Monday, September 16, 2013

Plaintive comic book covers of the 1990s

The storytelling of DC Comics comics of the 1990s sometimes get a bad rap. I can't speak to that, but can say that in at least one sense, they had something special going on.

The covers.

These days, I often leave the comic shop realizing I couldn't describe what most or all of the covers of the titles I just bought look like. Part of the reason is because covers these days, generally speaking, are both too busy and too dark for my taste, so they don't make an impression on me as I take them from the shelf. (I buy by series regardless of what the cover looks like.)

Yet for much of the '90s (and late '80s), covers often took a more pensive, even plaintive, approach. It seemed more prominent earlier in the decade. 

Contributing to this atmosphere, most of these covers have no text (aside from the title and talent)—no dumb taglines like "Trapped by the Terrible Toyman!" So even the compositions featuring action come on quiet. 

Below (in order of release date) are some that stand out to me. Incidentally, I don't have even one of these issues.







 









 


















 









Lot of lightning.

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