It has been a while since I have done a holiday-themed list here at comicbooked. To be fair, some of the holidays that have zoomed past us so far this year have not called out for a list such as this to be made. But July 4th? Absolutely. While Continental Congress actually voted on the Declaration of Independence on July 2nd, the country celebrates on July 4th. So let’s split it in the middle and do this on the third. To be fair, Congress tweaked the wording that made it in to the final document for final approval on the fourth of July so perhaps tomorrow I will tweak some of the wording contained herein.
Ok, enough preamble. Let’s get to the books!
- First up, and one of my favorites, is a book that has been homaged many times over and that is Superman volume 1 #14. With it’s ten cent cover, the book was released in February of 1942. It features an iconic cover by Fred Ray with interior work by the team of Jerry Siegel and Leo Nowack. The cover inspired future covers such as Adventures of Superman #424 and #429 as well as Action Comics #727.
2. Continuing with Superman for a moment, we arrive at 1991’s Superman #53. Jerry Ordway – who did the art and writing – emblazoned the cover with the slogan “Truth, Justice and the American Way!”
3. From the house of El comes Kara Zor-El, Supergirl. She has been known to carry the flag of freedom a time or two. The first is the cover to issue 13 of 1982’s “Daring Adventures of Supergirl”. The cover art was done by Dick Giordano. Interiors were the work of both Paul Kupperberg and Carmine Infantino.
The second book is from 2003. It is the last issue of a Supergirl volume that began in 1996. This cover was the work of Jose Marzan, Jr. as well as John Romita, Sr.
4. Let me clarify something. When I make these lists, they are not necessarily a “Best of” (Unless indicated of course). But they do offer representation of the theme. Case in point, the little gem depicted below. This is the second issue of a 13 issue run on Captain America that was sandwiched between Onslaught and Heroes Reborn: The Return in the mid-1990s. The cover is done by one Rob Liefeld, floating head and all. Having left Marvel Comics a few years prior, Liefeld actually received a lot of flak (and money) for taking on the contract to do these books for Marvel despite having his own studios set up as subset of the Image brand.
5. Jumping forward a bit to the past few months and we take a look at this issue from All-Star Batman. Seeing the big black bat enshrouded in the flag of the United States of America is ultra-patriotic if you ask me. This cover is a variant cover done by Francesco Francavilla.
6. More Captain America. Remember that little gem from Mr. Liefeld? Well that 13 issue run grew out of Captain America’s long-running volume 1. Volume 1 ended with issue 454 before going to that experimental series. Ever the patriot, Captain America carried the flag proudly a few years prior on the cover of issue 383 as well, a cover done by the team of Ron Lim and Jim Lee.
7. At the risk of this becoming a Captain America piece, here is another one. It, like the others beside it, evoke the heroism and bravery of the soldiers who fought at Iwo Jima and whose collective act is memorialized in the famous Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. The statue itself depicts the United State Marines who raised the flag atop Mount Suribachi during the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima.
See what I mean? It’s such a fantastic image that I’d be shocked if it wasn’t used more than a couple of times.
8. Our next stop on this journey is with a man so patriotic that his name is American Flagg! Rueben Flagg was created by Howard Chaykin for a now defunct publisher called First Comics.
9. Valiant Entertainment likes to evoke patriotism and U.S. flag iconography on the covers of their Bloodshot titles.
10. Say your prayers and take your vitamins, kids, because we have arrived at our final stop on the Patriotic train. The childrens; graphic novel publisher Papercutz launched an imprint called Super Genius in 2013 that is aimed at an older demographic. With that launch came a run on WWE written by WWE legend Mick Foley. The cover art you see below was done by another legend, Joe Jusko.
Well, that’s it for today, folks! We ran through a list of 10 but you got a lot more than that to look at. You’re welcome. Keep checking back here to comicbooked.com because you never know when another list will appear. But sound off below! There are plenty of other amazing patriotic covers out there, what would your list look like?
