Covers Commonalities

[bartl]

Well, I'm going to make the first guess by saying that the main characters are all in anatomically impossible positions, but I guess that is kind of like saying that none of them have ever been in my living room.

[Brenz]

Hmmm, oaths of duty left unfulfilled, corrupt toymakers, and massive coverups regarding communities of non-persons...if I could reconcile the fight against the mob to the theme, I'd say these are all scandals we've seen during the Bush administration.

Conspiracy theoretically yours,
Brendan

[Steven Grant]

While that relationship between the covers is technically correct, it's not the one I'm looking for.

C'mon, Bart, you're a bright guy. Think about it.

[Steven Grant]

Hmmm, oaths of duty left unfulfilled, corrupt toymakers, and massive coverups regarding communities of non-persons...if I could reconcile the fight against the mob to the theme, I'd say these are all scandals we've seen during the Bush administration.

Conspiracy theoretically yours,
Brendan

Cute, but no. There's nothing political about it.

[Inkthinker]

Not the answer, but perhaps a clue...

All the covers incorporate the word "fly", or show a character leaping/flying/falling (for Thrills of Tomorrow there's a flying trapeze).

Might be a red herring, though.

[NatGertler]

All the covers could use some correction to their punctuation. I doubt that's what is sought here, though.

[bartl]

While that relationship between the covers is technically correct, it's not the one I'm looking for.

I figured as much; that's why I mentioned the second relationship. However, when I was looking at the covers as I read the article, not even knowing that there was supposed to be some commonality, I literally did think to myself, "Did Grant choose all these covers based on the major characters being in anatomically impossible positions?", to the point of thinking of mentioning this even without your contest.

[bartl]

Well, another thing is that these were characters that heralded the Silver Age, and rivals for Flash and Martian Manhunter for marking the start.

[Steven Grant]

Warmer... though I don't think I'd include The Human Fly or Captain Flash in that number...

[badMike]

I'm not going to get it, but I like playing this version of Marco Polo.

Is there some connection to the order you posted them? The first 6 seem to be in chronological order.

[Brother Zag]

That would be my guess. These guys are all from the new wave of heroes that ushered in the Silver Age, all invented in the 1950s. And most of them by Kirby. Captain 3D, Captain Flash, The Fly, Fighting American, they all started in the fifties, the "second Wave" the "silver age" what have you... oh, wait, just saw Bart said pretty much that, sorry.

[Brother Zag]

How About... each character was a character that either Kirby created in the 50s by "borrowing" from past heroes of the 40s, or a character that Kirby created in the 50s that was later ripped off by Stan Lee to create the new Marvel heroes of the 60s?

[Steven Grant]

Not quite, but very warm. No, the order of the covers has nothing to do with it. The order is random. And, as I said, it has nothing specifically to do with Jack Kirby.

Someone has already gotten it by email, by the way.

One more hint: What you see is important. What you don't see is important.

[Chris Freiberg]

So is the commonality for this week that all the covers are of the first issue of series that only lasted for two issues total?

[Sleeper]

US TANK COMMANDOS is #2.

[badMike]

I dunno, Alien Worlds only had 2 issues published by Eclipse, but it ran for several issues at Pacific first.

Shame that about Void Indigo. That was one of the first "Mature" comix I ever bought. I was pissed a third issue never came out. It was pretty interesting.

[Sleeper]

Someone has already gotten it by email, by the way.

This week too perhaps.

[Brother Zag]

All the covers feature characters that are actually dead or dying...

[bartl]

All the covers feature characters that are actually dead or dying...
And, for some reason, I have visions of Uncle Fester, with his gun, yelling "Shoot them in the back!"

[Chris Freiberg]

And, on further research, US Tank Commandos ran for four issues apparently, so my theory is blown either way. Too bad. I thought the Alien Worlds might fit because the Eclipse run only lasted for two issues.

An "injury to the back" motif? That might be. The Geek isn't really dead or dying on that cover, though...

[Steven Grant]

To the best of my knowledge, U.S. TANK COMMANDOS only lasted two issues...

[Chris Freiberg]

So I was close in my guess the first time? Googling it is confusing-- the GCD says it lasted for four issues but only indexes two of them, with "#2" as the first issue shown. Mile High's site says that there were four issues in the original run (it was apparently reprinted later by IW), but only shows information about #2 and #3, also. A couple of sites seem to offer a #1 or #4 for sale, but offer no pictures to examine and at least one of the "#1"s in question is from the IW series. I don't have an Overstreet Guide handy, so I have no idea what the experts say. I didn't bother to look the series up when I made my guess-- it just seemed to be a likely pattern, after I saw the other covers and then looked up the info about Alien Worlds(which I thought couldn't have run for just two issues, so I had to check).

[bartl]

7/27

Interesting. For the first one, I stole the line from Cheers, "These are all people who have never been in my living room" (or something like that).

Strangely enough, these comics were all written by people who HAVE been in my living room, so to speak. All the writers were early entries into the online world, before the Internet became generally available (mostly on Compuserve). At least a few of the editors, too (I'd have to look it up).

Even if that's not the commonality, it's interesting.

[Steven Grant]

That's fascinating, but not what's being looked for.

Though now I'm tempted to run covers next week of comics by people who've been in my living room...

[Brother Zag]

Man, you guys have some cool living rooms... mine's just filled with off duty radio djs...

Here's my stab at this week's cover commonalities: By the Hoary Hosts of Hogarth... All the covers are from books where the dark arts manifest, demonic or otherwise. Each features a physical depiction of magic.

Or is that too broad?

BTW, Steven, I've definitely picked up yer books after reading this column regularly... and went back through my collection to realize I already had a lot of books w/your name on 'em... so, um, thanks!

Mike

[Steven Grant]

You're welcome.

The magic thing is part of it, but that's the obvious part. Consider the clue and ask yourself what separates those "magic" comics from most other comics involving magic.

[bartl]

That's fascinating, but not what's being looked for.
I figured as much, as it requires some specialized knowledge not readily found on the Internet. And Gerry Conway wasn't THAT active, only popping in every now and then.

[bartl]

You're welcome.

The magic thing is part of it, but that's the obvious part. Consider the clue and ask yourself what separates those "magic" comics from most other comics involving magic.
Well, here's another one which is almost certainly not it, but something which kind of sticks out to me.

As a sometime professional photographer, I can tell you that possible the WORST angle to shoot most people at is direct on, from below the chin line. Yet, every cover has at least one character rendered from that angle. Now, of course, with the perfection of body that one finds in comic book heroes, this looks more dramatic. But shoot someone who is not in perfect shape with near-perfect features, and, well, you get a customer who wants their money back.

[Steven Grant]

Trust me, Bart, the solution is admittedly tricky but much simpler than that.

[dancj]

You're welcome.

The magic thing is part of it, but that's the obvious part. Consider the clue and ask yourself what separates those "magic" comics from most other comics involving magic.

Trenchcoats! None of these people are wearing trenchcoats!

[Steven Grant]

No.........

[Brother Zag]

All the comics pictured reference the Lovecraftian Mythos?

[Steven Grant]

No.

Nobody reads clues anymore, I guess...

[Sleeper]

I'm sure the answer is easy, we're just not looking hard enough.

[Steven Grant]

You may have noticed by now that the answers usually aren't found solely by looking at the covers. They usually require a little knowledge and thought about the contents of the specific comics pictured.