Blue Bolt Comics #106, Star Publications,June/July 1950 – Artist: L.B. Cole.
Top notch stuff from one of the great cover artists of all time.
Lois Lane #106 is super famous but the Blue Bolt is a better cover. Justice League of America #106 came in second for me and I also liked the cover to Avengers #106. Dennis the Menace #106 caught my attention too.
A great comic book cover matching each day of the year, 1 through 365. Please chime in with your favourite corresponding cover, from any era.
Another fabulous space cover, and a comic I had not viewed prior to your column. Great choice. Prior to seeing your selection, my other favorite was the “dark knight” Batman cover of JLA #106.
“The Blue Bolt is a better cover.” Okay well I guess that settles that. I stand corrected. (Not.)
Actually your recognizing JLA more than offset your rejection of Lois Lane for the top spot. (The multi-level theme for #106 is “black”.) JLA gets too little love these days maybe because of the movie. My fondest early comic memories are receiving those pristinely folded, brown-paper-wrapped, and postal-service-handled subscription copies of JLA during this period. I furthered this treatment so those copies are no longer with us.
No single standout for #107 but I will pick X-Men. Along the lines of my JLA obsession, there are ton of colorful characters on this cover, including a whole new team.
Further defending myself re David Mackay’s comment to #104, I was this close to picking Adventures of Bob Hope, which certainly fits into the “funny” category, although it is SA DC. This and my earlier Jerry Lewis pick highlight the singular prodigious talent of Adams during this period. I can’t think of any other artist who demonstrated such a sense of composition, the talent to execute the composition within the comic book aesthetic, and versatility. As a contemporary Wrightson is a good comparison – can you imagine a Wrightson Bob Hope cover?
Speaking of artistry, in some ways Wolverine is my choice for #107, but it is just too dark/spare to make it to the top. The original art would really be something to put on the wall.
A few others not in contention but worth a mention:
– Action – amusing
– Incredible Hulk – the real “Action Comics” of this issue number
– Romantic Story – kind of cool, mentioned given your proclivities
– Strange Tales – iconic but too simple for me to call it great
– Ultimate Spider-Man – really dig the art and colors but too static and no story
Chris – I think you hit on the right choice with Wolverine #107. That is a spectacular cover.
This is an issue I had my eye on for this pick as well but was looking else where because the final issue ( and I know I am getting WAY ahead here) was going to be my pick in 11 days ( even tho I am sure Captain America will get the nod)!
Not really fair on my part since my criteria can change on a whim, one day pure artistry, next day innuendo, next day something funky and the day after a steamy Charlton, this is why I like that we’ve expanded it to me adding contenders and you guys adding contenders in the comments!
We’ll be driving through Cole country for the next couple of weeks but we’ll try to fill up here, go do our bathroom break and make as few stops as common sense dictates.
Nice Chris. Ive never known a subscriber….Did yours arrive having that subscription crease?
Nice pick Walt. I do love your Charlton picks. Hell , I like everyones picks. Thus Im broke as I buy every genre. As Walt well knows. He sold me 150 issues of Sgt Fury. WAHoo !!
Yes I received what today would be many thousands of dollars in comics if they had been 9.8s, but they arrived in 5.0 condition. I don’t recall really hard color-breaking creases, but the books were treated similar to supermarket flyers in transit. I didn’t care because after a few weeks I would cut the heroes off the covers and paste them here and there. I still had the coverless book to read so no harm no foul. Some of my particularly ambitious arts and crafts projects were based on the picture frame Justice Leagues and the DC 100 Pagers. The PTSD started a few years later when I woke up to what I had done and has been only partially assuaged by top ten copies of DC-6, DC-8, and DC-13.
oh my God Chris..a great history and story. But thats how we loved our comics back in the day. Thus a collecting industry was born. I sold my collection in 1979 or 1980 to an Owen Sound Book /comic dealer. I received 550$ and bought a used 1976 Gremlin X. When I joined the Police force in 1986, you can imagine the ribbing I received in that brown beauty. I kinda miss the comics and the Gremlin. I received 15$ for a mintish hulk 181. He was selling high grade marvels /DC from the sixties for 2 and 3$…..the odd issue would be 7 or 8 dollars…you know..Adams / Smith stuff ..high grades … 🙂
Anyways, my first or second time what would be considered a comicbook store.