I was wondering how many times this motiff has been used. You know the one, where the hero is in a spotlight, and in the background is usually an oversized placard?

Who was the originator?

For that particular motif including the placard like that, I'd say it's the John Byrne "Days of Future Past" cover. For the more general "spotlight on hero in front of billboard", it probably predates comics.

The Iron Fist splash page predates "Days of Future Past."

So, Byrne created it?

I don't know that you could go that far, the shot is a standard noir layout, going back to early cinema and pulp fiction covers, stuff like that. It may have been used in comics many times, I'm thinking Batman and Robin back in the 40s had a cover with them "in the spotlight", for instance. For me though, I look at that and I think of Byrnes stuff, specifically "Days", and I honestly didn't look at the credits (or IF classic Byrne-face!) and didn't realize that was a Byrne piece until your new post.

Going back to my original statement though, that particular style of layout was probably Byrne first.

Thanks Jeff. I am hoping people could post variations on this same theme.

As a side note, doesn't it strike one fas unny that the placard would be as big as a blanket? Not that the shot doesn't work, it does. It is a cool shot. But, when one really thinks about it, it is pretty funny. I know of the Batman shot you mention.

So the particular style of layout (spotlight/placard that reviews story point) is original to Byrne?

Below is Alex Ross' reinterpretation of the original.

I'd say so. Now is the cue for somebody to post proof that I'm wrong, of course!

Here is the original by Burnley.

That doesn't seem like it's the same sort of shot to me (even though it's awesome). It's like the opposite of the Batman and Robin one above, which has no placard but a spotlight.

Just to be clear,

You can be in the spotlight (Batman example)
You can have a placard behind you (Spider-Man example)
But the combination spotlight AND placard is original to Byrne? And the original example is the Iron Fist example that started this?

I like all of these shots; I would like to figure out the evolutaion of them. It is like tracing the "famous" shot of a hero holding a dead comrade ala Byrne's X-Men (Cyclops holding Dark Phoenix) or Perez's Crisis (Superman holding Supergirl). Both go back to Michaelangelo's Pieta. It is laid out on Perez' page, under HOMAGES.

Anyway, I would like to figure out the history of the spotlight, placard, and spotlight AND placard motif.

Any other examples would be fun.

Iron Fist's Lament

Iron Fist, Iron Fist,
Let me say, you have been missed.
A lament for you, the toil you’ve seen.
We weep, despair!
Our hearts heavy.

Daredevil costume in your drawer,
Vomit on the floor.
Drinking problems, bottled solutions,
Fabric torn and worn. Are you Iron Man?
A cascade
Of solitude,
From which your Iron Fist cannot escape.

A cancer’s growth,
A sly, a shiver.
Power Man, where have you gone
When we need you the most?
Luke Cage, Caged Luke, John Wayne, The Duke?
You are black and where chains.

Hiring heroes, Heroes For Hire!
Lest we are dragged into the muck and mire.

Eric-

Thanks for that poetic interlude.

Now do a poem about placard-hero in spotlight-shots!

Spotlights. Man are they popular!

Or this.

How about this?

Again . . . .

Hope you have sunglasses Spidey!

I like the Spidey Spotlight . . .

Or this?

Even the Punisher digs the spotlight.

Frank Cho draws an amazing Spider-Man. Wow, and I seriously typed that without intending the pun! That is one of my favorite Spidey images, captures the internal angst of the character quite well.