Posted By Dan Greenfield on Sep 14, 2025 | 5 comments

BRONZE AGE BONANZA: Adams! Kane! Toth! 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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A smorgasbord of diverse selections!

Dig the TOP 13 COVERS OF SEPTEMBER 1975 — RANKED:

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13. Richie Rich Jackpots #20, Harvey. They’re children.

Unknown

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12. Action Comics #454, DC. One of the greatest covers of all time. I shouldn’t be putting this at No. 12.

Bob Oksner

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11. The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves #54, Charlton. A giant eye cover! Not as good as floating heads or orange moons, but I’ll take it!

John Byrne

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10. Spidey Super Stories, Marvel. Hey, kids! It’s leggy blonde Shanna! Actually, shouldn’t she have been teaming up with Jennifer of the Jungle?

John Romita

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9. House of Yang #3, Charlton. Nice, evocative cover by Sanho Kim during the Kung Fu Craze, which had peaked but was still extant.

Sanho Kim

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8. Turok, Son of Stone #100, Gold Key. What?

George Wilson

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7. Special Collector’s Edition #1, Marvel. Shouldn’t this have been called Savage Feet of Kung Fu?

Gil Kane pencils, Dan Adkins inks (with John Romita alterations on Shang-Chi’s face)

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6. Marvel Double Feature #13, Marvel. Jack Kirby makes the most of the limited space with a signature, close-quarters punch-out. And Bucky is just bulky enough to sell the idea that he could whup Super-Soldier Cap.

Jack Kirby pencils, Mike Esposito inks

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5. Secrets of Haunted House #5, DC. One of Bernie Wrightson’s most memorable horror covers of the ’70s. Perfect early Halloween treat.

Bernie Wrightson

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4. The Amazing Spider-Man #151, Marvel. Reminiscent of Steve Ditko’s classic ASM #33, this Kane/Romita collaboration does a great job of selling the sheer power of the rushing water and Spider-Man’s pure determination to not let it stop him. Not usually listed among the all-time great Spidey covers, but it is terrific.

Kane pencils, Romita inks

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3. The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #17, Marvel. You’d be forgiven for pillorying me for not putting this at the top. It’s an utterly superb Neal Adams cover, and perhaps his best Bruce Lee illustration. Thing is, it’s the cinematography of Enter the Dragon’s masterpiece mirror scene that’s really the star. Not saying it was easy to emulate that. Just saying it helped the cover soar.

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2. Planet of the Apes #14, Marvel. Most of the Planet of the Apes magazine covers were first-rate and this one is no exception. The image is terrifying (and cool) in and of itself, but it’s the color choice that moves this from routinely great to sublime. Hell, even the horse has red eyes, like it’s been possessed by some post-apocalyptic demon. Killer.

Malcolm McNeill

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1. Limited Collector’s Edition #C-41, DC. You could say this falls into the same category as No. 3 above, but you can’t ignore the fact that this cover, by Alex Toth (and, notoriously, Curt Swan and George Klein) is one of the most emblematic of the era. With DC Universe by Alex Toth: The Deluxe Edition due in July 2026, I’m willing to wager we’ll see this as a Facsimile Edition at some point relatively soon.

Alex Toth, with Superman’s face pasted over with a Curt Swan/George Klein image

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MORE

— The TOP 13 COVERS of AUGUST 1975 — RANKED. Click here.

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

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