Roger Ash

by Roger Ash

People seem to like making lists of favorite (or least favorite) things and I thought I’d join in on the fun this week. So I’m presenting a list of 10 meaningful comic covers. These may not be my favorite covers (though some of them are), but they all hold some sort of special meaning to me.

Walt Disney Comics Digest #1

1)      Walt Disney Comics Digest #1 (Gold Key) – I got this comic from my parents when I was a kid and I read it to death, often on long car trips. The cover on my copy is partly missing and the pages are ragged, but it’s all from repeated reading. This comic has been much loved.

Laff-A-Lympics #4

2)      Laff-A-Lympics #4 (Marvel) – I was a big fan of the Laff-A-Lympics cartoon as a kid and when I saw this cover on the spinner rack of a local store, I had to check it out. I’m glad I did because aside from being a fun comic, it got me to look at the other comics on the rack. This led directly to my next cover on the list.

Howard the Duck #25

3)      Howard the Duck #25 (Marvel) – This is the book that really got me into collecting. Steve Gerber & Gene Colan’s work on this book became the watermark of what I considered good in comics for years. Gerber’s run on Howard remains my favorite comic to this day.

X-Men #137

4)      X-Men #137 (Marvel) – The death of Phoenix. Probably the biggest comic event of my youth. A fantastic story. It’s the first time a comic made me cry.

New Teen Titans #1

5)      New Teen Titans #1 (DC) – I was very much a Marvel Zombie growing up and this book is what got me to start reading DC’s. While I didn’t know any of the characters aside from Robin, the creative team of Marv Wolman & George Perez convinced me to try the book. Absolutely fantastic series and still one of my favorites.

Fantastic Four #232

6)      Fantastic Four #232 (Marvel) – As much as I enjoyed his art on X-Men, John Byrne’s work on Fantastic Four as writer and artist topped that for me and remains a favorite. This run also reenergized Fantastic Four and brought it back to the forefront in many reader’s minds.

American Flagg! #1

7)      American Flagg! #1 (First) – Aside from being a great series, Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg! is one of the first indy series I got into (indy meaning, at the time, anything not Marvel or DC). This led to all sorts of great comics like Cerebus, Critters, Love & Rockets, Eclipse Magazine, Scout, and many other enjoyable series.

Four Color #199

8)      Four Color #199 (Dell) – I read Carl Barks’ duck stories as a kid, but I had no idea who he was. I just knew these were fun Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics. As I got more into comics, I learned more about Barks and his outstanding body of work. My favorite story of his is “Sheriff of Bullet Valley”, and his cover for Four Color #199 in which it appeared is one of my favorites.

Batman #251

9)      Batman #251 (DC) – After I started reading DC comics, a friend loaned me this issue. Wow! This stunning story by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams shaped my view of the Joker. He was no longer the jokester played by Cesar Romero in the Batman TV series, but a deadly and frighteningly unhinged villain.

Thor #337

10)   Thor #337 (Marvel) – I just love this cover by Walter Simonson and it’s such an iconic image. It also ushered in one of the best and most fondly remembered runs on Thor ever. It holds a special meaning for me as the first book I wrote was the Modern Masters volume on Simonson.

So, there you have it. Ten covers that I like and have meaning for me. How about you? What covers stick out in your mind? Comment below and join in the conversation.

Now, go read a comic!

Classic comic covers from the Grand Comics Database.