That was the philosophy behind anthology comics like America's Best Comics, Big 3 Comics, and 4 Favorites.
Originally, comic anthology covers would feature one hero in action, with other characters' heads in little inserts along the side or bottom of the cover. Each hero would rotate as the main cover character every few issues.
At some point, an editor, trying to keep track of which character went on which issue, probably said "Hell, this month put them ALL on it!" and the first multi-hero cover burst onto the newsstands of America! Sales skyrocketed, and covers featuring hordes of heroes became the standard!
Even though these multi-hero covers featured the characters interacting, inside the comic, the heroes only worked together in text stories, if at all!
In fact, sometimes the covers were just symbolic designs (like the patriotic one above) to showcase which characters' strips were inside!
The comic stories inside the book were individual strips of those cover-featured heroes.
( It wasn't until All-Star Comics #3
, featuring a framing sequence about a meeting of heroes linking the various characters' strips together, that the first true super-hero group, The Justice Society of America, was born.)We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have always been suckers for covers showing heroes (and heroines) working together to defeat a common foe, rescuing innocents, or just hanging out!
So, we've assembled some of the best multi-hero covers in our Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ section!
America's Best Comics, Big 3 Comics, and 4 Favorites featured the top characters of their respective lines, much as World's Finest featured Superman, Batman and Robin, and All-Winners displayed Captain America, Sub-Mariner, and The Human Torch for DC and Marvel, respectively. (And most of America's Best Comics, Big 3 Comics, and 4 Favorites have NEVER been reprinted! Talk about your buried treasures!)
We've digitally-restored and remastered them directly from the original books onto a plethora of potential pop culture presents including mousepads, blank sketchbooks, t-shirts, and other collectibles.
We even have a Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics Team-Ups 2011 12-Month Calendar featuring those covers, plus several others!
Think what your graphic-novel-reading loved one will say when he (or she) finds these kool retro-style tchochkies under the Christmas Tree or in their stocking!
Plus: think of the value! A half-dozen heroes for the price of one!
It was a bargain 70 years ago; and still is, today!
