![]() ![]() ![]() A quick glance at any newsstand or comic shop rack will show you one thing - there are some covers that draw the eye, and others that do not. The comic book cover is designed for one thing: to sell comic books. We judged the covers on the following criteria: Additionally the "portrait" cover now seems to reign supreme, with no attempt to enjoin the reader in the narrative looming inside. Very often these covers are muddied by cluttered backgrounds, overemphasis on flashy colors (rather than simple ones which support or frame the action), and bland, repetitive poses. Editors especially seem to have the idea that slickly rendered, sharply colored portraits are enough to entice marginal or new readers into purchasing their wares. The dearth of "modern" covers on this list can be attributed primarily to these two factors. With the increasing trend since the 70's toward brand loyalty from readers (blindly buying titles from publishers on a monthly basis), and the lack of top flight professional editors within the industry, the cover has become far less the focus than it once was when publishers competed on equal terms for readers on the newsstands. With our now-burgeoning list, we began to make our cuts in earnest. In looking through the incredible wealth of images which comics have produced to sell their publications, it's obvious that we've left out a surfeit of pictures which represent outstanding artists, publishers, genres and characters.Īfter setting our criteria and composing a rough list of contenders from memory, we began scouring our resources: the 100,000 back issues at our disposal, Ernest Gerber's invaluable Photo-Journal Guides and scores of books covering the history of comics publishers, writers, editors and artists. Of all our lists thus far, the 25 Greatest Covers is by far the most subjective and difficult to compile. For comic books, they, especially reach back to our youth, and innocent days when those were our only possible reactions to the world we knew. In the end, in spite of the low critical esteem accorded to art which appeals to our more base and hedonistic nature, there is something to be said for the momentary thrill of discovery, or shock, or horror. Lacking the pretense of civility and conformity found in other media, they were allowed to develop and change apace, stripped of any mitigating influence until all that we were left with was pure, unadulterated sensationalism. No shame, no guilt and no embarrassment were in evidence-no awareness of the social force or influence which comics exerted, however subtly, in our society. The very thing which, until recently, divided the Comic Book cover from traditional illustration-unselfconsciousness-had long been a crowning virtue of the medium. As a result they elicit an immediate response from the reader, one which eschews the intellectual reaction so often required of other visual arts. Precisely because of their need to appeal to an unsophisticated audience, they are often shocking, lurid, exciting, powerful, grotesque or titillating. You simply need to see if there’s a need, then jump in and give it a try.THE 25 ALL-TIME GREATEST COVERS OF AMERICAN COMIC BOOKS The comic book cover-along with her stylistic antecedent, the Pulp cover-is one of America's most instantly satisfying pictorial entertainments. There are many different activities to choose from and many approaches with a comic book club, and there’s no right or wrong way to do it. I felt like having a dedicated, weekly comic book club would be very popular. I’ve talked before about the huge popularity of our annual ComiCon, this is one of our most sought after programs. I’ve run a manga club for 9 years there and decided to start a comic book club to focus on the massive popularity of the comics and graphic novels that we have on the shelves. ![]() In the 2022 school year, I decided to run a comic book club in the school library that I manage. You can follow him on Twitter and on his blog. He loves Dungeons & Dragons and is the author of Let's Roll: A Guide for Setting up Tabletop Roleplaying Games in Your School or Public Library. In 2017 he won the UK's School Librarian of the Year award and in 2022 he was named the UK Literacy Association's Reading For Pleasure Teacher Champion. Originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, he's been a high school librarian in London, UK for over a decade. Lucas Maxwell has been working with youth in libraries for over fifteen years. ![]()
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