You call this iconic? I’ve never even seen #2 before. Where the hell does that come from? You find it in some stupid dollar bin and thought it was ‘Neat-O’ when you were five, so now we all have to pretend it is ‘iconic’ to assuage your ego, Brian? Jeeze.

And that first one…. how obscure is that, seeing, Batman holding a dead Robin… too depressing… you’ll never see that homaged or referenced ever again. That story is another one of your random dollar bin picks!

Seriously, do you even read comics?

Of course, it can be argued that the original Crisis cover with Superman holding the dead body of Supergirl was an homage to that Batman cover.

I almost had the Batman 156 cover on my list of covers that belonged on the list, but opted not to.

My choice in the play-in (Identity Crisis) didn’t make it, nor did my preferred Animal man cover, but I am hard-pressed to argue with the two that made it in.

Wow, AM #5! Am I ever happy. I figured Bane breaking the Bat would make it (and I couldn’t argue, I suppose) … was really worried that two Animal Man covers would split the vote and neither would make it. Whew!

Now how on earth am I gonna pick just 10?

Damn. I was hoping All-Star Squadron #1 or Animal Man #1 would make it…

Ah well…

So by my check, these are the members of the top 50 DC heroes who didn’t have an appearance on the iconic covers (either the top 90 or the play-in game version.) Feel free to correct me if I’ve made a mistake. Some of these would make interesting choices for the next run of Top 5 Iconic Covers (obviously, some of them have already had a column devoted to them [Question, Luthor], or don’t really have 5 covers [Rorschach, Death], but a Top 5 Iconic Tim Drake, Booster Gold, or Kyle Rayner Covers would be interesting.)

Robin (Tim Drake) – 502 (3)
Booster Gold – 428 (7)
The Question (Vic Sage) – 395 (4)
Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) – 364 (6)
Rorschach – 363 (5)
Lex Luthor (All Star – 11) – 344 (1)
John Constantine – 344 (8)
Power Girl – 289 (5)
Catwoman – 251 (1)
Death – 229 (2)
Spider Jerusalem – 225 (9)
Black Adam – 195
Yorick Brown – 186 (2)
Deathstroke the Terminator – 171
Bart Allen Impulse/Kid Flash – 169 (5)
Bizarro – 169
Jonah Hex – 162 (5)
Ambush Bug – 157 (6)
Huntress (Helena Bertenelli – 125 (2), Helena Wayne – 19) – 144 (1)

Animal Man # 5 has my vote.

Otherwise, I’d go for Batman # 497. Whattaway to break the Goddamn Batman’s back!!!

@MLViola: I was just joking about the Batman cover. It’s been homaged over and over (I mean, that is exactly how Batman grabs up Jason Todd’s dead body in Death in the Family, for example) and it was referenced pretty hardcore in the Morrison run leading up to Batman R.I.P. And of course I was joking about Action #1. It just seems that no matter what covers Brian choses to include, someone always complains, which I felt was ripe for satire.

Oh, I should mention the neat touch: the first two covers in this series featured an important “death” in Superman mythos and the first appearance of Batman. The two today featured an important “death” in the Batman mythos and the first appearance of Superman.

That is some nifty bookending, Thok. Thanks for pointing it out.

I’d like to add, about Bane v. Batman — normally I like Kelley Jones, but damn! Bane’s head is preposterously small against that hulked-out body. Looks ridiculous.

I will definitely be votng for that gorgeously surreal Batman #156. And Joe Man thanks for clarifying your satire. I thought you might be joking, but going by the vehemence of some past comments, and that sometimes it’s hard to tell on the old Net, wasn’t 100% sure.

AM 5 beat IDC 1? *blinks*

I was really hoping All-Star Squadron would have made it; I was on the road yesterday and couldn’t vote. I like how it represents that fanboy joy of coming up with your own dream roster.

Yay – animal Man 5 made it! It’s a shame Swamp Thing didn’t, but I can’t argue against breaking the bat.