Martinex1: Let's take a look at some comic covers today! Pick the four that you like the most and would like to own for whatever reason. It's called the "$1 Challenge" and this time around we have a whopping 42 issues from which to choose.
Frankly, I think I could have found a hundred more covers of this ilk because today at BITBA we are exploring a pose that is quite ubiquitous. Let's call it the "Face Front, Stand Proud, Middle of a Jumping Jack, Comic Cover Pose $1 Challenge." You will see what I mean when you scroll through the images.
Through no scientific or confirmed method at all, I suspect Marvel has used this type of pose the most. I say that because the examples were very easy to find and seemed to appear in almost every Marvel mag. The Avengers' artists loved this pose as it appeared very regularly in that title. For DC on the other hand I had to do more searching; and other than in Justice League of America I was surprised at the relative paucity. I scoured Charlton covers and I could only locate the pose in E-Man (and that was borderline); I suspect it is out there in Charlton comics so bonus points if anybody sites another example. Atlas-Seaboard had a couple examples that I found, but I admit I am taking a bit of liberty with those. In general, forgive my stretch in finding the scarce issues in the Harvey and Archie comics, as this is more of a Super-Hero pose. The short legs of Harvey's headliners make it less likely I suppose. And I know Jughead is seated, but it still fits the theme in my opinion.
What I enjoy most about the position depicted is that it is truly a comic cover trope. Nobody in real life stands like that. In fact, I am tempted to make it my New Year's Resolution to break into this pose on a daily basis. Wouldn't it be fun to go to a corporate meeting and present an annual Power Point financial statement while standing so dynamically? To stand with legs spread so wide has to be uncomfortable, but our comic heroes seem to enjoy the position. I am sure artists use it because it fills the frame nicely and is inherently bombastic.
My choices this time around would include all DC issues simply because I don't explore that publisher as much as I should. I have to say though that the Wonder Woman cover is weird. Is she facing forward or backwards? Take a close look as Diana is exhibiting her rarely used "owl" power!
So face forward BITBA fans and assume the position! What do you think? Which comics would you like? What have I missed? What are your favorite four? And tell us something about the issue if you already own it and recommend it. Cheers!
12 comments:
Sorry, I just have to nitpick a little: on the covers to Iron Man 131, Justice League #s 77 and 92, yes the centrally featured character does have his legs are in that weird, wide stance position, but all of them are actually doing something useful with their arms and hands rather than just making grand gestures (i.e., Hulk's about to smash Iron Man, Snapper Carr is pulling off a mask, and Grundy's about to slam Supes into the ground). Meanwhile, on Wonder Woman 196, she has her arms forced in that position by the shackles (by the way, I think a great theme for these posts would be covers featuring poor WW tied up, bound or otherwise constrained in some manner or other - there'd be so, so many choices). And I'd agree that you're stretching it with E-man, as again, he's actually doing something useful with his hands.
Otherwise, though, this is a fantastic theme, because you're right about how ubiquitous the pose is, especially on covers. I'd say it absolutely counts as a genuine convention of comics, especially superhero comics. I also agree that it seems Marvel really led the way in this regard. However, I vaguely remembered a few New Teen Titans covers that fit the bill, so I checked the cover gallery at Mycomicshop.com and found them and a few more.
First, two that are more in the almost category:
New Teen Titans #3
New Teen Titans #6
And then these, which are pretty nice examples of the convention I think:
New Teen Titans #14
New Teen Titans #22
New Teen Titans #30 (although I suppose you could say that Terra is using her hands to manipulate that ring of rock she created.)
Tales of the Teen Titans #49
All of those covers are by Perez, so maybe it's a reflection of the fact that he got his start at Marvel, and unconsciously absorbed that quite common cover pose there while learning his craft.
As for my choices, I'll go with Avengers #s 9 and 19, FF #46 and Iron Man #1 (because who wouldn't want those classic issues for a quarter each? Also the IM cover is so awesome looking - If I ever had that issue I'd seriously consider just putting it in a frame and hanging it on the wall.)
Oh, and I just remembered another fantastic example from DC: All Star Squadron #23. O.k., I'll stop with the links/suggestions now...
Give me Marvel Premiere #1, Avengers #9 and #43, and Captain Marvel #1. The reasons are quite simple - Kane, Kirby, Buscema, and Colan - masters all.
And then I'd shoplift the E-Man #1. (Don't judge me.) I remember a day when you could actually find early E-Man comics in the quarter bins, but in more recent days Charlton's stock has improved.
Rip Off
Sub-Mariner #5
Iron Man #12
Fantastic Four #46
Captain Marvel #32
I've gone for purist covers - in these examples the standing figure is unequivocably the centre of attention and sharing their moment of triumph with readers.
I had never considered this before, but the pose seems to be popular for new characters, series, and dramatic shifts of story gears.
How about Rom #1 and (especially) Rom #43?
As far as Charlton goes, Ghost Manor #21 (Ditko) gets close...
Edo, you are right in that in the purist approach the central figure would not use his hands other than in a triumphant gesture. Those are some good DC examples - I'm not sure I've ever seen the All-Star Squadron issue before. And interesting thought about Perez; he sure brought a lot of that Marvel attitude and style with him as you said. I may indeed have to add a tied-and-bound cover sampling to my list of pending $1 challenges.
Rip - I wish E-Man was economically available again; I've been wanting to hunt those down.
And Colin thanks for the Charlton and ROM examples. The Ghost Manor may be as close as you get in Charlton to the pose. And since you mentioned ROM, it made me think of that other Marvel toy book ... The Micronauts. And that book has plenty of examples of the pose with Baron Karza, Acroyear, Commander Rann, and Professor Prometheus all doing versions of it over the course of the run. Did you ever notice on the Captain Marvel 32 cover that Mar-Vell's energy ray from his bands goes behind his head? I always thought that was a strange artistic touch.
I may have to run a Part 2 to capture more examples. Cheers!
Avengers 43
Captain Marvel 1
Fantastic Four 46
Fantastic Four 113
Love that era of the Avengers. Always had a soft spot for Mar Vell. Love the Inhumans. The Overmind appeared in one of the first issues of Marvel's Greatest Comics that I ever read so that era of the Fantastic Four is also dear to me.
They are all great.
Am I the only one who absolutely loves everything Kirby pre-1971 and absolutely HATES every Marvel cover (and most interior art) he drew upon his return? What the hell happened to his fluid powerful style? Everything go so rudimentary and thick lined.
yoyo
Martinex, if you're not averse to buying your back issues online, it still should be pretty easy to find relatively cheap copies of the original Charlton run of E-man. I think I've mentioned (several times at BAB) that that's exactly what I did - and then had them bound. I'd suggest checking the aforementioned Mycomicshop.com first, they usually have the lowest prices.
This one seems like the apex of the convention, using the "panels" created between limbs to show different scenes
Avengers 227. I just happened to post a pic of my copy over at Notes From Comics Collecting
Superb call on Avengers #227 Dr. O!
Hmmm, you're right about this mostly being a Marvel thing, so I'll go with some DC stuff this time: two JLAs (the Solomon Grundy and Per Degaton ones), the LSH one with Infinite Man, and for the last one I'll go off the grid with Edo's suggestion of All-Star Squadron #23 ... I always thought Amazing Man was cool.
Mike Wilson
Post a Comment