Every now and then, a comics cover will feature a character who, for whatever reason, is looking up to the heavens in anguish, or consternation, or helplessness, or maybe all of the above. It's a card which can't be played too often, otherwise we'd get the impression that life as a comics character is pretty darn lousy for the most part; but when the timing is right, it can make for an eye-catching cover that compels someone browsing the comics racks to look further, even if it involves a character they don't normally follow.
Following are a few such covers which come to mind. With one exception, all of them involve another person's fate:
Yet I found this one the most striking of all (though Cap's cover runs a close second):
Just what is Doom feeling here? If you take it at face value, knowing the kind of character Doom is, you would assume he's shouting out his defiance, coupled with his intent to become the master of anyone who opposes him; but if you read the story, he could well be exhibiting barely restrained anguish over the circumstances of his life and the choices he's had to make. Since Doom doesn't seem the type to linger over regrets, though, perhaps what we're seeing in this telling pose is a little of both.
1 comment:
Another example that springs to mind is Conan #100. I'd never read any of the Robert E. Howard stories so I didn't know that Belit was supposed to die but the cover of Conan #100 had an obviously distraught Conan holding Belit in his arms with the headline "Death On The Black Coast !!!" all of which gave away the issue's shock event before I'd even opened the cover :(
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