| Posted: 30 August 2025 at 11:58pm | IP Logged | 7
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I did a personal study of comic book covers for fun a few years ago. It's amazing how different Marvel and DC covers were! The things that kept popping up for DC were different than Marvel's typical tropes.
Recurring classic DC cover themes-- Hero fighting a doppelganger Hero fighting his alter ego Hero talking to the reader Earth in danger Gorillas Empty uniforms Hero arrested or on trial Hero carrying a dead person (usually another hero) Falling to your death Hero in a cage or jail cell Weddings Patriotic Posters or wanted posters Hero bursting through the cover (though Howard the Duck famously did that one too) or "Introducing!" Hero aged or babyfied Hero is a murderer! Hero is dead Hero body altered or skeletonized Split cover (with hero often caught between two worlds) Rollercoasters!
Marvel's recurring cover themes-- Two heroes fighting The "Album Cover" (heroes standing dramatically) The "Movie Poster" (Think Steranko or Gulacy) Hero defeated! Hero not defeated yet! Artsy! (Think of some Bill Sienkiewicz single figure covers) Heroes running or flying towards us Dozens of heroes falling, fighting, advancing, etc. (think Art Adams or George Perez--though he certainly continued this at DC) Montages--series overview, issue overview, or possibly both Hero standing there in various degrees of "Here I am." or "Here I am!!!" Hero seen from behind Giant figure or face looming above symbolically over the city or the heroes (Though Neal Adams did a fantastic Ra's Al Ghul looming over Batman and dead Robin for that Treasury Edition!) Extreme close-up of face or two fighting faces Hero or heroes quitting Did the hero/es kill the villain/s?!? Left team vs. right team!
If I described things well enough, you probably pictured a number of examples in your head! It's very interesting to me to see the different "How to grab the reader" philosophies of the two different companies over decades of covers.
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