Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Score the Twenties!

49. FATALE: Nice homage to upmarket magazine, very well done, and then suddenly you notice the flames in her glasses.

50. GREEN ARROW: Although AF is more correctly proportionately drawn, the lighting effect on GA is much more effective.

51. TITANS: Done before but still effective (oops I already used that word - er - the cover effect works?)

52. SEX: No idea what BW is about. the Sex colours are psychedelically overwhelming but the style is nice and clean and - oops almost said it again - communicates well without actually picturing the stated topic.

Firefighters? What firefighters? ... Oh! Those firefighters! Ha! Burning up the dance floor! I get it now! Ha! Hmm. I'll just go back to my corner now.

49. Fatale - She doesn't even need to wink. Not only more pleasant to look at, much more mysterious and the flame reflection is ominous.

50. Green Arrow - he looks more than a little manic and the all green is overpowering, but it draws you in.... Gilded Lily looks robotic and not so mysterious, menacing or macabre.

61. Spooky - I'd say Titans is the better artwork and doesn't even need the text bubble, but there's something incredibly creepy about the ghosts being hung in the closet, apparently against their will, ergo good ghost story (although I know it will just turn out to be a silly kid's story).

62. Sex - those colours are overpowering and hot, but attention-grabbing. Never took to the Beanworld art.

49. FATALE. Vaguely curious about the context of the other cover - just vaguely.

50. ALPHA FLIGHT. I like the languid expression. (Ollie looks nutty.) Wish the background wasn't that red-orange though.

51. SPOOKY SPOOKTOWN for silliness and nice use of black.

52. SEX. The color, of course. And what thothy said about logo/fizz.

53. WOW COMICS vs. BATMAN




54. JEANIE vs. PHANTOM LADY




55. TEEN-AGE ROMANCES vs. GIRLS' LOVE STORIES




56. MARVEL COLLECTORS' ITEM COMICS vs. THE MICRONAUTS

53. Batman. This was a real tough one. The art quali9ty of Mary's title is always high. Then there's all the points for the Magic Carpet doubling as a paper, introducing you to the story. But Batman is so full of action, it's bursting out of the book to show you, putting the dynamic into dynamic duo. It also gets points for inappropriate underage driving.

54. Phantom Lady: Form the weird direction the guy on the train's hair goes against the wind, Phants might be up against Donald Trump. A train and a gun totin' motorhead fan is overdoing it a bit more. But it wins because Phants is going to solve it all by using her gadget, and hopefully getting off the tracks. Jeanie gets some points for the caf? owner's breakdown. But I know it's a hussle where Jeanie gets a cut from all that money she gets guys to put into the jukebox.

55. Teen Age Romances: A definite win for the well worked expressions. "How can I tell them that Bert is a slump shouldered dweeb? How can I tell them I >gasp< enjoyed some independence at college?" Girls' Love Story has a wonky premise. Why would surrendering Joel give her peace of mind? Giving up Bert form the other cover, I'd understand. An indifferent result on the Romance Comics Angstometer there.

56. Marvel Collector's Item Classics: Apart from a stiff looking Angel and a villain I'm surprised got past the comic code, it's a very good action shot from Kirby, with some classic line-ups. It also gets points for the use of "hand" in the blurb. I have the Micronauts issue, and remember beign a bit disappointed with what looked at the time to be a bit of a rushed cover compared to some of the earlier ones. The issue itself is part of a run that some really impressive comic book moments. But that would only be the winner in Comic Contents Comparison Thread.

53. WOW COMICS: This is a toughie. I kept going back and forward between two great covers but in the end Mary Marvel's pose won out.

54. PHANTOM LADY: More interesting and active than a standard lovesick joke that requires text to work.

55. GIRLS' LOVE STORIES: The pose in this tells the story by itself. Oh the pain, the anguish! I didn't need to read the text to get the emotion (somewhat overdrawn but then who hasn't felt the world collapsing on them at some time).

56. THE MICRONAUTS: Great use of colour and contrast, and good posing with the background figure. The other is just messy.

53. Batman - Bursting through the paper has a lot of dynamic action, the magic carpet less (although very bright and cheery). Plus Robin driving, no doubt recklessly. Why?

54. Jeanie - lots wrong with this cover (her hair doesn't match the song, why doesn't management remove the song from the jukebox if it's driving people crazy, etc.) but chosen for the simple memory of watching Felix Unger in the original Odd Couple TV show sing this song to a dog he adopted.

55. Teen Age Romances - girls wearing pants and going to college?? No wonder there's trouble. Plus the term "love gypsy". I have no idea. Does that mean bohemian?

56. Micronauts - this art style appeals to me, it's a bit cartoony. The villain on Marvel Collector's is unclear, first I thought it's a chef's hat then, like thoth, wondered how it got past the Code. The creators did have their little bits of fun back then.

57. AKIKO vs. PLANETARY




58. WHIZ COMICS vs. TIME FOR LOVE




59. CATWOMAN vs. FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN




60. FURTHER ADVENTURES OF INDIANA JONES vs. BLACK RIDER

57. AKIKO: Planetary is impressive with its colouring but Akiko is wonderful in its simplicity. I have no idea what either of them mean but Akiko gets the win.

58. TIME FOR LOVE: I want to vote Whiz Comics because I am not a Romance comic fan but at least this cover tells a story. WC is just a bunch of action pictures.

59. CATWOMAN: No contest SM is not a bad cover but CW ripping through the cover with her claws to peer out is beautifully and dramatically posed.

60. FURTHER ADVENTURES OF INDIANA JONES: Probably more nostalgia than anything. BR's dive and shooting straight out of the cover is dramatic but IJ's running and pose are so true to the character.

57. Akiko. The Planetary cover turned out to be the eye of their Ben Grimm stand in. Akiko's cover has eye catching detail, and is an easy win. I just can't recall what the series was about. After lockdown, I'll need to dig out the issue or two I have of it.

58. Whiz. By a Marvel Mile. Charlton went out of business all because of their unangsty Romance covers. Wade is squaresville. Loads of action for Captain Marvel, but you can see his biggest nemesis make an early appearance on the left - The Monkey Balancer! Imagine seeing *that* on the newsstand. You'd be desperate to find out how Billy pulled through alive.

59. Spiderman. Both covers should lose points for not telling me a thing about what's inside. But, the art on both is top notch. The full Spidey cover fits the theme and they've even lined up the costume to the web, for bonus points... and the win!

60. Black Rider. I should be miffed at him for shooting me out of the cover. At least I survived. There was no #21 due to reader fatalities. The falling guys behind him show that the Rider is on a Rampage! Very dramatic (in over the top action) The other cover suggests that Indy and the pilot will be nipping off shortly, to watch a Hitchcock movie.

53. WOW!!!

54. JEANIE. Lovestruck! At the soda shop! Oh, it's cute, and it would be fine without the annoyed peope.

55. TEEN-AGE ROMANCES. GLS image is kind of a dud for me.

56. MICRONAUTS. A lil bit of the BS bubbles-n-weirdness.

57. Neither tells me anything, would not pick up either. PLANETARY so I can move on.

58. WHIZ COMICS despite sad lack of cage dancing

59. CATWOMAN but I would prefer it without the oiled look. Spidey seems like he should have his tongue out but I guess that's too close to Venom?

60. INDIANA JONES. Better visual lines.

61. HIT COMICS vs. FLASH COMICS




62. MYSTERY MEN COMICS vs. FANTASTIC COMICS




63. DREADSTAR vs. AVENGERS ANNUAL




64. THE MICRONAUTS vs. BATMAN GOTHAM ADVENTURES

57. Akiko - a very un-comic comic book cover. It would catch my eye for that reason and I'd at least pick up the issue to see what it's about.

58. Whiz - some charm in the stiffness of old time illustration.

59. Catwoman - no great feat to claw through paper, but more interesting than the webs on webs. I think the "W" in the title should be blood red and dripping.

60. Black Rider - the all black figure stands out, especially with the burst of gun shot. Indiana Jones is too symmetrical.

61. Hit - lots of action, very realistic figures. Lose the white socks, though.

62. Mystery Men - tense moment - is the bad guy going over the roof to his death? Samson on Fantastic just seems to be destroying property for fun.

63. Dreadstar - don't like either, but the heroes being the same size as the overwhelming green people gives a sense of desperation, smothering.

64. Batman - is that a cereal ad? At least it's unbranded/fantasy brand. Makes no sense but Micronauts is too creepy. I wonder if Grape Nuts likes their product associated with buggy things?

49. FATALE vs. WARLOCK




50. ALPHA FLIGHT vs. GREEN ARROW




51. SPOOKY SPOOKTOWN vs. TITANS




52. TALES OF THE BEANWORLD vs. SEX



53. WOW COMICS vs. BATMAN




54. JEANIE vs. PHANTOM LADY




55. TEEN-AGE ROMANCES vs. GIRLS' LOVE STORIES




56. MARVEL COLLECTORS' ITEM COMICS vs. THE MICRONAUTS

57. AKIKO vs. PLANETARY




58. WHIZ COMICS vs. TIME FOR LOVE




59. CATWOMAN vs. FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN




60. FURTHER ADVENTURES OF INDIANA JONES vs. BLACK RIDER



61. HIT COMICS vs. FLASH COMICS




62. MYSTERY MEN COMICS vs. FANTASTIC COMICS




63. DREADSTAR vs. AVENGERS ANNUAL




64. THE MICRONAUTS vs. BATMAN GOTHAM ADVENTURES

61. Flash. His casual killing of his hooded foes gets the win over Quality's Hourman, Stormy Foster, in a decent action cover.

62. Mystery Men: No wonder Beetle is smiling. I'm not even sure The Beard's knife would cause any damage. But it's a fight scene. That wins over exhibit T in the State vs Samson. Other exhibits will show him rip up paving, gatehouses and bell towers in his misunderstood fight against masonry.

63. Dreadstar: Not much to choose between them. But the Dreadstar cast have the least chance of success, making for a more interesting story.

64. Micronauts by a micro mile. Scares, action, a gag and a good team up (top art too). That's brain fibre that Bats cereal can't match.

61. HIT COMICS: Great dramatic pose, although I think he may need a third hand to stop that last guy falling off the roof.

62. MYSTERY MEN COMICS: Great move by Blue Beetle. I'd dislocate my shoulder if I tried something like that. Samson just seems to be being destructive.

63. DREADSTAR: Hard to choose but if being overwhelmed is the impression to be communicated then Dreadstar does that much better. Avengers look like they will soon be on top of it (of course).

64. THE MICRONAUTS: I like the joke and the artwork. Robin is dribbling.

61. HIT COMICS. Both weird in their own ways though.

62. MYSTERY MEN. Neither, really.

63. DREADSTAR. See also note on 62.

64. BATMAN GOTHAM ADVENTURES. Buggy cereal, ugh.

65. ASTRO CITY vs. BIG SHOT




66. TOP-NOTCH COMICS vs. SMASH COMICS




67. DAMAGE vs. NEGATIVE BURN




68. JON SABLE FREELANCE vs. MS. MARVEL

65. Big Shot. The Astro City cover is a really good one. But look at the crisp details on the Ogden Whitney cover. Class.

66. Smash. It's clear and straightforward with a classic cover design and retro looks. Like Big Shot, it's a book I'd whisk off the shelves today. An impressive list of characters fills the pages. Top-Notch is far too busy, packing in names above the logo, various fights and the 20th Roy about to meet his unpowered end (A readers competition inside invited you to become the 21st Roy for an issue, because that's all they lasted.

67. Negative Burn. Gets points for the background colour highlighting the unusually designed robot, and loses more than that for obscuring half the title. But that Robot catches attention, and the list of creators is a draw too. It was a book of mixed quality. Damage lives up to his human reactor powers. It's more dramatic than the robot, but I've limited interest in the character, and like the colour in the other more.

68. Ms Marvel. I'm sure that Grell's story of a rookie killing a guy is all very harrowing and building of character. But it's a bit cliched. It's a well designed cover, but I'm interested in how Ms Marvel, taken on the evil mastermind (cover character size is important) Freckles Malone.

65. ASTRO CITY: Dramatic, beautifully drawn, and makes you want to know more. The colours are a bit muted, I guess trying for the water effect, but dulls it a bit.

66. SMASH COMICS: Both action filled and I like everything going on in TN but how can I go past the one hit triple knockout on SC.

67. NEGATIVE BURN: This was hard. I like the style of Damage but once I looked closer at NB and saw how this weird creature was horizontally symmetrical so it could walk up either direction I had to give it to that one.

68. JON SABLE FREELANCE: Artwise I prefer MM but the anguish in the cop's eyes is too good to pass up.

65. BIG SHOT. I would've liked to show this to a certain white-background-hating sentient for his opinion.

66. SMASH COMICS. For me, retro robed cult weirdos are both funny and annoying - go figure.

67. DAMAGE. Nice monochrome.

68. MS MARVEL.

69. NEW MUTANTS vs. MOON KNIGHT




70. MY EXPERIENCE vs. PICTORIAL ROMANCES




71. DOOM PATROL vs. SUPERGIRL




72. TITANS vs. CAPTAIN MARVEL ADVENTURES

69. NEW MUTANTS: Weird and not exactly attractive but more interesting than MK.

70. PICTORIAL ROMANCES: "Look honey, I told you we should have bought one of those see-through blinds while they were on sale."

71. DOOM PATROL: Bobble Heads?! Love it. And no matter what it is I am sure SG has had greater experiences.

72. TITANS: Oh yeah, now this is the sort of reaction every costumed unbelievably beautiful super-heroine WOULD create wherever they went. Captain Marvel apparently agrees.