Greatest Comic Covers of All Time – Part 3

Part 3 of our greatest covers list! Be sure to check out Parts 1 & 2, if you missed them! We pick up alphabetically at the letter “I”:

Iron Man vol 2 # 63
So cool! Paulo Rivera’s painted cover, which would somewhat inspire the live action Iron Man movies, shows Ol’ Shellhead in his hall of armors, preparing for blastoff. I love the perspective and how he’s launching upward into the stratosphere presumably; it looks real without being “too” outside fantasy, and reminds me of the armor in the Marvel Mania restaurant from the ’90s. The only thing completely, utterly ruining it is the pointless story title blurb, in a “part 2 of 2” no less. Learn when to just let an awesome image stand alone, Marvel!

JLA # 1
A very memorable image by Howard Porter, this image announced that the new Justice League, under Grant Morrison’s pen, was going to finally be comprised of the biggest guns in the DCU; and that they were not to be messed with. Just standing there, you can feel their power. Alone they are legends, together they are gods watching over us. Love the green background and even the slightly outdated digital logo. This was something new on the scene, and it was announced in very bold and dramatic fashion. The World’s Greatest Heroes were definitely here to stay.

Justice # 5
Hey now! The entire League, matched up against their counterparts in the Legion of Doom, is so cool looking. Alex Ross hits this one out of the park, in a cover that isn’t so representative of anything happening in the actual issue, but of the larger narrative context going on. Hero to villain, this is one of the best portrayals of the DC Universe do-gooders and their foes. Plus, check out how Grant Morrison is his model for Brainiac! Grant should totally be Luthor though, Alex!

Kingdom Come # 4
The final issue of the classic mini-series, Ross shows a burning Superman standing alone to contrast to the cast of characters that adorned the covers of all the prior issues. Using a dramatic red wash, Ross shows the futuristic Man of Steel at his lowest point, as perhaps a visual metaphor to what the series’ theme was signaling: that this was indeed the end of an age of heroes. Dramatic, simple and stunning, Ross puts so much emotion into one image that demands you pick the issue to figure out the context, without ever giving away exactly what’s happening. It’s a visual hint that it isn’t going to be good, though.

Marvels # 4
I really didn’t plan on having three Alex Ross images in a row on purpose, but it worked out that way; maybe he chose his project titles to fall close together in the alphabet? But this cover, of Spidey facing off against the Green Goblin as he kills Gwen Stacy, is perfect. You can just feel the palpable dread, and this is in fact perhaps what the cover to the original should’ve evoked. Realistic looking as well as deftly fantastical, Ross captures the most heartbreaking moment in Spider-History (Until Norman murdered his unborn child and Mephisto unmarried him, I guess), and did so in a way Spidey had never been portrayed: like a real breathing human. The static mask does wonders too, as you have no idea what the face looks like underneath, but can nonetheless feel the intensity.

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man # 37
What an angle! This Sean Murphy cover for the junior Marvel Age title is so cool, with the sketchy urban canyons something rarely seen in the sea of skyscraper covers. The logo and trade dress just completely ruin and detract from the image, but it’s such a good drawing that I had to include it. The coloring compliments it as well, Spidey swinging through the morning!

Miracleman # 16
There is little to say, other than I think this is one of the best covers of all time in the medium, and one of the finest pieces of comic art I’ve ever seen, with everything, perspective and design-wise, being utterly perfect. It evens works as signaling the last issue of Moore’s run by conveying intimacy and beauty after the previous 15 issues of carnage. Even if you know nothing about it, the simple, human image of two lovers being overtaken by a tesseracting form, hinting at their superhuman nature, grabs your attention and imparts thematic resonance. Also awesome is #15, but which I could never wrap my head around due to being unable to tell if Johnny is holding Miracleman in a headlock, or a severed head. Which is it??

New X-Men # 114
Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly propelled the X-Men into the 21st century with this cover loudly announcing their arrival on the title, as well as being a visual changing of the guard. Gone are the ’90s spandex costumes; in are the leather faux-movie black uniforms, with each X-Man depicted in silhouette. My favorite things are the stripped down title, with a great reversible logo and all the issue numbering restricted to the side; and the perspective, with each member marching forward, but from biggest to smallest, with tall Cyclops dominant in the foreground, and the shorter Wolverine and sitting Xavier coming up the rear. It’s almost the opposite of how you’d expect it to work, but this somehow enhances their larger than life nature. Truly stunning.

Optic Nerve # 8
All of Adrian Tomine’s Optic Nerve covers are great, but I think this one is his best. A perfect marriage of clean and precise art with the correct design, this ‘varsity’ cover absolutely tells you the issue is at a high school, but I love the choice of images he selects. Rather than throngs of people to depict a Breakfast Club buddy-buddy vibe, the eerie, empty areas give off an ominous touch that make the reader feel like something of an outsider looking in- kind of how we feel when inside the high school experience itself. We’ve all looked to an empty hallway or table to just try to escape for a moment, but those moments are rarely depicted in art; here Tomine captures them like snapshots, almost as if you can imagine him sketching in a real high school like a voyeur.

Origin # 1
This is just a great image, Quesada at his impressionistic best (if you can call it that, what do I know), but with Richard Isanove’s colors working so well that it becomes an art form unto itself rather than just color complimenting the piece. Everything evokes a time and a place, perfect for a series called “Origin,” but also conveys sweet nostalgia for the days of childhood, making you immediately feel for the kids on the cover even if you don’t know who they are. Hell, I’ve the read the series and I still can’t tell which one Wolverine is, but it’s a cool cover! The farmer boy is Sabretooth/”Dog” Logan, right? Whatever!

Punisher (2000) # 1
All of Tim Bradstreet’s Punisher covers are great (some might say so great they all started to become interchangeable stock images), but his first remains his best, being both a startling revelation of the Punisher for a new age- stripped of his white gloves and now in a gritty logo t-shirt, which he’d stay in forever after- but with a great artistic sensibility. The giant skull taking up so much negative space is particularly successful, a bold move for a first issue, where you want to establish a character, but it works. I also still dig that great Marvel Knights logo with individual corner icon for each character in the line! He’s a gritty, serious killer not to be messed with and this cover shows it.

Spawn # 1
I considered # 50 for this entry since it’s slightly aesthetically better; but it has to be the first issue in terms of iconic status. This was many kids’ first comic that wasn’t Marvel or DC, and right away, it announces to you that this hero is here to stay and join the ranks of the greats purely by his kickass design alone, which not many first issues can say. The overall tacky joy of this cover, including the 90’s neon day-glo coloring and halloween sticker bats, just adds to the “buy me now” irresistibility of this cover. It’s a complete kitschy delight, and you can’t look away.

Spawn # 70
I had said I didn’t want to go for extreme minimalist covers, but DAMN is this cover badass. It’s adult and comfortingly comic-book at the same time, unmistakable as anything other than Spawn due to the few features shown and the distinctive scratchy McFarlane-y art lines. It’s rare for a non-Marvel/DC character to be instantly recognizable just by a few features in blackness, but Greg Capullo has done it here. Why isn’t this ever on more top cover lists?

Spectacular Spider-Man # 101
While on the other side of the spectrum, a bit overrated on too MANY top cover lists, this cover is still a technical achievement and grand to look at. Everything works, from the anatomy, the pose, the building perspective being just a bit off, and even the corner box and title color all working perfectly in tandem to bring together every element of the cover, instead of distracting or detracting. This is how comics should work, which each part of the puzzle adding to the piece, to create a work of art that you could only find specific to this medium. Spooky Spidey!

Spectacular Spider-Man vol 2 # 27
Mark Buckingham and Paul Jenkins say goodbye, in this story that wraps up their run on both the Peter Parker and Spectacular Spider-Man titles. Spidey swings off into the sunset, and you just know it’s going to be okay. Sometimes an image doesn’t need to have any hidden meaning, nor great depth in order to be special, and this simple, sweet drawing captures the innocence and whimsy of their entire underrated run perfectly. The pink sky looks great too!

Spider-Man (1990) # 1
WHOA! Todd McFarlane’s iconic image of the first comic to sell over a million copies (I think, don’t quote me on that), is one of the most memorable images in all of comics and forever cemented his reputation as a superstar. When many people think of Spidey, this is the image they see. There’s so much to admire, from the detail to the webbing to the angle to the coloring, but it all comes together in one package. Sometimes covers have great art, but things don’t coalesce well; here everything supplements the rest of the elements perfectly, and made this a can’t-miss comic of the era. Simple, to the point, and just plain neat looking.

Spider-Man # 88
A really underrated cover, perhaps because of the garish and crooked ’90s Spider-Man logo treatment that had run too long by this point, it’s a truly striking image by John Romita Jr. It works great as a black and white, but that little splash of color on the pumpkin bomb- indicating the Goblin is back and causing havoc- is a great bit of business, perhaps what they should have used for the Death of Gwen Stacy issues. I like the black logo with blue highlights as well. Thumbs up for JR Jun-yah!

Stray Bullets # 10
While all the Stray Bullets covers are great, tying into that Watchmen/Akira “single image” from inside the comic aesthetic, this one stands out. I was already a fan of Lapham’s split covers, with the top a single color, but this one is just genius. Making use of the “constraints” to show only half of Amy Racecar’s face, Lapham completes the portrait with an absolutely genius use of colors and a perfect distillation of the noir world he created in one image, with the rising smoke paused at just the right second and her scarred face telling you all you need to know: this is a crime comic, and it pulls no punches. Also standout are the covers for # 1, 4, and 12 (Eat Pie!).

Superman # 0
Kind of a companion to Detective 704, people dismiss this cover I think because of the mullet and Zero Hour silliness (The Beginning of Tomorrow… now here’s part 3 of the Kenny Braverman story), I think this image captures ol’ Supes at his most badass, with the eyes, logo and cape highlighted to distill the character down to his most basic silhouette, but conveying a ton of attitude. I like how the lightning implies he’s just gotten through having some adventure in the heart of a storm, and boy howdy, you’d better stay out of his way.

Superman # 75
A true classic, and while the buildings are completely out of perspective, the instant symbolic nature of the torn cape against the black background and rising smoke truly is a memorable cover image for the ages, perhaps one of the most memorable. You just see it, and understand what it represents. The corner business leaves something to be desired, but I REALLY think the Superman office was asleep at the wheel when they allowed triangle number ‘2’ on this cover, likely confusing everyone buying the comic. It’s his ‘death’… and it’s also issue 75 on sale in November. But the cover to beat I’m thinking of here is the outer “black bag” the cover came in, with the bloody red ‘S’ logo. While it’s almost too minimalist and stripped down, it is so iconic that I couldn’t leave it off the list. Just screams “Death of Superman,” perhaps why they knew to put it on the bag instead of as the main business. Still, it’s probably one of the most recognizable images in all of comics history.

Superman # 154
Before Jim Lee came along and stomped on whoever was in his path, Ed McGuinness was, for a good bit of time, considered THE defining Superman artist of the new millennium. That style, as well as his anime flair in all its glory, is shown no better than in this cover for his debut issue. It doesn’t matter if the proportions are wrong or he borrows just a bit too much from Joe Madureira. This is Ed showing off what he brought to the table in bombastic fashion, and I think it boldly presents Superman in a specific way, that was different to the bland art (which was itself a spinoff of Byrne’s style) that we were saddled with for years. This covers brings Superman into the new century kicking and screaming. The holographic Daily planet logo ruins it a bit, and the green “Y2K” is a disaster, but let’s not sweat the small stuff!

Tomorrow: The final part in our series of the greatest covers of all time! Don’t miss it. List should take us to the end of an alphabet, and an even 40 by my last count.