In a recent issue, Ty made a joke about something being his seventh best cover ever. Which led us to speculating as to what the first six would be. To that end, I started looking up his covers and thought…what the hell, I’ll post them for others to decide and vote.
Herewith, as much as it’s humanly possible, I’ve tried to find an image for all his covers. It’s going to take time, oh so much time, to put them all up. But as I go, if you spot a mistake, something missing, let me know. They’re going up in chronological order, I’ve tried to label them as to order (in list of covers he’s done), the book and what he did. (We had a lengthy discussion as to why I don’t separate these up into different pages for Inking, Pencilling and Inking, etc. I understand why the artist wants to differentiate between the ones he inks and the ones he designs…but I like the effect of them all in a go, I think it’s interesting to see what he works on when, the chronology, etc. Currently, I’m winning the argument because he doesn’t have the time to edit this!) I don’t always succeed of course but I TRY AND WHAT ELSE CAN YOU ASK FROM ME? I’m just one person!
Follow-up: And already Ty has spotted errors and the lack of certain covers…this is definitely a work in progress. Probably an ongoing work in progress. But I’ve been enjoying it…certain covers I look at and I remember the reference photos we took. Times like me trying to drape backwards over a chair while stretching out my arms to look like I”m falling in space while Ty stands on a chair and a stool above me trying to get the right perspective. And I realize which covers are still in our house (hint: anything with the number “1”).
Off to work, work, work.
NOTE FROM TY: It should be pointed out that this collection includes covers I merely inked, as well as covers I drew. The NEW WAVE covers (except one of them) are penciled by Lee Weeks, the SUPERBOY covers are all penciled by Kevin Maguire, the way-cool Action Comics/Green Lantern cover was drawn by Mike Mignola, finished by me, the three part Justice League/Secret Origins triptych was penciled by Jerry Ordway, the Elongated Man covers penciled by the late Great Mike Parobek (and they fit together like a puzzle!) – the Tailgunner JO covers laid out by Tom Artis, Booster Gold pencils are Dan Jurgens (obviously) , and the funky Avengers image from the cover of Marvel Super-Heroes was penciled by Sam Kieth. Oh, and the Hoverboy was painted by the lovely and talented Jason Edmiston from a pencil sketch/layout by me. Boy howdy did he paint it up good. The rest are the chicken scratchings of my fevered mind entirely…
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Ty Templeton's ART LAND!! 
So far, I’d pick:
1) Action Comics #614 – Hal has never looked cooler.
2) Stig’s Inferno #3 – I like the minimalist approach.
3) Critters #23 – A smoking teddy bear? Awesome!
4) Secret Origins #30 – Just pure fun.
5) Stig’s Inferno #7 – Love the color scheme, and arrangement.
6) The New Wave #2 – It’s the Coke bottle that makes this one for me.
Thanks for the list. My wife is putting up EVERY cover I worked on (over the next little while) and she’s including covers I inked or did finished art over another artist….so Action 614 is penciled by Mignola, and New Wave #2 is over top of Lee Weeks. But I can’t disagree that Hal never looked cooler.
This is a very partial list so far, she’s not even gotten out of the eighties at this point…none of my Batman, or Marvel stuff is up here yet, the final list will be at least three times this size…
With more covers added, I’ve revised my top 6:
1) Batman: The Collected Adventures – The cover wraps around to the back, as well; a favorite of mine since I bought the week it was published. I have tried several times to duplicate elements from this layout (never coming close, of course). Gorgeous!
2) Action Comics #614 – Stickin’ with Hal.
3) Superboy #8 – “yes…but am it art?” Brilliant! Love the composition, and the empty white background.
4) Stig’s Inferno #3 – The minimalist approach is striking.
5) Big Time – Even outside the context of being a comic cover, I love this image. It doesn’t just tease the story within; it tells a story in itself.
6) Secret Origins #30 – Plastic Man & Elongated Man entangled? Genius!
Honorable mentions
Batman & Robin Adventures #21 – I loves me some Batgirl; love the use of the green color scheme and question mark to convey the involvement of The Riddler.
Empty Love Stories Special – Is it just me, or does the clown bear a striking resemblance to Roger Moore in “Octopussy?”
HAH! Considering my opinion about Roger Moore, I think all clowns resemble Moore in some way…but I couldn’t have based the make-up on the Octopussy movie, in that I am such a life-long James Bond fan, I have avoided sitting through the appalling collection of nonsense that were Moore’s Bond films. Now, if we’re talking Sean Connery, Daniel Craig, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnon, heck, even Woody Allen, then we’re talking James Bond. (PS: Just recently got through the novel version of MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, and it’s my new favorite Bond story EVAH!. )
We’re biased because Stig’s Inferno was such a kick. Cover #5 is a pleasure, partially because it’s cool to look at but also because the whole idea of a slacker-looking dude with no pants sitting on the throne of the Greatest Evil in the Universe Ever and Forever is worth a long chuckle. We also love the Batman Adventures and related art. As for your Bond bias, amen. To be fair a lot of the strikes against Moore weren’t his doing (apparently, nobody told him that “cool” was cancelled for a full decade in the 1970’s and he was too old to bring it back in the 80’s before the Cold War whimpered to an end). I go on with more armchair ranting on my blog: http://comicsagogo.com/2011/12/29/bond-leisure-suit-bond/
Revised top 6:
1) Batman: The Collected Adventures – My favorite TAS-style art ever, second only to that iconic promo image of Bats in silhouette.
2) Justice League Unlimited #24 – My God! The most visceral piece uploaded so far…powerful stuff.
3) Action Comics #614 – Love that Hal!
4) Superboy #8 – Artist Bizarro cracks me up.
5) Stig’s Inferno #3 – So dark, yet alluring.
6) Big Time – Captivates me enough that I intend to find a copy next time I’m in a comic shop just so I can find out what story accompanies that image.
Going off-topic momentarily to the world of 007, I have to say “The Spy Who Loved Me” is a genuinely great Bond movie and “For Your Eyes Only” is pretty strong and worth seeing. And I think it’s funny that Daniel Craig has been so lauded for doing today what Timothy Dalton was ignored for doing 20 years earlier. Incidentally…if you happen to have any Bond-inspired artwork lying around, I’m sure we’d all love to see it!
As for the novels, I started reading them in the mid 90s and restricted myself to one book annually to keep from blowing through them. It was quite bittersweet that I read the last one (“Octopussy”) this summer. “Golden Gun” was pretty fun, but I’m sticking with “From Russia with Love” as my all-time favorite.
Ty…..you’re wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong and even perhaps wrrrrooooooooooooooooooong about Moore as 007. He’s brilliant, and kicks Connery’s tartan backside out of the building. Just thought that I’d stick my oar in!
I’m willing to concede, I’m not familiar with Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only, as I was so utterly disappointed in the film versions of Golden Gun and Live and Let Die that I gave up on Roger Moore, and haven’t really given his films any attention. And yes, Dalton was a GREAT Bond, I’ve always ranked him second to Connery in my favorites. Dalton is actually the spot-on Bond from the novels. Brosnon was a good movie Bond, but got stuck in mostly tepid movies (though Goldeneye is my favorite non-Connery Bond…his other three are simply different levels of suck). Liked the new Casino Royale, couldn’t have cared less for Quantum of Solace.
@Skywatcher: I’d really have to be convinced about Moore. I actually own all his films (I have a complete Bond DVD set) but can’t bring myself to suffer them. What’s the one where the American sheriff shows up for a car chase in Japan? That’s the low point of the Bond franchise right there.
I totally forgot all about this side discussion about 007 from…Wow. 16 months ago! It’s worth noting that The Man with the Golden Gun was the last Bond movie co-produced by Harry Saltzman, who was responsible for infusing the movies with a lot of their set piece gimmicks. Cubby Broccoli took the reins in hand starting with The Spy Who Loved Me (which is, effectively, a remake of You Only Live Twice but better).
Also, Sheriff J.W. Pepper in Japan is not the low point of the Bond franchise. That would be in Moonraker when Space Marines have a laser gun fight with Drax’s henchmen. In space.
Still, the Moore era does have some solid stuff and it would be a shame to overlook the gems because of the muck.
Well, as I said…I do HAVE the discs, so it’s really a question of putting them in the darn machine one day. I just…I just…well…they’re such cartoons. I know all the Bonds are cartoons at some level, and the scenes of Pierce-Bond driving the tank through St. Petersburg in Goldeneye are probably my favourite Bond moments of all, cartoonish as those scenes are….but I get so frustrated with the Moore stuff. I’ve never even tried to watch View to a Kill, not even a frame of it, after I saw the trailer. They’re like the Schmuckmaker Batman movies. I cannot abide them.
But I will suffer through them at some point, I’m sure. That’s why I have the discs.
Other movies I can’t bring myself to see:
Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Jasons, the Friday 13ths, the Saws, the Harry Potters,
V for Vendetta.
I actually like A View to a Kill. The chemistry between Moore and Patrick Macnee is terrific and John Barry’s score is one of the finest in the series. Christopher Walken is really solid as Max Zorin…before he began to just play Christopher Walken in every movie. Moore is clearly too old in the role, however, which is a detriment and neither Tanya Roberts nor Grace Jones really brings much to the movie.
As for the Schumacher Batman movies, I actually really like Batman Forever; more than Batman Returns, certainly. I see it as a hyperactive homage to the Adam West era. And I absolutely have to pick your brain to find out your reason(s) for resisting those other movies!
On a comic website we make a poll of the greatest covers ever, we chose the French version of Tintin “The Black Island” as the best cover. It was not my first choice, but after 10 suggestions from each person and some polls this cover came up. Some superhero covers came up, but no one made it to the final. But here is the best cover ever: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3549/3463575826_fd216f1646_z.jpg
These two covers I like a lot:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/38/09lerepairedelamurne1er.jpg/