Homage covers can be great. So great, we even have a concept page in our wiki dedicated to them. You almost get a warm feeling inside when you notice a well done homage. Some covers get done more often than others. ACTION COMICS #1 is one of those.
In the February 2015 solicitations for DC's comics, one cover in particular immediately jumped out. The cover to BATMAN AND ROBIN #39 is paying homage to ACTION COMICS #1.
Patrick Gleason and Mick Gray did a great job. The iconic image is simple. The hero is lifting a car overhead and smashing it into something as the villains (usually) run in fear.
Why is Damian Wayne lifting the Batmobile over his head? HOW is he lifting it? Assuming you haven't completely avoided all spoilers for January's BATMAN AND ROBIN #38, you're aware of what is going to happen as a result of ROBIN RISES and the return of Robin. Somehow Damian is gaining superpowers. We discussed that HERE and what it could mean for the Dynamic Duo. What his powers are or how long he'll have them remains to be seen. But it does make a great homage cover.
There have been several other great ACTION COMICS #1 homages. With the reveal of the BATMAN AND ROBIN one, we thought, why not look at some of our other favorite ones.
POPEYE #1
When IDW started up a new Popeye series, Bruce Ozella did a great homage. It's kind of weird and goofy but that's what we like about it.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #306
In 1988, Todd McFarlane did an homage with Spider-Man lifting the car. But as you can see, he's not quite being a menace. The police car is on fire and it appears he's trying to put the flames out by dipping it into a fountain. Spider-Man's not really a menace as some say.
SPAWN #228
In 2013, McFarlane did another one. This time Spawn got to be in the famous position. You'll notice there aren't any bystanders around. And by the look of things, anyone that happened to be inside the car probably won't really care about the damage. It looks pretty messy inside as well.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON EIGHT #32
In 2010, even the Buffy comic paid homage to ACTION COMICS #1. If you weren't reading this series, you're probably wondering what the heck is going on. Well, the title of this issue was, "Buffy Has F#©$ing Superpowers." It didn't last long. This was also the variant cover by Georges Jeanty. Do you notice anything else familiar in this image?
ACTION COMICS #900
In 2011, Alex Ross did a variant cover for ACTION COMICS #900 and gave the classic image a slight twist. If you're not completely satisfied with this different perspective on the image, he did do a more accurate one before.
SLUMBERLAND?
I have no idea what this magazine is but I love Mike Allred's Madman. It's hilarious that Madman couldn't even lift the car to complete the classic image.
SENSATION COMICS #51
Most of these homages were from recent times. With SENSATION COMICS, while it's not a pure homage, it's pretty close. Drawn by Harry G. Peter in 1946, we can see the idea of homages has been around a while.
LEGO Version
There's no stopping a good homage.
Obviously this isn't all the ACTION COMCIS #1 homages. You can see more on the Homage Covers page. Let us know which is your favorite and what you think of Damian able to pull off the pose.