THE STEEL AGE 1986-2010
After Crisis on Infinite Earths came the Steel Age. Building on the experimentation of the Bronze Age, DC unleashed a wave of groundbreaking projects that altered the way comics were perceived, from Frank Miller’s Batman:The Dark Knight Returns and Year One to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen. Epochal events impacted DC’s icons: George Pérez’s reworking of Wonder Woman’s mythos; the death of Superman; the breaking of Batman’s back. With most fans now buying their comic books at direct market stores rather than newsstands, the approach to covers changed. Design began to play an increasingly important role, from innovative logos and formats to the use of white space and silhouettes. A dizzying array of styles could be seen on covers – Adam Hughes’ photorealism, Alex Ross’ hyperrealism, Dave McKean’s collage – while as time went on, digital techniques came into play, along with a new innovation: the variant cover.
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS #1 June 1986
Artist: Frank Miller
Startling in its simplicity, this epochal cover from Frank Miller (working closely with colourist Lynn Varley and art director Richard Bruning) ushered in a new age of comics and a new approach to cover design. The bulky figure, subtly hinting that this Batman is unlike any seen before, is silhouetted against a slash of lightning, its glow turning the night sky midnight blue.
BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE May 1988
Artist: Brian Bolland
Widely recognized as the greatest ever tale of The Joker, Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s Batman: The Killing Joke also boasts arguably Bolland’s most famous cover. Bolland likes to point out that while the word “Joker” itself appears nowhere in the prestige format one-shot, on the cover – which featured an embossed logo – the artist added “Joker” in German and Polish around the camera lens.
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS #4 December 1986
Artist: Frank Miller
While Batman:The Dark Knight Returns is generally known by that overarching title, on original publication each prestige format issue had a different title – issue #4 was Batman: The Dark Knight Falls. As on the first cover, for this final issue Miller employs silhouette (aside from Superman’s cape and insignia), while Lynn Varley’s airbrush colouring mixes subtle blue with reds and yellows.
BATMAN #404 February 1987
Artist: David Mazzucchelli
Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s epochal four-issue “Year One” story in Batman #404–407 defined the character for decades to come. On the first cover, the stark depiction of a young Bruce Wayne with his dead parents, along with Mazzucchelli’s Alex Toth-like artwork and Richmond Lewis’ muted colours, marked a step change from previous Batman covers.
BATMAN #428 December 1988
Artist: Mike Mignola
Controversial at the time, the death of the second Robin, Jason Todd, at the hands of The Joker in the “A Death in the Family” storyline was decided by a phone poll, with readers invited to cast their vote on whether he should live or die. The result was revealed in this issue, with Mike Mignola’s close-up cover image indicating the tragedy.
BATMAN #497 July 1993
Artist: Kelley Jones
Along with the death of Superman, the breaking of Batman’s back is one of the key events that defined comics in the 1990s; it led to the assassin Azrael inheriting the cowl for a time. Referenced repeatedly in the decades since, Kelley Jones’ quintessential wordless cover was partially obscured on some copies by an overlay reinforcing the significance of the issue.
BATMAN #608 (variant cover) December 2002
Artist: Jim Lee
Jim Lee’s first major Batman tale, the 12-part “Hush” storyline, brought with it a new cape-and-cowl logo designed by Chris Gardner. The first printing cover depicted Batman swinging towards the reader, but it is the second printing, shown here, that has become Lee’s defining Batman image. It references Brian Bolland’s cover for Wonder Woman #72, and would later inspire Lee’s own cover for Superman #204.
BATMAN #621 January 2004
Artist: Dave Johnson
Following Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee’s “Hush” epic, in 2003 Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso – best known for Vertigo’s 100 Bullets – began the six-issue “Broken City” storyline, bringing a gritty noir to the Dark Knight’s world. 100 Bullets cover artist Dave Johnson joined them, playing with negative space, as seen here, and selecting a different colour palette for each of his covers.
BATMAN #638 May 2005
Artist: Matt Wagner
The return of Jason Todd had been hinted at during the “Hush” storyline, though that ultimately proved a ruse. Two years later, however, the second Robin was resurrected for real during Judd Winick’s “Under the Hood” story. Matt Wagner’s cover for the revelatory reveal shows Todd’s reflection in the helmet of his Red Hood guise.
BATMAN #638 (variant cover) May 2005
Artist: Matt Wagner
When the first printing of Jason Todd’s reveal sold out, DC published a second print sporting a new Matt Wagner companion cover, again painted in acrylic – a mirrored composition to the original, but this time with Todd in Batman’s place. Best known for his own Mage and Grendel comics, Wagner’s history with Batman stretches back to the early 1990s.
BATMAN #684 February 2009
Artist: Alex Ross
In 2008, Alex Ross began a run as Batman cover artist, largely consisting of a series of remarkable portraits of the Dark Knight. This cover, however, switches the emphasis to other essential elements of Batman’s mythos – Commissioner Gordon, Harvey Dent, and the Bat-Signal – and demonstrates Ross’ peerless ability to suggest blazing light via left areas of white paper.
BATMAN: GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT February 1989
Artist: Mike Mignola
Throughout the 1990s DC issued dozens of Elseworlds titles showcasing alternate-universe takes on their characters, but it all started with this hugely successful one-shot. Brian Augustyn’s story transplanted Batman to Victorian Gotham City, while the art, as evidenced by the cover, was a compelling meld of Mike Mignola’s blocky, heavily shadowed pencils and P. Craig Russell’s intricate inks.
BATMAN: MASTER OF THE FUTURE December 1991
Artist: Eduardo Barreto
A sequel to Gotham by Gaslight, set in the same universe, Master of the Future was one of the earliest titles to be branded with the Elseworlds logo. Again written by Brian Augustyn, the art this time was by Uruguayan Eduardo Barreto, a devotee of Tarzan artist Hal Foster; his striking cover, lacking any kind of title logo, featured embossing on the visible areas of Batman’s face.
BATMAN: BLACK AND WHITE #4 September 1996
Artist: Alex Toth
The brainchild of DC’s art director Mark Chiarello, the four-issue Batman: Black and White featured an incredible line-up of creative talent crafting monochrome tales of the Dark Knight, from Bruce Timm to Neil Gaiman to Brian Bolland. Just as remarkable were the covers; the first was Jim Lee’s DC debut, while the last, shown here, was Alex Toth’s final DC work.
BATMAN AND ROBIN #1 August 2009
Artist: Frank Quitely
This Grant Morrison-written series (with a TV show-esque logo designed by Rian Hughes) featured Frank Quitely’s idiosyncratic take on Batman and Robin (alias Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne). The influence of humour cartoonists like Dudley D. Watkins (The Broons) and Mort Drucker (MAD) can be seen in the witty way Dick throws his wayward ward a sceptical sideways glance.
BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #50 September 1993
Artist: Brian Bolland
An anthology title with rotating creative teams, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight afforded numerous writers and artists the opportunity to craft idiosyncratic takes on Batman, his cast, and his mythology. For the gold-embossed cover of this anniversary issue – which details Batman and The Joker’s first meeting – Brian Bolland pairs The Joker with a nightmarish Cheshire Cat.
BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT HALLOWEEN SPECIAL December 1993
Artist: Tim Sale
Boasting an embossed gold foil cover with a stylized, off-kilter logo, this first of three Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials features a noir-ish Scarecrow story by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. It inspired the same team to create their celebrated whodunnit Batman:The Long Halloween three years later, which featured similar stripped-back covers.
“Everybody wants to see these characters realized in some greater three- dimensional form.”
ALEX ROSS
BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #100 November 1997
Artist: Alex Ross
A suitably special cover for a landmark 100th issue, here Alex Ross recreates a panel from Robin’s debut appearance in Detective Comics #38, depicting the newly recruited Boy Wonder swearing an “undying oath” by candlelight to fight “crime and corruption”. Ross incorporates the pivotal moment into a typically lifelike nighttime scene of Robin and Batman swooping into action.
BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #10 December 2000
Artist: Brian Bolland
When Batman and Detective Comics received a striking new logo treatment in 2000, they were joined by another title that adopted the same styling: the Devin Grayson-written Batman: Gotham Knights. Most of the covers from 2000 to 2004 were by Brian Bolland; they were frequently inventive, as here, where Batman is out of shot, but his shadow is cast on the building opposite.
BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #24 February 2002
Artist: Brian Bolland
A variation on the same theme as issue #10, this cover, with Batman plunging down the side of a building (alarming a pair of window cleaners), displays the same attention to light direction and cast shadows. The bulk of DC’s covers published this month integrated their logos into the artwork, but Brian Bolland’s decision to turn the logo into signage is inspired.
BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #42 August 2003
Artist: Brian Bolland
Bolland’s covers for Batman: Gotham Knights could be witty and unexpected. This one – a favourite of Bolland’s – depicts Alfred’s battle with what must be a perennial problem in the Batcave. Though by this time Bolland was working entirely digitally, his recognizably measured, detailed linework remains essentially unchanged from his earlier traditionally drawn covers.
SUPERMAN #75 January 1993
Artists: Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding
Depicting the death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday, Superman #75 sold an astonishing six million copies. Besides Dan Jurgens’ poignant cover for the regular edition, the issue came in a black-bagged Memorial Set; while he was drawing a poster depicting Superman’s funeral for that edition, Jurgens heard the news that Joe Shuster, Superman’s co-creator, had died.
THE MAN OF STEEL #1 (variant cover) October 1986
Artist: John Byrne
SUPERMAN #164 January 2001
Artists: Ed McGuinness and Cam Smith
The elevation of Lex Luthor to president of the United States is one of the more ingenious uses of the character, the storyline weaving through the various Superman titles in the early 2000s. For this election eve issue, Ed McGuinness came up with a clever image to illustrate the impending catastrophe: a “Vote Lex” badge pinned on Superman’s cape.
SUPERMAN #204 June 2004
Artists: Jim Lee and Scott Williams
Following his celebrated “Hush” storyline with Jeph Loeb in Batman, in 2005 Jim Lee embarked on another epic 12-issue tale, this time with writer Brian Azzarello on Superman, titled “For Tomorrow”. Lee’s first cover for the run is a mirror composition to his Batman #608 second printing variant (p.143), with Superman gazing down on Metropolis rather than Gotham City.
John Byrne’s six-issue The Man of Steel redefined Superman for the post-Crisis Steel Age, revising his origin and updating his mythos. To underline its importance, DC published a collector’s edition of the first issue, only available in comic stores; featuring a silver logo and a close-up of Clark revealing his S-shield, it was the first variant comic book cover ever released.
SUPERMAN: RED SON #3 August 2003
Artist: Dave Johnson
Superman: Red Son is one of the finest Elseworlds stories, imagining a world where Kal-El’s rocket lands in the USSR instead of America. Drawn over its three prestige format parts by Dave Johnson and Kilian Plunkett, all three covers were by Johnson, here riffing on Glenn Grohe’s anti-Nazi WWII propaganda poster “He’s Watching You”.
SUPERMAN FOREVER #1 June 1998
Artist: Alex Ross
Comic book artists have been depicting Clark Kent ripping open his shirt to reveal his S-shield since the Golden Age, but few as splendidly as Alex Ross on this one-shot. Besides being an iconic interpretation, this cover also came in a lenticular version, animating Clark’s transformation into Superman.
ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #1 January 2006
Artist: Frank Quitely
With a title logo designed by Chip Kidd to appear as if it’s swooping off into the sky, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman is a timeless classic. Morrison drew small, coloured sketches for each of the 12 covers, which Quitely then developed. The first was inspired by a Superman cosplayer Morrison had seen sitting in a relaxed position.
WORLD’S FINEST #1 August 1990
Artist: Steve Rude
Written by Dave Gibbons, the three- issue World’s Finest represents Nexus creator Steve Rude’s most extensive work on Superman and Batman; the series displays the influence of Max Fleischer’s Superman cartoon, Joe Shuster, and Alex Toth. Rude produced two versions of this cover: the painted version seen here, and a pencil drawing finished by interior inker Karl Kesel, used for promotional ads.
WORLD’S FINEST #2 September 1990
Artist: Steve Rude
Inked by Karl Kesel on the interiors, Steve Rude painted all three World’s Finest covers himself. The back covers of the prestige format issues expanded upon the compositions shown on the front; on the back of this one, The Joker and Lex Luthor are backed up by opposing gangs of gun-wielding henchmen, while the back of the first issue has Superman and Batman disappearing off the top and bottom.
SUPERMAN/BATMAN #1 (paired variant covers) October 2003
Artists: Ed McGuinness and Dexter Vines
This update of the World’s Finest concept saw Superman and Batman branded outlaws in the wake of Lex Luthor’s election as president. Ed McGuinness’ bulky figure work – displaying a range of influences from Art Adams to Capcom video games – gave the series a distinct style. The covers boldly dispensed with a title logo in favour of a combined insignia.
WONDER WOMAN #1 February 1987
Artist: George Pérez
When George Pérez launched a new series of Wonder Woman in 1987 as both artist and plotter (and soon writer), he reworked the character’s origins and background, drawing heavily on classical Greek mythology. His spectacular wraparound cover for the first issue features a pantheon of gods arranged around Paradise Island, now renamed Themyscira – according to myth the home of the original Greek Amazons.
WONDER WOMAN #72 March 1993
Artist: Brian Bolland
Brian Bolland had begun drawing Wonder Woman covers in 1992 – and would continue doing so for the next three years – but this is his crowning achievement. A powerful evocation of the character’s greatness, it is one of the most popular Wonder Woman covers of all time. It is referenced by Jim Lee on his covers for Batman #608 and Superman #204.
WONDER WOMAN #0 October 1994
Artist: Brian Bolland
The “Zero Hour” event in 1994 saw all of DC’s titles publish special #0 issues in October of that year, exploring aspects of each character’s background. For the cover of Wonder Woman #0, Brian Bolland makes Wonder Woman’s bracelets the focus of the composition, conveying a vivid sense of the impact of bullets on them and the Amazon’s innate strength.
WONDER WOMAN #177 February 2002
Artist: Adam Hughes
Adam Hughes began a five-year run as Wonder Woman cover artist in 1998, his photorealistic style firmly establishing him as one of the premier chroniclers of the character in the Steel Age. Aptly, given the Amazon’s moniker, Hughes was adept at highlighting the sense of wonder inherent in the character, as on this cover, with its clever logo treatment.
WONDER WOMAN #184 October 2002
Artist: Adam Hughes
The Steel Age meets the Golden Age on this beautifully executed cover, as Adam Hughes’ Wonder Woman of the 2000s comes face to face with a Harry G. Peter-style Wonder Woman of the 1940s, complete with retro logo. Typically using Photoshop to colour his covers, here Hughes also uses it to achieve a period feel by replicating vintage printing effects, stress marks, and scuff damage.
“I’m hired to draw strong, powerful women.”
ADAM HUGHES
WONDER WOMAN #1 August 2006
Artists: Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson
In 2006 DC launched a new series of Wonder Woman, with Terry and Rachel Dodson on covers and interiors. The husband-and-wife team (who have worked together – Terry on pencils, Rachel on inks – since their careers began in the early 1990s) emphasized the character’s power, statuesque build, and beauty, and subtly redesigned her costume’s breastplate, combining eagle and “WW” designs.
DETECTIVE COMICS #574 May 1987
Artists: Alan Davis and Paul Neary
With “Year One” unfolding in Batman, Mike W. Barr and Alan Davis produced a run of highly regarded stories in Detective Comics that culminated in “Year Two”. For this cover – illustrating a story inspired by the classic “There is No Hope in Crime Alley” – Davis references Sheldon Moldoff’s Batman #156 cover. In the process he eerily presages the death of Jason Todd a year later.
DETECTIVE COMICS #583 February 1988
Artist: Mike Mignola
The start of a run by writers John Wagner and Alan Grant and artist Norm Breyfogle – a key Batman creative team – this issue also represents Mike Mignola’s sole Detective Comics cover. The pared-back, measured but compelling composition and blocky, heavily shadowed line was a foretaste of the style Mignola would bring to his own creation, Hellboy, in the following decade.
DETECTIVE COMICS #745 June 2000
Artist: Dave Johnson
In 2000, Detective Comics, Batman, and the other Bat-titles gained stylish uniform logo treatments, each incorporating an identifying mask icon, courtesy of Chip Kidd. On Detective Comics, Kidd’s heavy Gothic sans-serif logo was accentuated by strikingly designed and drawn covers by Dave Johnson, here stripping the composition of colour and using just two grey tones plus black and white.
DETECTIVE COMICS #805 June 2005
Artist: David Lapham
Stray Bullets creator David Lapham’s “City of Crime” storyline ran through 13 issues of Detective Comics, all with covers drawn by Lapham (with Ramon Bachs working from his breakdowns inside).
For this cover, Lapham presented three sketched ideas to his editor: a close-up of an antagonist; an interior crime scene; and this silhouette of Batman battling attackers in Gotham Park.
JLA #1 January 1997
Artists: Howard Porter and John Dell
Much as Justice League had a decade before, Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s JLA redefined the team for a new era, reinstating DC’s big seven. But where Keith Giffen and co. had opted for a comedic approach, Morrison envisioned the League almost as gods, hence the low vantage point on Porter’s cover, the League looking down on us.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 May 1987
Artists: Kevin Maguire and Terry Austin
In 1987, Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, and Terry Austin brought a more comedic tone to the Justice League. Maguire’s way with characters’ facial expressions was a big part of the series’ success, but he credits editor Andy Helfer with the idea of having the team looking up in a confrontational manner on the classic first issue cover.
JSA #16 November 2000
Artists: Alan Davis and Mark Farmer
When the Justice Society gained a new series in 1999, featuring a mix of original and legacy characters, Alan Davis came on board as cover artist. His cover for #16, showing the new Injustice Society, bears comparison with JLA #1; for the final part of the story in #20, Davis repeated the composition but with the JSA in the same poses.
JLA: LIBERTY AND JUSTICE January 2004
Artist: Alex Ross
Beginning with Batman:War on Crime in 1999, Alex Ross and writer Paul Dini created a series of annual treasury- format specials, focusing on DC’s major icons. The series climaxed with JLA: Liberty and Justice, inspired in part by a story in Justice League of America #118–119, and featuring one of Ross’ most forceful interpretations of the archetypal League.
JSA #74 August 2005
Artist: Alex Ross
In 2005, Alex Ross began a run as cover artist of the Geoff Johns-written JSA. Over the course of nine issues, Ross painted a series of portraits of Justice Society members, each consisting of figures on a black background. The characters depicted ranged from original members to legacy ones – or, as is the case here with Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders, both.
JSA #80 February 2006
Artist: Alex Ross
Key to the success of JSA was the way it mixed original members and newcomers in the Justice Society line-up. Here, Alex Ross depicts Jakeem Thunder, a teenage orphan who inherited the magical Thunderbolt from Johnny Thunder; originally designed by Ross for Kingdom Come, on his sweatshirt Jakeem sports the first image of the Thunderbolt from All Star Comics #3.
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #1 February 2007
Artist: Alex Ross
Following the conclusion of JSA, in 2007 Geoff Johns and Dale Eaglesham launched the new Justice Society of America series, with Alex Ross back on covers. His original rough for this first cover – which is an homage to Everett Hibbard’s for All Star Comics #3 (p.34) – featured a different line-up around the table, including The Spectre, Doctor Fate, and Shazam.
Artist: Alex Ross
An epic 12-issue confrontation between the Justice League and the Legion of Doom, Justice was something of an experiment for Alex Ross, who painted the series over Doug Braithwaite’s pencils. The first issue cover, too, with its high-contrast complementary electric blue/orange colour scheme, was a departure for Ross, and was mirrored by a connecting villains variant.
Artist: Dave McKean
After debuting during Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben’s Swamp Thing run, occultist John Constantine – the eponymous Hellblazer – gained his own series in 1988. Dave McKean’s covers for the title were unlike any seen before– a woozy, allusive mix of painting, collage, and photography, helping to define an era of more mature comics.
HELLBLAZER #27 March 1990
Artist: Dave McKean
One of only two issues of Hellblazer where Dave McKean also drew the interiors, this was also the only issue written by Neil Gaiman, by this point a year into his revolutionary Sandman series (which also had McKean as its cover artist). Their story here, dealing with the importance of love in a cold world, is expressed by McKean on the cover via a heart motif.
THE SANDMAN #1 January 1989
Artist: Dave McKean
All 75 issues of The Sandman – Neil Gaiman and his collaborators’ magnum opus – sported covers by Dave McKean. This remarkable run encompassed myriad styles and techniques. His earliest Sandman covers, influenced by a Peter Greenaway film poster, were not so much created as constructed, the artist building three-dimensional curiosity cabinets, with a painting placed at the centre of the diorama.
THE SANDMAN #8 August 1989
Artist: Dave McKean
While still employing the structure of his earlier Sandman covers, with this issue McKean dispenses with the cabinets in favour of a border of ivy. The first eight covers of The Sandman were conceived as a portrait gallery; this issue marks the first appearance of Death (sister of Dream, the eponymous Sandman), whose iconic ankh is the central focal point of the cover.
STEEL AGE ARTISTS
ADAM HUGHES
While all of the artists in this book have created fabulous covers, a select few could also be termed cover specialists. One such is Adam Hughes (1967–). Since he became cover artist on WonderWoman in 1998, Hughes has established himself as among the most in-demand cover creators in the business, his photorealistic approach and sublime ability to depict strong women perfectly suited to DC’s pantheon of female characters. He originally broke into comics as an interior artist in 1988, drawing indie titles like Maze Agency before becoming the regular artist on DC’s Justice League America. In 1995 he wrote and drew the WildStorm miniseries Gen13: Ordinary Heroes, in the process learning to use Photoshop, a key tool in his artistic arsenal ever since. Following his lengthy Wonder Woman cover run, Hughes turned his talents on a succession of female DC heroes, with stints on Catwoman, Batgirl, Zatanna, and more, in each case crafting classic covers that have won widespread acclaim.
WONDER WOMAN #195 October 2003
ALEX ROSS
A singular talent, Alex Ross (1970–) has been painting heightened photorealistic visions of iconic heroes since the early 1990s. His fully painted Marvels miniseries, created with writer Kurt Busiek, shot him to fame in 1994, after which he turned his eye towards DC’s heroes. With writer Mark Waid, in 1996 he crafted a searing glimpse of a possible DC future, Kingdom Come .
As remarkable as this and subsequent projects were – such as his treasury- sized graphic novels with writer Paul Dini or his Justice collaboration with Doug Braithwaite – it is with his timeless depictions of DC’s quintessential characters that he has found his greatest acclaim. His work has been compared to painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell – a comparison that can be seen most clearly on Kingdom Come’s covers – but a bigger influence was illustrator and art instructor Andrew Loomis. Whether it be Shazam! and Hawkman on the covers of JSA, or Batman and Superman on the covers of their eponymous series, DC’s heroes have never looked more alive.
BATMAN #681 December 2008
DAVE GIBBONS
Along with Alan Moore, Brian Bolland, Neil Gaiman, and others, Dave Gibbons (1949–) was part of the “British Invasion”, the wave of UK creators that made a big impact on DC in the early 1980s. Surfing in off the back of his 2000 AD and DoctorWhoWeekly work, Gibbons landed on Green Lantern in 1983, subsequently forging a creative partnership with writer Len Wein on that title which lasted until 1985. Teaming up with Alan Moore, Gibbons drew the remarkable “For the Man Who Has Everything” in Superman Annual #11, before the pair embarked on the project that would change the face of comics: Watchmen. Always a fine cover artist, Gibbons’ Watchmen covers were of a different order altogether: deliberately drawn, multilayered masterpieces replete with repeating motifs and hidden meanings, where logo, trade dress, and art all worked in concert. Since then he has continued to work for DC both as artist and writer, and in 2014 was appointed the UK’s first Comics Laureate.
BRIAN BOLLAND
While Brian Bolland (1951–) has drawn some magnificent stories in his time– notably Batman:The Killing Joke (p.141) – it is his DC cover work for which he has become best known. Growing up on a diet of DC comics drawn by Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane, Curt Swan, and others, his own career was ignited by his work on the UK’s 2000 AD, especially Judge Dredd. He was at the forefront of the “British Invasion”, drawing a trio of Green Lantern covers in 1980, then a speculative Justice League of America cover featuring Starro that prompted editor Julius Schwartz to commission a story based on it. With Mike W. Barr he created the first “maxiseries”, the 12-issue Camelot 3000, while his covers for the Grant Morrison-written Animal Man were funny, clever, unique meta-commentaries on comics and the creative process. Bolland’s preference is for long runs of covers, something he has achieved in brilliantly idiosyncratic style on Wonder Woman, Batman: Gotham Knights, The Flash, and more.
ANIMAL MAN #5 December 1988
ACTION COMICS #609 July 1988
Artist: Brian Bolland
In 1988, DC tried a bold experiment, increasing the frequency of Action Comics from monthly to weekly and making it an anthology title once more, with Superman just one of the features. Black Canary joined the line-up in this issue, her fresh start within signalled by Brian Bolland depicting Dinah literally burning the costume she’d worn for the past five years.
ACTION COMICS #616 September 1988
Artist: Alex Toth
For the last two decades of his life (he died in 2006), Alex Toth contributed no new stories to comics, just the occasional pinup or cover, so this Blackhawk illustration for Action Comics Weekly – his penultimate DC cover – is a rare thing indeed. Displaying his typically confident line and trademark rich black ink, the tightly cropped composition emphasizes the action.
ACTION COMICS #662 February 1991
Artists: Kerry Gammill and Brett Breeding
In this issue Clark Kent reveals his dual identity to Lois Lane – a momentous turning point in Superman’s history, captured on the cover by Kerry Gammill and Brett Breeding. Nearly 30 years later, Brian Michael Bendis and Ivan Reis would revisit the reveal, but writ large, with Superman unveiling his identity to the entire world.
ACTION COMICS #869 November 2008
Artist: Gary Frank
Gary Frank’s touching cover showing Clark Kent (his appearance modelled on Christopher Reeve) sharing a quiet moment with his father is made more poignant by the knowledge that Pa Kent is killed in the subsequent issue. The original version of this cover depicted the pair holding beer bottles, but DC recalled the issue and replaced them with soda bottles.
SECRET ORIGINS #41 June 1989
Artist: Mike Mignola
Just as Batman has his rogues gallery of foes, so too does The Flash. For this Secret Origins issue focusing on The Flash’s villains, Mike Mignola recreates Carmine Infantino’s cover for The Flash #174 , but with subtle changes: Mirror Master and The Top – at this point both dead – are replaced by Weather Wizard and Trickster, while The Flash is Wally West, the former Kid Flash.
THE FLASH #181 February 2002
Artist: Brian Bolland
Part of a line-wide initiative that month to integrate title logos into cover art, not only does Brian Bolland’s cover make ingenious use of the logo, but his depiction of The Flash is a brilliant evocation of the character’s speed. Bolland’s use of Photoshop allows him to create effects like the blurred multiple Flashes here to suggest motion.
COUNTDOWN SPECIAL: THE FLASH #1 December 2007
Artist: Ryan Sook
Taking a different approach to Mike Mignola’s cover, Ryan Sook’s homage to The Flash #174 repositions The Flash atop a stone edifice logo, with more menacing interpretations of the rogues. Sook, whose career began in the late 1990s, owed a debt to Mignola in his early work, but had developed his own elegant style by this point.
WATCHMEN #4 December 1986
Artist: Dave Gibbons
Colour is a key factor on the cover of every issue of Watchmen. Dave Gibbons and colourist John Higgins sometimes used complementary colours, as with the yellow logo and pinkish-purple Martian sand here. Recurring motifs also figured in the series; the sand covering the top left corner of the photo echoes the blood splatter on the first issue’s cover.
WATCHMEN #1 September 1986
Artist: Dave Gibbons
Coupling a strong design sense with a bold formal choice (each cover is in effect the first panel of the story within), Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen covers were, much like the series itself, revolutionary. Aware that the issues would be sold through comic book stores rather than racked upright on newsstand spinners, Gibbons realized he could utilize a sideways logo.
WATCHMEN #11 August 1987
Artist: Dave Gibbons
The blood splatter motif is again recalled on this cover, here taking the form of a gap in a snow- covered vivarium with a glimpse of flora beyond. The sheer white of the snow extends to the logo and text within the vertical black strip, while beneath the logo, the doomsday clock ticks ever closer to midnight.
DOOM PATROL #34 July 1990
Artist: Simon Bisley
The exquisite eccentricity of Simon Bisley’s Doom Patrol covers reflects the surreal nature of Grant Morrison’s take on the team. The lack of concern with logic is exemplified here by Bisley’s portrait of villain Monsieur Mallah. Bisley had gained fame in the UK for his 2000 AD work, but his run on Doom Patrol brought him to a wider audience.
DOOM PATROL #40 January 1991
Artist: Simon Bisley
Bisley’s background on 2000 AD’s mechanoid A.B.C. Warriors can be glimpsed in his redesign of Robotman Cliff Steele. A self-taught artist, Bisley’s fully painted Doom Patrol covers could be outlandish – typified here by Robotman crawling up the side – but the vertical white stripe behind the logo acted as a unifying design element.
In the wake of the terrorist atrocities of September 11, 2001, DC published two 9–11 benefit volumes, with contributions from a huge range of comics stars. Alex Ross’ stirring cover for the second of these is an homage to 1944’s The Big All-American Comic Book, with the figures on the poster enlarged.
9–11 2002
Artist: Alex Ross
THE BATMAN ADVENTURES: MAD LOVE (variant cover) February 1994
Artist: Bruce Timm
Harley Quinn debuted in Batman:The Animated Series in 1992, transferring to comics the following year with Batman Adventures #12. Her origin as Dr. Harleen Quinzel was revealed by her creators, Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, in this one-shot.
For this prestige-format edition, Timm took the opportunity to create a new, painted cover.
BATMAN: HARLEY QUINN October 1999
Artist: Alex Ross
Though she had been a feature of DC’s Animated Series-inspired comics since 1993, it wasn’t until this 1999 one-shot – part of that year’s Batman story “No Man’s Land” – that Harley Quinn joined the regular DC Universe. Alex Ross’ starkly lit cover was inspired by an early 20th century poster by J. C. Leyendecker advertising Arrow shirts and collars.
ZERO HOUR #4 September 1994
Artists: Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway
Where Crisis on Infinite Earths had streamlined DC’s multiple realities into one, Zero Hour attempted to do the same for future timelines. With myriad tie-ins, the core five-issue miniseries uniquely counted down from #4 to #0. Written by Dan Jurgens, the miniseries had artwork by Jurgens and his fellow Superman artist Jerry Ordway, a compelling amalgam of their distinctive styles.
KINGDOM COME #1 May 1996
Artist: Alex Ross
Arguably Alex Ross’ magnum opus, Kingdom Come – written by Mark Waid and first published under the Elseworlds imprint – is a dystopian vision of a future DC Universe where the heroes have been supplanted by a reckless younger generation. Compositionally, Ross’ wraparound covers were inspired by dramatically lit Norman Rockwell paintings like 1968’s “The Right to Know”.
KINGDOM COME #2 June 1996
Artist: Alex Ross
The story of Kingdom Come is told through the eyes of a minister, Norman McCay, seen at the front of this composition with the elder heroes (including Dick Grayson, now Red Robin) behind him. Taking his surname from Winsor McCay, creator of Little Nemo, the pastor’s likeness was based on Ross’ own father, Minister Clark Norman Ross, who contributed his middle name.
BIRDS OF PREY #8 August 1999
Artists: Brian Stelfreeze and Greg Land
One of the most joyful images to grace a comic, Brian Stelfreeze and Greg Land’s cover works because of readers’ familiarity with the characters’ history. As Robin and Batgirl, Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon have known each other since they were teenagers; as Nightwing and Oracle, both have grown, experienced tragedy, and in this issue explore their feelings for one another.
GREEN LANTERN #49 February 1994
Artists: Darryl Banks and Romeo Tanghal
Hal Jordan’s descent into madness – and transformation into the time-tampering Paradox – after the destruction of his hometown remains one of the most shocking episodes in comics. No image better encapsulates his fall from grace than this cover by regular Green Lantern artist Darryl Banks, showing a crazed Jordan wearing the rings of the Green Lantern Corps members he has killed.
GREEN LANTERN #1 July 2005
Artists: Carlos Pacheco and Jesús Merino
In 2004 Hal Jordan was rehabilitated and returned to the role of Green Lantern in Green Lantern: Rebirth. Off the back of that miniseries he gained a new ongoing title, with Carlos Pacheco as artist. So iconic is the character that Pacheco’s close-up first issue cover dispenses with a title logo, relying instead on the ring, lantern insignia, and colour green.
GREEN LANTERN #1 (variant cover) July 2005
Artist: Alex Ross
Alex Ross has depicted Hal Jordan many times over the years, but surprisingly, this variant is his only Green Lantern cover. Working in his usual gouache and wash media, Ross depicts Green Lantern swooping towards us, masking off areas around him to produce the sunbeams and leaving white paper for the sun and tops of the clouds.
FINAL CRISIS #1 July 2008
Artist: J. G. Jones
Pitting DC’s heroes against Darkseid, the Grant Morrison-written Final Crisis featured a different character portrait on each of its seven covers. The artworks evolved from sketches by Morrison and cover artist J. G. Jones, and were then painted in watercolour and ink wash by Jones. Designed by Chip Kidd, the vertical logo gradually deteriorated over the seven covers, signifying the escalating crisis.
JOKER: LAST LAUGH #1 December 2001
Artist: Brian Bolland
A six-issue miniseries/crossover, incorporating two-dozen tie-in titles, Joker: Last Laugh was graced with Brian Bolland covers on its first and last issues. Ingeniously, on the cover of the first issue, Bolland makes the DC logo a part of the design, turning it into a ball that The Joker – with an evil grin – tosses into the air.
JOKER: LAST LAUGH #6 January 2002
Artist: Brian Bolland
For the final issue, Bolland presents a scenario that at first appears counterintuitive: beaten and at the mercy of Batman, The Joker’s declaration seems incongruous – until the story reveals that the villain has manipulated Nightwing into killing him (though only temporarily). The original was deemed too bloody by DC, and was cleaned up slightly.
CATWOMAN #1 January 2002
Artist: Darwyn Cooke
When writer Ed Brubaker and artist Darwyn Cooke launched Catwoman into a new series in 2002, the pair brought a more street-smart approach to Selina Kyle’s world and look. The new take extended to Cooke’s thrillingly modern covers, which play with form and space, presenting Catwoman in attitudinal poses on stark white backgrounds with a stylish new logo.
CATWOMAN #2 February 2002
Artist: Darwyn Cooke
A companion cover to the first issue, here Darwyn Cooke shows off Catwoman’s redesigned mask, now more akin to a stylized pair of sunglasses than a traditional Super Hero mask. Cooke’s very contemporary take on Selina Kyle, drawing on his background in animation, guided the character visually for the next few years, acting as the template for successive artists.
CATWOMAN #5 May 2002
Artist: Paul Pope
Paul Pope, the first artist to succeed Cooke on Catwoman’s covers, adopted a similar stripped-back approach. Pope hails from an alternative comics background rather than animation, but nevertheless cites similar influences to Cooke, notably Alex Toth.
CATWOMAN #19 July 2003
Artist: Javier Pulido
Spanish artist Javier Pulido drew three issues of Catwoman in 2003, working in a similar animation style to Darwyn Cooke. Pulido numbers among his influences David Mazzucchelli, whose work on Batman: Year One was the basis for Selina Kyle’s characterization in this series.
CATWOMAN #51 March 2006
Artist: Adam Hughes
Adam Hughes began a five-year run as Catwoman’s cover artist in 2005, his slickly realistic approach marking a break from previous creators. This cover, one of his most striking for the series, plays on Selina Kyle’s original status as a criminal and outlaw by framing her in a mugshot; the numbers on the board are a reference to the TV show Lost.
CATWOMAN #53 May 2006
Artist: Adam Hughes
In May 2006, the “One Year Later” event saw DC’s entire line leap forward a year, altering the status quo of each title. In Catwoman, Selina’s longtime friend Holly Robinson became the eponymous lead, her inexperience and trepidation communicated by Adam Hughes having her stepping off the parapet of a dizzyingly tall building.
GREEN ARROW #11 February 2002
Artist: Matt Wagner
When Kevin Smith and Phil Hester resurrected original Green Arrow, Oliver Queen, in a new series in 2001, Matt Wagner joined them as cover artist. Over the course of 30 issues – Wagner’s longest run of DC covers – the artist painted a series of rich acrylic portraits of Green Arrow, in this instance cleverly making the logo a feature of the brickwork.
GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #1 September 2007
Artist: Jock
Andy Diggle and Jock (Vertigo’s The Losers) retold Oliver Queen’s origin for the Steel Age in the six-issue Green Arrow: Year One. Created with a combination of pen, marker, and digital colouring, Jock’s expressionistic first issue cover – showing Queen marooned on an island – displays his preference for “covers that sell the image on just atmosphere rather than subject matter”.
GREEN ARROW #44 January 2005
Artist: Marcos Martin
Mia Dearden had been introduced early on in Kevin Smith and Phil Hester’s Green Arrow relaunch as an abused runaway rescued by Oliver Queen. She would eventually become the new Speedy, but before then, shockingly, she was revealed as being HIV positive. Marcos Martin’s cover for the pivotal revelatory issue brings home the impact with a simple framed portrait.
BATGIRL: YEAR ONE #1 February 2003
Artists: Marcos Martin and Alvaro Lopez
Though he had drawn a few comics prior to this, Batgirl:Year One was Spanish artist Marcos Martin’s big breakthrough. Responding to the story, which depicts Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl origin, Martin adopted a simpler line than in his earlier efforts.
He worked closely with colourist Javier Rodriguez to achieve a distinctive look, and deployed his design expertise, as seen with the logo here.
BATGIRL #2 November 2009
Artist: Phil Noto
After a decade in which the Batgirl identity had been assumed by Cassandra Cain, in 2009 the mantle was passed to Stephanie Brown, previously teen hero Spoiler. Former animation artist Phil Noto drew the covers for her first eight issues. His elegant cover for the second issue, with its original Batgirl costume, underlines the link between Stephanie and Barbara Gordon.
ARKHAM ASYLUM: A SERIOUS HOUSE ON SERIOUS EARTH October 2005
Artist: Dave McKean
Published in 1989, Grant Morrison and Dave McKean’s remarkable graphic novel Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth was an abstract, psychologically intense exploration of madness. For this 15th anniversary edition, a piece of promotional art created for the original, featuring a nightmarish image of The Joker, was used as the cover.
BLACK ADAM: THE DARK AGE #1 (variant cover) October 2007
Artist: Alex Ross
Created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck, Black Adam appeared just once to battle Shazam! in the Golden Age, and only a handful of times in the Bronze Age. The major developments with the character came in the 2000s, when he was established as ruler of Kahndaq; his power and fury are captured by Alex Ross on this variant.
BOOSTER GOLD #32 / #33 (paired covers) July / August 2010
Artist: Kevin Maguire
In 2010, the 1980s Justice League writing team of Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis reunited for a run on Booster Gold, bringing with them on covers their artistic collaborator Kevin Maguire. Maguire’s witty, thematically linked covers for their first two issues give a glimpse of the comedic approach that gained the team fame on Justice League.
WEDNESDAY COMICS #1 s July 2009
Artists: Lee Bermejo, Kyle Baker, Dave Bullock, Joe Quinones, Eduardo Risso, and Ryan Sook
A fan of newspaper strips like Terry and the Pirates, DC’s art director Mark Chiarello channelled that passion into a dream project in 2009. Published in an oversized tabloid format, the weekly Wednesday Comics mimicked Sunday newspaper comics sections, with different creative teams doing serialized one-page episodes; designed by Chiarello, the covers utilized panels from each story.
DC Comics Cover Art
Written by Nick Jones
Penguin Random House, 2020
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