The Bronze Age of comics is the period of time from 1970-1985. It was also a time when Marvel Comics made innovations in the industry, not the least of which was the cover design. Each comic was branded with what would become known as the upper corner box. This would make Marvel Comics recognizable at a glance.

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There were a number of Bronze Age covers that became the odd ones out for not excelling in selling the fantastic story within. Sometimes, they were silly, either by design or accident. Even so, something was going on that didn't resonate with readers.

Iron Fist once fought Iron Man

There are many Marvel characters that share a common word in their names. The many Spider characters, the various Captains, and, of course, so many X-teams. In 1975, there were two superheroes with names starting with the word Iron, so obviously they had to fight.

Iron Fist faces off against Iron Man in Iron Fist #1, with cover art by Gil Kane. The fight seems a little one-sided, as Tony Stark has a lot of gadgets in his armor while Iron Fist is a martial artist with a super-punch that can't do much against the flying Armored Avenger. According to the cover, the only reason they seem to fight is that there can be only one be one iron superhero.

9 Marvel Team-Up #137 Was Part Of Assistant Editors Month.

Aunt May Herald of Galactus

Sometimes, a cover from a theme month can epitomize the theme. "Assistant Editors Month" was when the Assistant Editors edited the entire line of Marvel Comics while the lead Editors were on vacation. These fun issues contained several shenanigans that ranged from corner box art to entire issues filled with wild tales. This includes Ron Frenz's cover for Marvel Team-Up #137, which featured Franklin Richards and Aunt May, who became the superhero Golden Oldie.

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If the visual of a golden Aunt May toting Franklin Richards through space isn't weird enough, Galactus is also there. Also, there's a clue in Franklin's hand about how the duo stops Galactus. They use the Bronze Age advertising stand-by; Hostess Twinkies.

Captain America vs Lincoln

Captain America has a long history of head-scratching covers, but in the Bronze Age, one stands out as truly bizarre. On the cover of Captain America #222, artist Ernie Chan renders the Lincoln Memorial attacking Captain America. It's the type of cover that is bizarre enough to catch the eye.

This is the type of cover that would fit in perfectly in the Silver Age, but comes several years late. It shows that in the Bronze Age, a sensibility of zaniness persisted and that Marvel Comics refused to take itself too seriously.

7 Spidey Super Stories #31 Spoofs Star Wars.

Moondragon must think hard

Spider-Man found a new and younger audience through the PBS show The Electric Company, and Spidey Super Stories built off this exposure. This series would include team-ups with other Marvel heroes, written in a way that was easy for younger readers to understand. With Spidey Super Stories #31, the cover design departed from its usual fare, drawing its inspiration from one of Star Wars' early posters.

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Spidey, Doctor Doom, and guest star Moondragon replace the characters from the poster. The spoof isn't perfect in drawing from the source, as artist John Romita, Sr. creates something that works only as a spoof and is not very successful in working in its own right.

6 Avengers Annual #10 Used An Odd Pastiche On A Comic With Fantastic Interior Art.

avengers assemble by Michael Golden

The first appearance of Rogue comes in Avengers Annual #10, a fantastic story by Chris Claremont and Michael Golden. Golden's amazing art makes the choice for cover art baffling. Al Milgrom's pastiche of elements from the story is a bad choice. It's a case of the cover doing a disservice to the story.

The X-Men squaring off against the Avengers is one of the most misleading promises on the cover. At no point in the story do the two teams face each other in such a hackneyed manner. If the cover focused on any scene from the story, it would have served the comic better.

howard-the-duck-31-iron-duck

Howard the Duck was seldom a place for serious stories and characters. Early issues were clear spoofs of fantasy and adventure comics. It wasn't until Howard the Duck #30 that the series jumped into superheroes in a big way with Howard donning his own superhero suit and becoming "Iron Duck."

With a suit built out of a fire hydrant, and with springs on his feet, Howard looks less than sure about his decision to become a superhero. And while the Iron Duck armor looks perfectly hilarious, the concept itself feels hackneyed. That said, Gene Colan's cover is astounding and dynamic.

Not Ready For Prime Time Players

Spider-Man teamed up with most of the heroes in the Marvel Universe during the Bronze Age, but no one was ready for Marvel Team-Up #74, which had him teaming up with the cast of Saturday Night Live. John Belushi takes center stage on the cover facing off against a real samurai.

Bob Hall does an admirable job capturing the likenesses of the cast. It's disarming to see such a tongue-in-cheek pairing from a standard superhero comic. It's fortunate that this did not start a trend for the series.

3 Star Wars #6 Looks Like Marvel Didn't See The Movie.

This never happened in Star Wars

Rick Hoberg and Dave Cockrum's cover of Star Wars #6 has many inconsistencies. For one thing, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader never faced off in the first film, and Darth Vader wouldn't even know Luke's name until the second film. Leia cowering on the ground beside the duel also feels out of character for a Princess who famously grabbed a blaster and led Luke, Han, and Chewbacca to safety.

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It makes one wonder if anyone involved saw the film. It's possible that they didn't. With the production time needed for comics in the Bronze Age, this cover was likely done before the release of the original Star Wars.

2 Iron Man #68 Debuted Armor With A Nose.

They misunderstood Stan Lee

Iron Man changing his armor is a trope that's resulted in countless designs of the iconic hero over the years. Iron Man #68, with a cover by Jim Starlin, saw Tony Stark make improvements to his helmet. Among those improvements is one to strike confusion in opponents: a nose.

Iron Man wore the infamous helmet for a year and a half before Marvel came to its senses and realized how odd it looked. It remains laughable by fans in hindsight. No armor since has given Iron Man a nose.

1 Amazing Spider-Man #130 Debuted The Astounding Spider-Mobile.

debut of the spider-mobile

Another Bronze Age creation that fans view mostly as a joke is the Spider-Mobile. It debuted on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #130. Even on this John Romita Sr. cover, it's destroyed by Hammerhead, doing Spider-Man a service.

Having a car in Manhattan is a burden in and of itself. And being a character that travels by swinging over traffic, there's no reason for Spider-Man to have a car. The Spider-Mobile would become a legend that resurfaces from time to time, usually as a joke. The Bronze Age was definitely a silly time for Spider-Man and Marvel.

NEXT: 10 Most Cringeworthy Marvel Silver Age Covers