Vale Rich Buckler.

Best of a rich field this week was MDG, who received 6 votes.
Refusing to buckle under pressure was Crimebuster, with 4 votes.
Buckling down to the challenge were codystarbuck and foxley, scoring 2 votes apiece.
And helping to display the richness of Buckler's work were badwolf, Rob Allen, Icctrombone, james, DubipR, Michael James, chickenpocket, and admawarlock2099, with 1 vote each.

Congrats to MDG.

Not to take away from MDG's win, but I don't get this. is it the love of the book that got the votes. Because I found that cover to be one of the least dynamic of all the ones posted.
Buckler was capable of great action and strong composition (as evidenced from all these covers) this cover is sort of "meh". I can only guess that it's the All Squad #1 that got people excited.

And the only reason I picked it was I thought it was inked by Ordway, which is really the only way I actively like Buckler.

One of the elements of the All-Star Squadron cover that makes it great is that it gives you just enough of a taste as to what happens inside to make you want to open the comic and read it. Like Kevin maguire's Justice League 1 cover, it was to prove iconic and would be homaged later. Buckler had more dynamic covers and better compositions; but, that was one of his most iconic. Sentiment does factor into these things, from my perspective, and a lot of winners tend to be because the covers evoke memories and emotions, even when there are better covers in the thread. To me, though, that isn't the point of the thread, to find the best; just to highlight covers along a theme and have fun. I don't vote because I like too many covers and I just enjoy looking them over. I'm happy when someone likes my own choice, especially when it gets votes; but, I'm not bummed out when I don't win, even if I think my choice was better. besides, it's not like I'd get any cash for winning. I'm only in this for the money!

I voted for MDG’s entry for all kinds of reasons.



I’m not a big fan of the late Rich Buckler, not because I can’t stand his work, just that it always seemed to look like he could always draw what people wanted, depending on the book he was doing. I think of him like Ron Wilson or Sal Buscema. If any of them had his own style, I just didn’t see it much, especially when he was inked by a powerful inker like Wally Wood.



In fact, I had almost decided to post the All-Star Grundy cover, but decided not to b/c it looked more like Wally Wood than Buckler.

The cover I posted was pretty generic, too, but I chose it b/c it was of a character I’ve always liked, the logo was straight out of the Atlas title and the design was somewhat unique, with the BK charging at the reader, and the horse drawn rather well. Still, I though, it might have been the work of a number of artists. Nothing screamed Buckler to me.



Which is why I almost voted for the Deathlok silhouette cover, which is a dandy, I think because Buckler was being more himself there.



I voted for the All-Star Squadron cover, though, because I liked it more. It was a nice meshing of the look and style of the Golden Age with what was – in 1986 – the look of more realistic modern comics. (The characters looked real, but not hyper-real.)



The use of the photos added a bit of suspense by showcasing many characters as possible members without sacrificing the composition, the logo again was incorporated well, and I think it was clear that Buckler was consciously, but sincerely paying tribute to the past and attempting to create an iconic cover of a “comic for the ages.”



And I think he succeeded.



Hey, we vote for what we like, maybe for a fellow member who hasn’t won in awhile, maybe for a character or a title or an artist we like, for whatever irrational reasons.



We ain’t voting for the president or the MVP Award. We do the contest for fun, of which most of us have lots in regard to the aforementioned.

Vive la difference!

I just really liked that cover's scenario, composition, and execution.  I've never even read an issue -- or story -- from that series