Posted By Dan Greenfield on Apr 19, 2020 | 8 comments

BRONZE AGE BONANZA! Boy, Neal Adams had a helluva month…

—

Welcome to BRONZE AGE BONANZA — our new monthly series that looks at the greatest covers of the Bronze Age — exactly 50 years later. For more info on this feature, click here.

—

Looking at the selections below, I can only imagine what it was like to be a Neal Adams fan in April 1970.

I mean, come on.

So let’s get right to THE TOP 13 COVERS OF APRIL 1970 — RANKED:

(And don’t forget: These entries are based on sale dates and not official publication dates.)

—

13. Family Affair #3, Gold Key. Just a reminder that there was once a Family Affair comic book.

—

12. Marvel Tales #27, Marvel. It’s more or less a re-do of Steve Ditko’s Amazing Spider-Man #34 — but it’s a groovy re-do of Steve Ditko’s Amazing Spider-Man #34.

Marie Severin pencils. Sam Grainger or Joe Sinnott inks.

—

11. Marvel Super-Heroes #27, Marvel. One of Jack Kirby’s last Marvel covers before jumping to DC. Not his best work by any stretch, but man there’s a lot going on here.

Jack Kirby pencils, John Verpoorten inks

—

9. Ripley’s Believe It or Not! #20, Gold Key. I have no idea what this picture is. But I like it.

Artist unknown

—

9. Drag N’ Wheels #41, Charlton. Man, this is far out. Just imagine those colors leaping out from the spinner rack and grabbing you by the throat.

Artist unknown — though I have my suspicions. Let us know in the comments if you have info!

—

8. Aquaman #52, DC. There’s no such thing as a bad Nick Cardy Aquaman cover. (Is there such a thing as a bad Nick Cardy anything?) This is weird and psychedelic and you have no concept of what’s going on here — or even whether this is under water or in the air. But it’s memorable nonetheless.

Nick Cardy

—

7. The Phantom #38, Charlton. It’s a fairly static image but Jim Aparo gives such a great sense of mood. Boy, it looks like the skies are just going to burst open any second now, deep in the thick jungle.

Jim Aparo

—

6. Wonder Woman #189. OK, so we know they never should have taken her powers away, but holy crap, it’s Wonder Woman with a machine gun standing against enemy aircraft fire. Badass.

Mike Sekowsky pencils, Dick Giordano inks

—

5. The Amazing Spider-Man #86, Marvel. Actually, Spidey, she’s not a female copy of you. She’s just also named after a spider. It’s always about you, isn’t it, Parker? Get over yourself.

John Romita

—

4. Star Spangled War Stories #151, DC. I don’t expect that DC will ever collect a book of just Joe Kubert war covers, but man, man, man, they should. Helluva way to introduce the Unknown Soldier.

Joe Kubert

—

3. Green Lantern #77, DC. Neal Adams gets the top three spots this month. This issue follows up the seismic GL/GA #76 — which took top honors in the February 1970 edition of BRONZE AGE BONANZA! — and remains one of the best-known covers from Denny O’Neil and Adams’ groundbreaking run.

Neal Adams

—

2. Detective Comics #400, DC. The issue that first gave us Man-Bat — a suitable move for such a landmark entry in Detective Comics lore. Easily one of Adams’ most recognized covers. So why isn’t this Number 1?

Adams

—

1. Batman #222, DC. Because how can you go against Batman and Robin meeting the Beatles? (Ahem, I mean the Oliver Twists…)

Adams

—

MORE

— The TOP 13 COVERS of MARCH 1970 — RANKED. Click here.

— BRONZE AGE BONZANA: The 1970 INDEX. Click here.

—

Sources: Mike’s Amazing World of Comics and the Grand Comics Database.