The cover for CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #7 shown above became something of an instant classic and has been copied or referenced time and time again by both DC comics and those of other companies. As powerful as it is, though, it’s not completely original as there are a few that are close enough to it in terms of composition – the grieving hero holding the fallen hero in their arms – that actually pre-date it.
Here are the ones I either own copies of or have found on the net in various places.
The Original Re-Used or Re-Done
Cover of issue #7 used as a house ad in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #242 |
Not a homage but the original cover with the background heroes coloured individually. Found on the net, not sure where it was used. |
A signed poster with the heroes individually coloured that I found on eBay. |
Not a homage but the cover of the digital version. |
A 2007 poll voted COIE #7 as the “Best DC Cover of All Time” |
WHO’S WHO ran ads on the back pages highlighting where characters in one issue could be found; #8 had the above black and white cover of COIE #7 |
Pre-Crisis Covers
As mentioned above, as iconic as Crisis… #7’s cover is, there were others that predated it which followed the same basic premise.
BATMAN #156 from 1963. |
OUR ARMY AT WAR #167 from 1966. |
CAPTAIN ACTION #3 from 1969. |
TOMAHAWK #121 from 1969. |
THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #84 from 1969. |
SUPERMAN’S GIRLFRIEND LOIS LANE #102 from 1970, the earliest occurrence of Superman holding the victim. |
GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW #86 from 1971. |
SUPERMAN’S GIRLFRIEND LOIS LANE #128 from 1972, just two years after the last time she died. |
FREEDOM FIGHTERS #5 from 1976. |
STAR WARS #18 from 1978. |
DAREDEVIL #164 from 1980. |
X-MEN #136 from 1980. |
THE FLASH #305 from 1982 with two heroes and victims for the price of one. |
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #296 from 1983. |
DC COMICS PRESENTS #56 from 1983. |
OBNOXIO THE CLOWN #1 from 1983. |
TALES OF THE TEEN TITANS #45 from 1984 with art by Perez a year before the CRISIS #7 cover. |
Post-Crisis Covers
Whatever it was about the cover to CRISIS #7 that made it work so well sparked a long tradition of homages, particularly from DC.
INFINITY INC #20 from 1985, notable as it’s actually a CRISIS crossover issue. |
DETECTIVE COMICS #574 from 1987. |
An ad for THE NEW TITANS from 1988 with art by Perez. |
THE NEW TITANS #50 from 1988, the cover of the ad seen above. |
MIGHTY MOUSE #4 from 1991, the earliest true homage that I’ve found. |
SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #10 from 1992, the earliest true homage from DC that I’ve found. |
VALOR #18 from 1994. |
MAJOR BUMMER #12 from 1998. |
ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #567 from 1999 with Lois Lane once again the victim. |
SUPERMAN & BATMAN: GENERATIONS #3 from 1999. |
NINJA HIGH SCHOOL #11 from 2000. |
SUPERGIRL #79 from 2003. |
TOM STRONG #22 from 2003. |
COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS #1 from 2005, with the victim/hero facing the opposite way. |
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: THE COLLECTED EDITION from 2005. |
FIRESTORM #21 from 2006, an INFINITE CRISIS crossover issue. |
52 #23 from 2006. |
FALLEN ANGEL #16 from 2007 whose main character was later confirmed to be Peter David’s version of Supergirl. |
UNCLE SAM AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS #8 from 2008 with the stars and stripes substituting for the fallen hero. |
WITCHBLADE #128 from 2009. |
THE LAST DAYS OF ANIMAL MAN #4 from 2009. |
ADVENTURE COMICS #5 from 2010, a BLACKEST NIGHT crossover issue. |
DEADPOOL/CABLE #25 from 2010 which looks to be the earliest Marvel homage. |
COMIC BOOK GUY #1 from 2010. |
TINY TITANS #29 from 2010. |
TALES FROM THE FRINGE #4 from 2010. |
SHADOWHAWK #5 from 2010. |
GI JOE #6 from 2011. |
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON 9 #10 from 2012. |
BATMAN #29 from 2014, a Robot Chicken variant cover. |
ACTION COMICS #959 from 2016. |
SUPERMAN #14 from 2017. |
CRISIS ON INFINITE CEREBI from October 2018 |
SUPERBABE #2, a German comic, year unknown. |
SCRIBBLENAUTS variant cover but I’m unsure of the year. |
Interior Art
It wasn’t just on the covers of comics that Crisis… #7 was referenced.
ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN ANNUAL #3 from 1991, an ARMAGEDDON 2001 story where Lois Lane dies. |
ZERO HOUR #4 from 1994. |
YOUNG JUSTICE #35 from 2001. |
ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #649 from 2006, an INFINITE CRISIS crossover. |
INFINITE CRISIS #5 from 2006 with Lois Lane dying once again. |
52 #5 from 2006, part of the History of the DCU back-up story that recounted the original Crisis. |
JSA #9 from 2007. |
FINAL CRISIS #6 from 2009. |
FLASHPOINT: PROJECT SUPERMAN #3 from 2011 with Lois Lane dying yet again. |
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #7 from 2012. |
WORLDS’ FINEST ANNUAL #1 from 2014. |
 JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #3 from 2014. |
DEATHSTROKE ANNUAL #1 from 2018 |
Other Art
An entry from the Line it is Drawn at CBR, the topic here was mashing up Shakespeare and comic heroes. Art by Steve Howard. |
Another Line it is Drawn entry, with art by Rachel Ordway. |
Art commissioned by Kevin Smith after he directed a Supergirl TV episode. |
George Perez, artist of the original, cosplays perhaps his most famous cover. |
Found on covermashups.tumblr.com |
Found on Comics Alliance |
TV and Film
A direct homage in the style of the DC Animated Universe. |
Screen shot from Series 2, Episode 10 of Justice League United |
Batman: Brave and The Bold Series 2, Episode 21 with Batman holding GI Robot |
Batman: Brave and The Bold Series 3, Episode 4. |
The 2016 Supergirl TV show released this promo image. |
And here’s a screen grab of the actual scene in the Supergirl series. |
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