Your Favorite All-Time Cover (w/Explanation)

[jbud73]

Without a doubt Cap 110 - Its just everything a comicbook cover should be, when I was a kid I musta stared at the wall copy at my LCS everyweek for a year. To put it in even more perspective. I am not a big Captain America fan, or a huge HUlk fan for that Matter. I was not a kid during the Silver Age, I am not a Marvel Zombie. This cover just cuts through all that - its just that cool. Its funny, in that even though I and many others associate Steranko with Nick Fury. Its his two renditions of the HULK that leave the biggest Impression on me. (Annual 1 being the other cover)

 

[howardhallis]

Can someone explain to me how you show images that have good clarity, are 1200x800, and yet are only 80 kb

 

I scan at 300 dpi and save at a medium quality and still can't get that small memory.

 

What's the key.

 

I got this image off of Google Image Search, but when making my own images, I use Photoshop 7.0 or higher, and use the Save For Web feature and save a JPEG at medium quality.

[iron maniac]

Iron Man #126: John Romita Jr. and Bob Layton pay tribute to Tales of Suspense #39 with this updated modernization. I got this book off the newstand when I was very young and I could not believe how cool and powerful Iron Man looked.

[r100comics]

A tough call for me between J.I.M. #112 (Thor vs Hulk) and #114 (vs Absorbing Man) which are both superb battle covers which had me excited with anticipation when I was a kid. But this one just shades those two in terms of it's dynamism and classic quality:

 

[PovertyRow]

I'll never have a favorite all-time cover, but go through periods of a "current favorite".

 

Right now, this one holds that spot. The composition is what does it for me.

 

[143ksk]

This is a really tough question There are just so many classic covers in so many different genres... If I had to pick one though, this is it. It is a classic image of the eternal Archie/Betty/Veronica triangle with Jughead and Reggie looking on. It's also by Harry Lucey who is for my money the classic Archie artist of the Silver Age. So...

[awe4one]

My favorite is DC Special #6 - Neal Adams cover

 

 

The cover is simply awesome. It tells more of a story than most Modern comics these days. Adams at the height of his art in my opinion...

 

By the way, this cover, also by Adams, comes in a very close second...

 

 

Jim

[nearmint]

Gotta go with Action #43. It encapsulates everything I love about DC Golden Age...

 

[CentaurMan]

Wow, so many to choose from, but when it comes right down to it, I don't think this cover can be beaten:

 

 

Third Spectre cover, just like Detective 31 with Batman over the castle was the third Batman cover. Guess it takes the artist a couple of practice shots before coming up with the iconic pose.

[FFB]

Iron Man #126: John Romita Jr. and Bob Layton pay tribute to Tales of Suspense #39 with this updated modernization. I got this book off the newstand when I was very young and I could not believe how cool and powerful Iron Man looked.

 

I don't know anyone who can draw "metal" better than Bob Layton. That is a sweet cover.

[FFB]

My all-time favorite cover is ASM#238. I started reading Spidey when I was about six or seven years old, but didn't start "collecting" comics (by which I mean I didn't try to keep them in mint condition) until about 1982, after reading the special 16 page "Marvel Comics Guide to Collecting Comics" insert in ASM#234. Four months later, ASM#238 hit the stands. It was the most incredible cover I'd ever seen up to that point, and I haven't seen one that struck me in the same way ever since.

 

 

A couple of years later, Marvel released what I think was the best three-issue consecutive set of covers, in Amazing Spider-Man #249-251.

 

 

 

[goldust40]

I'd say More Fun 54 is a very close second to my pick, 'Tec 31.

[comicwiz]

I was on my way to our summer retreat when my aunt dropped by at a local comic shop. It was a long haul, and she knew I was fond of comics, and was looking for something to pick-up for me to pass time during the drive.

 

I might have just turned 7 at that the time, and remember the absolute shock and amazement of standing in this shop by her side, which had thousands of books on their walls, stacked on shelves, and a copy of Hulk 131 at the top of one of the stacks right by the front entrance. I was so blown away by the whole experience that I could not utter the words "yes" when she asked me if that was the book I wanted. I stood there eyes fixed on this issue -- caption reading that the Hulk was dead -- one of my all-time favourite superheroes!

 

I ended-up gettng a copy of Hulk 180 instead as the store owner insisted that it would some day be a classic. That day represents one of my earliest childhood comic collecting moments, and having a photo-graphic memory meant that that moment would manifest itself into one of my earliest collecting interests which was to track down all comic books with covers that left a lasting impression on me as a kid -- even when that meant not knowing the title or issue. Hulk 131 was one of those books, and is my contribution to this great thread :

 

[delekkerste]

I love Vampirella, and this is the definitive Vampi:

 

 

For "regular", B&W comic art, it would be tough to choose between DD #181 (probably my favorite issue of all time), X-Men #94 (the book I coveted most as a kid) and Conan #24 (I'm a big Conan, Red Sonja and REH fan. And that BWS guy ain't too bad either).

[Hobgoblin]

My all-time favorite cover is ASM#238. I started reading Spidey when I was about six or seven years old, but didn't start "collecting" comics (by which I mean I didn't try to keep them in mint condition) until about 1982, after reading the special 16 page "Marvel Comics Guide to Collecting Comics" insert in ASM#234. Four months later, ASM#238 hit the stands. It was the most incredible cover I'd ever seen up to that point, and I haven't seen one that struck me in the same way ever since.

 

 

A couple of years later, Marvel released what I think was the best three-issue consecutive set of covers, in Amazing Spider-Man #249-251.

 

 

 

 

My long lost brother! ASM 238 is definitely a very close 2nd to me. Along with all other Hoby covers. FFB, you saw my fav right?

[FFB]

My long lost brother! ASM 238 is definitely a very close 2nd to me. Along with all other Hoby covers. FFB, you saw my fav right?

 

Yes, I did. While I liked McFarlane at the time and still like aspects of his art, I have come to appreciate his work less and less as time goes on. McFarlane isn't a great storyteller, and as I get older, graphic storytelling is something I care more and more about when it comes to judging comic art. I liked the cover to Spider-Man #6 cover when it originally came out, but I guess McF's work on that title just doesn't do much for me anymore.

 

Maybe I'm just bitter at what happened to all of Marvel's books back then and it's clouding my appreciation for books from that era?

[october]

My favorite is DC Special #6 - Neal Adams cover

 

 

The cover is simply awesome. It tells more of a story than most Modern comics these days. Adams at the height of his art in my opinion...

 

Great choice! One of my top 10 as well.

[Sharkey]

My favorite prehero book. I grew up loving those classic cheesy 1950s and 60s giant monster movies: giant tarantulas, ants, lizards, shrews, you name it! Godzilla. And of course, nobody did giant monsters better than Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen. My all-time favorite was "It Came from Beneath the Sea!" featuring a giant stop-motion octopus. This cover reminds me of that movie, and in essense, my childhood. And it's a Kirby to boot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My runner-up would be this one. Classic Ditko Spidey. To me, all the McFarlane fans can thank Ditko for inspiring Todd's style. Look at this one: Spidey is limbs akimbo, dodging the Torch's fireballs while the Beetle menaces him from behind! And the colors! Face front, True Believer!!

 

[Timely]

Sorry, can't pick one, these are all classics to me!

 

Action Comics #1

Detective Comics #31

All Select #1

All Winners #4

Marvel Mystery # 40, 44 & 46

Fantastic Comics #3

Suspense Comics #3

Amazing Spider-man #3

Superman #14

Catman #28

 

West

[pjthib]

I pull this one out of the box the most so I guess that makes it my favorite. I'm actually not sure what I find so appealing about it.