Heart Throbs #120, DC Comics, June/July 1969 – Artist: Neal Adams.
I’m not going to apologize for this being a Romance Comics. The cover to Heart Throbs #120 is as scary as a pre-code horror and of course in many ways way scarier. Seriously great cover from Neal Adams.
Our Fighting Forces was not on my list but having had a closer look I agree it is a fantastic cover. L.B. Cole’s Ghostly Weird Stories was considered but I felt I’ve seen a similar cover before on Day 113.
I almost picked Jerry Lewis #120, great cover. Lois Lane #120 is a nasty cover, one you can’t make yourself look away from. I really liked Iron Man @130 and Amazing Spider-Man #120 has always been a fave because of the Spidey/Hulk battle.
A great comic book cover matching each day of the year, 1 through 365. Please chime in with your favourite corresponding cover, from any era.
Lot of social and political charge to this cover, Walt, but it just fizzles in the end. Vertigo’s Fables 120 is miles more effective and impactful as a cover I want to collect, save, and maybe frame.
This is one of the few comics I have that you highlighted.
Ghostly Weird is great but if you weren’t going to choose Blue Bolt #119 you shouldn’t choose it.
I am a great fan of Jerry Lewis in line with Jimmy Olsen, and I did linger over #120. Full disclosure of bias – if it had been an Adams cover (it looks a lot like one), I probably would have mentioned.
I avoided mentioning Lois Lane because I thought we were full up on misogyny. Would this have received a Code stamp in 1956?
I am going to dis ASM #120 just like I dis-ed #119. I think it is also visually confusing – where is the hulk, what is he holding? etc. One more data point for my “never was a Romita fan” defense.
For #121 my pick is Robin (1993 series). To me this is like a Frank Miller composition with Neal Adams refinement.
Runner up is Falling in Love. However I am just a bit torn because in my mind this barely qualifies as comic book cover art, it is “too good”.
Tomahawk has a lot going for it but it slides just a bit too far into bathos for me.
Some others to note:
JLA – and you thought the Tomahawk #116 angle was bad
Romantic Story – Donald and Ivana pre “an extra scoop – and only for me!”
Young Love – if as wild as it looks like it’s going to be, this one should have been sold in a sealed plastic bag
Finally the JOWA goes to – who else? – Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen for “Jimmy Olsen’s Death-Trick!” What a goofy prankster that “pal” was! The next issue was a highly collectible cover-only issue, depicting Superman incinerating Olsen with heat vision as they both enjoyed a belly laugh after the “trick” was revealed.
As I opened today’s column I expected to be rewarded with a birds eye view of Spidey and the Hulk battling atop the dome at the Montreal World’s Fair from Amazing Spider-Man #120.
Well… I guess not. But I know there are some great Spider-Man covers coming up, so I remain hopeful.
I looked through the nominations from yesterday’s comments and there were several other #120 covers that caught the eye including Jungle Comics and Iron Man, but 2 that really stood out did so for all the wrong reasons:
• Lois Lane #120 – Walt called it a nasty cover, but all I could think was “Poor Lois– again!” To be tied to a spinning knife thrower’s target from the circus in a cave in Mexico(?) while Super-Hombre awkwardly flies away – tragic.
• The previously nominated Batman #120 is a farce, with a broken leg Batman in a “whirlybat” using his newest secret weapon, the Bat Grain Elevator.
I looked at the Fables and I liked it, for some reason I’ve been passing over a lot of great Fables covers.
Jimmy Olsen, you know you’re a JOWA when the award is named after you, miles ahead of any JOWA wannabe.
Soooo Ed… Your Heart Throbs #120 in nice shape?
Walter, I like your choice. It is a shocking cover for any comic, since it is a serious, realistic approach. Its not Doctor Doom or some supervillain, this is something that, sadly, could really be said to a girl. And is. I had a rejected fellow, who been with the the ladybwho became my wife and mother of my children, once threaten to shoot me with his rifle in a drunken or coked up moment..I kept my curtains drawn and, incredibly, a loaded automatic nearby for a few days. All hot air, fortunately.
The purpose of the cover is to sell the book, and I would think this would motivate someone to want to read it. I am curious now.
Ivan, I think there are some wonderful Fables covers, but for me this us not one of them. Right off, you have logo smack in the middle of the art. And I honestly don’t like the style a lot. But just as Walter’s picks are ones I would not have chosen, this project points out how we all have very different ideas of our favorite works. Its amazing. I like how it introduces me to covers I would often not look twice at…
This is an amazing cover. I remember seeing it years ago, but had completely forgotten about it. It’s now on my list of books to get. Thank you.
This cover proves the ineptitude of the Comics Code. They wouldn’t allow the use of a zombie but allowed a real life monster!
Jeez Bud, that must have been a tense time, I’m glad things did not escalate.
I’ll second Bud’s sentiment on this exercise helping me appreciate so many more and varying covers.
I didn’t and don’t hate the comics code as so many did or do. The fact that Romance comics appealed to female readers of an older age I think was an important consideration. Thank God DC comics spoke to this important issue and the Comic code allowed them to do so. Social commentary of this nature cannot be underappreciated. I to will seek this comic out Walt. I am interested to see its resolution. Awesome pick. Subject matter is unpleasant. But boy, does it ever do its job.