Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities A Study in Seventeens!

Great Hera, there she goes again. <--Yep, for about 17 years now.

Choose one per matchup -- no ties -- on your opinion of the cover merits alone. Click images to see larger versions

Previous editions, for perusal and/or catch-up: Elevens, Twelves, Eights, Tens, Twenty-Nines, Eighteens, Fifteens, Fives, Nines


1. TEEN TITANS vs. NEW TEEN TITANS




2. SHOWCASE vs. MOON KNIGHT




3. BLONDE PHANTOM vs. PHANTOM LADY




4. X-MEN 2099 vs. THE INVISIBLES

1. Teen Titans - the circular text surrounding Mad Mod gives the impression of a portal. New TT does impart a good sense of chaos; maybe they could have messed with the title to add to that.

2. Showcase - nice standard SF fare. Moon Knight is dramatic, but the pose is puzzling. I turn it upside down (not easy with a monitor) and it still looks like he's got a broken leg or something.

3. Phantom Lady - sharp, focused, mysterious object in her hand and docks always spell trouble; the eye's all over the place on Blonde Phantom.

4. The Invisibles - very nice psychedlic image, the character and title are integrated with the background, Nehru jacket, jabot, coloured glasses. Yeah, I know, none of you were even alive in the 1960s.

1. TEEN TITANS. No contest. At all. I wrote here about I was low-key mesmerized by NTT 17, but next to the SATT? OMG, Mod! He's a grinning, hand-on-hip-posing, flying-cravat hologram or mirage yet has the Titans very firmly in hand. Very nicely circled by psychedelic-tinged lettering and underlined by the slightly convex (?) distortion of the Tower Bridge and both banks.

2.MOON KNIGHT even though it's far from perfect. I agree with FC about the figure's pose being off. What is that white line that goes up through the H and T? It can't be the other side of his cape unless the cape is partly transparent

3. BLONDE PHANTOM is overbusy, but I like her central swing-in. I can't quite figure out PL. What's with the ropes? Is this supposed to be her getting free from being tied up? To what? She's still halfway tied up (?) but is holding other things in her hands? Okay, her ray thingie in her left hand might make sense but what the hell is the green thing in her right? Also, Wertham was probably right about the costume and how PL's physique under it was overly emphasized, but let us not forget the hair is kinda bad too. (Honestly, MATT BAKER!!) Bad background coloring too, in my opinion.

4. THE INVISIBLES. I like both. I think left-and-top frame provides contrast (esp. where the logo drops in) that gives it an edge.

5. FF vs. HOWDY DOODY




6. COFFIN HILL vs. CASTLE WAITING




7. ALL-STAR COMICS vs. DNAGENTS




8. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN vs. JACK OF FABLES

Transparent or ripped. Possibly just a fashionably-designed split, which doesn't make sense, but what does with capes?

5. Spiderman - the moment captured: the open mouth, spoon raised, finger just touching Johnny's shoulder and the label on the cereal explaining the scene. Howdy Doody is sort of interesting, though - like breaking the fourth wall, but here it's (the appearance of) breaking a wall within the story.

6. Castle Waiting - Creepy doll, looks like an old fairytale book cover and the price info is well integrated.

7. All Star Comics - those spikes have got to hurt, big time. Dramatic, nice shadow from the sandal although none of the JSA are similarly shaded - and why aren't they scattering? DNAgents Mega Man casts no shadow at all, nice running figure but the background is boring.

8. Jack of Fables - a twist on Humpty, Jack looking his usual wastrel self, peculiarly well-detailed train image on wall. Iron Man image is fine, but nothing unusual.

5. FF. Superhero cereal drama! You shouldn't have taken Spidey's Things, Johnny. What's up with Howdy's shadow?

6. COFFIN HILL. Because the logo is great! As for CW, I have mixed feelings about comics dressed as other types of books even if they look 'appropriate'

7. ALL-STAR COMICS even though the coloring works against it somewhat. The logo blends into the foot!

8. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN. Perspective, plus good flow between the 2 subjects.

9. SAGA vs. HAWKEYE




10. DAREDEVIL vs. BATWOMAN




11. MYSTERY IN SPACE vs. JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA




12. SOUTHERN BASTARDS vs. NEGATVE BURN

9. HAWKEYE. The is-it-a-photo-or-not art and the wtf of the TV head on a photo-realistic(?) image. Over in Saga, that's an interesting gift with purchase...but no thanks.

10. DAREDEVIL. That vibrant color!

11. MYSTERY IN SPACE. I'm not sure what up with that flamey(?) left side, but that bold arc of the walkway is a strong visual element and then there's all the people! It's kinda like the Super Stalag -- who are they, what's their story.

12. SOUTHERN BASTARDS. Sets a scene. Does NB hinge on you knowing who the character is?

9. Hawkeye - on Hawkeye, the TV-head is surprising; on Saga it's just Prince Robot who whoever having some reception problems.

10. Daredevil - the colour of the figure really stands out against the background and he's listening to those sound waves, which neither of us can really see but probably only he can hear. Batwoman's cape is curious but first reaction is "Do you want to buy a used gear?"

11. JLA - less passive than Mystery in Space although I wonder why The Atom wasn't the first to get sucked up.

12. Negative Burn - don't know what it's about but he sure looks negative. Southern Bastards loses for personal dislike of yellow AND monkeys.

1. Teen Titans. Perez has Frances Kane in the centre and then circles of debris then Titans surrounding her. It's well designed like all his covers. But the curving text matching the curve of the bridge; the weird Mad Mod effects and the Titans in peril from something that might not be real is superb. I think it might have inspired Justice League International #11 by Maguire.

2. Showcase. When all the cooler kids have cosmic ray guns for their ships, and you're uncle Zebbdv has given you a prop from his Edgar Allan Poe collection. We've all been there...

3. Phantom Lady. A key example of Golden Age cheesecake with added bondage fetish and peril thrown in. Is she going to use a magnifying glass to burn through the ropes? Such details are secondary to a book that reaches out and thumps its target audience. Blonde Phantom loses too many points for having her appear on her cover and throw off the left to right reading pattern of a nation. While not as punchy, it would have been better if we could see her about to smash through the skylight.

4. Invisibles for the masking around the logo. It also features Morrison's Moorcock wannabe alter ego that's just as strong as Wolfman's Terry Long, and about as interesting.

5. Howdy Doody. Not only the charm of seeing him interact with the TV, but with the TV characters responded. Class and scary at the same time. Everyone would notice something that big on the couch behind them, FF.

6. Castle Waiting. For the potentially interesting folktale/ creepy story. On the other one, someone is keeping a head in the bathroom cabinet. People keep their toothbrushes in there, and that's just not hygienic.

7. All-Star Comics. Tough one. That sweeping right to left arc of buildings on DNA agents leading to the villain is nicely done. The flat gradient of the foot allows the character to stand out and it gets points for having the speech double as cover blurb. But the JSA are about to suffer the Agony of De Feet (see Gregory). Having Brainwave on the cover tells the reader anything is possible, so a good choice to add that. This is the statue of liberty I think.

8. Jack of Fables. Organisations can become complacent. That was certainly the case with All the Kings horses and all the kings me. Look what this guy managed to do all by himself. Although I'm not sure what the horses were supposed to do... then I wonder what's in the glue... still much more interesting than the Tin Man hovering all angsty over an out cold alter ego. Way too early for the alcohol issues. I wonder what Tony's vice was back then?

9. Hawkeye. He's never going to be able to fire an arrow, but the photoreal beats the art on Saga. There's been quite a few decent Hawkeye covers.

10. Daredevil. Tough one. I'm sure there was a time I'd have voted for Batwoman. The intricacy of the cape is the best thing about either cover, and it ties in with the story title (which quite a few covers don't). But sometimes you just want a Silver Age themes giant Daredevil wandering around the city. Allred's art is perfect for that sort of thing and it gets the win for the Eisner billboard logo. Incidentally, Batwoman's art pre Rebirth turned out to be better than the covers.

11. Misery in Space. Crumbs. Super Tough. Classic JLA combining sci fi with super heroes. This would be tied in with the Red Tornado origins. But misery features another adventure for our Everyman in a White Suit character beloved by 1950s comics (see also the Alec Guinness film no doubt). There's lots of background detail and a great array of aliens all sharing the same fate. Note the romantic interest, three back from the Earthman. Not also that the guy two back form Earthman would have his Satyr personality transferred into Dirk Morgna. The cover wins for having the left border as a pillar of flame. It might be the flame of Despero or the flame on Durla or the flame form an HPL story. All classics.

12. Negative Burn. Burt Reynolds dressing up a monkey is a fail. The other guy might not be so eccentric, but there's something interesting about a cover that isn't trying too hard. As an aside I found the old Negative Burn comics a bit hit and miss. I did buy a few, so there might have been an ongoing serial in there I was getting it for.

13. BETTY AND ME vs. ABBOTT & COSTELLO




**14. TINY TITANS vs. PROMETHEA




15. TEEN-AGE ROMANCES vs. THIRTEEN




16. BARBIE FASHIONS vs. YOUNG LIARS

Poor Mon-El got 1000 years in the Phantom Zone, while we get 1000 posts in the Cool Zone!

13. Betty and Me
Cool swimsuit fashions, a bit racy, nice pic on top of the logo and a gag. Jughead is the annoying one with the loud music spoiling it for everyone. Joik! A&C don't stand a chance here.

14. Promethea. A win for symmetry. I also don't know why Raven has to wear washing up gloves to read her book.

15. Teenage Romances. I'd have loved to have seen everyone in the room have a thought bubble. "I deserted my ideals for an easy life" Well, better to get it out of the way as a teenager than learn to do it later, I guess. Over in Thirteen, Vi clearly prefers Ayla's company to dull Ord.

16. Barbie. More fashion in action than an issue of Fashion in Action.

13. ABBOTT & COSTELLO. A whole field of daisies!

14. PROMETHEA. Back when I started these matchup threads, I wanted any given pair to be relatively well-matched. So no Harvey comic vs. an Alex Ross painting? No, I quickly came around on that because "simple" is not necessarily easy, and conversely, elaborate or atypical designs/techniques aren't necessarily winners. These were matched due to action portrayed: arm-waving magic. Tiny Titans is somewhat intriguing due to being more than a sum of its parts. It has symmetry and a color palette I like, but what else? A kinda-sorta-not-really gag. It's a showcase of the cute art style and announcing that Raven is going to do magic. That's pretty much it. Kind of thin, but still comes across well. Over on Promethea, we have a whole scenario. By the way, I know those covers are all AFTER someone, but since I don't know the works of Dali very well (sure wouldn't have guessed it was him) I didn't have to take that into consideration.

15. THIRTEEN. What, over that beautiful MATT BAKER art? I have no quarrel with the art. (You know, MATT BAKER!!) But Thirteen is more of a complete package rather than a beautiful scene under a logo strip. Check out the great use of white green space. (And is that John Mulaney early in his career?)

16. BARBIE FASHION. Can you out-pop Barbie?

Of course he would notice. It was foretold. (Johnny sat on his tuffet, eating NOT HIS curds and whey. Along came a Spider. Etc.)

17. SAVAGE SHE-HULK vs. WONDER WOMAN




18. TIM HOLT vs. BLACK RIDER




19. MADMAN vs. GREEN LANTERN




20. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN vs. DAREDEVIL

17. Wonder Woman. Someone has to be tied up in a Wondy comic, and this promises to be time travel/ western fun. Points for the squirrel. Man-Elephant could at least have been Manephant or something. Oh, I'm stuck for a villain...looks around room... Beware Man-Ashtray! This is why I read DC.

18. Tim Holt. Too many crooks spoils the bruhaha, as they say...somewhere... and that costs the directionally challenged Rider some points. Tim Holt deosnt seem to appear on his own cover unless a) He's Ghost Rider b) he's the guy on left trying to shoot Ghost Rider c) He's the victim who looks nothing like his ...um...brand... or d) It doesn't matter as everyone is getting replaced by Rex the Western Dog next issue. He looks awfully like Moon Knight, but more points for the cape on this cover.

19. Green Lantern. He's actually using the lantern for its intend purpose. There's not much mystery. Alan Scott took the babydoll for his negligee collection. Quirky Madman doesn't win because it will never be as quirky as an Ambush Bug with Cheeks the Toy Wonder cover.

20. Daredevil. He has better timing than the Torch, who might be smiling in the middle of getting thumped. Both lose lots of points for cover blurb, although Daredevil's is more pompous. This is why I read DC.

13. Betty & me - too many flowers on A& C, which is the point of the joke, but unattractive. Archie comics beach scene always charming and the addition of the canoe at the top is a nice extra.

14. Promothea - more interesting cover, but Tiny Titans are always cute.

15. Teen-Age Romances - Better fashions, more of a story and interesting psychic possibilities from the red-head. "I Deserted My Ideals For an Easy Life" - sounds like a plan!

16. Barbie Fashion - cartoony, but different pop-art museum setting. Cool sunglass frams on Young Liars, maybe a bit too cool.

17. Wonder Woman - because jumping on or off a horse always impresses me and tackling a rampaging buffalo while looking so bored is cool. Man-Elephant gives me chills after seeing a certain recent movie, spoiler warning .

18. Tim Holt - it would be better without the photo of his face, but that ghost rider is pretty good, especially how it's breaking up that fraternity hazing session. Don't see how Black Rider's horse is going to pull back from that cliff. Cruelty to animals.

19. Madman - a bit crowded, but interesting assortment of toys. A missing baby doll strikes me as not worthy of Green Lantern.

20. Spiderman - both covers are dramatic, but I like the image of J. Jonah almost getting whacked in the head.

Congratulations on Matchup 1000. Do we get a Cool Zone Projector?

If you bring it, sure!

17. WONDER WOMAN! Okay these aren't exactly at the same level. Fantastic color story on WW. AND I DIG THAT CRAZY BUFFALO!!

18. TIM HOLT. The Ghost Rider is too good a visual even though the rest is nothin special.

19. MADMAN. Riot of color in a (too?) quiet toy store.

20. DAREDEVIL. Because of...Spidey. I love the Spidey-Signal.

21. ACTION COMICS vs. WHIZ COMICS




22. BATMAN FAMILY vs. WINTER SOLDIER




23. CANDY vs. KATHY




24. CAPTAIN MARVEL vs. CRACK COMICS

21. Action. Tough. Breakdown...Tank: Action; Dealing with tank: Action; Action: Whiz; Background: Draw; Logo: Whiz.... Action wins for not having blurb telling us what we can see.

22. Batman Family in every category you have.

23. Candy for the gag, but it would look better if it pinched the background to Kathy's logo.

24. Crack Comics. #18 of Captain Marvel issue has "Melody!" on the cover in this two part musical story. Crack promises me a Black Condor story that may well be a lot better drawn than the cover. I'm also desperate to know what ate The Clock's sock. Oh, and he gets points for wearing a vest. It can get chilly going out at night shooting criminals.