It seems to be impossible to create a fixed link that always takes you to the last reply of a thread
- Links to a specific reply generated on the old version of the website are no longer valid
- There are now 10 replies to a page, rather than 12.
Since the old links that used to take you to the first post of a theme no longer work, they have been removed. They are gradually being replaced with new links that take you to a newly-added reply at the start of the month in question. The "Page/Reply" and "Pages" columns have been updated because of the change from 12 to 10 replies per page. The numbers in the "Replies" column should still be accurate, apart from any newly-added "start-of-month" replies.
Until all the old links have been replaced, the "Page/Reply" column gives a way to locate the beginning of any theme, by going to the appropriate page, then counting through the replies. Unfortunately, this is a significantly more inconvenient process.
| Date | Page/Reply | Theme (and clickable link) | Pages | Replies |
| Oct 2016 | 1/1 | Letter A | 22 | 228 |
| Dec 2016 | 23/9 | Letter B | 21 | 207 |
| Jan 2017 | 44/6 | Letter C | 21 | 214 |
| Feb 2017 | 65/10 | Letter D | 21 | 208 |
| Mar 2017 | 86/8 | Letter E | 18 | 178 |
| Apr 2017 | 104/6 | Letter F | 18 | 184 |
| May 2017 | 122/10 | Letter G | 16 | 157 |
| Jun 2017 | 138/7 | Letter H | 20 | 195 |
| Jul 2017 | 158/2 | Letter I | 13 | 133 |
| Aug 2017 | 171/5 | Letter J | 19 | 194 |
| Sep 2017 | 190/9 | Letter K | 24 | 237 |
| Oct 2017 | 214/6 | Letter L | 29 | 285 |
| Nov 2017 | 243/1 | Letter M | 28 | 280 |
| Dec 2017 | 271/1 | Letter N | 23 | 236 |
| Jan 2018 | 294/7 | Letter O | 25 | 245 |
| Feb 2018 | 319/7 | Letter P | 30 | 295 |
| Mar 2018 | 349/2 | Letters Q & R | 24 | 243 |
| Apr 2018 | 373/5 | Letter S | 27 | 271 |
| May 2018 | 400/6 | Superman’s 80th anniversary | 25 | 251 |
| Jun 2018 | 425/7 | Letter T | 25 | 251 |
| Jul 2018 | 450/8 | Letter U | 21 | 208 |
| Aug 2018 | 471/6 | Letter V | 23 | 229 |
| Sep 2018 | 494/5 | Letter W | 23 | 234 |
| Oct 2018 | 517/9 | Letter X | 18 | 181 |
| Nov 2018 | 535/10 | Letter Y | 16 | 157 |
| Dec 2018 | 551/7 | Letter Z | 16 | 157 |
| Jan 2019 | 567/4 | Person being carried | 19 | 191 |
| Feb 2019 | 586/5 | Real people | 21 | 214 |
| Mar 2019 | 607/9 | Homages/parodies | 23 | 225 |
| Apr 2019 | 630/4 | Green-skinned people | 21 | 208 |
| May 2019 | 651/2 | Wanted posters | 20 | 202 |
| Jun 2019 | 671/4 | Boxing rings | 18 | 181 |
| Jul 2019 | 689/5 | Empty uniforms | 18 | 179 |
| Aug 2019 | 707/3 | Beaches | 30 | 298 |
| Sep 2019 | 737/1 | Apes | 34 | 341 |
| Oct 2019 | 771/2 | Haunted houses/graves | 25 | 251 |
| Nov 2019 | 796/3 | Motor bikes | 26 | 255 |
| Dec 2019 | 821/8 | Foreign language covers | 21 | 210 |
| Jan 2020 | 842/8 | Playing cards/tabletop games | 28 | 276 |
| Feb 2020 | 870/4 | Valentines and Cupids | 26 | 260 |
| Mar 2020 | 896/4 | Statues | 26 | 257 |
| Apr 2020 | 922/1 | Elephants | 26 | 264 |
| May 2020 | 948/2 | Heroes & villains cooperating | 20 | 199 |
| Jun 2020 | 968/4 | The Moon | 32 | 323 |
| Jul 2020 | 1000/7 | Flags & patriotic symbols | 23 | 216 |
| Aug 2020 | 1022/3 | Foreign locations (non-US) | 23 | 234 |
| Sep 2020 | 1045/7 | MST3K (with commentary) | 29 | 293 |
| Oct 2020 | 1074/10 | Vampires and Werewolves | 25 | 246 |
| Nov 2020 | 1099/4 | Giants | 29 | 287 |
| Dec 2020 | 1128/3 | Snow & winter scenes | 29 | 290 |
| Jan 2021 | 1157/3 | Doppelgängers | 38 | 378 |
| Feb 2021 | 1195/1 | Movies | 28 | 276 |
| Mar 2021 | 1222/7 | Cats/cat-themed adventurers | 26 | 264 |
| Apr 2021 | 1249/1 | Dogs/dog-themed adventurers | 31 | 306 |
| May 2021 | 1279/7 | Big guns/Heavy weaponry | 30 | 303 |
| Jun 2021 | 1309/10 | Dinosaurs/Time Travel | 34 | 339 |
| Jul 2021 | 1343/9 | Big Questions/Question Marks | 33 | 331 |
| Aug 2021 | 1376/10 | Highways, Travel etc | 23 | 233 |
| Sep 2021 | 1400/2 | Favourite Covers/Comics | 33 | 331 |
| Oct 2021 | 1433/4 | Lineups | 26 | 263 |
| Nov 2021 | 1459/7 | JSA 80th Anniversary | 27 | 270 |
| Dec 2021 | 1486/7 | Logos in the action | 32 | 317 |
| Jan 2022 | 1518/4 | Dynamic Duos | 35 | 348 |
| Feb 2022 | 1553/2 | Romantic Scenes | 31 | 314 |
| Mar 2022 | 1584/6 | Bridges | 34 | 340 |
| Apr 2022 | 1618/6 | Unexpected Green | 29 | 287 |
| May 2022 | 1647/3 | Neal Adams | 31 | 311 |
| Jun 2022 | 1678/4 | George Perez | 23 | 228 |
| Jul 2022 | 1701/2 | Parents | 36 | 357 |
| Aug 2022 | 1736/9 | Fairgrounds and Carnivals | 29 | 286 |
| Sep 2022 | 1765/5 | Joe Kubert | 24 | 239 |
| Oct 2022 | 1789/4 | First and last issues | 33 | 324 |
| Nov 2022 | 1821/8 | Classrooms and Education | 27 | 266 |
| Dec 2022 | 1848/4 | Robots and Cyborgs | 39 | 393 |
| Jan 2023 | 1887/7 | Trials and Courtrooms | 33 | 331 |
| Feb 2023 | 1920/8 | Doctors, Nurses and Hospitals | 29 | 293 |
| Mar 2023 | 1950/1 | Detectives & Murder Mysteries | 41 | 412 |
| Apr 2023 | 1991/3 | Birds and Winged Creatures | 42 | 420 |
| May 2023 | 2033/3 | Strength in Numbers | 57 | 571 |
| Jun 2023 | 2090/4 | Horses, Centaurs & Equines | 38 | 382 |
| Jul 2023 | 2128/6 | John Romita, Sr. | 30 | 301 |
| Aug 2023 | 2158/7 | Railways | 30 | 303 |
| Sep 2023 | 2188/10 | Title Character Not Featured | - | - |
| Oct 2023 | - | Halloween Characters | - | - |
| Nov 2023 | - | Pyramids and Mummies | - | - |
Themes with the greatest number of replies:
- 571 replies - May 2023 - Strength in Numbers
- 420 replies - Apr 2023 - Birds and Winged Creatures
- 412 replies - Mar 2023 - Detectives & Murder Mysteries
- 393 replies - Dec 2022 - Robots and Cyborgs
- 382 replies - Jun 2023 - Horses, Centaurs & Equines
- 378 replies - Jan 2021 - Doppelgängers
Suggestions for possible future themes
- Month-Number based (1-12 in Jan-Dec 2024). Use any rationale you like for picking a cover (number of characters, issue number, publication date, number featured on the cover, etc). Could be extended beyond 12 if it's sufficiently popular/successful. Alternatively, don't tie the numeric theme to the current month number, and intersperse with non-numeric themes.
- Single-Digits ("0" to "9"). A more limited version of the above. Similar to the original "A" to "Z" themes.
- States Of The Union. Could be extended to allow any identifiable US location. A counterpoint to Aug 2020's "Foreign (non-US) locations".
- Sports & Games.
- Deaths & Resurrections.
- Short-lived Series. Series of 12 or fewer issues, no Specials or Annuals.
- Anniversary Issues. Either genuine anniversary issues or "fake" anniversaries (covers claiming "400th anniversary issue" etc, when they really just mean that it's issue #400).
- Character anniversary celebration. Like "Superman's 80th Anniversary" from May 2018. We should pick which character (or characters) to honour BEFORE voting starts.
- Artist Homage. We've already done Neal Adams, George Perez, Joe Kubert & John Romita Sr. As with the "Character Anniversary", we should pick who to honour BEFORE voting.
- Gimmick Covers.
- Painted Covers.
- Cancelled... But Continued. Series cancelled midstream but continued elsewhere.
- TV Shows/Movies.
- Cartoons/Animated Series.
- Family Reunions.
- Construction Sites.
- Versus Mother Nature. Battles against living trees, storms, etc.
- Pride covers (intended or accidental). Possibly for next June?
- Ancient Weapons In Modern Times. Swords, maces, spears, bows, shields, boomerangs etc. Not characters who regularly use these weapons, like Green Arrow or Hawkeye (bows), Captain America (shields) etc.
- Supporting Characters As Focal Point.
- Guest-starring Superman or Spider-Man. Them guest-starring on the cover of someone else's book.
- Crosstime meetings. Batman & the Three Musketeers, Dr Strange & Ben Franklin etc.
- Sleeping/unconscious characters.
Voting is normally using up to three ranked votes, with three points for your first choice, 2 for second place, 1 for third.
Replies
We currently have no topics chosen after next month. Here is the current list of suggested future themes, together with some notes on the suggestions:
I would love Cartoons/Animated Series. Are there too many choices for this? Or will it make it "juicy"? Or should it be separated by categories, e.g., Warner Brothers / Hanna-Barbera / Disney / Walter Lanz etc.?
I'm intrigued by Short-lived Series. Series of 12 or fewer issues, no Specials or Annuals. I wonder if we can get a month's worth of stuff out of it, but what the hey?
Short Lived Series was one of my suggestions Clark. Any limited/mini series would be eligible along with any title that was canceled with or before issue 12.
Add "Pride covers, intended and accidental" to the list of possible themes, maybe next June. See here for the inspiration behind this suggestion from JD DeLuzio.
Some suggestions:
Ancient weapons in modern times (swords, maces, spears, bows [but not Green Arrow or Hawkeye and the like],shields [obviously not Captain America], boomerangs, etc.)
Plants, Trees & Flowers but hostile or important (not in the background)
Supporting characters (as the focal point)
Superman or Spider-Man guest starring covers (them in other books)
Philip Portelli said:
That sounds similar to "Versus Mother Nature". I think that was also your suggestion, Philip, and was proposed as including storms and other violent or dangerous weather events.
My vote for August goes for:
I'd love to do "one to twelve" next year, but I totally understand if others prefer to choose a different topic for each month.
I will second Steve's vote for anniversaries (as well as his preference for numbers 1-12 for 2024).
If I may, I'll update the list of possible future themes to incorporate a few newly-suggested topics. The ballot paper now includes the following:
Do we want to use the scheme of up to three ranked votes that we've used for the last few sets of voting? Three points for your first choice, 2 for second, 1 for third, and you don't need to vote for more than one theme. If so, Steve and Jeff are welcome to add 2nd- and 3rd-place votes.
If we get a single vote, mine goes to "States of the Union". If it's three votes, my second and third preferences are "Pyramids and Mummies" (2 points) and "Anniversary Issues" (1 point).
Running with numeric themes in 2024 (at least for the first few months, to see how it goes) seems like a good idea too.
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