BRONZE AGE BONANZA: Romita! Aparo! Kirby! Buckler! MORE! — 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. — It’s fun seeing different approaches to the same challenge. It’s also fun seeing some of comics’ all-time greats do some of their most compelling work. Plus a joke or two. Dig the TOP 13 COVERS OF MAY 1974 — RANKED: — 13. Giant-Size Man Thing #1, Marvel. Because of that damn title, which was a meme before there were memes. — 12. The Brave and the Bold #114, DC. I really dig this layout style for DC’s 100-pagers, and this one is a personal favorite. (The editor was Murray Boltinoff but I’m not sure if this was his concept or, say, Carmine Infantino’s.) Good color scheme, with the background and the hero logos playing well off each other. But the clincher is that main Jim Aparo image. Aquaman is so pissed off, Batman is so overwhelmed, the scene is so intense, you have to find out what the hell is going on. If only we got that image at full cover size. — 11. Detective Comics #442, DC. And then you have editor Archie Goodwin’s approach: Let the main image breathe, with the other features represented by floating heads along the bottom. Fantastic illustration by Aparo, solid color scheme — and of course the classic Detective Comics logo, which should still be in use today. — 10. House of Mystery #226, DC. Then you have this concept, which plays off the whole notion of Cain being the book’s emcee. I’m a big fan of Luis Dominguez’s work and the superb colors are by the great Tatjana Wood. I don’t know who did the layout — editor Joe Orlando? — but this is a killer cover. — 9. Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-29, DC. Just your typical Joe Kubert Tarzan cover, extra large. Which means at minimum, it’s terrific. — 8. Tomb of Dracula #23, Marvel. Gil Kane doing Neal Adams doing Bob Kane. Still fab, though. — 7. The Twilight Zone #57, Gold Key. Help! That dragon is stepping out of the Twilight Zone! — 6. Vampirella #34. A rather fetching Vampi cover by Enrich Torres, doncha think? — 5. Kamandi #20....