I miss covers with substance 3 3

[Randall Dowling]

One of the great losses for me in comics is that over the last 30 years, covers slowly became increasingly about some character pose or other.  As a kid growing up in the 70s and 80s, most of the covers had to do with the story inside.  But that's when comics had stories that were worth reading.  

I'm not saying that there weren't pose covers back then.  There were.  But they were iconic and well done (think Amazing Spider-man 100).  Today, every artist- from average to talented, just phones in a pose cover.  And I think comics are worse for it.  Feel free to post any that you feel are great non-pose covers from the last 30 years.  I'd love to see them.

[Hamlet]

On 11/26/2021 at 1:30 PM, Randall Dowling said:

One of the great losses for me in comics is that over the last 30 years, covers slowly became increasingly about some character pose or other.  As a kid growing up in the 70s and 80s, most of the covers had to do with the story inside.  But that's when comics had stories that were worth reading.  

I'm not saying that there weren't pose covers back then.  There were.  But they were iconic and well done (think Amazing Spider-man 100).  Today, every artist- from average to talented, just phones in a pose cover.  And I think comics are worse for it.  Feel free to post any that you feel are great non-pose covers from the last 30 years.  I'd love to see them.

How can you pass up a classic cover like this-

[csaag]

George Perez had some excellent New Teen Titans covers which helped sell the story inside.  While they may not be considered great covers of all time, They're examples of wondefully drawn covers pertaining to the inside stories

 

 

 

 

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 11/26/2021 at 2:46 PM, csaag said:

George Perez had some excellent New Teen Titans covers which helped sell the story inside.  While they may not be considered great covers of all time, They're examples of wondefully drawn covers pertaining to the inside stories

 

 

 

 

Loved Perez Titans 

 

Not less than 30 years old though 

[csaag]

one my my Bryne FF favs - hopefully we get to see it recreated in the MCU one of these years.  While you can say the characters are small (except for G) and therefore not greatly detailed to be examples of stuning artwork, it'a cover that couldn't make me wait to get home to open it up.

*edit*  hmm maybe we could open this up to the last 40 years.....

Edited November 26, 2021 by csaag
add info

[kav]

Hate modern comics.

[fastballspecial]

The reason its this way now is artists are now paid good money to do exclusive covers. 
Its part of the industry I like to see burn to the ground, but its too entrenched in variant
cover collectors and speculators. 

The only way you are going to see good covers anymore is if Marvel or DC pay a cover artist.
Or an undiscovered artist blows up while doing art for a book. 

[Randall Dowling]

On 11/26/2021 at 1:45 PM, Hamlet said:

How can you pass up a classic cover like this-

Exactly what I'm talking about.  Man, that's bad!

[Randall Dowling]

On 11/26/2021 at 1:46 PM, csaag said:

George Perez had some excellent New Teen Titans covers which helped sell the story inside.  While they may not be considered great covers of all time, They're examples of wondefully drawn covers pertaining to the inside stories

 

 

 

 

 

On 11/26/2021 at 1:55 PM, csaag said:

one my my Bryne FF favs - hopefully we get to see it recreated in the MCU one of these years.  While you can say the characters are small (except for G) and therefore not greatly detailed to be examples of stuning artwork, it'a cover that couldn't make me wait to get home to open it up.

*edit*  hmm maybe we could open this up to the last 40 years.....

Yep!  These are great covers from the days of looking at the newsstand and being thrilled by the hints of different stories in each book.  I still remember very clearly seeing FF 243 at the local drug store where I grew up.  It had just come out and me and my friends couldn't wait for the next issue after reading 242.  And then, I saw the white cover with Galactus and it did not disappoint!

Nice choices!  

[kav]

Its the selfie generation.  Covers that look like selfies. "Look how cool I am".

[MAR1979]

The covers are not the only thing without substance,  seems most books now are a combination of splashes and double pages spreads.  Very much appears writers get paid by the page or book thus keeping that pesky plot dialog to a bare minimum.

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by MAR1979

[Randall Dowling]

On 11/26/2021 at 2:50 PM, MAR1979 said:

The covers are not the only thing without substance,  seems most books now are a combination of splashes and double pages spreads.  Very much appears writers get paid by the page or book thus keeping that pesky plot dialog to a bare minimum.

 

You know, that's a good point.  The stories are so thin (also the comics themselves) that they have gotten really, really boring.  A good friend of mine recently described his experience reading a modern comic as such- "When I got finished reading page after page of minimal story and bad panel layout, I felt something that comics never made me feel before- old."

So, yes, it's going to be hard to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear when you've got very little story to work with.  

[kav]

You can read a modern comic in 3 minutes.  Not much value for the money.  Plus, the stories are stupid.  There are exceptions but they are rare.  Generally speaking, modern comics are a 3 minute boring read.

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 11/26/2021 at 4:17 PM, kav said:

You can read a modern comic in 3 minutes.  Not much value for the money.  Plus, the stories are stupid.  There are exceptions but they are rare.  Generally speaking, modern comics are a 3 minute boring read.

   What’s your sample size?

[Ryan.]

Oh cool, another thread about old guys being old. 

[kav]

On 11/26/2021 at 1:48 PM, Ryan. said:

Oh cool, another thread about old guys being old. 

we dont post selfies.  what can I say.

[Ryan.]

On 11/26/2021 at 4:54 PM, kav said:

we dont post selfies.  what can I say.

Probably because the CGC Boards aren't exactly a den of handsomeness. 

[Randall Dowling]

On 11/26/2021 at 3:44 PM, LarsUmlaut said:

This sounds specifically like Marvel. Tell your friend not to be such a zombie.

Nice.  Welcome to the boards.  

[MattTheDuck]

After taking a few decades off from collecting, I had forgotten how "information dense" the typical Marvel Silver Age comic panel/book was.  There is a ton of visual stuff to absorb and lots of words to read.  I was a very avid reader at an early age, and I suspect this was one of the real attractions of comics for me.  Unlike when Ryan went to school, we were taught that reading was exciting, and were expected to know how to read, and to be able to demonstrate - both out loud and in testing - that we could read.  Somewhat depending on parenting, we were also taught to value reading and books of all kinds themselves. 

[Lord Gemini]

I stopped reading after "But that's when comics had stories that were worth reading." Another "old man yells at cloud" moment.