Posted by Dan Greenfield on May 17, 2026
The TOP 13 COVERS of MAY 1976 — RANKED
BRONZE AGE BONANZA: A Warren kind of month, plus Adams, Kirby, Perez and 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. — You got sharks, the Bicentennial, and a lot of anniversaries! Dig the TOP 13 COVERS OF MAY 1976 — RANKED: — 13. Ka-Zar #17, Marvel. This month’s requisite Jawsmania cover. — 12. Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals #107, Archie. You remember it as well as I do. This is exactly how high-school girls dressed in 1976. Exactly. I just don’t know who’s carrying the weed apple — Betty or Veronica. — 11. Creepy #81, Warren. The most demented Spy vs. Spy strip ever. — 10. Iron Man #6, Marvel. I dig all the crazy, intersecting lines and angles by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia, and I love the Yu-Ti’s bemused hand gesture over his hood. But the real star is the unnamed colorist who brought just about the whole spectrum with them. — 9. Emergency! #2, Charlton. Eye-catching painted cover by Joe Staton. Again with the color! The Randolph Mantooth corner logo should be on a T-shirt. — 8. House of Mystery #244, DC. Horror covers were a dime a dozen, so to find one that is actually bona fide terrifying is really special. I’m a big fan of Luis Dominguez anyway, but this really taps into that ’70s cult-panic zeitgeist. Superb colors by the late Tatjana Wood, whose starkly red demon plays off the ghostly acolytes so well. Dynamite. — 7. Ragman #1, DC. Ragman was such an odd idea. Nice, unorthodox panel cover by Joe Kubert. I’m betting this was also Wood colors. Oh, and “tatterdemalion” literally means “ragged or disreputable in appearance.” — 6. Green Lantern #90, DC. The triumphant return of Green Lantern/Green Arrow! Mike Grell is second only to Neal Adams as far as GL/GA goes, even if Hal Jordan’s pose is on the wooden side here. It’s a very popular cover but it’s that detail that takes points off for me. — 5. The X-Men #100, Marvel. One of the seminal X-covers of the Bronze Age and, like GL/GA above, I’m sure a number of you would top the list with it. But heroes running at each other on a cover...
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