Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jul 19, 2026 | 1 comment

BRONZE AGE BONANZA: An all-time classic leads the list! BYRNE! COCKRUM! KIRBY! 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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Strong, colorful month, with a lot to enjoy.

Dig the TOP 13 COVERS OF JULY 1976 — RANKED:

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13. Emergency! #3, Charlton. Rest in peace, Randolph Mantooth.

Earl Norem

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12. Little Archie #110, Archie. Obligatory Jawsmania cover of the month. Not the children!

Dexter Taylor

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11. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Marvel. Jack Kirby’s offbeat, treasury-size adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece — perhaps, perhaps, the greatest movie ever made — boasts a surprisingly subdued cover. Just too loose. It’s good, of course, but it lacks the power you’d expect from the King.

Jack Kirby pencils, Dan Adkins inks

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10. Archie Giant Series Magazine #250, Archie. There are 1,000,006 Betty and Veronica bikini covers but what makes this one stand out is Betty’s sweetly amused expression. Just a nice cartooning job.

Unknown, but I’d bet on Dan DeCarlo

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9. The Incredible Hulk Annual #5, Marvel. Jack Kirby has a grand time with his old monster pals — including Groot!

Kirby pencils, Jack Abel of Frank Giacoia inks.

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8. Metal Men #48, DC. This is really fun: Walt Simonson (!) brings the Silver Age into the Bronze Age with an Eclipso/Metal Men showdown. It’s always a treat when Eclipso shows up, and the broad palette — Carl Gafford did the colors based on a Simonson guide — brings it all home.

Walt Simonson

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7. The Brave and the Bold #130, DC. Tight, tells a good story, and gives us four floating heads and a bust. Plus, you could re-create it with three of your Megos!

Jim Aparo

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6. Justice League of America #135, DC. Is there such a think as too many floating heads? No. No, there is not. As groovy as the central image by Ernie Chan is, it’s those 18 floating heads — especially those introducing the heroes of Earth-S — that really make this one. That and the deep purple background.

Ernie Chan

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5. The Charlton Bullseye, CPL/GANG. The Question by Alex Toth, ladies and germs. Wish I knew who colored it.

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4. Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes, Warner Books. Solid cover by Neal Adams, though I admit he’s done better group shots. There’s something wonky about the perspective; having Superman so outsize throws it off.

Neal Adams

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3. Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-49, DC. Same basic concept as No. 4, but more solidly constructed, with a symmetrical composition. Granted, Mike Grell had a much bigger canvas to work with, but still. Sol Harrison’s colors give everything a bright, optimistic glow. A seminal Legion image.

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2. Iron Fist #8, Marvel. I was pretty sure this would top the list until I got to the cover that actually did. Byrne, who was still an up-and-comer, really puts the “fist” in Iron Fist. It’s got that classic Marvel background too.

John Byrne pencils, Adkins inks

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1. The X-Men #101, Marvel. Let’s bust out the eternal BRONZE AGE BONANZA debate: Is the cover on the list (or on top) because it’s a landmark or because it’s a great cover? In this particular case, it’s definitely both.

Dave Cockrum

Dave Cockrum’s brilliant introduction of Phoenix — with her fellow X-Men fighting to stay above water in a Gil Kane-influenced tableau — is probably his best cover ever, and just may be the definitive X-cover of the classic era. Fully earns the designation “iconic.”

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MORE

— The TOP 13 COVERS of JUNE 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.