The Greatest Comic Book Covers of All Time
Table of Contents
Cover
COMICS BUYER’S GUIDE PRESENTS: THE TEAM!
GOLDEN AGE GOTCHAS
DRESSING IT UP
WHAT’S NEXT?
IMAGINARY TALES
WAVING THE FLAG
IT’S A TRIBUTE, NOT A SWIPE
SILVER AGE STUNNERS
IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN (LANTERN)
GOT INNUENDO?
ENTERTAINING E.C.
SUPER-COVERS
HEY, KIDS! COMICS!
SHAZAM!
DEATH AND DYING
CHEESY CHEESECAKE
SWING WITH SPIDER-MAN
MARVEL ZOMBIES
BRONZE AGE BLASTS
HEY, THAT LOOKS LIKE-
GANGWAY!
WAR! WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?
’80S EXCITEMENT
LET’S YOU AND HIM FIGHT
IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN (HULK)
IN SPACE, NO ONE CAN READ YOUR COMICS
’90S KNOCKOUTS
IT’S A TRIBUTE, NOT A SWIPE (PART TWO)
MILLENNIAL MASTERPIECES
GETTING INTO THE ACT
TOP 10
THE END
ARTISTS
Copyright
COMICS BUYER’S GUIDE
PRESENTS: THE TEAM!
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Welcome to Comics Buyer’s Guide Presents: The Greatest Comic Book Covers of All Time! What makes a great cover? Is it the artist, the characters shown, the situation in which they’re placed, the age of the buyer, or some other nebulous element or elements? Those were some of the questions we asked ourselves in assembling this, the latest in our Comics Buyer’s Guide Presents series.
In 1989, then-DC Editor Mark Waid wrote in Secret Origins #40 (May 89), “Back in the late 1950s and early 1960s — in the days when we really thought we had the vaguest idea what the hell would really sell a comic book … there were unwritten laws about what to put on a cover. Gorillas, for example — we must have published 200 covers featuring gorillas, probably more. … dinosaurs were popular and sold covers … motorcycles sold. And fires — fires sold … purple covers did well. As did covers with questions-to-the-reader on them … And, last but not least, then-publisher Carmine Infantino swore up and down that if you showed your hero crying — well that made a cover.” Of course, the other factors we discussed also entered our search — and the search even helped define one of the categories. (See if you can guess which one.) Among categories we didn’t address is the impact of cover logos, including those of DC logo designer Ira Schnapp. What other vital cover elements should we have included? Let us know!
By the way, you should know that Comics Buyer’s Guide is the longest-running magazine about comics in the Western Hemisphere. Begun in 1971 by a teen in East Moline, Ill., CBG has brought comics fans and pros news, reviews, auction updates, and commentary for four decades. Subscription and other information appears on this page, and you can also check out selected back issues free on your mobile device through the Google Newsstand, Comics+, and Graphicly apps.
These were our cover choices. Are they yours? Did we leave out your favorite? Make your case at CBGXtra.com, via email to ohso@krause.com, or by mail to our editorial offices. Ready … Aim …
— Brent Frankenhoff
GOLDEN AGE GOTCHAS
Today, we call the period from approximately 1938 to 1951 the Golden Age, in part because it was when experiments produced a few shining tales that brought riches to the new field of illustrated stories. Many of those early magazines were anthologies, packed with images designed to attract young readers enough that they’d fork over their dimes to support the new art form.
Action Comics #1 (Jun 38)
Art by Joe Shuster
There were costumed adventurers before Superman arrived on the scene, but it was the adventures (and sales) of The Man of Steel that made the super-hero genre explode. Food for thought: Most of the other contents of this new anthology title had been put in place before it was decided to add his story — and this eye-popping cover.
Detective Comics #27 (May 39)
Art by Bob Kane
Less than a year after Superman’s debut, DC captured lightning in a bottle again with Batman. Much like his fellow costumed hero, The Dark Knight Detective dominated most covers of this anthology series.
Marvel Comics #1 (Nov 39)
Art by Frank R. Paul
Pulp publisher Martin Goodman expanded into comics with this anthology featuring new characters alongside jungle adventurer Ka-Zar (from his pulps).
More Fun Comics #65 (Mar 41)
Art by Bernard Bally
What began as a humor anthology, More Fun Comics eventually offered the adventures of such fantastic characters as Doctor Fate and The Spectre — which made for a double-take on this cover’s combo of words and picture.
All-Star Comics #37 (Nov 47)
Art by Irwin Hasen
DC’s heroes formed a super-team: The Justice Society of America. What worked for the good guys might have worked for the bad. The Injustice Society of the World thought it was worth a try. Readers had to check out the results!
Captain America Comics #1 (Mar 41)
Art by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
America hadn’t yet entered World War II, when Joe Simon and Jack Kirby introduced their star-spangled hero with a U.S. sock to the Führer’s jaw.
Action Comics #1: … let’s give him a big S on his chest, and a cape, make him as colorful as we can and as distinctive as we can.”
— Jerry Siegel
Superman: The Complete History (1998)
DRESSING IT UP
As the art of comics evolved, most publishers stuck to a simple cover format: a company logo, a title, the price, and an eye-catching image. Now and then, companies strayed from that model to make the shopper look twice — and, maybe, buy a copy.
Extra! #3 (Aug 55)
Art by Johnny Craig
When The Comics Code ended E.C.’s line of weird, crime, and war titles, the publisher tried other genres with its “New Direction” line. This series had a cover design that stood out on the newsstand. Extra! featured the adventures of reporters Keith Michaels, Steve Rampart, and Geri Hamilton (another break from the past for a publisher that seldom featured series c
haracters).
Classics Illustrated #89 (Nov 51)
Art Uncredited
There’s no way to tell how many students over the years substituted Classics versions for the novels they were supposed to read. This cover, though, aimed to attract casual comics buyers, too. (Those who bought it for English classes may not have known the adaptation ended at the novel’s midpoint.)
Stories by Famous Authors Illustrated #1 (Aug 50)
Art by H.C. Kiefer
Seaboard attempted to give its adaptations a touch of class with this cover treatment, though the first issue featured an adventure hero.
Secret Six #1 (May 68)
Art by Frank Springer
Seldom in the history of newsstand comics has a comic book begun its story on the front cover of the issue. Was it a successful marketing tool? Well, it was a mystery novel that was canceled before the mystery was solved.
Superman: The Man of Steel #30 (Feb 94)
Art by Jon Bogdanove
Hailed as the “first-ever do-it-yourself cover,” it featured a sheet of vinyl clings of Superman and Lobo in an assortment of poses that readers could stick to the cover to stage their own fights.
Wolverine #50 (Jan 92)
Art by Marc Silverstri and Dan Green
After years of teases about Wolverine’s past, this issue revealed key points of information under its “shredded file folder” cover.
Extra! #3: I liked it because it was a clean type of story, and clean type of book … it had an engaging character, someone whom I could develop and build on.
— Johnny Craig
Interview with art collector Roger Hill, 1969
Reprinted from Foul Play!, 2005
WHAT’S NEXT?
One way a cover grabs readers is by tantalizing them with a crisis so compelling that they must buy the issue to see how it’s resolved. To pull it off, the artist packs the image with tension — and a story clearly told.
Airboy Vol. 5 #12 (#59, Jan 49)
Art by Dan Zolnerowich
Readers had already read the first part of the two-part tale of “Airboy and the Rats,” so they should have been eager to grab this second installment anyway. Nevertheless, this cover was designed to attract even more buyers to a story that suggested that, if the world’s rats could unite to attack mankind, it might be impossible to defeat them. It was nightmare time.
Mister Mystery #12 (Aug 53)
Art by Bernard Baily
The potential of serious eye injury was an element in more than one story in the 1940s and 1950s. In fact, it was singled out as offensive — and that meant some collectors actually began (pardon the expression) keeping an eye out for such issues.
Strange Suspense Stories #19 (Jul 54)
Art by Steve Ditko
Eeeek! Now what?
Green Lantern #5 (Apr 61)
Art by Gil Kane and Joe Giella
OK, tricky enough dealing with one super-villain after another. But without his power ring? Hey, it’ll only take a dime to find out how he gets out of this — if he does!
Flash #163 (Aug 66)
Art by Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella
Breaking the Fourth Wall? Yep, it’s that serious for Barry Allen! Well, if fans are true blue, they should be willing to fork over 12¢ to demonstrate their loyalty, right? What’s with him, anyway?
Thor #364 (Feb 86)
Art by Walter Simonson
It was not only an unusual Thor story by Walter Simonson. It was also, as other covers used to proclaim, “Not a dream, a hoax, or an imaginary story!” What the heck? Who could pass this up?
Strange Suspense Stories #19: Charlton was the lord of low-budget comics, but it did publish many good issues.
— Tony Isabella
1000 Comic Books You Must Read, 2009
IMAGINARY TALES
Speaking of imaginary stories (which we were on page 7, you may recall): In “Whatever Happened to The Man of Tomorrow?,” Alan Moore explained that all comics stories are “imaginary tales,” but that these are the stories in which the usual rules don’t apply and the status quo can change radically. So why would anyone bother with them, if they make no difference? Or are we overthinking this? What do you mean, “Could be”?
Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #19 (Aug 60)
Art by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye
Editor Mort Weisinger introduced the concept of Imaginary Tales with the first story of “Mr. and Mrs. Superman.” More imaginary than the marriage of Clark Kent and Lois Lane was Lois’ wardrobe for a simple dinner at home. Move over, Donna Reed! (Editor Maggie’s note: That’s Editor Brent writing, folks. He’s too young to know about the Gracious Living that was home life in almost all of 1960s pop culture.)
Superman #149 (Nov 61)
Art by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye
The Man of Steel would die — or at least come perilously close to meeting his maker — multiple times in the 1960s. World Color Press probably had to stock up on components of green ink for all the times Superman was poisoned by green kryptonite.
Superman #162 (Jul 63)
Art by Kurt Schaffenberger
Kurt Schaffenberger’s cover gave readers two Supermen for the price of one — as well as an easy way to tell them apart. (Some remember the tale fondly; some were just bored by one big happy ending. But it’s classic.)
World’s Finest Comics #172 (Dec 67)
Art by Curt Swan and George Klein
Changes to their origin stories were another staple of Imaginary Stories featuring Superman and Batman. The concept would return in DC’s Elseworlds titles in the 1980s and ’90s.
World’s Finest Comics #221 (Feb 74)
Art by Nick Cardy
Following an earlier series of super-offspring one-shot adventures, the “Super-Sons” stories began with a Nick Cardy cover and a fun switch on the “my dad can beat up your dad” idea.
Superman & Batman: Generations #1 (1999)
Art by John Byrne
John Byrne took The Man of Steel and The Dark Knight through the decades, allowing each to age, have children, and face the challenges that age can bring in an imaginative mini-series. He flawlessly captured the look of the characters in each decade of their appearance.
World’s Finest Comics #172: I think this Curt Swan/George Klein cover may have been on the first comic book I ever read. I loved having my two favorite heroes together in the same family in this imaginary story.
— Norm Breyfogle
CBG #1677, May 2011
WAVING THE FLAG
Especially just before and during World War II, American magazines sought out powerful images to display support of the nation. Though use of such images have been less frequent in the years since, they can still attract readers.
Superman #14 (Jan 42)
Art by Fred Ray
Already clothed in red and blue, Superman was a natural candidate for patriotic covers, including this Fred Ray example. Several CBGXtra.com readers cited it, when we asked them to suggest comics’ greatest covers.
Captain Marvel Adventures #16 (Oct 42)
Art by C.C. Beck
Once the U.S. was in World War II, it was time for everyone to roll up their sleeves and get to work, as Captain Marvel and Uncle Sam demonstrated. One way kids could “Paste the Axis,” by the way, was by buying war bonds — a message that was often repeated throughout the conflict.
Captain Marvel Jr. #21 (Jul 44)
Art by Mac Raboy
And there was no need to be subtle about war bonds and stamps. In fact, covers indicated it was simply a happy thing to do.
Doll Man Quarterly #6 (Sum 43)
Art by Al Bryant
Striking cover images made matters clear.
Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories #22 (Jul 42)
Art by Carl Buettner
Even funny animals flew the flag during the war.
Captain America #284 (Aug 83)
Art by Mike Zeck and John Beatty
&n
bsp; This introspective image was reused as the cover for Comics Buyer’s Guide #1455 in 2001, following the September 11 attacks. A powerful image is a powerful image — and sometimes editors simply find that a powerful image is the best way to express a compelling emotion that will be shared by readers.
Superman #14: With that eagle on his arm and the star-spangled shield behind him, has any cover ever done a better job of saying, “Truth, Justice, and the American Way”?
— Len Wein
CBG #1608, September 2005
IT’S A TRIBUTE, NOT A SWIPE
Jack Kirby created this iconic image to kick off what became known as The Marvel Age of Comics with Fantastic Four #1 (Nov 61). It has inspired other artists to create their own versions in the years since. A true swipe should be a stolen image passed off as an original creation. In the case of the covers on these pages, each is clearly designed to recall to the reader the original Kirby creation. Take a gander at the characters other covers have substituted for the roles of Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, The Human Torch, and The Invisible Girl.