From the days when Superman actually appeared in Action Comics:
Special note to E. Nelson Bridwell:
When you feature the Flash prominently on the cover...he's not a "surprise guest-hero."
Also, when you announce the Weather Wizard in your caption on the cover...you can't call him a "surprise" guest villain. So even though you keep him unrevealed until page 12 of a 14-page story, well, the cover kind of gave it away before we even opened the book. Sorry you put so much work into making that a surprise reveal, Cary Bates and Curt Swan!
Have I mentioned how much I hate cover spoilers when the innards of the book are trying to surprise you??
The cover that gives it up faster than Tony Stark is from Action Comics #441 (1974).
3 comments:
What a coincidence. Action Comics#441 was the first comic I ever bought with my own money. Here's my analysis of the issue, with particular emphasis on the flaws in Weather Wizard's plan:
http://stars-and-garters.blogspot.com/2009/03/well-since-you-asked-sally.html
Good catch, Snell. The odd thing is, I think at that time DC was still writing stories BASED on attention-getting covers like this (with the story itself considered of secondary importance)...especially under editor Julius Schwartz (a long-time champion of that approach)...so it's odd there would be such a disconnect between the cover-copy and the action. Normally, in the hey-day of the sensationalistic Julie Schwartz covers, there might have been an hysterical blurb shouting "WHY is Superman slugging a hero like the Flash? WHY???!!!!" or "Has Superman GONE CRAZY?!!"....most likely in that big dead space above the airborne Flash.
Obviously, things were changing around DC at the time...since this was also shortly before the period of DC's most hideous covers EVER (mid-70's)...perfectly embodied in this little gem published just over a year later.
What a spoiler!
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