First, Mark, thanks for bringing this particular subject out into the light. I originally had a statement in my letter pertaining to this exact case but decided to delete it because it made me sound self-serving and it took away from the intent of the letter. If I recall correctly (and I may be wrong, since I don't have a copy of my original letter in front of me), I said that the only conscious instances of my copying another artist's cover design were the Action Comics and The New Titans covers to which I referred. The incredible similarity between the Crisis #7 cover and the Uncanny X-Men ("Death of Phoenix") cover was simply one of those crazy coincidences that pop up in this industry from time to time. (And provide for great subjects of speculation in the recurring deja vu feature.)

For those who tuned in late: The Uncanny X-Men cover to which Engblom referred showed Cyclops cradling a dead Phoenix in a pose eerily similar to the one of Superman cradling the equally dead Supergirl on my later Crisis cover. When I was first approached about it by a fan years ago, I admit that I was bowled over. I hadn't read an issue of Uncanny X-Men in some time and could honestly not recall ever having seen John's cover, and I definitely didn't use it as my design guide. However, the layout was so startlingly similar that even I began to doubt whether or not I was inadvertently inspired by it.

For the record, my original inspiration for the cover was an early Jack Kirby cover showing Odin cradling Thor. I wanted to get the same impact, but designed it totally on my own without actually referring to the Kirby piece to suit the needs of the comic book on which I was working. It's like having a super-hero fly and immediately imagining Curt Swan's Superman as an inspiration without deliberately aping his style or composition. If John (or anyone else for that matter) thinks I actually took my Crisis cover idea from him, I just want to say here and now that it wasn't so. If it were, I certainly would have acknowledged it. However, having been a fan of John's work for many years, it wouldn't surprise me if some of his design sense just rubbed off on me, much as it has with so many artists whom I have admired.