Batman #171, DC Comics, May 1965, Artist: Carmine Infantino .
Carmine Infantino’s cover to Batman #171 is recognizable from across the convention floor, such a standout, I’ve owned a few but I’ll always remember seeing a copy in Boston maybe 20 years ago, raw, tight, glossy and mesmerizing, should have bought it!!
As Chris mentioned in yesterday’s comments I love Hulk #171 (pic below), great cover form Trimpe but it has to get the runner up today.
How about a Disco Richie Rich #171 (pic below), a JOWA candidate but I like it! I remember I liked Disco when it came out until I had to hide my liking it for fear of getting beat up. 1978, wasn’t that the year the Disco Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series?
What else caught my eye? Hey check out the Art Germ cover on House of Mystery #171, and check out John Buscema channeling his inner Frazetta on the covert of Conan #171.
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.
How do you not include Thor 171 Walt? Perhaps Kirbys best cover ever
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vuqbDYXUz7E/UBW2iTUMamI/AAAAAAAAGkw/IF7M-Nojmhg/s1600/Thor-171.jpg
or four color #171 if you like Dummies like Charlie
http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/four-color/171-1.jpg
I do love that Hulk 171 though….:)
An outstanding day for comic book covers. Batman #171 is a classic and deserves the honor with the return of a first string Batman villain, and great framing of the characters against a standout background color. Thanks to Chris for pointing out the “green” Batman logo as that detail had never caught my eye.
Hulk #171 is a deserving runner-up, and a cover I have always loved because I had the Marvel record version as a kid, and loved to read along as the record played out the dialogue in a grumpy and gravely HULK voice, while the Rhino had the loading dock gangster voice, and the record story ended with a huge BANG as the HULK stepped aside and the bad guys slammed into each other.
There were a lot of other covers to like including:
– Conan #171 – As referenced above by Walt, I agree it is a fantastic Buscema cover, but I wish it had a strong background setting rather than a dominant red color.
– Doctor Strange #171 was also a dynamic and rich cover, complete with giant hands.
– Detective #171 is another cool Penguin cover.
– Thor #171 – Another outstanding cover in the fantastic run of Kirby Thor covers.
– Superboy #171 – The quality of covers in this title continues be surprising. As I was roaming comic stores this weekend I hovered over the Superboy box enjoying some of the covers highlighted in this column and comments.
As Walt channeled his love for disco through Richie Rich, I remember a much loved 1970’s Richie Rich comic I had in which he traveled through the history of baseball. And so – the Pirates won the series in 1979. In 1978 the Yankees beat the Dodgers and Bucky Dent was named WS MVP as he continued his good play after the classic home run in Boston to send the Yankees to the playoffs.
Just when I figured out how Woody Woodpeckers appendages were wrapped around that tree Walt throws out the zinger if his disco days…yeesh…that jive talkin’s going to give me a Saturday night fever!!
Great commentary all around but Walt’s House of Mystery comment gets the mega-kudos.
As for the books that I didn’t mention, my I would say that I considered all but Detective, which is along the lines of those “quaint” covers discussed yesterday. Richie Rich quite good for what it is, but I need a really clever sight gag if I am going to go for one of these Harvey covers. I looked at Conan too, but while it is a nice piece of art, the subject matter has no real story and is very generic Conan. I think I am generally out of touch on this kind of material as these multi-million sales of Frazetta art mystify me. I thought Doctor Strange didn’t have enough story element, but I really dug the colors – and I completely missed the giant hands!
For tomorrow my pick is Wonder Woman (1987 series) – a brilliant Hughes cover. A very close second is Doctor Strange. Further behind but still really good are Strange Tales and Thor. I would not be surprised if Walt chooses Four Color just to mix things up – this is very well done but again for me too far from _comic book_ cover art to really be a choice. I also like G.I. Combat. The fluorescent colors of Girls’ Love Stories match perfectly with the time period, and the art is great, but it is too much of a standing around cover for me to pick it. If Walt picks Adventures of Mighty Mouse because he is again entranced by concentric circles, I will protest.
The JOWA clearly goes to Amazing Spider-Man, that Rocket-Racer guy belongs on that Richie Rich cover.
Just kidding, as diligent readers know this book is really – ahem – “undervalued”.
Really I considered the pencil birds of Blackhawk to be worth of a JOWA, but I think House of Mystery tops that. “That’s our Robby” – what is? The Indian chief? The flying horse that the Indian chief is riding? The octopus attacking the Indian chief and the flying horse a couple thousand feet in the sky? Similar to that Strange Adventures infinity cover, I hope this comic wasn’t lying around in any LSD experimenter’s room back in the day.
That’s right 1979, Pointer Sisters, Thanks Derrick. Ain’t no jive Gerald, and you know the prescription for that fever? More Disco!
Hey Chris, I saw that Mighty Mouse and said, damn! what a cover! Then remembered I already used it!!! Someone say LSD?