Posted By Dan Greenfield on Dec 8, 2024 | 10 comments

BRONZE AGE BONANZA: George Perez and Mike Grell make their debuts!

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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.

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This was one of the tougher months to pick 13 COVERS to rank. There was a lot of solid work, some of it great, but nothing I would call transcendent. So if you were to, say, check out Mike’s Amazing World, you might have a very different list.

But, hey, this is why they pay me the big bucks, right? I gotta choose! It’s in my contract. And, either way, we get Mike Grell and George Perez’s first published comics covers! Plus, a lotta groovy Gil Kane and John Romita.

Dig the TOP 13 COVERS OF DECEMBER 1974 — RANKED:

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13. Werewolf by Night #27, Marvel. I swear, artists were competing with each other every month to see who could come up with the most disgusting, horrifying monster. As we’ve seen in previous installments, Joe Staton was particularly strong in the WTF category. This month? Gil Kane and Tom Palmer.

Gil Kane pencils, Tom Palmer inks

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12. Plop! #10, DC. Then again nobody — and I mean nobody — was more disgusting than Basil Wolverton.

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11. Monsters Unleashed! #10, Marvel. Though, huge round of applause to Vicente Segrelles for this monstrous entry. (And is it just me or does the woman look like Julie Newmar?)

Vicente Segrelles

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10. Adam-12 #6, Gold Key. I’m a real fan of Gold Key’s colorful collage covers and I don’t think they get the credit they deserve. I’m especially taken with their Adam-12 covers because they had so much more pizzazz than the show itself. (Cool Jack Sparling illos there.)

Jack Sparling illustrations

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9. Charlton Bullseye #1, The CPL Gang. Might be the first time a fanzine cover has made this list — and it’s a terrific one by Al Milgrom. This was more than a fanzine, though. It was produced with the cooperation of Charlton as a way to compete with Marvel’s FOOM and The Amazing World of DC Comics. The CPL Gang included such up-and-comers as Bob Layton, Roger Stern, Roger Slifer, Duffy Vohland… and John Byrne.

Al Milgrom

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8. FOOM #8, Marvel. Speaking of FOOM… This is a case where the mag’s limited color palette worked to its advantage. What we need now is an inventive young writer to come up with an in-continuity story about why Cap was wearing one white boot and one red boot.

John Romita pencils, Mike Esposito inks

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7. Captain America #183, Marvel. Since Steve Rogers is in the back there as Nomad (with that great head of hair), we know that’s not the real Captain America all trussed up on that rooftop. But it’s still a striking image and another way Marvel was able to sell this title while its lead character had given up the shield.

Kane pencils, Sinnott inks

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6. Action Comics #445, DC. Now where have I seen this cover before?

Nick Cardy

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5. Superboy #207, DC. Ladies and gentlemen, Mike Grell’s first published cover — and his BRONZE AGE BONANZA debut, natch! I don’t know whose concept the cover was but it is funny that it flips the script on the “hero in peril but he doesn’t know it” trope. Well executed by young Mr. Grell.

Mike Grell

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4. Creatures on the Loose #34, Marvel. Ladies and gentlemen, George Perez’s first published cover — and his BRONZE AGE BONANZA debut, natch! This one envelopes you like a big hairy, burning hug. And, damn, those pointy rocks! A striking job by the young Mr. Perez.

George Perez pencils, John Romita and Tony Mortellaro inks

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3. Weird Western Tales #27, DC. Freeze-frame: An imposing moment of quiet menace, a momentary snapshot between whatever brawl led up to this and whatever comes after. What sells it is the great sense of perspective — the background is so ethereal that it heightens the distance from the cliff’s edge to the valley below. Hex is in trouble (though you know he’s actually got this guy right where he wants him). Pop quiz: Is that the moon or the sun? What time of day do you think it is?

Luis Dominguez

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2. Jungle Action #14, Marvel. Everyone talks about Gil Kane’s dynamism and rightly so, but there’s another type of movement at which he excelled — muscle tension. You can feel the effort Black Panther is putting into this. It’s a stationary image but it vibrates with power. Kane and Neal Adams were the best at this technique. (Extra points for being a Jaws-like cover, months before Jawsmania hit.)

Kane pencils, Marcos inks

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1. The Amazing Spider-Man #142, Marvel. I knew who Mysterio was in broad strokes but it was this cover that made me fall in love with him (even though this is an ersatz version). I picked this issue up when it came out because I was completely sucked in by the bright eerieness of the image — the whole point of a cover to begin with. I also didn’t know that Mysterio couldn’t actually do that, but it didn’t matter — it was such a striking bit. (Actually, when I found out he couldn’t lift his head off, I was a little let down.)

Either Kane or Romita pencils, Romita inks

On another personal note, this marked the end of my personal Spidey Golden Age of Comics. I cut my teeth on a lot of the issues from #119 to #142 and have since read them all (plus all those that led up and many that came after). I still say Gerry Conway is the best writer Peter Parker’s ever had.

Anyway, yet another terrific Amazing Spider-Man cover this year, which should make for a fascinating annual roundup — THE TOP 13 COVERS OF 1974 — RANKED — coming in just a few short weeks!

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MORE

— The TOP 13 COVERS of NOVEMBER 1974 — RANKED. Click here.

— BRONZE AGE BONANZA: The 1974 INDEX. Click here.

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