10/21/2021
In the sixties, DC and Marvel would produce a cover then have a writer concoct a story about it. Jack Kirby, Carmine Infantino and Neal Adams were superstar artists that created house styles for the “Bigs”. Jack Kirby and Stan Lee produced covers that better promoted the interior story and Kirby covers became the house style for Marvel. He was so prolific that one of the reasons Steve Ditko moved to Charlton was to be able to draw and create a house style for them. Readers of this period could flip through an interesting book on the newsstand and discover a new character.
Now in the 2020s covers are still produced by superstars – Artgerm or Momoko; covers still promote a house style – Francavilla for Archie or Aja for Marvel. The difference is that local comic stores seal their new and old books in plastic, slabs the more expensive books and mounts valuable books out of reach of the public. Not very inviting! Luckily there are other avenues – Comixology, local libraries and friend’s collections to expand your knowledge.
