The Cover
Superman vs. Muhammad Ali's wraparound cover shows a host of late 1970s celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Tony Orlando, Johnny Carson, the cast of Welcome Back, Kotter, and The Jackson 5; sharing close-up seating with Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, and other DC superheroes; as well as Warner and DC employees.
Joe Kubert was originally asked to draw the cover, and his version (a black-and-white sketch of which still survives) didn't feature any celebrities, but just a "normal" raucous crowd of boxing fans. DC didn't approve of Kubert's likeness of Ali, however, nor the overall grim feeling of the piece, and asked Adams to draw the book instead. Adams' original cover illustration (modeled very closely on Kubert's layout), included Mick Jagger in the front cover's lower left corner; he was replaced in the final version by fight promoter Don King.
In 2000, Adams did a riff on this cover — featuring Ali fighting basketball star Michael Jordan — for a special issue of ESPN The Magazine.
Read more about this topic: Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali
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