Sorry for the delay!Ok, so last friday, while I was mooning over the really nice cover Nick Cardy drew for that issue of Aquaman, I begged DC to put together an Aquaman edition of their super-cool Cover to Cover hardback book series. Aquaman has been the recipient of some astounding covers over the years, moreso than a lot of bigger-selling characters than he.
Anyway, my pal and F.O.A.M. member Craig Wichman had this suggestion:"A talented artiste like you could roll yer own." Illegal-substance references aside, I thought that was such a good idea (and I love it when Dixon does it over at Crimson Lightning) that I decided all this week I'll be presenting seven of my favorite, most striking Aquaman covers that definitely should be part of any Aquaman: Cover to Cover book, imaginary or not.
...so what better cover to start with than this, one of the most famous envelope-busting covers in all of comics? As has been reported many times before, DC was met with much resistence to some of the covers then-head-honcho Carmine Infantino was using. Not having the famous logo on top of the books so they could easily seen and identified was verboten on newsstands. But Carmine pushed some of 'em through, this being my favorite example.
Nick Cardy's design, use of lighting, and the colors are all top-notch--Black Manta looks like he's about to throw Aquaman into Hell itself. Never has a villain looked more certain to defeat the good guy!
4 comments:
That is one of THE all-time great comic covers. Back when a comic cover HAD to grab you to buy the book. Nowadays, comic publisher's consider their audience so consistent, small and devoted, I don't think they put the effort into grabbing the casual observer with a compelling cover. Because there aren't many casual observers, since you have go into a comic shop to get a COMIC!!! But I digress...
Infantino was the master of grabbing cover design. This is similar to that great Flash cover he did where the Rogues are perched atop a stony bucnh of letters which spell "Flash" whlie Barry is apparently dead below.
Can't wait for more!
You're right, Rob, this is on spectacular cover. It looks like this time Black Manta means business! Surely Aquaman is doomed! What a wonderful way to start Aquaman: Cover to Cover. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the week, to seeing what classic covers you've chosen.
Rob-
Nice pick/pic!
Yeah, DC owes Cardy - a lot. And Carmine, back in the day when he was at his height, had one helluva
design sense.
(I find some of the early Silver stories silly; but you just look at his stuff, and Kubert's, & are AMAZED.)
Keep up the good work!
-Craig
P.S. - ever see an AquaBOY cover?
That is an amazing cover with some great colors. Looking forward to the rest of your pics.
Just discovered this blog the other day and since Aquaman is my FAVRIT! I'm loving the blog.
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