LOOK Kids!! COMICAZI!!

It’s been ages since I’ve done one of these Cover Contest posts!!  The last one featured Avengers and I had retooled the rules for the Contest a bit, trying to increase the chances of a winner.  Why?  Because there hasn’t been one yet!  Please indulge me as I give this another shot.  The rules again….

Choose your 5 favorite covers from the title of my choice and any conditions I may or may not set down in connection with that title.  I’ll also list my 5 favorite covers.  You may or may not decide to explain why its your favorite cover.  I will also determine a 6th cover that I think is cool.  It shall be called The Mystery Cover.  The Mystery Cover will not be part of my 5 favorites.  Anyone participating in the cover contest that chooses The Mystery Cover as part of their 5 favorite covers will receive a $10 gift certificate!

The title in question this time is the Superman team up title, DC Comics Presents and the eligible issues for this contest are #51 through the end of the run, #97.  That’s 47 issues.  I think that’s the smallest number of issues yet for the Contest.  Good luck!!

5.  DC Comics Presents #92

4.  DC Comics Presents #51

3.  DC Comics Presents #74

2.  DC Comics Presents #85

1.  And my favorite cover of this run – DC Presents #54

I look forward to seeing what you guys have to choose for covers and hopefully someone gets The Mystery Cover!

Thanks!

Comicazi Mike

Well, it’s been a couple of months since I last posted one of these Cover Contests and what better way to reinstate the feature than with my beloved Avengers??  There is no other way, I say to thee!!

I’ve retooled it a little from before.  I’m going to pick a title as before but will choose a small issue run, thus increasing the chances of someone winning an Asgardian-blessed gift certificate from Comicazi.  Here are the rules in case you forgot.

Choose your 5 favorite covers from the title of my choice and any conditions I may or may not set down in connection with that title.  I’ll also list my 5 favorite covers.  You may or may not decide to explain why its your favorite cover.  I will also determine a 6th cover that I think is cool.  It shall be called The Mystery Cover.  The Mystery Cover will not be part of my 5 favorites.  Anyone participating in the cover contest that chooses The Mystery Cover as part of their 5 favorite covers will receive a $10 gift certificate!
The series in question here is Avengers.  It is the volume that began in 1997 by Kurt Busiek and George Perez.  It is 84 issues long.  I chose this as the cut off point because the following issue Bendis soiled the franchise and they reverted to original numbering.

And now my countdown to favorite Avengers cover!

5.  Avengers #64

The Falcon has always been such a great character yet under-utilized as an Avenger.  Johns did some wonderful stuff with him on his all-too-brief tenure as scribe.  This is a very cool cover with great perspective.

4.  Avengers #14

Come on baby!!  It’s the Beast!! He so belongs on the team and I’m excited to see him on the new Secret Avengers book.  But back in the day – 11 years ago – the X-books wouldn’t let the Beast go and it was a rare treat to have him renew his friendship with Wonder Man.  This is such a fun cover and fully indicative of the dynamic between the two.  It makes me smile and think back on those great Avengers stories of the late 70’s early 80’s.

3.  Avengers #21

This is the penultimate chapter of the Ultron Unleashed saga, arguably a modern classic.  This image is pure Avengers awesome with the Black Panther alongside the Big Three and charging into Perez-drawn action.  Love it!!

2.  Avengers #35

This issue was a minor crossover in the Maximum Security event and features the Avengers Infinity team from the under-appreciated mini series.  Beautiful John Romita Jr. work.

1.  Avengers #12

And this is my favorite cover from the run.  Pure Perez Avengers action!  Nuff said!

I look forward to seeing your choices and good luck on getting The Mystery Cover!!

Comicazi Mike

That fateful month has passed, bringing us a new Cover Contest.  Look to the skies people!  This time out the star of the show is Hawkman!
Last Contest was Captain America and there were no winners of the gift certificate.  Thanks to those of you who played though!  Much appreciated.  Let me go over the rules again:

Choose your 5 favorite covers from the title of my choice and any conditions I may or may not set down in connection with that title.  I’ll also list my 5 favorite covers.  You may or may not decide to explain why its your favorite cover.  I will also determine a 6th cover that I think is cool.  It shall be called The Mystery Cover.  The Mystery Cover will not be part of my 5 favorites.  Anyone participating in the cover contest that chooses The Mystery Cover as part of their 5 favorite covers will receive a $10 gift certificate!

For the Cap contest, you had nearly 500 covers to choose from.  I’m going to make this a lot easier for a potential winner by giving you a little over 100 covers to select from.  127 to be exact.  Now I fully expect someone to be a winner this time around!  Here are the eligible series you can choose covers from:
The 27 issue series that started in 1964
The 17 issue series from 1986
The 33 issue series that began in 1993 as well as the zero issue
And finally the first 49 issues of Hawkman that started in 2002 before it switched to being called Hawkgirl.
So there you have it! Get cracking on cover choices and hopefully one of you wins The Mystery Cover.  In the meantime, here are my top 5 Hawkman covers:

5. Hawkman #4 (’64)

Ironic that I like a cover of Hawkman falling but it’s just so great…!!

4.  Hawkman #25 (’93)

Hawkman has always been one of my favorite DC heroes; I think it’s the fact that he encompasses so many escapist aspects in one character.  He’s sci-fi and Conan and archaeologist and super hero!  This beautiful painted cover is very Conan-esque.  And you know I like me some Conan.

3.  Hawkman #7 (’64)

This is just a great fun cover! Very 60’s DC sci-fi.  I also find it reminiscent of an old Neal Adams Tarzan novel’s cover.  My Dad had it when I was a kid and it was Tarzan battling a group of natives dressed in leopard skins.  Fantastic Adams’ piece and probably what sparked my interest in Tarzan.

2.  Hawkman #39 (’02)

Love this image!  Stark and brutal and indicative of the modern Hawkman’s character.  Plus, he’s not flying.  Weird, huh? 

1.  Hawkman #12 (’64)

My favorite Hawkman cover.  To me, it just sums up the wild and crazy – not in a Steve Martin way – adventures that he had.  Fighting time-tossed menaces and monsters with an array of weapons modern and ancient.  And Murphy Anderson is just the best!  Absolutely gorgeous.

There you have it!  Looking forward to seeing your selections!!

Keep ‘em flying!

Comicazi Mike

Well, it’s that time again!  Time for another Cover Contest.  It’s been over a month since I did The Brave And The Bold contest.  Thanks to everyone who participated…..oh wait!  No one did.  I’ll chalk it up to the holidays and the madness that that entails and not the fact that no one cares about this.  Because that’s just ridiculous!

But since no one took part last time AND no one has managed to win, I’m upping the prize.  I was offering a $5 gift certificate, now I’m making it $10.  Let’s see if that sparks some interest.  And, for your edification, the rules:

Choose your 5 favorite covers from the title of my choice and any conditions I may or may not set down in connection with that title.  I’ll also list my 5 favorite covers.  You may or may not decide to explain why its your favorite cover.  I will also determine a 6th cover that I think is cool.  It shall be called The Mystery Cover.  The Mystery Cover will not be part of my 5 favorites.  Anyone participating in the cover contest that chooses The Mystery Cover as part of their 5 favorite covers will receive a $10 gift certificate!

The title I choose to start the year is Captain America.  The Sentinel of Liberty is a fine choice to begin the Cover Contest as his return is being chronicled even as you read these very words!  And it’s just damn patriotic what with this being the 200th post!  Here are the eligibility requirements.  Cap has had many series.  Almost all of them are available to choose from.  The series that began in 1968 with #100.  It ran until #455.  Also eligible is the series from 1998 that ran 50 issues.  That one was Heroes Return NOT the horrific Liefeld Heroes Reborn.  You can also choose covers from the 2002 series with the John Cassaday stuff and went 32 issues.  And the current series which started in 2005 and went 50 issues before reverting to original numbering at #600.  So it’s actually 52 issues.  You cannot choose from the Golden Age Cap series or the Liefeld 13 issue run.  No annuals either.  Just the 4 runs I outlined above.  This gives you 489 covers to choose from so you should probably get cracking!

Now here are my top 5 Captain America covers:

5.  Captain America #4 (2005)

This is a very solemn cover and I’ve always loved that aspect of Cap.  It’s a bit symbolic but not as preachy as a lot of Cap covers can be.

4.  Captain America #275 (1968 series)

The DeMatteis/Zeck run in the 80’s is among my favorite Cap stories ever.  Mike Zeck could do no wrong and this cover is awesome in its simplicity.

3.  Captain America #113 (1968 series)

It’s Jim Steranko.  ‘Nuff said.

2.  Captain America #14 (2005 series)

Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting did the unthinkable and brought back Bucky and it worked!  A great story and Epting’s covers were beautiful.  This climactic cover is absolutely gorgeous with its Golden Age homage as two friends face off against one another.

1.  Captain America #230 (1968 series)

This is my favorite cover of Cap!  Its not action-packed but it is dynamic in the interpretation of Hulk’s fist smashing into Cap’s shield.  Its up-close image of Cap’s gritted teeth determination in the face of all-powerful fury is just plain inspirational and nothing but Cap all the way.  He always strives to overcome the odds.  Great detail, too!

And there you go!  My 5 favorite covers of the star-spangled Avenger.  I look forward to seeing your choices and don’t forget your chance to win if you pick The Mystery Cover!

Thanks for playing!

Comicazi Mike

Well, a little more than a month has gone by since the last Cover Contest entry.  There were no winners last time but there were plenty of great covers selected by those that participated!  Let’s have even more entries and a winner this time!  Allow me to review the rules:

Choose your 5 favorite covers from the title of my choice and any conditions I may or may not set down in connection with that title.  I’ll also list my 5 favorite covers.  You may or may not decide to explain why its your favorite cover.  I will also determine a 6th cover that I think is cool.  It shall be called The Mystery Cover.  The Mystery Cover will not be part of my 5 favorites.  Anyone participating in the cover contest that chooses The Mystery Cover as part of their 5 favorite covers will receive a $5 gift certificate!
If The Mystery Cover is chosen, then the contest will end and a new one shall begin from that point.  I’ll contact the winner and also announce the winner here on the blog so that we can move forward with the next cover contest.
This time out, the Contest swings back to a DC title.  The title being The Brave And The Bold.  Only the original run that began in 1955 and ran until 1983 is eligible.  None of the following incarnations of the title will be considered.  This gives you 200 covers to choose from, so get cracking and have fun!!

Here are my 5 favorite Brave And Bold covers in order to the one me like best:

5.  Brave And The Bold #10 -

I’ve always dug medieval stories and tales of knights and such and knowing they have a comics history is great.  This cover is classic!  I daresay it holds up to most any modern cover.

4.  Brave And The Bold #40 -

Even cooler than medieval knights are monsters!  My mom is a big sci-fi fan and lover of 50’s monster movies and I fondly remember many Saturday afternoons watching Creature Double Feature with her.  This cover is so evocative of those times.  Plus I just love the logo and how it draws my eye to the lizard’s scale between the two words.  Excellent!

3.  Brave And The Bold #95 -

Besides the fact that this is just a wonderful Neal Adams cover, what I love best about this is the absurdity of the situation that Batman finds himself in.  For the world’s greatest detective, he should know better than to pick up a smoking gun!  A great fun cover!

2.  Brave And The Bold #44 -

Hawkman has always been one of my favorite DC heroes and that’s mainly due to his blending of science fiction with medieval weaponry.  And winged characters are usually pretty damn awesome! Joe Kubert is THE Hawkman artist in my estimation and this image of a battle in the atmosphere is just tops in my book!

1.  Brave And The Bold #72 -

And my absolute fave B & B cover is this one of a large spectral Flash battling the Spectre on some distant moon.  I love the old plane wrecked at their feet and the sheer craziness of what’s happening.  Why is Flash a large ghost? Why is there an old bi-plane in space and who wrecked it?  Why do Infantino and Anderson draw so pretty?  Just brilliant!

So there you have it!!  Now let me have it.  Send in your 5 favorite covers and try to win The Mystery Cover!  I look forward to seeing your choices!!

Be easy,

Comicazi Mike

Another month has gone by and that means its time for the next installment of the Cover Contest.  More of you participated last month which is great but no one has yet chosen The Mystery Cover to win.  Perhaps this time…??  Let me refresh the rules for you:

Choose your 5 favorite covers from the title of my choice and any conditions I may or may not set down in connection with that title.  I’ll also list my 5 favorite covers.  You may or may not decide to explain why its your favorite cover.  I will also determine a 6th cover that I think is cool.  It shall be called The Mystery Cover.  The Mystery Cover will not be part of my 5 favorites.  Anyone participating in the cover contest that chooses The Mystery Cover as part of their 5 favorite covers will receive a $5 gift certificate!
If The Mystery Cover is chosen, then the contest will end and a new one shall begin from that point.  I’ll contact the winner and also announce the winner here on the blog so that we can move forward with the next cover contest.  This month’s title shall be Marvel’s non-team The Defenders…!!  The only eligible run is the first run that began in 1972 and ran until 1985.  It changed its title to New Defenders at #125 until the end of the run at #152.  These books also count so that gives you 152 covers to make your choices from.  Now get choosing and have fun and good luck!!

My top 5 fave Defenders covers are:

5. Defenders #80 -

Its the Big Three of the non team doing what they do best!

4. Defenders #67 -

This is the classic grouping of the team in my mind and I also find that this image of them on the Rainbow Bridge charging forward epitomizes just how strange the team is.

3. Defenders #4 -

A classic cover! ‘Nuff said!!

2.  Defenders #124 -

A beautiful cover that heralded the changing team.  The Beast wanted the team to be more like the Avengers and less of a rag-tag collection of heroes crashing at Doc Strange’s house.  He got his wish although the team was a little X-heavy.  Some really cool stuff in these final 25 issues and some of the best covers, too!

1.  New Defenders #132 -

Another gorgeous cover by Plunkett!  I can’t rightly say what it is about this image that makes it my favorite Defenders cover but its always the one that pops into my mind when someone mentions the book to me.

So there you have it, my list of covers!  Looking forward to seeing your selections soon!!

Thanks!

Comicazi Mike

A great way to celebrate Columbus’ discovery of America is to voyage through your comics and share your favorite Justice League covers as part of this month’s Cover Contest.  Go to previous posting

http://www.comicazi.com/blog/?p=442

for Contest details and to see who’s already participated.  Some cool covers and no one has won the gift certificate giveaway as of yet!

Happy Sunday!

Comicazi Mike

Hey there!

So about a month ago I had posted a blog about choosing your favorite covers from a title of my choosing and making a contest out of it.  I kicked off this regular feature with Amazing Spider-Man.  There were a few of you that participated and had some great cover choices!  I’d like to get even more folks involved this time around.  Here are your details!

Choose your 5 favorite covers from the title of my choice and any conditions I may or may not set down in connection with that title.  I’ll also list my 5 favorite covers.  You may or may not decide to explain why its your favorite cover.  I will also determine a 6th cover that I think is cool.  It shall be called The Mystery Cover.  The Mystery Cover will not be part of my 5 favorites.  Anyone participating in the cover contest that chooses The Mystery Cover as part of their 5 favorite covers will receive a $5 gift certificate!

This time out the title I choose is Justice League Of America.  The stipulations are that it can only be the Silver Age series that ended with Crisis, not the post-Crisis Giffen/DeMatteis relaunch.  And no annuals or specials.  That gives you 260 covers to choose from.  The first person that has The Mystery Cover on their list will be contacted by me and receive their gift certificate.  If that happens, the contest is over and I’ll choose another book to start it all over again.  If no one picks it within about a month, I’ll end the contest and start another one.  Got it?  Awesome!  Let’s do this!

Here are my 5 favorite Justice League Of America covers:

5.  Justice League Of America #99

Such a cool cover with the giant plant bursting through the street!  But the coolest thing is the headshots on the side of the cover.  Always liked when a book did that.

4.  Justice League Of America #31

I always thought that most Silver Age DC covers were pretty dumb, Justice League included.  But this one is such a standout for me.  Its wild and weird yet doesn’t have that silly 60’s feel.  I dig the room in space and the string of Leaguers.  A nice sense of fluidity.

3.  Justice League Of America #190

This cover is creepy and brilliant!  Starro has always been one of my fave JLA villains and this image evokes horror more than the absurdity of the villain.  Very “Invasion Of The Body Snatchers”.  I’ve always appreciated an alien that is not humanoid in appearance.  Its a big universe out there!

2.  Justice League Of America #102

This is such a powerful image.  Superman, arguably the hero of heroes, elevated above the others laying down the ultimate choice with lightning flashing in the background sky.  Serious stuff.  And it has that cool banner along the side that I mentioned! 

1.  Justice League Of America #138

My favorite cover of the run!  A pretty simple image of Adam Strange blasting the Leaguers but a simple Neal Adams image is a lot of artists best work!  Other than the fact that Adam Strange (who I love!) is prominently featured here, I can’t explain why I love this cover so much.  Suffice to say that I do 

There you go!! Those are my fave covers.  Now let’s see yours!!  And maybe someone will get The Mystery Cover!!  Good luck!!

Comicazi Mike

The other day I was posed a question….well not so much a question as a challenge.  We were just hanging out and shooting the breeze about comic stuff as sometimes happens in a comic shop.  Go figure, right!
Anyway, this is what was posed to me.  Can you pick your 3 favorite covers from your 5 favorite comic titles.  I started running down a list in my head and verbally with the few people present but soon got sidetracked by actual work.  Sheesh!

But the challenge has been rattling around my head for the past few days.  I thought that this might be a fun feature here on the store page.  With some minor tweaking, of course.  Every week or so I’ll post this feature with my favorite covers and you guys can submit your choices as well.
I’ll choose the title for that week and you have to list your 5 favorite covers.  You can explain why they’re your favorite if you’d like or not.  It has to be that title only.  No annuals or specials or mini series or what-have-you unless I specify differently.  For example, if I choose Batman that means only Batman not Detective Comics or Legends Of The Dark Knight.  Got it?  Good.
Also, I’m going to choose a cover every time that I think is cool.  Let us call it The Mystery Cover.  It will not be a part of my gallery of covers.  Anyone participating in the cover contest that chooses The Mystery Cover as part of their 5 favorite covers will receive a $5 gift certificate!
Ready to play?  Let’s do it!

I figured that the perfect hero to kick off this feature would be Spider-Man.  And the perfect book would be his flagship title, Amazing Spider-Man.  Remember that the only eligible covers are from this title, no other Spidey book.  No annuals either.  Nor is Amazing Fantasy #15 allowed.  This does include the 1999 relaunch by Byrne that ended with Straczynski’s Mephisto debacle and all of the “Brand New Day” stuff afterwards that picked up where the original numbering left off.  That’s over 600 covers to go through folks!! Get cracking and show me some covers!!

Here are my 5 favorite Amazing Spider-Man covers:

5.  Amazing Spider-Man #37 from volume 2

This is a great cover for me not because of the photo-realistic bent that it has – which is fine – but more for the “busted” look that Peter has as he’s donning the mask.  Some of the best Spidey stories are of Peter weighing his responsibilities against those of his alter ego andthis sums up that dichotomy perfectly.

4. Amazing Spider-Man #87

This epitomizes more of what i said above but in that classic 60’s fashion.  And it spotlights Peter more and his supporting cast, arguably the best in comics.  Plus its by Jazzy John Romita!

3. Amazing Spider-Man #113

Just a great visual!

2. Amazing Spider-Man #142

I love Mysterio and this cover evokes the weirdness of Ditko for me.  And I dig the whole perspective of it.

1. Amazing Spider-Man #151

My absolute favorite Spidey cover!  It was also my first Spidey comic so there’s definitely some nostalgia attached to my decision.  Again, I love the perspective of Spidey talking to the villain off-panel but it seems as if he’s talking to the reader.  And it showcases a more serious, moody side to the wise-cracking super hero.  I like my Spider-Man stories to be fun and full of quips but there is something inherently spooky about him which I also enjoy.  This cover captures it for me.

So there you go!  My fave covers for Amazing.  I’ve got The Mystery Cover already chosen so I now await your favorite cover choices and seeing if there’s a lucky winner for a Comicazi gift certificate.  Looking forward to your choices!!

Comicazi Mike