This is a tile set for Nel Anderson's Mah Jongg game, based on
covers to comic books and designed by Don Markstein.

The two sets of four non-identical matching tiles are:

Uncle Scrooge: four different covers with similar layouts -
Scrooge is seen canning money, washing money, ironing money, and
cutting out dollar-shaped cookies. The four are linked by their
identical "Uncle Scrooge" logos. All are from the mid-1950s, and
all are drawn by Scrooge creator Carl Barks.

Archie: four different covers, showing head shots of the major
Archie characters: Archie himself, Jughead, Reggie, and
Betty&Veronica (who are together mainly because I couldn't find
covers with good head shots of them separately; otherwise I would
have dropped Reggie). The third issues of their respective
annuals provided good examples. They are linked by their similar
layouts - the word "annual" appears under their logos. All are
from the early to mid 1950s. The artists of the original covers
are unknown.

Thirty-four regular tiles:

Action Comics #1, 1938. The first appearance of Superman. Cover
artist, Jerry Siegel. Identifiable by a perfectly legible "Action
Comics" logo.

Adventure Comics #247, 1957. The first appearance of the Legion
of Super Heroes. Cover artist, Curt Swan. Illegible logo;
identifiable by "Superboy" figure standing at right, with three
other characters sitting behind panel.

Avengers #4. 1964. The first "modern" appearance of Captain
America. Cover artist, Jack Kirby. Illegible red logo on white
background; identifiable by very prominent Captain America figure
in center foreground.

Amazing Fantasy #16, 1963. The first appearance of Spider-Man.
Cover artist, Jack Kirby, inked by Steve Ditko.
Borderline-legible yellow logo on dark brown background, with
prominent Spider-Man figure in foreground on a gray field.

Batman #1, 1940. Not the first appearance of the character, but a
key issue nevertheless. (Aside from being #1, it contains the
first appearances of the Joker and the Catwoman.) Cover artist,
Bob Kane. Borderline-legible logo, red letters on black
background; very identifiable Batman and Robin figures on yellow
field in foreground.

Black Hood #9, 1943. First issue under that title. Not the first
appearance of the character, but a good, bold design that looks
great "shot" down like this. Cover artist unknown. Identifiable
by very legible logo.

Brave & Bold #28, 1959. First appearance of the Justice League of
America. Cover artist, Mike Sekowsky. Identifiable by illegible
logo in red, white and blue on a black field, with a blue-green
background to the cover.

Captain Marvel Special Edition #1, 1940. First comic to feature
Captain Marvel cover to cover. Illegible logo; identifiable by
red-costumed Captain Marvel with yellow lightning bolt on chest,
riding an artilery shell.

Crime SuspenStories #20, 1954. Not a special issue, but the cover
is extremely famous - practically every book advocating
comic-book censorship has featured a gruesomely prominent
reproduction of the hanged man. This 34x34-pixel rendition does
it no justice. Cover artist, Johnny Craig. Easily identifiable.

Detective Comics #1, 1938. The comic book DC is named for. Their
second most prominent character, Batman, debuted in its 27th
issue - however, the insidious one on this cover is Dr. Fu
Manchu. Cover artist unknown. Easily identifiable by a very
legible "Detective Comics" logo.

Famous Funnies #1, 1935. The first "modern" comic book. Cover
artist unknown. The logo is easily legible.

Fantastic Four #1, 1961. The comic that ushered in the so-called
"Marvel Age of Comics". Cover artist, Jack Kirby.
Borderline-legible red logo on white background. Identifiable by
very prominent red and yellow circle, showing the path of the
Human Torch.

Four Color #16, 1941. Mickey Mouse vs. Phantom Blot. Not a first
issue, but a famous story. Cover artist, Floyd Gottfredson.
Illegible logo - identifiable by light blue moon on purple
background. In the foreground is The Blot, dressed all in black,
reaching menacingly for Mickey Mouse.

Four Color #74, 1945. Little Lulu - her first appearance in comic
books. Cover artist, John Stanley. Very legible "Little Lulu"
logo.

Four Color #105, 1946. Albert & Pogo. Not their first appearance,
but a great cover on a great comic. Cover artist, Walt Kelly. The
"Albert" part of the logo is pretty legible, but the "Pogo
Possum" part only marginally so. Identifiable by dark blue
background fading to white as smoothly as 34x34 pixels will
allow.

Frankenstein #1, 1945. The first of a lengthy series featuring
the famous monster in contemporary adventures. Cover artist, Dick
Briefer. Briefer's unique design for the monster features his
nose above his eyes, which I tried to simulate but 34x34 pixels
doesn't offer a very broad canvas. Illegible red logo on a black
background - easily identifiable by its color scheme.

Harvey Hits #3, 1957. Richie Rich - not "The Poor Little Rich
Boy"'s first appearance, but his first star billing. Cover artist
unknown. "Richie Rich" logo hovers on the edge of legibility. Red
logo on light blue background.

Herbie #1, 1964. "The Little Fat Nothing" gets his own book.
Cover artist, Ogden Whitney. Identifiable by clearly legible
"Herbie" logo.

Hulk #1, 1962. First issue, first appearance. Cover artist, Jack
Kirby. One of the most clearly-legible logos in the set.

Marvel Comics #1, 1939. The very first Marvel comic - as the name
implies. Cover by Carl Burgos. Easily identified.

Mighty Mouse (first series) #1, 1946. Published by Marvel,
written by Stan Lee. Cover artist unknown. Easily identified.

New Comics #1, 1935. First of a series that has the dubious
distinction of having been the longest-running American comic
book ever canceled. (Under the tile "Adventure Comics" it lasted
until 1983.) Easily identified.

Planet Comics #11, 1941. The "Token Fiction House". None of their
first issues seemed like good candidates, but this one is clear
and icon-like.

Prize Comics Western #69, 1948. First in the new one-genre
format. Identifiable by the blue-gray "Prize" logo (to say
nothing of the guy on the horse).

Showcase #4, 1956. First appearance of the second-incarnation
Flash. Illegible logo - identifiable only by red Flash figure
running diagonally on an unwinding strip of newsreel film. Cover
by Carmine Infantino.

Showcase #22, 1959. first appearance of the "modern" Green
Lantern. Cover by Gil Kane. Easily identifiable by "Green
Lantern" logo.

Spirit (first series) #1, 1944. Cover by Will Eisner. Easily
identified.

Sugar & Spike #1, 1956. First appearances of the characters.
Cover by Sheldon Mayer. Logo is scarcely if at all legible, but
identifiable by the fact that it is divided into four panels.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1, 1965. First appearance of oft-revived
team. Cover by Wally Wood. You can fairly easily read the word
"Thunder".

Two Fisted Tales #18, 1950. First issue under that title
(previous issues were titled "Gunfighter" or "Haunt of Fear").
Cover by Harvey Kurtzman. "Two Fisted" is clearly legible.

Walt Disney's Comics & Stories #1, 1940. Only the word "comics"
is legible, but the figure of Donald Duck turning the page over
is clear.

Weird Science #12, 1950. First issue under that title (previous
issues were titled "Saddle Romances"). Cover by Al Feldstein.
"Weird Science" is clearly legible.

X-Men #1, 1963. The picture isn't very clear, but the
red-on-white logo is. Cover by Jack Kirby.

Zap Comics #0, 1968. Ushered in an historic trend in comics - the
0th issue, without which many current publishers would have to
crib their gimmicks from Marvel - however, the "underground
comix" movement was already under weigh when this appeared. But
it's a prominent early example, and it's a great piece by "Mr.
Underground" himself, Robert Crumb. If you can't read "Zap" on
it, you'll never find it.

By the way, there's a ringer. One of these tiles doesn't actually
represent an authentic comic-book cover. Can you spot it?

"Cover artist unknown" means it's unknown to me at the time this
file is being written. It doesn't mean I couldn't find it if I
tried real hard. Additions and corrections will be appreciated. I
can be gotten in touch with through the Comics Buyer's Guide
under whatever service for getting in touch with comic-book pros
they might happen to offer.

-- Don Markstein