Action Comics No. 500 Cover by Andru & Giordano

As the Seventies were drawing to a close, the long-running Action Comics and its star Superman were celebrating the comic’s 500th issue. Andru and Giordano were the regular cover team and they drew the iconic characters with their usual flair.

From there, DC Comics’ Production Department took covers from previous issues of Action and ran them in magenta ink in the background. They’d done this on some of their previous anniversary issues, including Batman No. 200.

While bold, I always found the image a little hard to read, and so a new colour treatment was in order.


Action Comics 500 cover by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano

As published.

Action Comics 500 cover by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano

Wraparound.


Action Comics 500 cover by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano

Scan from Heritage Auctions.


Comic art restoration by Scott Dutton

Cleaned-up art.

Comic book logos and lettering by Scott Dutton

Reconstructed vector logos and trade dress elements added.


Action Comics 500 Background Covers

I didn’t have access to lineart for the background covers, so I worked with colour cover scans.

Action Comics 500 Background Covers

They were first converted to greyscale and lightened so they wouldn’t feel heavy in the background. Then the softer brown tint and a halftone effect evoked nostalgia.


Comic colouring by Scott Dutton

Coloured and composited. The background complements the foreground colours while separating the visual planes.

Comic colouring by Scott Dutton

Back cover.

Comic colouring by Scott Dutton

Front cover.


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