Summary
- A great cover is the best advertisement for a comic book, drawing readers in to explore the story within.
- Sometimes a fantastic cover reflects the impactful story inside, creating a perfect visual representation.
- Iconic comic book covers often capture pivotal moments in superhero stories, setting the stage for memorable narratives.
With decades of history behind a lot of the most popular 🃏characters, there have been thousands of fantastic comic book covers through the years. The cover is your first impression of a comic book, and a great cover gets someone to pick it up and give it a look, making a good cover the best advertisement.
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Sometimes there's a fantastic cover on a comic that isn't particularly momentous, but a lot of the time, the best covers come when the story inside the book is worthy of a great piece of art showcasing it. The covers on this list are examples of times when an awesome cover meets a story every bit as impressive.
10 ෴ 🀅 Batman #497
Batman #497 by Doug Moench, Jim Aparo, Dick Giordano, Adrienne Roy, and Richard Starkings
One of the most f൩ormative Batman stories ever told, Batma⛎n #497 features the breaking of the bat at the hands (and knee) of Bane. Not satisfied with killing Batman, Bane breaks him instead, leaving Batman in a broken body that, Bane believes, can never again be what it was. With cover art by Kelly Jones and Bob LeRose, a hulking Bane bends Batman backward over his knee.
Oftentimes, comic book covers depict a hero losing to whatever villain the issue features, but the hero doesn't actually lose in the issue. In this case, readers pick up the issue, and as it gets closer and closer to the climactic moment, the cover grows bigger and bigger in your mind as you realize... Bane's going to win.
9 Justice League #1 ꧒
Justice League #1 by Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, Terry Austin, Bob Lappan, and Gene D'Angelo
This cover was an indica♋tion of a very different book for the Justice League, featuring a team sans many of the characters previously and primarily included in the roster. Featuring Guy Gardner, Shazam, Dr. Fate, Doctor Light, Blue Beetle, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, Mister M🅺iracle (and his manager, Oberon) and Batman, this Justice League roster had virtually no chemistry in the beginning, and that is both intentional and part of what makes the book so great.
Every character stari🐬ng at the camera, with none of them looking particularly pleased, is a good indication of the comic inside. This new team comes together, unsure of what to expect, apart from expecting Guy Gardner to cause problems. With art by Kevin Maguire and Terry Austin, they both convey expressions so perfectly in conversation, making for a Justice League cover, and book, 💯that stood apart from many other comics of the time.
8 🤡 The Dark Knight Returns #1
The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, Klaus Jansen, and Lynn Varley
This cover is possibly the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:most influential Batman shot of all time, at least landing somewhere near the top, with art by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. There was Batman before The Dark Knight Returns, and Batman after TDKR, with this cover being the first glance at the Batman inside. With its extremely limited color palette, Batman jumps out both literally and figuratively from the background in what's now an iconic Batman pose.
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One of the cool things about this cover is that, because he's in silhouette, if you've never read the book, you project more or less whatever Batman is the quintessential Batman, in your mind's eye. While the Batman featured in the book is likely quite different, or at least was, at the time. It's an old Batman, a Batman just recently back on the streets of Gotham and rediscovering what exactly it is that makes him tick.
7 🅰 Superman #75
Superman #75 by Dan Jurgens, Brett Breeding, Glenn Whitemore, and John Costanza
Another larger-than-life cover, Superman #75 features Superman's cape torn to shreds, flapping in the wind and clinging to a stick of wood sticking out of the rubble of one of the streets of Metropolis. And on the bottom, cover artists Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding make us a promise: the death of Superman.
The book followed through on its promise, with the now iconic battle between Superman and Doomsday. Every single page of this book is a splash page, showcasing the incredible artistic talent of the aforementioned duo, telling one of Superman's most memorable stories, and setting the precedent for a DC Universe that was very, very different for a while.
6 ꦕTheꦇ Amazing Spider-Man #50
The Amazing Spider-Man #50 by Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., Mickey Demeo, and Sam Rosen
One of the most conflicted superheroes of all time, the cover of the Amazing Spider-Man #50 features what is possibly the world's most popular hero leaving his heroic persona behind. Considering this comic came out in the 60s and we've got plenty of Spider-Man comics since then, we know Pete did the right thing and picked the mask back up, but for someone reading it for the first time, it can be a bit of a shocking comic.
Spidey's life is not a happy walk through the park, and many of his issues stem from his double life, balancing his responsibilities as Peter Parker with his responsibilities as Spider-Man. Oftentimes, the responsibilities of Spidey win out, and it creates a lot of strife for Pete. This issue deals with that head-on, and the cover art by John Romita Sr. showcases it beautifully.
5 🎉 X-Me༒n #136
X-Men #136 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Terry Austin, Bob Sharen, and Tom Orzechowski
One of the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:most iconic X-Men covers, and part of one of the most iconic X-Men stories, ever. This being the issue just before the death of Jean Grey amidst her descent into Dark Pheonix, X-Men #136's cover features Cyclops in agony as he holds Dark Pheonix's body, with the rest of the X-Men shocked in the background.
The Dark Phoenix saga had gone on for quite some time, slowly building and building into what was about to be a remarkable finale. With cover art by John Byrne, Terry Austin, and Bob Sharen, it's a cover that stands out as one of the most heart-wrenching covers of all time.
4 🍸 All-Star Supe🐻rman #1
All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, and Jamie Grant
The first glimpse at one o🧸f the best Superman stories ever told, All-Star Superman #1 has a simple cover, featuring the Man of Steel sitting amidst the clouds oveไrlooking his home of Metropolis, smiling. All-Star Superman was a story out-of-continuity, meaning it was free and clear to do anything it wanted with the characters, and it used that freedom to give us the quintessential Man of Tomorrow.
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With art by Frank Quitely and Jamie Grant, it's a beautiful piece of art and almost feels like Superman inviting us into his world. Like he's inviting us into his view of it all, from the clouds; not lording over it, but smiling down as its protector.
3 🔥 🅺 Web of Spider-Man #32
Web of Spider-Man #32 by JM DeMatteis, Mike Zeck, Bob McLeod, Janet Jackson, and Rick Parker
Kraven's Last Hunt is one of the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:best Spider-Man stories ever told and somehow, seems to have flown a little bit under the radar in popular culture, at least♐ as compared to other superhero stories of similarly incredible quality. This story features a Kraven at the end of his rope, not wanting, but needing to defeat Spider-Man before he dies.
Kraven does defeat Spider-Man, going so far as to bury the wall-crawler in a grave. With cover art by Mike Zeck, Bob McLeod, and Janet Jackson, Spider-Man crawls his way out of that grave in his black suit, rain and lightning thundering out of the sky above. While it's one of the darkest Spider-Man tales ever told, it's one of the greatest, earning its dark moments with exceptional characterization and storytelling.
2 Bone Compendium♑ ✃
Bone by Jeff Smith
One of the many different covers for various Bone Compendiums that always seem to be (deservedly) going out of print, this Bone cover is a perfect encapsulation of the myriad of vibes of the series as a whole. Bone combines comic strips with comic books, humor with darkness, grounded fantasy with high fantasy, and 💟personal stakes with grand scope.
This cover by Jeff Smith does a great job of showcasing the mixture of things in Bone extremely well, all framed beautifully between the leaves. Bone is one of the best comics ever made, with compendiums fairly easy to obtain, though the cover art may vary. That being said, there is not a bad Bone cover, and whichever you obtain, it's well worth the price of admission.
1 Secret Wars #1 💎
Secret Wars #1 by Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck, John Beatty, Christie Scheele, and Joe Rosen
Possibly the most popular and iconic crossover event of all time, Secret Wars is from an era where these kinds of things didn't happen all the time. Captain America didn't know much about Wolverine, almost nobody knew who Spider-Man was, and Tony Stark was not Iron Man.
This cover features art by Mike Zeck, John Beatty, and Christie Scheele, and showcases all of the heroes present in the book. It's something special to see all of these characters share such an outlandish and alarming situation, while many of them are still getting familiar with one another and provided us with possibly the best crossover event in comics history.
