18 Comic Covers That Toss in Crumbling Cliffs to Heighten the Tension
Scene: Marvel Bullpen, Spring 1961.
“Hey, Jack.”
“Hi, Stan. What’s up?”
“Really liked that cover art for our next issue of The Rawhide Kid.”
“Oh, glad you liked it.”
“But could you add a little extra?”
“Extra what?”
“I don’t know, maybe a little something to heighten the tension.”
“The Kid is battling a living totem pole while his back is to a cliff and he’s about to fall off. For Pete’s sake, his boot is hanging in mid-air because he’s got nowhere else to go. How much more tension do you want?”
“Yeah, yeah, sure, it’s great, I was just wondering how we could make it a little more… I don’t know, dynamic. Raise the stakes a bit. Know what I mean?”
“Fine, okay, more stakes, got it. How about this?” (sketches a few pieces of the crumbling cliff falling under the Kid’s boot)
“That’s IT! Jack, baby, you’ve done it again! Now that’s raising the stakes the Marvel way!”
Disclaimer: I don’t know if that’s how it actually happened. But I’d like to think it went down that way.
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