Amazing Spider-Covers

 

While one of the pleasures of browsing a comic book store (or even a comic book display in a store's book or magazine section) is letting your eye wander across those eye-catching covers that are doing their best to entice you to take that issue home, the experience becomes even more of a reason to kill some time when the cover artist is being innovative not only with the character(s) portrayed but also with other elements of the overall image. (Bill Sienkiewicz's work might be one example that would come to mind in that respect.) And so having recently been preoccupied looking through various Spider-Man titles, I thought I'd pick out a few such issues to share which were especially eye-catching to me, where even the issue's masthead at times became collateral damage.

Let's start with what may be a surprising choice to some of you--artist/writer Ed Hannigan, whose work you may remember from The Defenders but whose covers from Amazing Spider-Man and Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man in the early 1980s were at times groundbreaking in terms of bringing more artistry to a cover image than what you were expecting.

Time Keeps On Slippin', Slippin', Slippin'...

 

Good grief, I thought in our senior years we became less busy.  Where does the time go? Wherever it's fled to, I'm running low on it this week, so I thought I'd once more raid my cache of graphics that I've stored from here and there and cobble together a little John Buscema goodness for you--mostly prior work that never saw the comics rack, with one or two homage prints thrown in.

Leading us off is someone else who appears to have run out of time--the Silver Surfer, who in an unpublished Buscema cover from his first series falls victim to none other than the heir of Frankenstein!

The Cover That Failed!

 

Following a launch in early 1972 that saw its first four issues apparently competing with Marvel's Greatest Comics as a reprint title for older Fantastic Four tales, Marvel Triple Action then shifted its focus to offering reprints of The Avengers--its covers for the most part mimicking MGC in retaining the original cover art of a story, interspersed with new covers drawn by contemporary artists of the '70s. Arguably, there may have been no Avengers cover more in need of a makeover* than that of the December 1966 issue, rendered by artist Don Heck and pictured here with Rich Buckler's interpretation of its events nine years later.

*Though I'd put the cover to issue #38 in the running.

As we can see, there are two schools of thought as to where the Avengers' fight with the Living Laser comes to a head. On the right, we see a deadly struggle taking place on a bridge in New York City--while on the left, our heroes are on the defensive with the Laser in the Central American country of Costa Verde (a locale which may sound familiar to you from another '70s story). Both covers retain the captions featured on the original--the title referring to Goliath sabotaging the Laser's powerful laser cannon, while Goliath's big change has him regaining his size-changing powers after becoming trapped at ten feet not long after rejoining the team.

While both covers have their peculiarities, it's the original which seems most in need of improvement. Even those behind the scenes in production seemed to recognize that, with what appears to be a last-minute substitution of the Captain America figure with one drawn by Jack Kirby, taken from an issue of Tales Of Suspense published in the same month:

As for the other figures, little thought has been given to what everyone is supposed to be doing (with the exception of the Laser's aggression). Even the Kirby figure's positioning is poorly chosen, having been dislodged (presumably by the Laser) from the cliff, with the Laser either opening fire on Cap's shield or Cap blocking the blast, both superfluous at this point. In the Laser's case, he's already sent Cap plummeting--why continue to fire at his target, much less at the wrong angle? And why should Cap worry about blocking a blast that would miss him?

And speaking of angles, who or what is Hawkeye aiming at? This marksman isn't going to hit the Laser at the angle he's positioned--maybe goons unseen off to the left? That leaves Goliath, who makes a great target for the Laser with his back turned to him; but at the moment, we can't be sure whether he's trying to save Cap, or if he's the one who threw Cap off the ledge in the first place.

On the MTA cover, Buckler's depiction is actually representative of the events taking place in the prior issue's story. But while the activities of the Laser and the Avengers are in the vicinity of the bridge, our motorists are only in the line of fire insofar as an attack by the Laser from miles away, and Buckler taking just a tad of artistic license with presenting a battle scene (and a bridge disaster) that never occurred.

Obviously Buckler is making better use of Cap's shield--but since we've already spent a good deal of time piling on and detracting from the merits of each of these covers, this may not be the time to mention the fact that Cap really has no shield to use at this point, given that his one-of-a-kind, indestructible shield was earlier destroyed by the Laser. (Buck up, Cap! Is that why you're jumping off a cliff?)

When Firemen Fear The Man Without Fear

 

With crowds of civilians often playing a major role in comics stories, you'd think that comics covers would be just as generous in featuring spectators witnessing a battle, or a face-off, or even engaging in an occasional "Look! Up in the sky!" sighting. But as we found in the PPC's initial exploration of this subject, covers all too often have elbowed crowds out of the picture, given a cover's emphasis on sales and the presumption that the casual comics browser isn't going to be particularly interested in anyone on an issue cover but the story's main characters. In Part 2 of this impromptu series, we search out more of those covers where crowds were injected into the scene presented--and why not start out with two heroes who were often forced to confront a threat during what appeared to be a busy workday for the average New Yorker?

Crowd Control

 

Comics stories derive a good deal of their drama from groups or crowds of ordinary people being present while heroes go about their business in major cities or other populated locales, whether interacting with those on the street or in offices or being mindful of those caught up in battles with foes which tend to endanger innocents who are unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yet on issue covers, which having the opportunity to convey a powerful image with large crowds who find themselves in the midst of a situation involving the title character(s), crowds are often elbowed out of the picture in order to present the story's main characters, including of course whatever individuals are responsible for selling the book.

But while rare, those cover images are noteworthy, and in some cases memorable depending on the circumstances of the story and the creative talent of the cover artist--and today you'll see a collection of such covers from the first volume of various titles where ordinary people do their part to help establish whatever crisis our heroes must face in the pages of the issue's story. As for a starting point, there's only one cover which stands above the rest in capturing this post's theme perfectly--pictured here with its homage cover rendered nearly twenty-eight years later.

The Earth's Final Hour!

 

Now what does this 1963 cover from artist Vic Prezio remind you of?

Reportedly, it provided the inspiration for a cover from Fantastic Four published three years later and rendered by artist Jack Kirby. The renditions of both artists were a bit before my time as a regular FF reader; having been a fairly new reader of the book in the early 1970s with only a little over twenty issues under my belt, I was still catching up on prior stories courtesy of Marvel's Greatest Comics, the successor to Marvel Collectors' Item Classics which had begun reprinting Silver Age FF stories in 1965 as part of its "grab bag" format but shifted in late 1969 to MGC which focused exclusively on FF reprints. Consequently, it wasn't until six years after the fact when I first read the story of Galactus, whose battle with the FF, for me, took place in MGC and was heralded in this case by artist Sal Buscema.

Obviously Mr. Buscema has a different take than Kirby on this story's cover presentation, preferring to show the FF in battle with Galactus rather than fleeing for their lives--but there are other interesting distinctions that bear mentioning. "If This Be Doomsday!", the title from which the original's caption takes its wording, is perhaps more at home above an image that has the FF appearing helpless against the threat, since the word "doomsday" implies a final hour that no one can avert or escape--whereas on the MGC cover, doomsday seems less likely with Galactus, in full view, being less of a lofty figure from on high and laser-focused on dealing with the FF. Kirby's image is also helped by a more apocalyptic background rather than a more serene setting of a clear day that suggests this battle is an isolated one and not a danger to the city, or the world.)

In addition, Buscema's cover is forcing us to assume that the Torch has lapsed on the ledge of a building other than the FF's headquarters, since Galactus's conversion device was constructed on the Baxter Building. We're also left to assume that the Invisible Girl, whom Buscema doesn't appear to have room for, is either looking distraught from below, or is rushing from off-panel to help the Torch--that is, after she's:

• Taken the FF's elevator to the lobby;
  
• Hurried across the street while dodging traffic (where none of the drivers seem to know an FF uniform from a bike messenger);
  
• Darted inside the other building, nearly tripping over a manhole cover;
  
• Frantically pushed the elevator's Up button until one finally arrives;
  
• Gritted her teeth at all the stops the car must make for the other people riding up with her; and
  
• Nearly gone mad at not only the catty comments remarking on her disheveled appearance but also the incessant Muzak selections on repeat before reaching the roof.

The expressions on the faces of the rest of the FF seem to indicate their impatience as to what the heck has kept their distaff member--as opposed to Galactus, who for an instant can't help but wonder if all Earth females look so disheveled. In all seriousness, though, Sue is not present during this part of the fight (until the Punisher shows up, that is) due to being ordered to stay behind with Johnny, as a secondary force in the event Reed and the Thing fail in their attack. (You'd think a team's strength lies in fighting as a team, but what do I know.)

As it happens, the Torch isn't even part of this fight from this point on. By the time the Thing is wrecking crucial parts of the converter, the Watcher has sent the Torch to the world-ship of Galactus in order to obtain a device which would dissuade him from his plans for consuming Earth--which can be made to fall within the symbolic nature of Kirby's cover. (The Surfer is also occupied elsewhere, with Alicia Masters, as Buscema takes into account.)

A peculiarity in Kirby's cover, however, is that to the eye it seems as if the characters have all been nudged to the left, making things look a bit off-center--perhaps to make room for the doomsday caption, but also apparently to keep the masthead from being occluded by the helmet of Galactus (something that is evidently not a concern on the MGC cover). As with our friend the Frankenstein monster, Kirby's Galactus would evoke a more looming and menacing image if he had been placed center stage, as the overseer of the disaster to come. (Artist José Ladrönn does an excellent job of providing a workable solution with his variant cover to Vol. 2 of the Fantastic Four Omnibus, while also managing to bring the FF to the fore.)

BONUS!
A few of the covers featuring artists paying homage to this issue. (In order, l-r: Jim Valentino, Paul Ryan, José Ladrönn, and Arthur Suydam)

Where Looms The Juggernaut!

 

In 1970, when The X-Men title finally folded its tent and ceased publication of new stories with issue #66, there followed a gap of nine months before the book began appearing on store racks once more--this time recycling itself as a reprint title, reaching back to the fall of '65 to begin its "new" run and sporting a 25¢* price tag which suggested the issue would contain more than one previously published story. That format would continue for six issues before the book's length and price fell into line with Marvel's other books being published--with the exception of its bimonthly publication schedule, which lasted for the next eight years until 1978 when by that time the next X-Men team was firmly established (and, at that point in time, battling Magneto at the heart of a volcano).

*10¢ more than standard-length 20-page comics, though 36 pages in total if you included the staggering 16 additional pages of ads (third-party and Marvel-related), letters pages, Bullpen bulletins, and of course the Marvel checklist (which technically would have to fall under "ads").

For its first issue out of the gate after its period of dormancy, X-Men featured a foe who first appeared in 1965 and would go on to become the X-Men's mortal enemy, the Juggernaut--along with a blazing guest-star whose power and abilities were sorely needed in the team's dire hour of need. And for the occasion, artists Marie Severin and Joe Sinnott were tapped to recreate Jack Kirby's original cover--bringing Sinnott, who also had inked Kirby's cover, full circle.

Kirby and Severin obviously have a different approach in presenting the threat, with Severin cutting to the chase and showing Juggernaut having advanced through the team's defensive measures and now poised to destroy the lot of them; yet as the cover also meant to grab the attention of anyone browsing comics for sale, it presents a more visual, more animated appeal than the looming threat which Kirby depicts, while also prodding any former X-Men readers who might have been hoping for the title's resurgence.

Within, however, as the original story is again presented, whatever prospects of excitement that Severin's cover might have indicated for the issue's story dim somewhat, with Kirby by then having shifted to doing layouts for the book while artist Jay Gavin (a.k.a. Werner Roth) was being groomed as the book's new regular artist. Gavin had yet to find his groove with these characters (as he would), and he was a marked improvement over Alex Toth from the prior issue where Juggernaut made his debut--but even with Sinnott, as well as the addition of the Torch, the action here comes off as stiff. (Granted, the Juggernaut himself doesn't help in that regard, as the story has him mostly threatening and steadily advancing while everyone tries to halt him.)

As for what brings the Torch to Xavier's school, he happens to catch a bit of Xavier's mental waves which have swept over New York (it's a little more convoluted than that, but you catch my mental drift)--and Xavier, with the Juggernaut at his doorstep and in no position to turn down aid, entreats him to help. And no doubt that help would more than tip the scales against this foe, were it not for a handy dandy force field which you'd think a human juggernaut by definition wouldn't need.

Finally, though, a little teamwork saves the day--nor, does it seem, is the Juggernaut's force field much use against a winged opponent when the man himself is too unfocused to invoke it. (For some reason I thought the field was always present no matter what, but what do I know.)

With the threat dealt with, Xavier wipes the Torch's memory and sends him flying back to New York none the wiser--the reason being that, during this time, Xavier still wishes to keep his association with the X-Men a secret. If memory serves (heh, get it?), that association as well as Xavier's mental abilities are known to a confidant in the F.B.I.--yet at some point, that information becomes known to super-beings and perhaps even the N.S.C. and the White House.  And despite the strange mental waves which seem to be prodding your humble host to put these thoughts aside, the PPC will be exploring that subject in the near future.

Wait... I was going  to... what's happening...

 

Don't Miss These Fabulous First Issues!

 

It's naturally very eye-catching when an iconic comics cover is paid homage by other artists or is otherwise recreated for a specific purpose. To date, the PPC has thrown the spotlight on Avengers #4, where Captain America makes his first post-war appearance and joins the team (while retroactively becoming an "original" Avenger in the process); 1962's Incredible Hulk #1, with its recreations restricted to the series itself; Fantastic Four #249, featuring a memorable pose which inspired similar drama elsewhere; June, 1938's Action Comics #1, which surely received more play than the few covers we featured; and of course Fantastic Four #1, which may hold the record for the sheer number of homage covers created for a single issue (and a diverse lot it is).

So it may come as a surprise to find 1963's X-Men #1 added to the list--a cover by artist Jack Kirby which, like the original lineup itself, I didn't find to be especially compelling.

Taking into account that Kirby's work here (like that found on just about any comics cover) is designed to grab the interest of the buyer, it could still reasonably be judged as if it were an accurate representation of what happens in the story, a balance which ideally should be struck if at all possible. For the most part, the cover's simple premise of the X-Men going up against Magneto provides just that--but how well do the abilities of these new heroes against this villain draw us into the story? Well, the guy with the eye-beam is certainly impressive, and it looks like we've got a barefoot acrobat--plus there's a snowman whose aim appears to be way off. There's also a female who appears to be little more than eye candy--though for Stan Lee's Son Of Origins of Marvel Comics from 1975, as well as the Marvel Milestone edition from 1993, the decision has been made to give her an action pose rather than have her appear to be simply hanging back without joining the battle.

As for the winged character, he has little choice but to pick up a makeshift weapon to use, since his power of flight offers no recourse against Magneto--but it's unclear how he expects to make any headway against this villain with a pole when his partner's force beam isn't doing the trick. In the story, however, he's not even doing that--so what can he do to add to the team? Other than force his teammates to come to his rescue, not much.

So what approach can other artists take to bring new life to this sort of cover? In the series itself, Dave Cockrum takes a stab at giving the new X-Men their shot:

And in another offering, John Byrne returns to the original lineup, though obviously we're catching the members at different points in their lives.

It looks like our acrobat is fated to swing to the attack and little else, no matter who's rendering him. Both covers, however, avoid Kirby's choice of having the villain's back turned to us and instead show us the full menace of what this team is up against, a noticeable improvement. (And in the process, giving Iceman a better target!)

If it's possible to make this issue's cover far more dynamic, however, Alex Ross shows us the way:

Our villain may be taking up more cover space, but there's visibly less of Magneto than before, though Ross follows Kirby's presentation which makes the X-Men, after all, this first issue's focus. I'd be curious as to who the colorist is on this work (assuming it isn't Ross), since the choices of colors here add so much to what we see. In addition, Ross's approach touches on the notion that the effect of Iceman's power need not be limited to tossing snowballs (or anything else, for that matter)--instead, he could choose to substantially reduce the temperature inside Magneto's field to the point of weakening or even incapacitating him.

In other efforts, when Hasbro's action figures of the X-Men arrived in 2014, a new cover of this issue wasn't far behind:

Artist Gerald Parel gives us another idea of how Kirby's original concept could be further enhanced, in this variant cover for the Facsimile issue--while DeviantArt artist Mikeyzou adds a contemporary polish.

And to inject a bit of artistic "wizardry," artist Blair Campbell shows us Hogwarts' version of our heroes:

Finally, Byrne presents this battle in a way that could have given Marvel its first wraparound cover, had the masthead and captions been included. (And believe me, I gave it a try--anyone else care to take a crack at it?)

Part Two of Jack Kirby's Supplemental Covers, Circa 1976-1977

 

Having seen a few of Jack Kirby's supplemental covers for Marvel books, drawn during his own "supplemental" stay at the company during the years 1976-77, let's round out that post by taking the opportunity to "cover" a little more ground and moving on to some of the other titles which received Mr. Kirby's attention under their mastheads.

As was the case before, the books we'll see here might be surprising not only in terms of those titles that Kirby took an interest in, but also those that he opted not to contribute to (all of which is assuming these were Mr. Kirby's choices to make, rather than assignments from whoever was handling production matters). Frankly, with his workload as both writer and scripter of those books he produced on a monthly basis, the fact that Kirby managed to make room for the number of additional covers he turned in is something of a surprise in itself, to say nothing of not having lost his touch at making practically each of these cover images salesworthy as far as being able to stand out on the rack and entice the comics browser with the promise of adventure within. How regrettable that Marvel and Kirby were not able to work out a mutually beneficial way to coexist, though that's not to imply the dispute between them was one-sided. As we've seen in source material such as Marvel Comics The Untold Story, The Comics Journal, Wizard, and other forums that offered an outlet for frank opinion, the business side of the comics industry is at times an eye-opener for readers whose exposure to that industry is limited to the consumption of the wondrous, fantasy-based stories produced therefrom.

With each grouping of covers featured here, I'll again be including some comments and observations that came to mind (and of course looking forward to reading your own).

Let's begin with some of Kirby's lesser-known work in this area:

Lo! The Less-Sinister Lethal Legion!

Having had occasion recently to come across a cover of an unpublished cover of The Avengers from 1970, I found myself asking the same question that usually comes to mind in such instances: What prompted the decision to re-do this cover? It's enjoyable to look at the original draft with a critical eye and put yourself in the position of the one tasked with clearing it--or not clearing it--for publication, while trying to determine what it was about the original rendering that wasn't deemed either suitable or marketable; but we can probably agree how much more interesting it would have been to have learned the actual reason straight from the source. A pity some sort of index of these types of cover substitutions was never collected in book form, complete with notes detailing just that. We could call it "How To Draw Comics Covers the Marvel Way!" :D

There are no doubt a number of such covers that for whatever reason didn't make the grade, a few of which can be found in the PPC as well as other fine comics blogs and forums. This particular Avengers cover certainly invites speculation, given that it so closely aligns with the final cover with only a few "touch-up" alterations of note.

A purely symbolic cover by artist John Buscema, of course, unless the Grim Reaper got his hands (was his scythe over in the corner?) on some of Henry Pym's shrinking gas and used it on the Avengers so they would fit in their hourglass prison. The reality is a little different:

We'll have to take the Reaper's word that his victims' gaseous prison is part of a large hourglass-shaped structure, since it resembles more of a clamped bell jar here (leaving writer Roy Thomas no choice but to account for Buscema's cover image by means of dialog)--a very cramp fit for the likes of Goliath, no doubt.

Some differences between the two covers are understandable at a glance. The hourglass itself has been altered and shifted in position somewhat, perhaps to make room for the caption at the lower right announcing the members and name of the Lethal Legion without it overlapping Quicksilver (who has enough to worry about as it is); it's also worth mentioning that in the original, at least part of the hourglass is transparent. Also, the final version of the, eh, legionnaires has them looking appropriately sinister, but noticeably less sinister than their draft counterparts. (For what it's worth, I found their appearance on the original much more eye-catching from a sales standpoint, so I can't help but be curious as to the reason why that aspect was subsequently toned down.)

In addition, the Man-Ape has been lowered a bit, presumably to prevent part of his headpiece from being obscured by the masthead (or vice versa, though there have been plenty of instances where part of a cover's masthead has been eclipsed by the artwork)--while the corner box has shuffled the Avengers around (though leaving Goliath as is) and adjusted those heads which were tilting. As for our captives, with the exception of Captain America and the Black Panther, their expressions and positioning have been altered, along with the loss of some detailing--both observations holding true for our villains, as well.

Since the basic cover concept has remained intact, it remains unclear what would warrant the decision to have Buscema make what amounts to cosmetic revisions. Do pipe in with your own thoughts on the subject if you have something to add--the Legion certainly won't mind, considering that either way they still have the Avengers where they want them! ;)

When Lands The Conqueror!

In the brief history of the original Avengers lineup, surely one of the most memorable stories to this day remains the team's encounter with Kang the Conqueror, their persistent nemesis from the future who makes his first appearance in the book in September of 1964. Alone in a single ship, in an almost casual approach without regard for whatever measures might be taken to intercept him, Kang lands, disembarks, and announces that he has laid claim to our world and that the planet's governments had one day to surrender to him--a boast that the Under Secretary of Defense felt obliged to declare as foolhardy, for all the good it did him.

Apparently even the Deputy Secretary of Defense, much less the Secretary himself, couldn't be trifled with responding personally to an alien ship landing in Virginia which then turned an advancing tank brigade into so much scrap. Wouldn't you want someone on the scene empowered to make decisions as that kind of situation developed?

At any rate, it's not surprising who the defense department called in before the Under Secretary boarded his plane: the mighty Avengers, who, after arriving at Tony Stark's townhouse* and receiving a briefing on the situation, are witness to what Kang's heavily-armed vessel is capable of, as well as its sole, confident occupant.

*As evident from the Thunder God's words concerning "our" national security, how curious that writer Stan Lee gives Thor, an immortal who has no doubt seen the rise and fall of many Earth nations and governments, the posture of an American--perhaps due to the fact that, even though he's been to Asgard and acknowledges his heritage, Thor at this point in time still believes himself to be Donald Blake. Blake is still years off from the revelation that he was only a facade created by Odin, and whose existence began at the moment when he materialized as an adult on the campus of the State College of Medicine.

With the stage set for the Avengers' investigation of the threat, it seems the perfect time to unveil artist Jack Kirby's classic cover for this issue--no doubt a head-turner for anyone browsing the spinner rack, and one of Kirby's finest offerings that seemed made for those trademark selling captions which Marvel was known for. (But you be the judge: let's line it up with a captionless cover and see if just the story title is enough to sell it!)

No need to slouch so, Kang--you're the Conqueror, not the Cobra!