What makes the best comic book covers? It is a great topic for debate. For us, as individuals, there is no wrong answer, of course; it is purely subjective. But, with a little thought it’s possible to explain what it is about a particular image that grabs you. The best images are the ones that make you stop and check out something you weren’t previously planning to purchase – and in some cases, you even end up picking up a title you’ve never even heard of before.
Featuring a cover date of July 1943 – almost two years before comic book legend Emmanuel “Mac” Raboy’s cover to Spark Publications’ Green Lama #2 had the Allied military backing the title hero – Nedor Publications showcased a battalion of its “World’s Finest” heroes with United States soldiers and tanks covering their flank on the cover of America’s Best Comics #6.
Illustrated by Golden Age artist-extraordinaire Alex Schomburg, this cover features what are now public domain heroes, including (left to right): The Liberator, Doc Strange, The Black Terror, Pyroman, and The American Crusader. These mystery men were brought back into the spotlight in the 1990s via DC Comics’ Tom Strong titles by Alan Moore and Dynamite Entertainment’s SuperPowers-affiliated comics by Alex Ross. Some were even reintroduced to ‘80s comics fans with the classic Chuck Dixon-scripted Black Terror series published by Eclipse Comics. But no matter who dusts them off and brings them back to face badness in the new millennium, nothing beats Nedor’s pulp-based heroes’ original adventures that were on newsstands everywhere 80-some years ago.
Appreciated by Golden Age collectors and Schomburg enthusiasts alike, this highly collectible issue is one of the best war covers – as well as pieces of Allied propaganda – ever produced. Still affordable to the persistent collector, this World War II classic is a must for four-color enthusiasts who want to expand their comic book war chest with one of the great collectible comics that the funny book industry had to offer. V is for Victory – and the Nedor Heroes have proven over the long decades that they are nothing less than victorious.
-Scott Braden
