Posted By Dan Greenfield on May 22, 2022 | 4 comments

BRONZE AGE BONANZA: Kubert, Kane and Wrightson show us how it’s done. And that’s not all!

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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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An eclectic month this was, with Bernie Wrightson, Gil Kane and Joe Kubert among the many heavyweights. Side note: I think this might be the first BRONZE AGE BONANZA installment without a Neal Adams cover. As it happens, Adams didn’t have a single cover published this month; there would be more to come, obviously, but his career was already heading in different directions. Sigh.

In any event, dig THE TOP 13 COVERS OF MAY 1972 — RANKED:

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13. Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp #6, Gold Key. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If there’s a Lancelot Link cover, it makes this list automatically.

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12. The Avengers #102, Marvel. A decent cover augmented by FLOATING HEADS! Everything is better with floating heads.

Rich Buckler pencils, Joe Sinnott inks

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11. Korak, Son of Tarzan #47, DC. Just a straight up great action scene by Joe Kubert.

Joe Kubert

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10. Fear #9, Marvel. A lot of artists make it appear that people move under water the same way they do on land. Not Gil Kane, whose escaped convict is a prime example of the illustrator’s mastery of anatomy, movement and context. By the way, I like how the octopus seems to be saying to the reader: “What’re you looking at, buddy? You’re next!”

Gil Kane pencils, Frank Giacoia inks

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9. Detective Comics #425, DC. All things considered, whether it’s covers or interiors, isn’t it kind of amazing that Bernie Wrightson didn’t do more Batman in his career? Unrelated follow-up question: The carriage driver looks like a demented Cat in the Hat, doesn’t he?

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8. Wanted #1, DC. As a kid weaned on the Batman TV show, a cover with so many colorful villains is like batnip. By the way, I will defend the Signalman’s costume until the end of time. It’ll never happen but man, he would make a great Mego.

Murphy Anderson

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7. Hero for Hire #2, Marvel. The subtle genius of a comics master: The image is pretty standard comic action but John Romita gives it a slight Dutch angle that ramps up your perception of speed, power and danger. Bravo.

John Romita

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6. Warlock #1, Marvel. Sure, it’s Warlock’s first solo-series cover — but look at the looming Man-Beast! Oh, that Gil Kane!

Kane pencils, possible Joe Sinnott inks, with Romita alterations

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5. Wonder Woman #201, DC. White-clad Wonder Woman and Pirate Catwoman battling with swords while leaping around a fire pit under the watchful, hooded eyes of some kind of diabolical conclave. A very striking Dick Giordano image on its own but the unidentified colorist is the real MVP here.

Dick Giordano

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4. Grimm’s Ghost Stories #4, Gold Key. Yet another reminder that George Wilson should be a household name among comics fans. It’s criminal that he isn’t.

George Wilson

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3. House of Mystery #204. That’s just disgusting, Bernie. Incredibly compelling but disgusting. Great work!

Wrightson

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2. Marvel Spotlight #5, Marvel. Ghost Rider makes his rockin’ debut! I’ve complained before that Marvel’s box-style covers were too restrictive (DC’s too, for that matter). But here’s a case where it actually enhances the action. By having Johnny’s blazing head burst out of the frame, Mike Ploog makes this one hell of an entrance.

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1. Our Fighting Forces #138, DC. The novel Jaws came out in 1974 with a Paul Bacon cover that was refined, enhanced and made far more dramatic by Roger Kastel for the paperback and subsequent movie poster — one of the most famous in cinematic history. I think it’s fair to speculate that either gentleman juuuuuuuust might have noticed this Joe Kubert cover on the spinner rack at their local newsstand two years earlier.

Kubert

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MORE

— The TOP 13 COVERS of APRIL 1972 — RANKED. Click here.

— BRONZE AGE BONANZA: The 1972 INDEX. Click here.