by Jason Stout

Probably the most important job of the Chronicle art director is the creation of the cover. Sometimes a perfect image comes in a flash, but more often it's a nerve-racking, hair-pulling journey through weak ideas, at the end of which, hopefully, is an image that will, as they say in the movie business, "get asses in seats." There are now almost 1,500 Chronicle covers. These are not necessarily the best of them, nor do they represent the most important stories (though many are and do). They are simply the ones I decided, for one reason or another, were notable. Cheers to all the art directors who fought the good fight – especially Ben Davis, who actually threw chairs while fighting the good fight, and gave me my first illustration gig.

1) Prototype / 1981

Could there be a more perfect image for our prototype issue? Not a week goes by that model/Publisher Nick Barbaro isn't asked to submit himself to some humiliating re-creation of this bucolic scene. Eternal thanks to photographer Jack Grieder for a classic image that says it all. Check out the full issue here, where you will also find the slowly growing archive of our first year.

2) Vol. 1, No. 1 / Sept. 4, 1981

The first official issue started off with the quintessential alt-weekly magenta-and-black color combo. Apparently, designer and master poster artist Michael Priest fudged the colors – Amberlith alert! It's never been clear to me what this was supposed to look like, but it hardly matters; this loud and proud image falls into the "happy accident" category.

3) Vol. 1, No. 13 / March 5, 1982

"Why are these people on our cover?" is the cover question. The answer? This was the issue in which the results from the first Austin Music Poll were published. There was no Music Awards ceremony that year – that tradition began the next year, 1983. A notable cover and a notable group of musicians.

4) Vol. 4, No. 22 / June 28, 1985

In the mid-1980s, there were pretty much never any "concept" covers – that is, covers that didn't feature a photo and instead relied on graphics to grab the reader. For our 100th issue, Paul Sabal created this fine example of why you don't always need a photo to create an eye-catching cover, and you don't need a computer at all.

5) Vol. 5, No. 10 / Jan. 17, 1986

Early on in the paper's history, tattoo artist Michael "Rollo Banks" Malone was not just the Chronicle's cover guru in charge of assignments; he was also one of our favorite cover artists. He moved to Austin from Hawaii bearing strange gifts (Michael Corcoran), married Margaret Moser, and taught much of the Chronicle staff a lot about living. Even after he moved back to Hawaii, he continued to do Chronicle covers for the Chinese New Year, eventually producing all 12 in the cycle.

6) Vol. 9, No. 47 / July 27, 1990

The first of many covers showcasing the films of local favorite Richard Linklater, and still probably the best. I hope that one day, with diligent therapy, I can get over how badly I let down all of you with my shameful mishandling of the last one (see Angry Letter No. 29 in "30 Angry Letters").

7) Vol. 10, No. 1 / Aug. 31, 1990

This is in so many ways a quintessential Chronicle cover, as well as a now-classic shot of Vaughan. The late Susan Grady – not an established photographer but a member of the Chronicle ad staff – took this when Vaughan was taking off for his first real tour. It was a cover photo then, but this time around it marked a much sadder occasion: his untimely death. When that tragic news was received at the Chronicle offices on a Monday morning, there was no need for discussion. The whole staff set aside the planned contents for that issue in order to prepare a tribute to Stevie Ray.

8) Vol. 10, No. 5 / Sept. 28, 1990

It's not that this is the first "Best of Austin" cover that makes it notable to me – it's that it's a glorious example of Old School Production: Black and one color! La Ropa font! Zip-A-Tone galore! X-Acto knife masters of yore, we praise you with great praise. Goodbye, Rubylith Tuesday. Check out all of our "Best of Austin" covers here.

9) Vol. 11, No. 13 / Nov. 22, 1991

A.J. Garces was our go-to illustrator for Restaurant Poll and summer reading covers and was the illustrator for Michael Ventura's "Letters at 3AM" column for years. Then, one day, he simply vanished. And hey, that worked out for me, because I got the Ventura gig, which I still enjoy to this day. I present this cover in honor of a favorite AWOL artist.

10) Vol. 18, No. 31 / April 2, 1999

Sometimes great ideas just don't work themselves out. Mike Judge had agreed to do our April Fool's cover but was unclear on the concept: The issue would run entirely backward, and cover subject Hank Hill should be drawn facing away from the reader. The cover text would run in reverse, we would run our content from back to front – it was gonna be great! Well, this is the image we received, and then Mr. Judge was incommunicado. So we sipped our lemonade and ran the issue content as intended, making the cover a "setup" to make the reader think everything was business as usual. Psych!

11) Vol. 18, No. 51 / Aug. 20, 1999

This absolutely kickass cover was drawn by local legend Daniel Johnston, in his own inimitable, Kirby-inspired style. His favorite subject matter is fully represented, from Casper the Friendly Ghost right down to the fires of hell.

12) Vol. 19, No. 13 / Nov. 26, 1999

Not to be morbid or disrespectful, but we seem to put our best foot forward when it comes to death covers. A perfect image and minimal copy help us focus on who we lost.

13) Vol. 19, No. 50 / Aug. 11, 2000

An extensive search was conducted citywide to find the perfect male specimen for our first (and so far only) Summer Smut Issue; thousands of ripped and chiseled Austin men came out to ... aw, who am I kidding? Obviously, we just shot the first wiener we ran into.

14) Vol. 20, No. 11 / Nov. 10, 2000

"The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but the one who causes the darkness." – Victor Hugo

We will never stop asking ourselves: How did it happen? Who voted for this joker? Remember when it only seemed impossible that George W. Bush could be elected governor? The carefree days of only being embarrassed for our state were gone, and we dressed appropriately.

15) Vol. 21, No. 1 / Sept. 7, 2001

Don't even try to imagine the production value put in to our 20th anniversary cover. This re-creation of "The Golf Cart Incident" heralded a fantastic issue of questionable histories and warped perspectives. And, honestly, the golf cart has more than paid for itself by providing the only place to sit next to the office volleyball court.

16) Vol. 21, No. 14 / Dec. 7, 2001

Just after dawn on Dec. 7, 1941, a squadron of Mitsubishi Zeros under the command of Jim Bob Moffett made its way up the Colorado River to launch a sneak attack on Barton Springs Pool; the SOS sent out by the lifeguards became a rally cry for generations of Springs defenders. Sixty years later, we commemorated this ablofemious event with a jaunty "gift guide" special issue, encouraging our readers to get out and spend more money on stuff imported from overseas.

17) Vol. 21, No. 42 / June 21, 2002

Enough with the death covers, already! Of course, film isn't really dead, and neither are almost any of the other things we've declared dead (see "30 Ideas, Institutions, Musical Genres, etc., the 'Chronicle' Has Declared Dead") over the years.

18) Vol. 21, No. 43 / June 28, 2002

We doubt anyone has appeared on the Chronicle's cover more times than Alejandro Escovedo. To the best of our knowledge, this was the only time he appeared half-naked and standing in a body of water. This was the beginning of a long tradition of shirtless-musician-in-the-water covers. Dip in to our archives to find some of the others.

19) Vol. 24, No. 49 / Aug. 5, 2005

An ape in a bathtub, drawn by Michael Sieben. No explanation. Could this be my favorite cover ever?

20) Vol. 25, No. 22 / Jan. 27, 2006

Yeah ... we got a lot of, um, feedback on this one.

21) Vol. 26, No. 1 / Sept. 8, 2006

A cover of covers, for our cover retrospective. Because the Internet is the best place to get meta.

22) Vol. 26, No. 38 / May 25, 2007

Our first green issue. Get it? If you don't, the tiny words "You Guessed It" placed smack-dab in the middle probably won't help you.

23) Vol. 27, No. 4 / Sept. 28, 2007

I finally started hitting my stride with this cover. Once I saw portrait-master Todd V. Wolfson's amazing shots, I knew my job was to do my best to keep the copy out of the way and let those baby blues bring you in. I have to say, though, that I hope I never have to airbrush so many eyebrows out of the nameplate ever again.

24) Vol. 28, No. 9 / Oct. 31, 2008

The Chronicle's Halloween mask cover tradition began in 1982. Twenty-nine years later, the tradition continues. This one is particularly special, because it's the first time we ran a double-cover: McCain on the outside, Palin on the inside.

25) Vol. 28, No. 24 / Feb. 13, 2009

I said, "Jump!" And ex-Okie artist Leah Lovise said, "How high?" And I said, "I'm really high; that's why I'm asking you to do a claymation cover." She gave me what I asked for, in spades. This has to be the first sculpted alternative newsweekly cover ever.

26) Vol. 28, No. 30 / March 27, 2009

Burnt out from South by Southwest, Jason? Well, quit cryin'! We need a concept cover pronto!

It's amazing how far you can go when you're running on fumes. I'm glad I was able to pull this off – it's our most commented story ever.

27) Vol. 28, No. 31 / April 3, 2009

This is it, people – the milestone. Our first and only "wild" cover. That is: a cover on which the art has nothing to do with any story inside. A breath of fresh air. Let's do it again sometime!

28) Vol. 29, No. 13 / Nov. 27, 2009

Austin has played a critical role in the recent national revival of the sport of Roller Derby. The earliest efforts to form a women's Roller Derby league were successful – and though subsequent growing pains led to some members splitting off to form their own league, the result is that Austin is the home of the revival of both flat-track and banked-track Roller Derby.

29) Vol. 29, No. 28 / March 12, 2010

Gilbert Shelton is going to be in town for SXSW talking about the animated Fabulous Furry Freak Bros. movie he's trying to get made. Should we have him do an illustration for the SXSW Film Issue cover?

Uh, yeah!

Jason, do you want to color it?

Uh, hells yeah!

30) Vol. 30, No. 2 / Sept. 10, 2010

We took the fast train to Dirty Town for this cover. This was a nice one – fast, easy, and totally effective. We even got our props on www.coverjunkie.com.