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 Green Arrow 2012 and The Punisher 2011. 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.
________________________________________________________
Green Arrow 2013
___________________________________________________
The Punisher 2012
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
The Speech Bubble 
I really like Punisher # 6.
First of all, Frank is filling two crooks full of lead, and I couldn’t ask nothing better on the cover of an action packed comic book.
Secondly, I love the artistic choice of showing the bullets coming out from the heads and the backs of the crooks. Those holes are huge, so I figure Frank is using very big guns and very large bullets. Also, the fire coming from those holes has been coloured to perfection.
Thirdly, this cover perfectly catches the essence of the character. Any other man would show a raging face while executing those drug dealers; Frank, on the contrary, kills them without batting an eyelid. The contrast between the dramatic power of this scene and the calmness of his facial expression is a huge plus of this cover.
As for Oliver, I completely agree with the cover you chose. Special mention for Green Arrow # 15: a gunfight and an enticing tagline are more than enough to get the silver medal in my personal ranking.
“I really like Punisher # 6.”
I love how on this cover and #9 we see Frank perform everyday mundane jobs with the Punisher twist. #9 has Frank acting as a taxi cab driver with the fare due at the end of the trip being the crook’s life. On #6 we have Frank be an auto mechanic as he slides out from underneath the vehicle using the creeper and unload on the unsuspecting drug dealers. Great choice though my silver medalist would be #8 (Punisher worse for wear with a bloody skull splashed on the wall), 3rd place would be #5 (the Punisher kneeling down in front of the pool of water, reflecting on the past), and fourth would be #12 (love the use of shadows).
“Special mention for Green Arrow # 15: a gunfight and an enticing tagline are more than enough to get the silver medal in my personal ranking.”
And I would make special mention of #22’s Vertigo induced masterpiece.
Thanks, as always, for sharing your selections!
Thank you as well for your replies! : )
P.S.: My all time favorite Green Arrow cover is GA Vol. 2 # 80. At first I didn’t even give it the gold medal, but month after month that image remained engraved on my memory more than all the other covers.
Special mention for GA Vol. 2 # 7.
As for Frank, I pick The Punisher Vol. 2 # 74. A simply perfect action packed cover.
Not only do I get your picks for this year but overall as well? An added bonus! GA Vol. 2 #80 surprises me as it is a rather simple cover but for it to stand with you after all these weeks it is something really special. As for TP Vol. 2 #74, the energy on that cover is captivating.
Wow, agree with you on both these covers. Green Arrow Vol 6 #17 is brilliant, with Green Arrow on a rooftop, the rain pouring down, its a really moody scene, and makes a perfect cover, and it makes you want to find out who, or what the Kill Machine is. Punisher Vol 8 #16 is such a powerful image, a plain cover, with Punisher standing over Rachael, as she waits for him to pull the trigger, a trail of blood already pooling towards the base of the cover. I really like the washed out Punisher symbol in the background as well, brilliant cover!
We end our time with these characters in total agreement. Fantastic!
Thanks, as always, for providing your picks not only for this edition but for all the editions of the series. Here’s to the next iteration of Retroactive to come! 🙂
You’re welcome, always enjoy these Retroactive features so much. A great edition to finish this run, looking forward to the new Retroactive 😀
We all chose the same Green Arrow cover for 2 consecutive weeks: I think it had never happened before.
And I mean in the whole Retroactive history, not only for Green Arrow.
I can think of no finer way to end this volume of Retroactive than that: history in the making!