Nowadays it’s all about the variant covers – we’ve got a LOT to choose from every single week and this can be very challenging if you’re a Cover A collector of any given series. If you want all of the cover A for the title you’re working on, it’s tempting when that series puts out a great variant cover, do you buy a second copy? Do you swap out your normal cover A and get cover C this month? Naturally we advise buying them all (just kidding).
In 1976 we did not have this concern as there was only one cover for each book. The variant cover idea had not been thought up yet which was great news for my meager weekly allowance.
I’ve selected the 10 best comic covers of 1976 below! Sometimes chosen completely for just being a beautifully rendered comic, other times selected over their importance. If you’re a collector that loves comic covers – here’s 10 of the books you should have bought that year!
10. Superman vs the Amazing Spider-Man treasury. Released in January of 1976 it featured the first authorized SUPER-HERO crossover publication by both DC and Marvel comics. (The Wizard of Oz treasury pre-dates this by 1 year. The first joint MARVEL/DC publication, but few people care about movie adaptations – this was Superman meeting Spider-Man for the first time!) A now classic cover rendered by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano (with background inks by Terry Austin). The sheer importance of this crossover is what lands it on this list!
9. Captain America #193 – the KING is back on CAPTAIN AMERICA the character he co-created (without Stan Lee) with slick inks from John Romita. Cover dated Jan 1976 as well, you knew it was a big deal even if you were just a 9 year old kid who didn’t know who Jack Kirby was. We liked this image so much that we plastered it on one side of our companies CAPVAN!
8. Howard the Duck #1 – also January of 1976 (what a month!) – Frank Brunner on Howard the Duck simply did not last long enough. This classic image of Howard was constantly reused to promote the series, and while Brunner & Leialoha only lasted 2 issues on the book, they’re both a joy to behold! Plus it’s got that whole, it’s #1, it’s a key, going for it.
7. X-Men #100 – Talk about your comic cover tropes, the heroes on one side, the villains on the other side, or in this case the original X-Men vs the New X-Men, with Prof. X evidently no longer needing that wheel chair any longer. X-Men #101 is an iconic, and great cover as well introducing us to Phoenix, but who isn’t hooked by this cover image?
6. Spidey Super Stories #17 – Okay, I’ve lost all of your respect now, I get it. Hard to take Spidey Super Stories serious, but when you’ve got a great artist like JOHN ROMITA providing iconic portrayal of both Spidey & Cap, you’ve got give it’s due. Lots of great covers from JR on this series but this one ticked the box for best Bi-Centeniall cover, released July 1976. Caps BI-CENTENNIAL battles by Kriby was a mess of a cover and while the Superman celebrates the Bi-Centennial had a far superior cover, it was sadly just a reprinted image from Superman #14 released in 1942.
5. Action Comics #456 – clean bright cover done by the often overlooked great Mike Grell, but let’s face it the movie JAWS hit in 1975 and comics couldn’t try and cash in on this newfound interest in sharks quick enough. Who here is really worried if that shark manages to pull Superman underwater? Special mention goes to Ghost Rider #16 by Ed Hannigan & Dave Cockrum as Marvel tries to cash in at the same time. Ghost Riders head really must be extremely hot to continue burning underwater. And a tip of the hat to just one of many great underrated covers by John Romita on Spidey Super Stories #16 
4. Daredevil #130 – February 1976 brought a great pairing between Rich Buckler & Klaus Janson. I’m a sucker for all black covers (but boy are they hard to find in nice shape) – dialogue on the cover was a common occurrence (all the other DD covers of 1976 were cluttered with text) – but Marvel wisely let this image have it’s impact all on it’s own, letting the image breath and catch your attention by itself. Even though Bullseye was introduced 1 month later, this cover kicks it’s ass, and should be in your collection!
3. Invaders #5 – Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnot! Released March 1975, it wasn’t until some 40 years that I later learned that the original design/layout for this cover was by the great Ed Hannigan. Of all the great covers that the Invaders had, this was the strongest one of the bunch, combining the talents of 3 great artists, resulting in one great-looking cover!
2. Avengers #145 – I consider Gil Kane of one of the best cover artists in the industry, and honestly thought I’d find more great covers of his from this year, but this Avengers cover was his hands down best for 1976. Inked by Dan Adkins, it’s just a great design that’s again allowed to breath with no overly busy backgrounds to distract you from what the image is trying to tell you.
1. Detective Comics #457 – March 1976. Possibly Dick Giordanos greatest comic cover. Wraps up Batmans origin in a single illustration, explaining everything you need to know about the origin of Batman. In a period when origins were not retold with every bi-yearly relaunch like they are now (note we are on issue #457 of this book after all). You knew this was a book you needed to pick up when you saw this cover!
We’ve added links to all the titles so you can easily find them on the site – but I imagine they won’t last long! If you find they are out of stock, use our free WANT LIST system to mark that you’d like to be notified once another copy gets logged in to the site!
Hope you enjoyed the list, and if I overlooked a great cover from 1976, feel free to let me know in the comments below!
Great list / article! Keep it up! Hoping to see many more years covered this way!
Thanks Gary – will try and do another in September!
Thanks for your fantastic article, Mr. Robinson! Has me misty-eyed with 70’s nostalgia. I hit 11 in March of that year and was in the Marvel-comic-collecting prime of my youth. I had many of the above Marvel titles and remember their covers distinctly. It pains me to say that said collection of about 300 books (not bad for a kid my age in the mid-70s) was sold by my mom at a garage sale when I was away from home at 19. Poor mom had no idea what she was giving away (such as my signed letter from Stan Lee and my signed postcard from Jack Kirby with an ink drawing of Captain America on the front side, both tucked into my first edition Origin of Marvel Comics. This was back when you could actually write physical letters to the fun-loving folks at Marvel and they would actually write you back!) So, alas, those covers are but fond memories for me.
And while your fun article was focused on covers, the other big thing for me in ’76 was The Mighty Marvel Bicentennial Calendar, which hung on my wall all year and got sold with my collection 8 years later. Brilliant calendar full of interesting facts and useless information that spread merry Marvel mirth throughout our country’s bicentennial year. Good stuff! Thanks again!
Wow Jeff,
Ouch – painful story – that’s awful to have lost both the Lee & Kirby letters, I can feel your pain. I don’t have those, of course, but I’m sending something else for you that was sitting next to me in my office that I think you’ll appreciate. Kevin & Tony will have it for you next time you pop in. Thanks for the kind words!
Oh, my dear, dear Mr. Robinson. Words are failing me but I’m gonna try anyway.
I had not seen your response before now so when I stopped by the DeKalb store today to pick up my weeklies, I was a bit confused when Tony said I had a surprise in the back. I hadn’t ordered anything special. What could it be?When he showed me and explained how it came to be in my hands and that it was now mine, I was . . . I dunno. Stunned? Agog? Flabbergasted? Pick your adjective. I was grasping for words, gasping for breath and pretty much making a spectacle of myself. One other customer at a nearby rack gave me a nod and a smile as he could see how truly and appreciatively shocked I was.
Good sir, I cannot thank you enough. I am, indeed, misty-eyed as I look over each bold, beautiful month, as well as each date, with its own fun fact, silly comment or illustration. What a year was 1976, man. Carter was in office, the energy crisis was in full swing, the country was crazy with bicentennial fever and comics were at an all time high. Still just a quarter from the spinner rack at the nearby drug store. And oh, how they filled my hours.
You, sir, have restored a missing piece of my childhood and I thank you from the bottom of my socks, cos the bottom of my heart just ain’t deep enough. Honestly, I cannot express how much this means to me. Thank you again!