Posted By Dan Greenfield on Sep 18, 2016 | 1 comment

Joe Kubert was born Sept. 18, 1926.

—

The key to a great cover, Neal Adams once pointed out to me, is to capture that moment before death, that moment of impending doom. Make the reader buy the comic because they just have to find out what happens next.

Few artists captured that moment better than the legendary Joe Kubert. And few characters lend themselves to that moment better than Tarzan.

Tarzan has no powers, virtually no clothing and lives in an exceptionally hostile environment. No wonder Kubert’s Tarzan covers were so magnificent.

So in honor of what would have been Kubert’s 90th birthday (he died in 2012), we bring you 13 COVERS featuring the Lord of the Apes.

Of course, Kubert was known for so much more than Tarzan, so if you’d like to see a couple of our other 13 COVERS salutes, check out 13 COVERS: Hawkman by clicking here …

… and 13 COVERS: Sgt. Rock by clicking here.

But that’s not all! Not long ago, we ran a special look at IDW’s latest Kubert Tarzan Artist’s Edition. You can find that by clicking here.

And, as always, if you don’t see your fave, don’t fret. Just add it in the comments below or in whichever social-media thread you found this.

Now, on to 13 COVERS: Tarzan …

No artist made better use of the restrictive 100-Page cover template than Kubert.

And even Jaws got into the act! Because 1975.

—

Cover images from the primal Grand Comics Database.