The Umpteenth Take

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Sun Via STEREO

NASA's STEREO mission holds the promise of taking three dimensional images of the Sun beginning in April, 2007. In the meantime, it can provide pictures like this:

Sources:
NASA Image of the Day
STEREO

Saturday, December 30, 2006

What is the Best DC Comics Cover Ever?

Reading my copy of The Spirit # 1 recently, I noticed DC Comics is asking people to vote (one vote, one cover per person please) for the best cover to ever appear on a DC comic. You can send your choice to

dcnationcovers@dccomics.com

by 12AM January 5, 2007. They invite you to choose your favorite OR the one with the most impact OR the one with the best art. It is up to you. (Source: DC Nation # 40)

I don't have too many DC comics in my collection, especially old ones, but I'm just going to limit myself to what I have to scan. I actually think I have a good candidate among those anyway. I haven't cast my vote yet, but I'll start off with my probable pick, since I know people are impatient.

Action Comics # 662 by Gammill and Breeding:

That's right; I'm not picking Action Comics # 1. I like this one better. Since Action Comics # 1, Superman has smashed hundreds of cars in the pursuit of truth, justice and the American way. And smashing one for the first time cannot compare to Clark telling Lois he is Superman after more than 50 years of stories. He can only do that once. Huge impact. A memorable image too. I think plenty of people who aren't big DC fans have a copy of this comic or at least remember it coming out. Maybe Lois should have figured it out long ago, but that doesn't make this cover any less great.

Here are some other options.

Legends of the Dark Knight # 42 and 43 by P. Craig Russell:

When Legends of the Dark Knight first hit the shelves as "the first new solo Batman book since 1940," people noticed. Some choice talents did stints on the book. Neither of these covers can win because, like the Oscar contending actor with two great performances in a year, voters considering these will be split down the middle as to which one to pick. Ultimately, the Poison Ivy one is better. It is frightening, as she strides amongst the bats.

With the obligatory Superman and Batman related covers out of the way we can move on to one of my favorite DC areas: Green Lantern.

Green Lantern # 5 by Ethan van Sciver:

Many people could not appreciate this recent Green Lantern encounter with a hyper-evolved shark. I loved it. The shark on the cover has it all: cunning, ferocity, even hands, and somehow GL's ring and battery in its jaws. Oh no! Go back to this one each time Shark Week rolls around on the Discovery Channel.

Green Lantern Corps # 1 by Gleason and Rollins:

On a more serious note, with the GLC having just undergone a Recharge, this cover confirmed I'd have a solid well-crafted ongoing GLC title to read hopefully for a good while to come. Good enough.

Now for some more obscure stuff.

Doom Patrol # 13 by John Byrne:

The sci-fi, romance, humor and misunderstanding common to many a story are played out here with a kiss between an attractive girl and a guy whose brain is trapped inside a robot body.

Lucifer # 27 by Christopher Moeller:

I don't know if we are meant to consider Vertigo comics, but it is a DC brand, so I'll suggest one of my favorites. Unfortunately, in scanning it, I realized that my copy is marred by a stray ink mark. That's unimportant for our purposes here. It still represents the good work that comes out of Vertigo, whether derived off Sandman or not. The woman with her broken sword leading her knights into battle is impressive.

Babylon 5 # 1 by ? :

Finally, I chose one from my collection that I don't think many people would even remember, let alone consider voting as the best. I enjoyed running across it again myself though. Since B5 has not survived as a DC ongoing, its impact might be considered minimal. I'm sure I partly kept this one so long because of my fond memories of the B5 television show. It is probably also one of the earlier comics with a JMS credit even though he is mostly working for Marvel these days. I'm wondering if the interior artist actually did the cover, so if anyone can identify the cover artist for me, let me know.

Update (2/13/2007): DC has announced the winners:
1. Crisis on Infinite Earths # 7
2. The Flash # 123
3. The Dark Knight Returns # 1
4. Action Comics # 1
5. The Killing Joke