Comments on: The Top 75 Most Iconic Covers in DC History – Day 18

By: Ali Vs. Superman to Return to Shelves in 2010 | J David Weter Dot Com

Ali Vs. Superman to Return to Shelves in 2010 | J David Weter Dot Com — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:34:59 +0000

[...] The Top 75 Most Iconic Covers in DC History – Day 18 (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) [...]

By: wwk5d

wwk5d — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:58:38 +0000

The Braniac cover isn’t all that impressive. But the other 3 are really great looking covers…I’d have to go with the Batman cover, as it’s the most well known.

By: fourthworlder

fourthworlder — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:33:08 +0000

I remember being about ten and loving the novelty of the 100 pg Super Spec, and trying to understand who all those new/old characters were.

on the other hand, part of me agrees with what Jack Kirby said about it, when someone at DC (Infantino?) held it up at the time as an example of what great comic art should be. Kirby said it was terrible, all the heroes standing in the same pose, stiff and lifeless, or something like that. He said some of them should have been flying at the reader, showing some emotion, throwing punches, etc.

I bet Kirby loved this Aquaman cover.

By: Paulv

Paulv — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:30:30 +0000

The 100 Page SS seems as special now as it did when I first picked it up off the rack new.

It’s the nuances and “off camera meet & greets” that are so effective here. The Top Ten reasons this is one of the greatest covers of all time:

10. The Earth-2 Wonder Woman standing center spotlight, while the Earth-1 Diana Price “The All-New Wonder Woman”, takes a back cover spot.

9. The Earth-1 and Earth-2 Batmen actually being in the same place at the same time. To be a fly on the wall.

8. Hal & Ollie palling around by Neil Adams.

7. Can’t you just imagine Captain Cold and the Mirror Master inadvertantly trying to rob the studio that’s taking this picture?

6. The Dick Grayson of Earth 2 wouldn’t have made it very far on “Project Runway”.

5. Shapshifter J’Onn J”onzz screwing with everybody by giving himself a giant head just as the photographer is snapping the picture.

4. A motorcycle-riding, six-gun shooting cowboy whose day job is a country singer known as “The Prarie Troubadour” somehow not seeming out of place with these guys.

3. Having that empty space in front of Mr. Terrific so we can see the iconic “Fair Play” logo on his abdomen.

2. A young Earth-1 Robin, hanging & banging with the big boys. I would have liked to have seen him closer to the big three, but if this were “real life”, he would have been humbled and taken his place off to the side.

1. In a room with 2 Batmen, 2 Supermen, 2 Wonder Women, The Spectre. Martian Manhunter and 2 Green Lanterns, it’s Wesley Dodds in a gas mask that looks the most bad-ass of them all.

By: Phil

Phil — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:20:51 +0000

Yeah, I kinda figured Zero Hour #4 wasn’t going anywhere, but man, that clutched empty Flash mask? That was one striking image.

By: Torsten Adair

Torsten Adair — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:58:43 +0000

The iconic cover of Batman: Year One is the extreme spotlit close-up of Batman on the cover of the collection. Flat colors, simple rendering, turning Batman into an… icon.

The other three… nice, but not memorable.

Here’s the crux of this debate: iconic can mean:
Memorable
Great design
Great story inside
Great illustration of what the character(s) is/are
Historic
Homaged
mostly based on memorable covers.

Prez #1 is memorable. Aquaman… maybe the first issue with his blue suit, otherwise nothing comes to mind. Shazam? Plastic Man? Blue Beetle? Good series, but nothing which sticks in my memory. Whereas Lois Lane’s “black” issue and Jimmy Olsen’s Don Rickles guest shot are memorable (for the wrong reasons).

Hey… you gonna do something similar for MAD covers?

By: azjohnson5

azjohnson5 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:22:35 +0000

First, they are all incredible; second, the #2 cover ,give Dick Giordano as much credit as Mr. Adams on that one! Have to agree with Dan Fleming about the Aquaman cover, and have been waiting for a while for #3…

BUT actually going with #1 .

By: Wade AuCoin

Wade AuCoin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:58:34 +0000

I’d like to add Wonder Woman #72 from the 1987 series, Batman #11 from the original series and of course All-Star Comics #3 for consideration in your list.

By: DanLarkin

DanLarkin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:22:23 +0000

J’onn’s head looks really weird on the 100 page SS.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:17:47 +0000

If anyone has a cleaner copy of the front cover of the DC 100-Page Super Spectacular, please drop me a line.

Thanks.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:15:05 +0000

Yep.

By: Roman

Roman — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:10:28 +0000

Is that Aquaman cover by Nick Cardy?

By: Mike Blake

Mike Blake — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:21:23 +0000

DC considered the Brainiac cover iconic enough to use on the cover of the SHOWCASE PRESENTS volume that included it:

http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/File:Showcase_Presents_Superman_Volume_1.jpg

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:02:57 +0000

You’ll have better luck with your other picks, Phil.

By: Phil Sandifer

Phil Sandifer — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:57:52 +0000

Since my pick of the Batman: Year One cover is now listed, I’ll add one to yesterday’s list of most iconic covers yet to be on the list with:

Zero Hour #4.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:55:31 +0000

Yeah, first Brainiac.

Within a year, Action Comics introduced Brainiac, Supergirl and the adult Bizarro (plus Metallo).

Not bad for a year’s worth, especially when very few new characters were being introduced at the time.

By: Craig B.

Craig B. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:53:57 +0000

I know I should know this, but what’s the significance of #1 – first appearance of Braniac? It just doesn’t look that impressive or iconic to me, but I might feel differently if I understood its significance. Also, I hadn’t seen #4 before, but I like it a lot.

By: Dan Fleming

Dan Fleming — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:25:48 +0000

Batman Year One.

The aquaman cover is not iconic, but damn if it isn’t amazing.

By: DanLarkin

DanLarkin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:40:16 +0000

Love the Cardy Aquaman cover.

By: Jonathan Ehrich

Jonathan Ehrich — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:37:47 +0000

I have seen ALL comic book covers before, and I have never seen #2.

(Except in the poll above this post on the main page.)