Lookin' at Marvel Covers for October 2008

Just because I don't hardly read any Marvel stuff, doesn't mean I don't like to look at pretty pictures...

INCREDIBLE HERCULES #122
by Clayton Henry & Guru eFX
I don't know why Namor is trying to bite Hercules' stomach, but I'm not complaining. It's almost worth buying just to hang it on the wall...

AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #18
by Mark Brooks
I don't know what it is about this cover, but I just think it's really neat. I love the art, the lighting, the coloring. It's just a really nifty image!

ASTONISHING X-MEN: GHOST BOXES #1
by Simone Bianchi
Boxes. Heh.
Nice boxes, too...

SECRET WARS OMNIBUS HC
by Alex Ross
I think it's really cool when Alex Ross takes an old, well-known image that was just a line drawing with flat colors and pops it out into three dimensions. This is a nice one. It would definitely make a cool poster.

ULTIMATE CAPTAIN AMERICA ANNUAL #1
and

ULTIMATE HULK ANNUAL #1
by Brandon Peterson

I really love Brandon Peterson's art. He must have a real job somewhere, because he just doesn't draw enough comics! I wish he'd do more interior stuff (and I wish he'd do it for DC! LOL). I love his line work. I wonder if he does his own colors? If not, whoever did on these covers is an awesome match. The lighting, palette, textures...they all just really make these images pop! Awesomeness.

The power of MIKE ZECK:
Two of the above covers coming in October are based on artwork originally done by Mike Zeck for the covers of MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS #1 (May 1984) and CAPTAIN AMERICA ANNUAL #8 (1986). Here they are:

70 Super Years: Superman in the Forties

	ACTION COMICS #29 (October 1940) Lois Lane's first cover! And her first bondage cover!! Lucky girl!
	SUPERMAN #14 (Jan/Feb 1942) Famous Superman and eagle cover.
	SUPERMAN #15 (Mar/Apr 1942) Melted bridge, punching ray beams. Looks like an homage to the first Superman cartoon!
	ACTION COMICS #47 (Apr 1942) The First Luthor cover!
	ACTION COMICS #51 (Aug 1942) First appearance of the Prankster!
	ACTION COMICS #64 (Sept 1943) The First appearance of The Terrible Toyman! Poof on a pogo stick. Scary.
	ACTION COMICS #100 (Sept 1946) Action Comics 100th issue!
	SUPERMAN #53 (Jul/Aug 1948) Superman's 10th Anniversary!!
Homage covers? Apparently not such a new thing:
	SUPERMAN #40 (May/Jun 1946)
	SUPERMAN #56 (Jan/Feb 1949)

70 Super Years: Those Homages Look Super!

Like ACTION COMICS #1, the iconic cover to SUPERMAN #1 has been the subject of many homages.

Here are a few:

ACTION COMICS #643 June 1989

SUPERMAN: 20TH CENTURY Alex Ross Giclee 1998

MAJESTIC #1 October 2004

You can see a bunch more SUPERMAN #1 HOMAGES @ Comic Vine!

70 Super Years: Action-packed Homages!

The cover of ACTION COMICS #1 features such an iconic image, that it's not surprising artists over the years have "borrowed" the image to portray an equally powerful image. Or just as a wink and a nod to the first.

Check out a few:

SENSATION COMICS #51 March 1946

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #306 October 1988

ACTION COMICS #685 January 1993

Director Bryan Singer even got in on the act with a scene in 2006's SUPERMAN RETURNS:


You can see a bunch more ACTION COMICS #1 Homages @ Comic Vine!

Homage-enizing: Batman and the Flash

Updated at 9:55 AM -- Oops, I forgot to say: With special thanks to my buddy Martin for the discovery!

THE FLASH #181
(August 1968)
by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito


THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #13
(July 2008)
by Jerry Ordway

Homage-ocity: Batman and Robin

DETECTIVE COMICS #31
(September 1939)
by Bob Kane


BATMAN #227
(December 1970)
by Neal Adams


ROBIN #179
(September 2008)
by Freddie Williams II

Deja Vu

Everything you touch just falls apart like shattered glass...

Superboy-Prime from
INFINITE CRISIS: SECRET FILES & ORIGINS


ACTION COMICS 864


SUPERGIRL 30

Double Take

A 40-year old cover gets swiped. Not once -- but twice. And just a couple months apart. Kinda crazy.

Our Army at War #195
by Joe Kubert
(July 1968)


Countdown to Final Crisis #17
by Pete Woods
(January 2, 2008)


Action Comics #862 (variant)
by Keith Giffen and Al Milgrom
(April 2008)

Seeing Double 2

That wacky Wonder Woman...
She's at it again!! Just can't stop playin' wit' herself!

Wonder Woman (1st series) 59. May 1953	Wonder Woman (1st series) 84. August 1956
Wonder Woman (1st series) 98. May 1958	Wonder Woman (1st series) 115. July 1960

It worked so well the first time...

Every now and then, a comic book cover becomes iconic and inspires artists to do their own riff on it. Some people call it swipes, but I think it's more homage. When the source material is so well known and so obvious, the repeating artist is not trying to say "Hey, look at my all-new original idea!" They're paying tribute to the original. A swipe is when an artist copies someone else's work and tries to act like they didn't. That's my opinion.

Anyway: When George Perez drew the cover for the first issue of The New Teen Titans back in 1980...who knew? Probably no one. Because no one paid homage to it for 16 years. And then it was George paying homage to himself. But boy did that open up the flood gates. Take a look:

New Teen Titans (1st series) 1. November 1980	New Titans 130. February 1996
Titans Secret Files and Origins 1. 1999	10th Muse (vol 2) 1. July 2002
Teen Titans (3rd series) 1 2nd print. September 2003	New Teen Titans: Terror of Trigon TPB. 2003
Teen Titans (3rd series) 25. August 2005	Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide: 35th Edition. 2005
Transformers: Beast Wars: The Gathering 1. June 2006	Teen Titans (3rd series) 41. January 2007