Whoa! They thought it wouldn't happen--they tried to stop it from happening--but here we are, 80 years after the debut issue, the first comic book to reach #1000! And with this milestone issue comes a buttload of swell variant covers (though curiously, not nearly as many as for Star Wars #1), and I picked five of my favorites for this arbitrary list! Read on!
1940s variant cover
Michael Cho
Here's that iconic Superman that I best remember from Jules Feiffer's The Great Comic Book Heroes. I love that he's absorbing the shell from a tank on his shoulder. And just shrugs it off while flying! Great use of color and form.
2000s variant cover
Lee Bermejo
This cover looks almost evil, which is fitting with Bermejo's style. I haven't seen his work recently, and I've missed it. I don't know if he's the best fit for Superman on a regular basis, but he's a great fit for this look. Frankly, if the sky was on fire, I wouldn't mind seeing Superman coming to my assistance.
1980s variant cover
Joshua Middleton
Everything about this cover--the composition, the clothing, the (appearance of) media used to create it, it all oozes the 1980s. If there was a pile of cocaine and Brian "Boz" Bozworth here, it wouldn't look out of place. I want to see the film that this movie poster could be advertising.
1930s variant cover
Steve Rude
Jeezum Crow, what the heck is Superman doing here? Wrecking a monument? Superman's vivid colors against the grey background makes this pop, as well as Superman wrecking something by pushing his arms apart. Those are some strong shoulders, boy. Do you think I'm developing a thing for shoulders?
1960s variant cover
By Michael and Laura Allred
When I saw this image, I almost plotzed. This cover is just everything great about Silver Age DC Comics. I see something like this, and I feel like what's within will be a real hoot. It may not be exemplary in the standard sense, but as a love letter to the Silver Age, it's gorgeous.
I also really liked Allred's Silver Age homage cover, and that's the one I went with.
ReplyDeleteI also liked DF Dan Jurgens' wraparound cover where you see Superman over the years, but even for a 1000th issue: I'm not going to pay almost $10 more simply for a different cover. Almost did though. But I'm glad I went with Allred's one, that's an amazing cover.