Whether it's Spiderman swinging through New York or Hawkeye shooting an arrow with Ant-Man clinging to the tip, comic cover art is one of the most memorable parts of your comic reading experience, designed to catch our eye and make you think "Wow! How's Thor getting out of this one?". We have put together a small list of some of our favourite cover artists of the 80s, as well as some of their most memorable work.
Frank Miller
No list of this nature could kick off without mentioning Frank Millers work. Frank was born January 27, 1957 in Maryland, USA and grew up a comic fan, even having a letter he wrote to Marvel Comics published in 1973. In the early stages of his career he worked in small rolls for DC, before transitioning to Marvel Comics, where soon after he began working on the Daredevil series.
Arguably, Millers best work can be found in the early 80s Daredevil run, in which he was head artist, as well as head writer, taking over from Roger McKenzie in 1979. This drastically increased sales and pushed Marvel to focus more on the Daredevil property. Covers from his run feature bright colours and striking imagery, such as Daredevil #179 and #184, aswell as minimalistic and provocative visuals, as shown in #187 and #188.
Daredevil #179
Daredevil #184
Daredevil #187
Daredevil #188
Millers work on Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is also iconic in its own right, showcasing Batman in dark, almost gargoyle-like poses. A perfect example of this is the first issue #1 of this series.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1
Al Milgrom
Although Milgrom was a prolific Inker in most of his work, he was also responsible for a large portion of iconic Avengers covers, Amazing Spiderman, Incredible Hulk, even small amounts of Captain America and Fantastic 4. Milgrom was born in 1950, in Detroit, Michigan, gaining popularity with his early work on Captain Marvel and editing for Incredible Hulk.
Some of the Avengers comics Milgrom drew the cover art for include Avengers #232, iconically featuring Starfox at the centre of the cover, as well as #239, the Letterman Issue. Incredible Hulk #324 is an homage to the very first Incredible Hulk comic in the series, with a twist of Milgroms own unique style.
Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane is one of the most influential people in the industry, responsible for so many iconic covers and the creation of the character of Spawn. He was born in 1961, in Alberta, Canada and was a comic fan throughout his childhood, coming up with the idea of spawn when he was just 16.
Todd's work with Marvel saw him create such classic covers as Incredible Hulk #340. He was also notably responsible for The Amazing Spiderman #299 #300, some of the biggest keys in the Amazing Spiderman run, heralding the introduction of Venom into the world of Marvel comics. McFarlane's work in the the Batman series was also highly significant, doing a fantastic job depicting the animalistic nature of Batman, as seen in the cover art for #423.
Incredible Hulk #340
ASM #299
ASM #300
Batman #423
John Byrne
John Byrne is another massive figure in the industry, not only for his artistry on classic comic covers, but also with his work rebooting Superman after the crisis on Infinite Earths Storyline. This reboot of the classic character saw Clark Kent become more down to earth and relatable to the everyman, getting rid of previous inclusions like the Fortress of Solitude. Byrne also worked alongside Chris Clearmont during the formative years of the X-Men comics, leading into the transition toward the Uncanny X-Men.
Some of his most notable cover work of the 80’s can be found in his run for the Captain America series, with the exemplary cover art for Captain America #250, depicting the Captain America for President badge. Incredible Hulk #317 is a great example of simplicity and colour contrast being able to stand out at a comic stand. A beautiful homage to X-Men #56, #135 really shines as its own unique cover, showing the Dark Pheonix grabbing and almost crushing the X-Men logo. In addition, issue #141 is another great example of his work, marking the start of the Days of Future Past storyline, the run that inspired the 2014 Film X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Captain America #250
Incredible Hulk #317
X-men #135
X-men #141
George Perez
Perez was a giant in the industry, working on countless Marvel and DC properties throughout his career. He was involved in the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline, the Infinity Gauntlet run, he was responsible for character design changes in the 1987 Wonder Woman reboot and the New Titans series. Perez was born in 1954 in New York City, and sadly passed away in 2022.
Justice League of America #200 was a great sample of Perez' talent, with a gorgeous wrap-around cover. He was also responsible for one of our favourite Justice League of America comic covers, #203. Batman #436 introduced Tim Drake, who would later become the new Robin.
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