BRONZE AGE BONANZA: Kubert! Kirby! Byrne! MORE!
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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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Hey, check out that fancy new BRONZE AGE BONANZA banner by our pal Walt Grogan! I’ve even retrofitted it into the two other 1976 posts so far. (Links below!)
Now, dig the TOP 13 COVERS OF FEBRUARY 1976 — RANKED:
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13. Tarzan Family #63, DC. This month’s Jawsmania entry.
Joe Kubert
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12. Batman Family #5, DC. As I’ve said before, just about every Batman Family cover will make this list on sentimental value alone. This one just also happens to capture the sheer fun of those Batgirl and Robin team-ups. Plus: Dig the Batgirl and Robin floaters on the left and the Ace and Signalman busts across the bottom. The joy of comics.
Ernie Chan
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11. Doomsday + 1 #6, Charlton. Another reminder that John Byrne was destined for superduperstardom.
John Byrne
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10. Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #67, Gold Key. Here’s my theory, which is totally untrue: George Wilson decided to sneak in a cover about Harvey Dent getting dragged off to Arkham Asylum and this is what was going through Two-Face’s mind.
George Wilson
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9. Superman #299, DC. The Man of Steel vs. the Sinister Six, er, Nefarious Nine.
Bob Oksner
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8. UFO Flying Saucers #10, Gold Key. This is just fecking great. I mean, how seriously cool would that be if it happened to you? Then again, that’s just a Tuesday night in Gotham City. Anyway, I’m not 100 percent sure that this isn’t a reprint of an old cover, given how everyone’s dressed in 1976. But I can’t find any indication, so here it is. Wowza.
Possibly Luis Dominguez
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7. The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #22, Marvel. A straight-up badass cover by Ken Barr. You just know that White Tiger has these guys just where he wants them.
Ken Barr
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6. Marvel Feature #4, Marvel. Frank Thorne at his Frank Thorneiest.
Frank Thorne
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5. Tomb of Dracula #44, Marvel. This one always stands out among all the great Colan/Palmer Tomb of Dracula covers because of the bold and counterintuitive use of rainbow colors. A dazzling display, and Palmer may have done the colors himself.
Gene Colan pencils, Tom Palmer inks
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4. Planet of the Apes #19, Marvel. As much as I love the original Planet of the Apes movies — and that’s a considerable amount — they missed the mark by never having a scene like this in them. I mean, honestly. Good lord.
Bob Larkin
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3. Jungle Action #21, Marvel. Here’s what I wrote about Jungle Action #19 in the BRONZE AGE BONANZA for October 1975: “This is just straight-up balls. The first part of the landmark The Panther vs. the Klan by the courageous team of Don McGregor and Billy Graham gets a fittingly rousing cover from Gil Kane and Dan Adkins. Marvel changed the racist, domestic terror group’s name from Klan to “Clan” on the cover and ultimately pulled the plug on the storyline — decisions that still don’t sit right 50 years later. But it doesn’t take away from what the writer and artists, including Rich Buckler, tried to accomplish.” Still on point.
Rich Buckler pencils, John Romita inks
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2. Captain America #197, Marvel. Not quite Madbomb but pretty dang cool.
Jack Kirby pencils, John Verpoorten inks
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1. Blitzkrieg #3, DC. “This Is the Face of the ENEMY.” And it still is.
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MORE
— The TOP 13 COVERS of JANUARY 1976 — RANKED. Click here.
— BRONZE AGE BONANZA: The 1976 INDEX. Click here.
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Comics sources: Mike’s Amazing World of Comics and the Grand Comics Database.
February 15, 2026
The only issue there I would have picked up would have been the Superman issue. That cover is burned into my memory. Had they played up the John Carter story in Tarzan I may have noticed it. Was never a fan of Tarzan. As for the Marvel B/Ws, never knew they existed (at that time) because I was focused only on the spinner racks. The Byrne Doomsday I would pick up nearly 50 years later. “New to me” as they say.
February 15, 2026
LOVE the banner…but do admit I would have loved to see Warlord as one of the DC icons
February 15, 2026
If I do another one, SLG, I’ll try to work him in!
February 15, 2026
Not a good Cap cover at all, sadly, and this is coming from a guy who was reading every issue of the Mad Bomb saga and remembers it fondly. The facial expression looks as if Cap–a guy who charges into situations like that every day–is panicked and/or terrified, especially with his hand up to his face. And the missiles flying toward the reader make it look as if Cap is fleeing from the killers, not charging at them. Jack had to be having an off day, probably rushed from working on “Bicentennial Battles” at the same or something.