Since the appearance of comics, tens of thousands of covers have appeared. Among them are great successes and iconic that remain etched in people’s minds. And then there are bad, failed essays, risky attempts : in short, screwed-up covers, sometimes even by well-known and well-known cartoonists. Top Comics takes you around the worst comics.
Captain America # 423 (M. C. Wyman, 1994)
M. C. Wyman is an artist who worked on several Marvel series in the 1990s. Rather inspired by Rob Liefeld, the artist has signed catastrophic interiors on series like Thor or Silver Surfer. This cover is emblematic of the characteristics of the cartoonist : strange composition, surreal perspective, and above all a bizarre idea (a Captain America half naked on Namor).
New Titans # 103 (1993, Bill Jaaska)
Bill Jaaska had a decent career, he even worked on a few episodes of the X-Men. If his drawings are not famous, his covers are worse, especially on New Titans, where he was the main cartoonist. We could almost have put on all the covers of the title ! On this cover, we do not really understand what is happening, 3 characters with deformed features seem to come out of the mouth of a character resembling Bane.
This failed cover (did you recognize Fatalis and the thing behind the deformed characters that are Kitty Pryde and Reed Richards). However, Mark Bagder is far from being a bad artist ; he has worked on Dr. Strange (and in particular inked the drawings of Mike Mignola on Doctor Strange and Doctor Fatalis: triumph and torments). Let’s just say he was just on a bad day.
Incredible Hulk # 160 (1973, Herb Trimpe)
Herb Trimpe is an indispensable cartoonist from Marvel, who has worked on almost every series of the 70s. We can quote in bulk Ghost Rider, Avengers, and especially Hulk, on which he remained at least a hundred episodes. His style is not extraordinary, and his covers are often approximate. Here, however, there is a big mistake : the waterfall, the spectators and especially the tiger Shark attack. Hulk underwater is not a success either.
Catwoman New 52 # 1 (2011, Guillem March)
Guillem March is also a very good cartoonist, who has managed to reinvent himself in recent years. He did, however, have a habit of delivering rather skanky drawings in the years 2010. This No. 1 Catwoman is an example of this, with a Catwoman covering the chest of diamonds above a skyscraper… in itself, the drawing is not missed (even if the legs remain larger than the whole body) but just… vulgar… representative of this new 52 series which saw Batman and Catwoman go into the air in close-up.
Daredevil # 379 (1998, Cully Hamner)
Last cover of the first volume of the series Daredevil, we can’t say that our hero was spoiled ! Yet, like many cartoonists in this top, Cully Hamner is far from evil. He co-created Red whose film with Bruce Willis was inspired, and he worked on Detective Comics and other Green Lanterns. I assure you, his interiors are much better. He just wasn’t inspired here.
Force Works # 5 (1994, Tom Tenney)
Tom Tenney directed the first 5 or 6 episodes of Force Works and his style was at least personal. Do I have to tell you that I liked his drawing when I was fifteen ? Well, the problem is that he overloads his drawings so much that it becomes incomprehensible. There are too many lines and this cover is the perfect example. So typical of the ’90s.