Advertise on Eye on ComicsThe Not-So Secret Origin of a Cover Design
Posted by Don MacPherson on February 26th, 2008
As I did some web surfing this week to look at what new releases were to lie in wait for me at the comics shop this week, I found the adjacent cover image. It’s the cover for Justice Society of America #13, illustrated by super-hero genre superstar Alex Ross, who also just happens to be the co-writer of the current story arc, “Thy Kingdom Come.” Ross has been the cover artist for this series from the start, and his further creative participation in this storyline stems from the fact that it flows from Kingdom Come, a 1996 Elseworlds limited series that explored an unfortunate vision of the future of the DC Universe.
The JSA cover immediately caught my eye, but it wasn’t due to the richly detailed and shining painting Ross provided. Nor was I stopped in my digital tracks by Ross’s shift in his approach to cover design… not really, anyway. What made my synapses start firing rapidly was the sense of nostalgia that was ignited at the same time.
While longtime DC readers might recognize the approach Ross has adopted for the cover design, newer readers and those unfamiliar with what passed for super-hero events in the early 1980s might not.
Consider this your education.
Throughout the 1960s, 1970s and into the ’80s, DC’s Justice League of America featured annual teamups with the Justice Society, and after a few years, each event also included a third super team. In the summer and fall of 1982, the teamup included the All-Star Squadron, a team of World War II heroes that had its own series at the time. The storyline was “Crisis on Earth-Prime!,” and ran through Justice League of America #s 207-209 and All-Star Squadron #s 14 and 15. The JLA covers were illustrated by George Perez, while the All-Star covers featured art by Joe Kubert.
The story was written by Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas and illustrated by the art teams of Adrian Gonzales & Jerry Ordway and Don Heck & Romeo Tanghal.
Aside: As a Canadian whose social studies course in school focused on more home-grown history, the storyline actually educated me about the Cuban Missile Crisis. The plot had everything… super-heroes, parallel dimensions, time travel and a super-hero whose head was on fire.
What made the covers really pop was the use of a wide border around a central cover image, featuring a critical development from the story. In the border, surrounding the image, were headshots of the 15 heroes, arranged by team. It made for an immediately accessible cue for new, younger readers, and the eye was drawn to the covers by the dominant neutral backgrounds (white or light blue, depending on the issue).
What made the covers really pop was the use of a wide border around a central cover image, featuring a critical development from the story. In the border, surrounding the image, were headshots of the 15 heroes, arranged by team. It made for an immediately accessible cue for new, younger readers, and the eye was drawn to the covers by the dominant neutral backgrounds (white or light blue, depending on the issue).While Ross is dealing with only team in JSA #13, he’s still adopted that design in a clear homage to Perez’s and Kubert’s work.
Here’s a larger scan of Perez’s cover for JLA #207 for a closer look at the characters.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
wow, as a kid born in 1989 I had no idea and thought ross had an original idea! Now I know it’s just him being his old nostalgic self. It’s still a really slick cover design and it’s cool to trace back the references and inspirations for current artists’ work.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Anthony wrote:
It’s still a really slick cover design and it’s cool to trace back the references and inspirations for current artists’ work.
You know, it occurs to me that maybe the original approach pre-dates the 1980s; for I know, Perez and Kubert were emulating someone else’s design.
One could argue it takes cues from the EC horror comics and earlier Golden Age comics that featured character headshots along one side of the covers of anthology titles.
February 27th, 2008 at 12:01 am
Two issues of Captain Carrot also referenced this look. (This JLA/All-Star Squadron storyline, by the way, was my first multi-part crossover that I can recall ever reading, and it BLEW MY 10-YEAR-OLD MIND.)
February 27th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Bill wrote:
Two issues of Captain Carrot also referenced this look.
Bill is absolutely right. It was Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #s 14 and 15, featuring a teamup between the title team and the “Justa Lotta Animals” heroes in a story entitled “Crisis on Earth-C-Minus!” It followed the JLA/All-Star storyline, so it was emulating those covers, not the other way around.
Click here and here to see those covers.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:01 am
Thanks for revealing this reference. Unfortunately, it first reminded me of the special covers that Marvel did for their 25th anniversary where all their covers featured a border of as many characters as they could fit in a one inch margin.
I guess it goes without saying that the center image is an homage to Ross’s own work in the first issue of Kingdom Come, duplicating the pose of the KC Superman when he makes his first public appearance after retiring.
February 27th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
“Crisis on Earth-Prime” is also the name and (adapted) cover image of my comics blog!
Hope you’ll pardon the plug!
March 19th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Of course, these JLA / All-Star Squadron covers (and I loved ‘em like you did Don as a kid in 1982) are themselves a homage to a mid-60s JLA/JSA team up cover of Justice League of America
http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=19432&zoom=4
Admittedly the white border only goes down the sides, but with people like Len Wein, Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas behind these issues I’m next to positive it’s the source of the covers Perez and Kubert did.
(Also, the heads down the (one) side was a standard feature of JLA covers throughout the early 1970s — Neal Adams had his own white JLA / JSA on either side cover around then: http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=24472&zoom=4)
March 20th, 2008 at 12:54 am
I saw those older JLA covers when I researched this feature as well, Graeme. I agree… Perez and Kubert were taking some cues from those earlier covers. However, given the crispness of the design and the expressiveness of the headshots, I think Alex Ross was inspired primarily on those “Crisis on Earth-Prime!” covers.