It's fairly well-known that during DC's Silver Age, their writers were often asked to write a story based on a cover concept. The wilder the cover, the better, or so it seemed. Looking back on that time, many of those covers look rather kitschy and silly. But to the kids of the time, they were infinitely intriguing.
Next to me is a copy of Superman #150, dated January of 1962. The cover has Superman balancing on one digit on a tightrope far above the streets of Metropolis. Below are several cops who discuss "that man in the strange costume" because this story is titled, "When the World Forgot Superman."
An interesting premise and a very goofy cover: it's irresistible! Now imagine getting that assignment as a writer. He has to come up with a way to make the entire world forget who Superman is. If that's not tough enough, he has to work in that cover image in a semi-logical fashion (semi-logical is plenty; no reason to get carried way).
I love going through my old comics or browsing one of the Internet cover galleries, and looking at the goofiest covers I can find. I then make up my own semi-logical stories to explain them. With Superman, one can use red kryptonite, Mr. Mxyzptlk, magic, time travel – oh, but there's a host of wonderful devices to make it all seem "normal."
Batman is less likely to have wacky on the scale of Superman, but the Silver Age doesn't disappoint those of us who love the ridiculous. One of my favorite goofy Batman covers is Batman #183. Robin is imploring Batman to answer the hotline, but Bats is stretched out in front of the TV waiting for the Batman television show to begin. What a marvel of cross-media promotion!
Some villains were often high on the goofy list and made for great ridiculous covers. Wonder Woman went through a period
of particularly goofy villains, most of whom had only one appearance. Some true highlights? Wonder Woman versus The Paper Man (Wonder Woman #165). He was a man made out of a single sheet of newspaper. Now that's menacing! Then there's the Crimson Centipede (Wonder Woman #169). He was a man who had a bunch of manly arms and manly legs in a centipede-like manner. Danger, danger, danger! The best one, however, had to be the infamous Egg Fu. He was a man who was a giant egg. Excuse me, a giant Chinese egg who attacked people with his giant Fu Manchu mustache. If you buy only one goofy cover comic in your lifetime, make it Wonder Woman #158, "The Fury of Egg Fu." But be warned: the racial stereotyping and skin-crawling Chinese dialect are not for the faint-hearted.
Whenever I went into a comic shop and saw a primo example of Silver Age DC silliness on a cover, my wallet came out faster than the Flash could fling his costume out of a ring. To this day, I salivate when I see Go-Go checks because I know there'll be vast amounts of imaginative, goofy, silly, wonderful storytelling within.
Joanna Sandsmark - A former writer for DC Comics and TV’s Weird Science, Joanna Sandsmark is also the author of The Wisdom of Yo Meow Ma, A Girl’s Best Friend, 10 Spiritual Lessons You Can Learn From Your Cat, 10 Spiritual Lessons You Can Learn From Your Dog, and Explore Your Destiny With Runes. If you'd like to learn more, including a detailed bio and more information about Joanna's books please visit her Web site or visit her blog.
This is a guest article. The thoughts and opinions in this piece are those of their author and are not necessarily the thoughts of the Certified Collectibles Group.
