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 Legends of the Dark Knight 1990 and Daredevil 1989. If you need a refresher, just click HERE. Below you’ll find the two series that I’m currently covering. Click on that specific logo to be instantly taken directly to that series. The last section is reserved for my Top Picks from each year. Click the logo or travel to the third page to view them.
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Legends of the Dark Knight 1991
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Daredevil 1990
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The Speech Bubble 
I really like Legends of the Dark Knight # 23. First of all, Batman has impossibly hypertrophic muscles and a creatively drawn mantle: thanks to these 2 marvellous details, this cover immediately caught my attention.
And then I looked all around Bruce, and I noticed another highly eye – pleasing artistic choice: a wonderful flaming sky. The contrast between the warm colours of the background and the cool colours of Batman’s costume is another huge plus of this cover.
And then I gave Bruce a second look, and I noticed that he’s armed. I’ve always hated people who say “Superhero can’t be armed, because it’s morally harmful”: superheroes fight crime, they have to face a lot of evil people who are armed to the teeth, so there’s nothing strange or wrong if superheroes use some weapons instead of their bare hands. By putting a bat into Bruce’s hands, the cover artist metaphorically kicked those moralists in the shins, and I appreciated it so much that I could give this cover the gold medal for this reason alone.
As for Matt, I pick Daredevil # 284. First of all, the scene is set in a murky blind alley, which is one of my favorite settings in superhero comics.
Secondly, the tagline is so enticing that it would make you buy the issue alone. “Who is the man in black?” It’s a very simple question, but the answer is so unpredictable that you really can’t prevent yourself from putting your hands on the issue the second you read it.
And then you look under the feet of the man in black, and you notice a newspaper putting another very enticing question: “Where is Daredevil?” This marvellous detail helps building an even more mysterious atmosphere, so it perfectly matches with the tagline I praised before.
I also love the golden light thrown upon the wall, the way black and blue are combined on the pants of the villain, the way he impends over Matt… yes, this cover definitely deserves the first place crown.
“And then I gave Bruce a second look, and I noticed that he’s armed.”
And he’s armed with a bat…with a bat logo. What do you call it? The Bat? Or the Bat-bat? 🙂
“And then I looked all around Bruce, and I noticed another highly eye – pleasing artistic choice: a wonderful flaming sky.”
I also love the bats flying around in the background as well as his flowing cape. A terrific image though I have to give my runner-up award to LOTDK #14. Batman laying helpless in the corner, guns drawn on him. It isn’t until we look at the shadows on the walls that we realize these are not criminals chasing him down but police officers. Holy misunderstanding, Batman!
“As for Matt, I pick Daredevil # 284.”
And this is my 2nd place winner for the very reasons you so eloquently listed.
Thanks, as always, for sharing your selections!
“A terrific image though I have to give my runner-up award to LOTDK #14.” My runner – up is issue # 24, because it’s the second Bat – comic book I’ve ever read. The first one was Batman Adventures # 22.
I also remember my first and second Spider – comics: the first one was a trade collecting all the issues of Maximum Carnage, and the second one was a reprint of Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider – Man Vol. 1 # 48.
By the way, are you watching Longmire? I love this series so much that I wrote a post about it.
“Thanks, as always, for sharing your selections!” Thank you as well for your compliments and for your reply! : )
My first ever Batman comic was Batman: A Word To The Wise (http://comicbookdb.com/issue.php?ID=120534) and my first ever Spider-Man comic was Amazing Spider-Man: Skating On Thin Ice (http://comicbookdb.com/issue.php?ID=83503) which were both free handouts.
As for my first purchased comics of the characters:
Spider-Man = Ultimate Spider-Man #100
Batman = Batman #655 (the first appearance of Damian Wayne)
I’ve since backtracked a lot but those were my starting points. Ah the memories… 🙂
Really like LODK #16 were Batman is walking through this tunnel, lantern in hand, swathed in dark shadows. Its very creepy and seems even more menacing because the Dark Knight it underground. I also think Daredevil #279 is another great cover to feature Mephisto. Here the demon holds DD and his friends and they tumble from his grasp towards the flames. I really like this version of Mephisto it makes him seem even more demonic and sinister. I also like how he doesn’t seem too have any eyes, perhaps his demonic sense are heightened like Daredevil own vision?
“Really like LODK #16 were Batman is walking through this tunnel, lantern in hand, swathed in dark shadows.”
This was my third place winner. LOTDK sure has had some beautiful covers so far. It keeps getting harder and harder to pick just one.
“I also think Daredevil #279 is another great cover to feature Mephisto.”
That’s it. Any cover with Mephisto and Daredevil on the same cover is assured Paul Bowler’s #1 pick. 🙂
Thanks for providing your choices! Much appreciated.
LOTDK was one of my favorite titles from the 1990s and perhaps my favorite take on Batman ever.
Awesome! Did you have a cover from the series that really stood out for you?
I remember seeing issue #15 on the shelf and thinking the cover was really cool. I was buying Marvel books almost exclusively at the time. But that one really caught my eye. I bought #16, which was the first issue of the Venom arc and I was hooked. These days I have the first 30 or so issues of LOTDK. The origin story from the Shaman arc is definitely my favorite telling of the tale. Just a very unique take.
Thanks for the share. I haven’t actually read too many issues from the LOTDK series but I’ve heard nothing but positives about those early issues. Maybe one day I’ll be able to track down some of them and experience them for myself. 🙂
4 fans chose 4 different LOTDK covers: that speaks volumes about how constantly great the covers of this series are.
I agree with you 100%. Consistently good since the first issue so far. Each year it gets tougher and tougher to pick just one. Will the trend continue with this week’s Retroactive I wonder?
Let’s hope so! : )