A year ago I posted a list of 100 of my favorite Comic Book Covers. But as with any list…as soon as you hit publish you can’t help but think what you’ve missed. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I missed and regret not including that first time around, so I decided, in honor of San Diego Comic Con 2010 and the three year anniversary of this blog, to give you the “15 Covers I Wish I’d Included”.
Now, some of my second guessing came immediately after locking the list (where was Skottie Young?) others came up later and some even from discussions others were having about my list (to say some discussions were more civil than others would be a massive understatement).
The biggest legitimate complaint I heard about the list beyond certain creators being missing was that there wasn’t enough diversity – and I agree. I don’t know if these covers will remedy that, but I think at the end of the day I’ll feel better about the list as a whole once it’s been modified.
The most interesting thing that happened while I was revising my list was the order. I was never that convinced that even if I had the right covers that I had them in the right order, and doing these new 15 really proved that out – because when I looked through the covers I didn’t feel confident just lopping off the last 15, instead I went through and picked out all the ones I was reconsidering, and replaced them.
In keeping with the rules of the original list, I limited this list to US saddle stitched issues – so you won’t find any graphic novel, anthology, or non-US covers here. And since comics from July 2009 to July 2010 weren’t eligible for the first attempt, I didn’t let them in this time either (but I do have a fun post for those ineligible covers coming up soon). As was true of the original list, the revised list continues to skew hard toward X-Men, badass chicks, some nostalgia and iconic imagery. What can I say? We all like what we like. 
You can find the original 100 here, here, here, and here.
#015.
Catwoman 19. Javier Pulido. This Pulido cover looks like Cooke to me…but it’s not (see the update below) Regardless, what sells it for me, and why I think it belongs has more to do with this being a moment I have YEARNED for in comics, and that Pulido managed to turn it into a really iconic lasting image. The image of Batman and Catwoman, still masked, kissing on a cover is an image that will stay with me forever thanks to the iconic choices made here.
Update: I originally wrongly attributed this cover to Cooke…and honestly, if I tried 1,000 more times I’d still think it was Cooke’s work…but regardless it’s not and apologies to both Cooke and Pulido as well as to commenter Stuart that pointed out the error.
The cover it’s replacing? #95 – Kick-Ass #1 by John Romita Jr.
This was honestly the easiest cover to remove from list as I was never entirely convinced that it belonged there in the first place and I’m not personally a huge fan of John Romita Jr.’s style. It’s a solid cover, but does it belong on a 100 Favorites List? Not mine.