In Retroactive I’ll take you on a visual comic cover tour of the past covering all the covers for a particular series. Each entry will cover an entire year and I’ll always have one comic from DC and one comic from Marvel. At the end of each edition of Retroactive I’ll select my overall favourite cover for that year for each series. Last time on Retroactive we covered Detective Comics 1942 and Amazing Spider-Man 1966. If you need a refresher, just click HERE. With that said, let’s begin:
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Detective Comics (1943)
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Detective Comics #71(January 1943)
Detective Comics #72(February 1943)
Detective Comics #73(March 1943)
Detective Comics #74(April 1943)
Detective Comics #75(May 1943)
Detective Comics #76(June 1943)
Detective Comics #77(July 1943)
Detective Comics #78(August 1943)
Detective Comics #79(September 1943)
Detective Comics #80(October 1943)
Detective Comics #81(November 1943)
Detective Comics #82(December 1943)
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Amazing Spider-Man (1967)
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Amazing Spider-Man #44(January 1967)
Amazing Spider-Man #45(February 1967)
Amazing Spider-Man #46(March 1967)
Amazing Spider-Man #47(April 1967)
Amazing Spider-Man #48(May 1967)
Amazing Spider-Man #49(June 1967)
Amazing Spider-Man #50(July 1967)
Amazing Spider-Man #51(August 1967)
Amazing Spider-Man #52(September 1967)
Amazing Spider-Man #53(October 1967)
Amazing Spider-Man #54(November 1967)
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #4(November 1967)
Amazing Spider-Man #55(December 1967)
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Favourite Covers
Okay, so our journey through the past is complete for this week but which covers reign supreme? For Detective Comics, the crown goes to: Detective Comics #71. Last time I gave the prize to a Joker-based cover and this one is awarded to yet another classic cover featuring the Clown Prince of Crime. The Joker drowning our heroes in pages torn from a calendar not only sets up the title “A Crime A Day” but is also attention grabbing. I’ve also noticed the massive size difference between the Dynamic Duo and their villains on the covers seems to be a common occurrence in this time period. For Amazing Spider-Man, the title goes to: Amazing Spider-Man #50. This cover is iconic and is second only to the cover of Spider-Man where he throws his costume in the garbage can (you know the one) is terms of Peter Parker no longer being Spider-Man. Love the cover, love the dejected pose of Parker, and love how the image of Spider-Man is looking back at him. Just simply love it!
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So that’s it for this week. Agree/Disagree? Which covers are your personal favourites from this week? Comment below!
The Speech Bubble 
It still amazes me how Batman’s iconic villains were created so long ago and still endure. The Kraven #47 cover is amusing for the crazy lion’s head/mane vest he’s wearing lol.
“It still amazes me how Batman’s iconic villains were created so long ago and still endure.”
Goes to show you that if you create a villain that resonates with the readers, despite how they evolve over the years, they will always be in high demand.
“The Kraven #47 cover is amusing for the crazy lion’s head/mane vest he’s wearing lol.”
Yeah. That’s something they’ll have to address when he makes his live-action movie debut one of these years…
Of course Spider Man # 50 is unbeatable, but even the following one is nice. The reason is simple: it shows Kingpin! In one of my first comments on your blog, I wrote:
“I’ve always thought that Batman needs a villain like Kingpin. Yes, of course Gotham has the greatest “wild bunch” of villains we’ve ever seen in comics, but all of them are psychos: what Batman needs is a normal man who decides to be on the wrong track not because he’s mad, but because he rationally prefers to employ his intelligence and to satisfy his ambition in a criminal way. Batman never met a man like this, and it’s a real shame. There are some villains having something in common with Kingpin, like Black Mask or the Penguin, but they don’t have the same appeal, and DC never gave them the deepness and the criminal genius that Kingpin has.”
These are the reasons why Kingpin is by far my favorite villain. The others are the Batman’s ones I listed in my last comment.
“Of course Spider Man # 50 is unbeatable, but even the following one is nice.”
I don’t know what it is but I get a very “Penguin”-ish vibe from the way he is portrayed here. I think it has to do with his stance and that cigarette he is smoking. Great choice, by the way.
Also, since you’re a big fan of Kingpin: just wondering how you thought of his portrayal in the Daredevil movie?
The characterization was faithful to the character. All things considered, I liked that movie.
I appreciated that movie more after seeing the Director’s Cut of it for sure.
Funny how the Batman covers of the 1940s look back to the previous century with that horse and carriage. The readers’ parents and grandparents would have remembered those from their childhoods. Personally, I like Batman cover 78, that’s really unique.
“Personally, I like Batman cover 78, that’s really unique.”
Great choice. I like the technique they used on Batman and Robin’s head shots, they really stand-out. Sort of similar to the technique used on Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #28: https://thegothamrogue.wordpress.com/2012/12/05/retroactive-detective-comics-1941-amazing-spider-man-1965/
Thanks for the comment! Always nice to hear someone else’s opinion.
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