Recently we looked at the "Pieta Cover" and the myriad versions of that memorable pose. Comic covers like the iconic Fantastic Four #1 have been recreated too many times to collect them all here. If you search the web you might find dozens of examples. Here we will look at archetypal covers as well as the oddball and obscure. A number of artists have handled the pencils, but John Byrne seems to enjoy the process as many of the examples below are his. Sometimes he even paid homage to his own earlier work. Other covers are from the likes of Mike Zeck, Ron Frenz, Pat Broderick and John Buscema.
Modern comics have started to recreate the classics regularly; I've tried to stick to comics from the 20th century (but there may be an exception or three because I particularly liked the styling). To make it challenging, sometimes I have included the original inspiration and for others I have only included the inspired. Do you recognize these? A couple even reference images from sources other than comics!
There are more than 40 opportunities today, choose your favorite 4 and get the conversation rolling. And please try not to repeat your comments!
Nice selection of covers, with some real classics, like the awesome Deathlok image from Astonishing Tales and, of course, Steranko's Nick Fury cover. And yeah, good call on Byrne - he really did do a lot of these, including "swipes" of his own, earlier covers. Love that What If cover in particular, and the story is really fun to boot.
ReplyDeleteSince I had or have a number of the stories featured here in one form or another, I'll again go with the ones I'd genuinely pick out of a dollar bin: the two issues of Ms. Mystic, which I've always been curious about, as I only ever had the first issue of that series published by Pacific (although I'm betting I'd probably regret that purchase), and the two issues of Spidey Super Stories, just because those covers are so amusing.
Hmm . . . another cover swipe just occurred to me. This time it was John Byrne who had one of his own covers swiped, eleven years later, by Rob Liefeld. New Mutants #99, with Sunspot leaving the team and carrying a duffel bag over his shoulder, is taken from X-Men #138, which depicts Cyclops leaving.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Edo, those Spidey Super Stories covers are hilarious—so obviously taken from "Jaws" and "Star Wars."
That's a lot of comic homage being paid; and a lot of research to bring them all up. Nice work, Martinex1! And you're right, the 21st. Century has seen a lot more of such covers. Quite a few variant covers seem to fall into this category. Just goes to show the strength of many of those old comic cover designs; artists still keep on mining the classics.
ReplyDeleteYes, those Spidey covers are a blast; I'd have to grab the "Jaws" cover, definitely. That cover made me think of another tribute to that iconic movie poster: an issue of Simpsons Comics featured a giant Homer about to devour a swimming Marge. Hilarious. Indeed, the Simpsons comics have many examples of homage covers. Another favorite parodies Carl Barks' Duck books, with Homer as Donald, Mr. Burns as Uncle Scrooge, and the Simpson kids as Huey, Dewie and Louie.
Ok, along with Spidey, I'll go with Adventure, Astonishing Tales with Deathlok (agreeing with Edo, that cover is a beaut), and Detective Comics.
The 4 designs I like best, that make me want to open up the comic, are:
ReplyDeleteDeathlock- love this collage inside the silhouette. The Nick Fury homage doesn't look as good, too ordinary.
Detective/Batman and Robin- Looking through this tunnel/stairs area to the villain in the doorway, the angled perspective. Dramatic, with a bit of a horror vibe with the hero clutching his hands. The Captain America homage is also nice (Mike Zeck?).
Doomsday+1 -Simple punch, wham!! It fills up the cover and gets into our space. The Wolverine homage is pretty good, but I prefer the original.
Nick Fury- in space. Not a typical space pose, and this cover has intensity and detail to it. I'd like to open up the Ka-zar homage, as I was a fan of this series, but left it in the mid-20s. The final issue (collector's item?? I wonder how many issues with "collector's item" on the cover actually became valuable) and also-- Ka-zar in space! Did Tarzan ever go into space?
Great selection of covers. As silly as it is, 'Star Jaws' was one of my favorite comics as a kid. When you're 6 in 1977, it doesn't get much better than "Spider-Man meets Star Wars." Doctor Doom stood in for Vader, Sam the Sesame Street robot took the place of C-3P0 and R2D2. Great stuff.
ReplyDeleteI've read a number of these, and I like a good cover swipe, especially some of the more subtle ones. I'm not sure what I'd pick from these...probably Legion, JLA (that chess game cover from JLA #1 has been redone quite a few times), maybe an Avengers, and something with Spidey (I actually have that Amazing #306 with Spidey lifting the police car--an homage to Action Comics #1--but unfortunately the villain he fights in that issue is Humbug, so...)
ReplyDeleteA few more frequently-reproduced covers that come to mind: Amazing Spider-Man #50 (though I think the interior panel with Peter walking away in the alley and his costume in the garbage can has been used even more than the cover itself); Uncanny X-Men #100 (with the two teams facing each other); Justice League #1 (from 1987); and Teen Titans #23 (with Wonder Girl bursting through the paper)
Mike Wilson
Spoiled for choice! I loved looking at all these. Cover design is truly an artform unto itself. As much as I enjoy homage covers I had to go for pure story this time. What titles had I not read? Which covers would inspire me to pull them from the spinner rack? Here's my four:
ReplyDeleteKa-Zar 34, final issue. I loved this title back in my collecting days. It was among the first Direct Market-only comics. Bruce Jones scripted and Brent Anderson did the art. So, I'm curious as to how it all ended up. Were Jones and Anderson even involved at this point? Ka-Zar in space? Also, a chance to say goodbye to Zabu. Love that furry guy.
Deathlok 36. Spectacular cover! And I've never read a Deathlok tale before. I'd scoop this up in a heartbeat were I 14 again.
Detective Comics. Again, that cover sends me, and I just can't say no to Batman and Robin. This is my favorite Batman period as well. A must.
Captain America, in homage to the Detective cover (nice find, Redartz!). This one has all sorts of things going for it. Mike Zeck on art (have to hope he did the interiors as well), Baron Zemo (arguably the best villain costume ever) and the Star Spangled Avenger himself. Irresistable.
This seems like a good place to say that if you simply enjoy looking at photos of comics (which I know I do, which is one of the reason why I love these posts and visiting Mike's World of Comics) you should check out my Notes from Comics Collecting tumblr, in which I post photos of comics ranging from the early 70s to just last week, depending on what aspect of my collecting I am focusing on. I also post photos of my various lists in my little comics notebook that I edit as I hunt.
ReplyDeleteYou can see the archive here.