Hero Wanted Covers

Here's a theme that pops up more often than you might think. While we all know Uncanny X-Men #141, let's take a look at a few other prime examples.

Flash #156 (November, 1965) was one of the first Silver Age books I ever owned. How could I pass it up? When I first started flipping through back issue bins as a young lad, many Flash covers jumped out at me. This is a true classic and really sums up all of the fun and melodrama of DC in the mid-60s. Don't worry fans, he didn't really betray the world. It was all a misunderstanding.

There are a number of western comic books that feature a wanted poster, with Showcase #76 being the most iconic. I chose, however, to highlight the cover to Western Comics #44 (March-April, 1954) because I rarely get to talk about Pow-Wow Smith. This is one fine looking cover, pencilled by Carmine Infantino and inked by Sy Barry. I love how he's worth 100 times more dead than alive. 

It is interesting that no matter what theme I choose for these features, there is usually at least one Wonder Woman cover that fits the bill. The cover to Wonder Woman #108 (August, 1959) is a Andru & Esposito classic. It also has a slightly washed look to it, so I suspect that Jack Adler was involved. I have a feeling that I may have seen this on a T-Shirt once. If I am wrong about that, it should be on a T-shirt! George Perez's cover to Wonder Woman #57 is another good example.

Jim Aparo's cover to Brave and the Bold #161 (April, 1980) is the third time Aparo featured a wanted poster for this series. The other two don't quite qualify as, while they featured Batman's teammate for the story, the posters were of The Joker and Ra's Al Ghul, respectively. This cover also features the 'empty costume' theme, something I will be tackling down the road.

Let's leave off with a personal favourite of mine, Star Wars #7 (January, 1978). I vividly remember a house ad featuring this cover and being very anxious to get my hands on it. It was the first 'new' Star Wars story as the adaptation of the first film had wrapped up with the previous issue. It's a stylish Gil Kane pencilled effort, very much in line with the western covers he was doing for Marvel in the 70s. Did they ever refer to their blasters as Laser-Guns anywhere else? I find that rather amusing.