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.
Before there were superheroes spanning the comic book cosmos, there were the great pulp heroes like Doc Savage and The Shadow and G-8, among others – and their adventures dominated pop culture once upon a time. And, no comic book creator symbolizes pop culture, as well as keeping in tune with its ever-consistent changes, than the great Jim Steranko. When considering the writer, artist, and designer, as well as his body of work, one might see the master storyteller more of a peer of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein than, say, Dick Ayers and Don Heck. Pop art is aimed to blur the boundaries between what was once considered “high” art and “low” culture – and Steranko is a pop artist who has mattered throughout his incredibly productive eight decades.
As I have pointed out before, it can be said that every cover crafted by Steranko is a great work of pop art. But a handful of his storied frontispieces stand as masterworks of the medium. This cover – later daringly reprinted by Steranko for his Mediascene zine and DC Comics for a collection of early ‘80s adventures starring “The Man of Bronze” – begs each reader to discover for themselves what lies within the pages of this comic book.
Published in December 1972, the cover of Doc Savage #2 might have been a throwaway assignment in lesser hands. But Steranko creates an iconic cover that delivers new energy to a genre that needed a high-powered injection of sheer excitement. He delivered and the fans bought the comic for that very reason. Serious comic book collectors looking for an investment still do.
-Scott Braden