Greatest comic covers of all time

[Phil Maurice]

This thread really. . .needs to feely...some Maneely:

[Venomous Mask]

Absolutely love this cover, great story too.



And my vote for THE greatest cover of all, it tells a story in itself, and even after all these years is as effective as ever. I know Steve Ditko gets mucho love round these parts, but this Romita run on Spidey is definitive for me.

Yeah, this was an epic way to introduce Romita.

Another Green Goblin themed cover that I like:


This is not a comic per se, but rather a guide. I thought it looked awesome what I was a kid, and I still think it looks cool:

[Ood Omega]

I always loved this Carmine Infantino cover



This cover was particularly haunting at the time...



made even more so by the inside panel with Lady Clayface as Robin kickin' the snot out of a already grieving Bruce.

[Mace Dolex]

[Mormel]

Steranko!



This was the first appearance of the 3-D, 'blocky' X-Men title on the cover, and it remained until the early 2000s.

It also introduced the painfully underappreciated Lorna Dane, Mistress of Magnetism, on-and-off-again daughter of Magneto.

[pakehafulla]

Steranko!



This was the first appearance of the 3-D, 'blocky' X-Men title on the cover, and it remained until the early 2000s.

It also introduced the painfully underappreciated Lorna Dane, Mistress of Magnetism, on-and-off-again daughter of Magneto.

The look of Lorna Dane on the cover reminds me a lot of how amazing Madame Hydra by Steranko looked. Did he design that version of Viper ? Or just happened to make her look better ? Also begs the question of how much Steranko influence there was on Paul Gulacy. Look at any Leiko Wu from MOKF(by Gulacy I mean of course) and you can see the similarity to even the picture above.

[Ood Omega]

Love this Joker cover from John Byrne's run

[icctrombone]

[Mormel]

The look of Lorna Dane on the cover reminds me a lot of how amazing Madame Hydra by Steranko looked. Did he design that version of Viper ? Or just happened to make her look better ? Also begs the question of how much Steranko influence there was on Paul Gulacy. Look at any Leiko Wu from MOKF(by Gulacy I mean of course) and you can see the similarity to even the picture above.

I believe so! She did make her first appearance in a Steranko-drawn issue of Captain America. Here is an excerpt of an interview I found with Jim Steranko himself:

Before readers knew what was happening, the S.H.I.E.L.D. strip went high tech asJim's style began to mature. The strip became more adult in its tone, something that the supposedly hip Marvel Comics Group wasn't ready for. Jim recalled: "I remember having problems with Marvel about the way I dressed my girls in the strip, both Val and Madame Hydra." He'd inherited the green Hydra uniform design from Kirby, but didn't think it worked for a woman. "I felt readers would find it more interesting if Fury battled villainesses who wore skintight outfits. I disliked those baggy, green outfits because they conceal the figure." From her jumpsuit to her eyeshadow, lipstick and nail polish, (all in the approved shade of green,) Madame Hydra "embodied everything that the well-dressed villainess would wear." The cumulative emerald effect was sexy, in a bizarre way.

EDIT: Wow, on second look, this actually came from a Betty Page fanzine, of all things. But it's the closest thing to a source I could find.

[MDG]

Steranko!



This was the first appearance of the 3-D, 'blocky' X-Men title on the cover, and it remained until the early 2000s.

Speaking of blocky, I always thought the main figure, Iceman, and Marvel Girl looked pretty stiff on this.