Thursday, January 15, 2009

Swiping Steranko

This classic Steranko cover is one of the most famous Hulk images. The one below is one used in a recent Incredible Hercules comic. They look a lot alike don't they? Is it a swipe or a tribute?


According to someone who knows a lot more than me,

Comic book covers based upon famous images, from other comics or elsewhere, are
commonly referred to as “homage covers”. As the term implies, homage covers pay tribute to revered “touchstones” of comic book, pop cultural or even “real world” historical imagery. They also provide a sense of fun and community, as seasoned fans recognize the visual as the hat-tip, the nod, the gentle satire or the arcane “in-joke” knowledge it was intended to be.
I think the whole idea is great, but I also think that certain images end up being over-used, and the Steranko Hulk cover is one of them. Not wanting to be left out, I've decided to use it as the image for the next Mighty Mailbag page.

MightyMailbagScreen

2 comments:

Marek Bennett said...

A --

I think your homage cover is great -- it adds in that elusive and all-important "goofy factor" that makes it something new, too!

Call me a puritan new englander, but I'm always a little unnerved at how Hercules runs around in that little mini-skirt thing. Isn't there a Comics Code about that sort of get-up?

-- M

The Annotated Barbarian said...

I'm with you prudes on this one. Standing at the wrong angle at that scene and you might be seeing more than you wanted to!