BRONZE AGE BONANZA: Nick Cardy, Barry Windsor-Smith, Dick Giordano and the last month of the year… — Welcome to BRONZE AGE BONANZA — our monthly series that looks at the greatest covers of the Bronze Age — exactly 50 years later. For more info on this feature, click here. — This month’s BRONZE AGE BONANZA is comin’ atcha a little earlier than usual. Why is that? Because we’re getting ready for the big finale: On Dec. 18, if all goes well, we’ll be bringing you the annual round-up for 1972 — the TOP 13 covers for the entire year. (And in January, we start our fourth year of this feature, covering 1973.) Cool, right? Right. Meantime, dig the TOP 13 COVERS OF DECEMBER 1972 — RANKED: — 13. Superman #261, DC. Kinky. — 12. The Avengers #109, Marvel. It’s a pretty cliched layout but the execution is especially strong. Points for the background color job. Perhaps it was Marie Severin? — 11. Supergirl #3, DC. Let’s face it: This is a pretty retrograde cover. The only things missing are “Choke!” and “Sob!” But again, nobody ever drew Supergirl better than Bob Oksner. — 10. Laugh #263, Archie. The artist is unknown but I’d wager what’s in my wallet that this is Dan DeCarlo. What cracks me up is the half-baked attempt at making this is a Christmas cover with the tiny wreath in the window. Because you know as well as I do that this was just an excuse to get the Riverdale gals together in their nighties. — 9. Secrets of Sinister House #9, DC. My guess is they met at a club and when they got back to her place, she saw that fang pop and was all “OHMIGODLETMEOUT.” Effective painting by Jack Sparling. — 8. Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #45, Gold Key. This looks like it was just plain fun to illustrate. Dare I say it? “Hail Hydra!” — 7. 100-Page Super Spectacular #DC-14, DC. A tale of two covers. See #6. — 6. Secret Origins #1, DC. Both this and #7 were by Nick Cardy and both follow the same concept. The Super Spectacular has an edge as a wraparound but I think Secret Origins is the punchier version because the vignettes behind the characters show the iconic moments these heroes were forged. There’s simply more action...