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| Images copyright MARVEL COMICS |
Sometimes I wonder if it's just me. I mean, look at these covers. Don't they make you want to pick up the comics to read what's going on inside? I can't remember the last time a cover of a modern mag made me feel like that. Anyway, here are another ten captivating covers from our TALES To ASTONISH series. A nice mixture of JACK 'King' KIRBY and GENE 'the Dean' COLAN awesome art, two of Mighty MARVEL's legendary luminaries who made comics in the 1960s and '70s so thoroughly entertaining.
Got a favourite, or a reminiscence about having any of these issues when you were a kid? Then let's hear all about it, O true believers. You all know your way to the comments section.
9 comments:
I love those covers as well , I think the art of drawing a cover to attract readers to pick it off a rack has gone, not that artists aren't good today its just there isn't a big need for that type of cover as comics are only available in specialist shops bundles in shelves , 100s of titles all over lapping each other, I think ids just go for a look or know the tile they want alphabetically - covers are now all mostly mini posters or variants and don't always have anything ot do with the story inside.
I can't recall the actual stories here just from the covers but issue 75 and issue 77 "Bruce Banner is the Hulk" stories rings a bell from MWOM I think issue 75 featured the Leader. I do recognise the Gene Colan Sub Mariner stories from Titans (I think) wasn't this around the time (mid 60s) that Gene Colan called himself Adam Austin for a few months?
Yes, Adam Austin, because he was working for DC (I think) at the time and didn't want them to know he was 'moonlighting' for Marvel. I first read the Gene Colan Sub-Mariner tales in Terrific, but you're right - they were also reprinted in The Titans.
You're right covers have changed. The difference is that back in the day you would buy a comic for a story do you had to compete with the other comics. Today people buy a run of comics for an epic story line so you aren't competing on one off months sales. Pity.
H'm, I'm not sure about the rationale behind that, Phil. If the cover fails to grab the attention of a casual reader, then he's hardly going to know that the comic contains an 'epic' story. If you buy the mag anyway, I don't suppose it makes much difference, but if you don't, you might do if the cover was more enticing.
There are no casual readers left. Here is a wonderful cover of the Silver Surfer by Mike Allred. It's great. Except it doesn't tell me anything. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d5/73/82/d57382110c978dd0884426445cfb936c.jpg
Here is an old school cover by Buscema. It has impact because there is drama. http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/silver-surfer/11-1.jpg
I can actually strongly recommend the Allred Silver Surfer series.
There are plenty of dull modern covers but there are lots of fantastic ones too. Like Paul, I remember those Gene Colan Subby stories from the early days of The Titans - now exactly 40 years ago, 40 years !!
I know what you mean when you say 'casual readers', Phil, but I was thinking more in terms of comics fans who get their regular titles, but who'd pick up the occasional non-regular one for a casual read, if the cover appealed to them. I'll check out the links.
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I think they should restore speech balloons and blurbs to covers and make them look like comics again, CJ. That's the trouble nowadays - today's creators don't want comics to look like comics because they think it makes people think they're for kids.
The real problem with so many modern covers is that they aim for the alternate cover virgin option. You know .. No titles.. No blurbs.. No speech balloons. Multiple artistic mini posters. How many buyers these days haven't looked online for next months comics--next months' cover choices? The one in 50 variant? Nostalgia vs progress? We look back to the good old days of our childhoods - randomly - JLA 3, Avengers 1, Flash 123, Avengers 4, Green Lantern 87, Tales of Suspense 39, (well the elder amongst us at least) etc, etc, browsed off the shaky racks of newsagents and sides-street shops and compare them with the often more artistically complex, high-tech colour, special effects cluttered artwork from your online stores and F....P..... franchises. It's all a matter of time. And of course your time - the time of your youth - will always be the best time.
Very true to a great extent, although I still recall many covers from my adult years with great affection. However, there was a point in the last, I dunno - 10 years maybe? - where covers just had images on them of heroes standing about, or not doing very much. Wonderfully drawn (most of the time) to be sure, but just lacking a certain something. Excitement perhaps? Wonder? Intrigue? Difficult to define with any precision, but something definitely changed.
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