Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jan 18, 2026 | 1 comment

BRONZE AGE BONANZA: A comics landmark puts a stamp on the start of the feature’s seventh year! ADAMS! KUBERT! GIORDANO! 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 a new year for BRONZE AGE BONANZA! Our seventh!

Let’s get right to it: Dig the TOP 13 COVERS OF JANUARY 1976 — RANKED:

—

13. Detective Comics #458, DC. This isn’t actually my favorite Batman cover this month. This one is. But I absolutely cannot ignore the debut of the silliest Detective Comics logo ever, with that gigantic head that doesn’t look like the Masked Manhunter as much as it does an Easter Island statue. To add insult to injury, the glorious, original Detective Comics logo sits right above it. (Professor Paul Levitz believes Ernie Chan — who did the cover — probably did the Bat-head. If you know differently, say so in the comments.)

Ernie Chan

—

12. Superboy #216, DC. One of the best-known Legion covers of the ’70s, pretty much because everyone agrees that Tyroc was a poorly conceived, stereotypical mess of a character. Even Mike Grell, who drew this cover, wasn’t a fan.

Mike Grell

—

11. Captain America #196, Marvel. Cap is a little too awkward looking and the truncated image size doesn’t help, but big props to the King for giving us a Rollerball riff. (“Jonathan! Jonathan! Jonathan!” Or, better yet, “Steve! Steve! Steve!”)

Jack Kirby pencils, Frank Giacoia inks

—

10. Ghostly Haunts #49, Charlton. Tom Sutton did some scaryass covers for Charlton in the ’70s. This just might be the scaryassest.

Tom Sutton

—

9. Spidey Super Stories #16, Marvel. The Jawsmania cover of the month — and one of the best, even if it is a note-for-note parody.

John Romita

—

8. Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes, Warner Books/Crown Publishers. This and No. 7 (below) share a lot of the same design DNA but from different angles. As a DC and Neal Adams devotee, my heart picks this one but I think the other one works just a little bit better.

Neal Adams

—

7. The Avengers #146, Marvel. This and No. 8 (above) share a lot of the same design DNA but from different angles. As a DC and Neal Adams devotee, my heart picks that one but I think this one works just a little bit better.

Gil Kane pencils, Al Milgrom inks

—

6. Doctor Strange #13, Marvel. Really groovy cosmic cover by Colan and Palmer, with the red background (possibly colored by Palmer) the tipping point.

Gene Colan pencils, Tom Palmer inks

—

5. Grimm’s Ghost Stories #29, Gold Key. Used to be that George Wilson showed up in BRONZE AGE BONANZA all the time. I don’t know if he became less inspired as the ’70s wore on or I simply started grading him on a tougher curve. Either way, this is wonderfully, batshit crazy and is great through and through.

George Wilson

—

4. The Marvel Comics Index #1, G&T Enterprises. I really, really like this cover. Not just the scene but the lovely sunset over Manhattan. Ronn Sutton mimics Ditko’s Spidey and does it very well.

Ronn Sutton

—

3. Our Army at War #291, DC. Joe Kubert: master of close-contact military combat. Nobody did it better. Check out Rock’s sinewy arms! But what also kicks this up a notch is that he has the despicable Nazi’s head completely buried in the snow, his eyes filled with grim survival instinct, fierce determination, and unbridled hatred for this scumbag fascist.

Joe Kubert

—

2. 1st Issue Special #13, DC. I suppose you could lump this in with No. 8, too, but it’s a cut above. When you think of Dick Giordano, you don’t think of cosmic Kirby heroes. When you think of Dick Giordano, you think of clean, eye-catching illustration and layout — which is exactly what you get here.

—

1. Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, DC/Marvel. If you’ve been paying attention to our Facsimile Edition and Superman/Spider-Man coverage, then you know this month is the 50th anniversary of one of comics’ biggest landmarks, with a cover worthy of the occasion by Carmine Infantino, Ross Andru, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano and Terry Austin. This, folks, was a race for second, because no other cover this month comes close. A (very) early contender for Best Cover of 1976.

Infantino, Andru, Adams, Giordano, Austin

—

MORE

— BRONZE AGE BONANZA: The 1976 INDEX. Click here.

— BRONZE AGE BONANZA: The 1975 INDEX. Click here.

—

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