Comic Book Resources

- If you take the batarangs out of the Batman cover it kinda looks like he’s ready to dance.

- The Superman cover’s a fart joke waiting to happen…

- At first glance of the Robin cover I thought he was dropping the guy until I looked closer and saw the shadows on the wall. I liked the effect of it in that sense.

- That’s a really nice Vixen image, has she ever had a solo cover before? I mean outside that trial issue she was supposed to have.

- Ladronn really made that Atom costume look pretty dang cool. Not only is it the strongest cover the series has had so far, it’d probably rate as my fave of the bunch.

I think I’d have to go with the Blue Beetle cover as my favourite.
Batman/Spirit sure does look nice, though.

Usually we’re kind of on the same page with this stuff but here, manLIVE, I totally disagree with you. On everything.

My Top Five: Legends of the Dark Knight. Lookit that red sky! Lookit that big, white moon! All sorts of cool coloring choices here.

The Creeper: Busy, but busy on purpose. I bet this’ll look way awesome colored.

Green Arrow: ‘Cause I like dragons. And I don’t, honestly, care if the archery is correct.

Warlord: NICE perspective, there. As compared to the Batman cover in your top five.

American Virgin: (#1) Jus’ beautiful. I can’t think of any other cover like it.

Why Your Picks Suck:

# 5: Strong individual compositions, but what the hell is goin’ ON here? Doesn’t make any sense as a coherent whole.

# 4: I mean, well drawn ‘n all, but BORING. Nothin’ going on, and nothin’ I haven’t seen in the BIG BOOK of AFRICAN ANIMALS.

# 3: I dunno. Doesn’t do anything for me. A little bit more of an angual perspective might’ve improved this one a thousand percent. Plus Batman’s expression is just WEIRD.

# 2. Blue on blue on blue. Great drawing, shitty coloring, takes to much work to figure out what’s happening. Which is the death knell for covers, IMO.

# 1: Well, alright, this one’s pretty good. The Spirit totally has a Plastic Man type expression and seems a touch outta character, though.

Other Comments:

Hey! There’s a Krypto comic? I missed that. SO buying this.

I like the Gen 13 cover. Backgrounds are great, and I don’t think Fairchild looks very muppety at all. You guys are TOTALLY exaggerating her muppet-ness for comedic effect or affect. Whichever.

I think the Derick Robinson fist smashin’ cover is way stronger and a more immediate image than the Patrick Gleason foot grabbing cover.

Who IS the little girl with the squid tentacle by Duestin Nguyen. Is it some weird Manga thing?

If DC is going to publish licensed movie comics, why not ones based on movies people might remotely still care about? Has there even BEEN a Nightmare on Elm Street movie in the last ten years? Silly. (Decent covers, though.)

I really like the Testament cover. Feels all weirdly pop-artsy.

Really strong month overall, actually. Buncha stuff I dug.

That Mystery in Space cover looks just like an old Judge Dredd tpb cover. I shall have to track down the image in order to comparee.

Henry Flint is a genius who needs to do some Fantastic Four work sharpish. I didn’t know he’d migrated to US comics though; he’ll be missed at 2000ad.

Why is the person in the middle of that Outsiders cover wearing Kitty Pryde’s Astonishing costume?

I think the problem with that DMZ cover is it’s really obvious. Worker, hammer, tank, all in red. We get it.

What’s with all the unfinished, sorry “sneak peek” covers? Strikes me as a bit unprofessional, that.

Not sure about that Wagner Mad Monk cover. Is the wolf standiing on Batman’s chest? if so, Wagner hasn’t done a good job of showing the contact, making the wolf look like it’s floating.

Oh, and look how the Red Tornado and Vixen covers are the same, going for that “noble savage” idea. Bleh.

That Huntress shot sure looks like Joe Staton to me. I can almost remember the comic cover it was swiped from. Showcase?

Is Vixen looking for Catman on that JLA cover?

Dave Johnson is like the hare in that rabbit and the hare story.

Slow and steady - another strong 100 Bullets cover.

You mean the Tortoise and the Hare. It’s the turtle/tortoise that goes slow and steady. Rabbits and Hares are almost the same thing, and they don’t go slow and steady.

Also, that Matt Wagner Batman cover is decent, but I think it’s a bit bland and it only scores that high because it’s Wagner. I think there were a lot more deserving covers. And even I agree about the Kubert Batman cover this week, really bad.

I dunno what Jim would say about the Connor Hawke cover, but I can say that it’s clear that arrow did not come from that bow.

That Outsiders cover looks like the interiors artist to me. Possibly Acuna was miscredited?

Steelfreeze did the interiors of Matador last year. It was only six issues, but still.

“When’s the last time (Brian Stelfreeze) drew interiors of a comic?”

The last one I can remember was the Matador 6-issue limited series by Devin Grayson. The art ended up being about the only thing to recommend it, though — it got off to an interesting start, but degenerated into an incoherent jumble of every cop cliche you could think of.

“Although - Silkie? I guess I’m missing out by not watching the cartoon, eh?”

IMO, yes. Yes you are. The 2-disc 1st season set is only $13 or so in most stores I’ve seen it in and it’s almost criminally awesome. The second season is where we get the “Teen Titans go to Prom” episode that sets up for the later (3rd season?) “Silkie” episode, though, which may well be even funnier than the earlier one. TT was the kind of show that would take a third-tier villain like Killer Moth, revamp that ugly purple-and-green outfit into something genuinely menacing and scary, and then spray laughing gas all over him.

I like the Batman/Spirit cover because the Spirit always seemed like more of a lighthearted character to me than Batman, and the cover shot manages to show that difference in personality in 2 different visual ways and also set up the expectation that the two are going to come into conflict at some point in the story.

The Outsiders cover is clearly by Matthew Clark–hence the “M” signature–It’s not Acuna.

And that Shadowpack loos to have Derenick’s (sp?) signature–and it looks like his art anyway.

Come on guys! That Batman/Spirit cover? Kinda boring. Just because the two characters are icons and Cooke’s a hot talent, that doesn’t add up to the number one slot. There’s nothing about this cover that makes me wanna pick up the issue, beyond the idea of pairing Batman and the Spirit. As portrait covers go, the Doc Midnite special of JSA Classified is way more interesting.

That 52 cover with Reddy’s head down under? That’s a top fiver. Beautifully drawn, nice design, makes me wonder what’s up with the story. In a good way.

The Blue Beetle cover tells a story in a very clever way. Props. Top five.

My number one spot goes to a title I’ve never read — Robin — because the more you look at that dynamic layout, the more information comes at you. It’s brilliantly laid out and executed. Love the people in the windows. At first I assumed it was drawn from Robin’s POV on the rooftop, reaching for the falling person … but then you see their shadows and you realize he’s plummeting as well!

(Of course, I don’t know how Robin’s gonna catch ‘em, given the laws of physics and all. But hey, it’s comics. I’m WAY more willing to forgive that than to pardon anatomy flaws, like every Chaykin cover of Kendra, who was established for years in JSA with a very modest bosom. But now she’s all Tits McGee with permanent nipple hard-ons. Good grief. Is the story of her breast implants a One Year Later reveal we’ve not yet been privy too? “They’ll never let me into the League unless I can fill a D-cup like Diana!”)

That Huntress image is from Joe Staton’s cover to DC Super Stars #17 (1977, I believe). It was a “secret origins” issue featuring “DC’s newest femme fatale” along with Green Arrow and the LSH.

Check it out here: http://www.comics.org/details.lasso?id=31602

Rebis, I agree the Cooke cover is boring, even tho I’m a huge Cooke fan. Blue Beetle was a great cover, I think it deserved to rank above Cooke and Wagner this month.

Atom is once again my favorite cover. Can’t resist the Ladronn. Rest of the top five is, oh, Blue Beetle, Robin, American Virgin, and, uh… Batman/Spirit or Jack of Fables.

Martian Manhunter looks like the David Ogden Stiers version, only caught morphing into Roseanne Barr.

If Bulleteer joins the Birds, I may have to pick up an issue.

Yeah, that ain’t Acuña or Walker.

The ‘Tec cover sucks. And no Dini that issue? Bah.

Scott McDaniel goes overboard with the Ron Frenz Rule. But at least he drew a bowstring this time.

WHole lot of what I call “extracted panel” covers this time: covers that might just as well have been panels from inside the book, since they’re competently drawn action shots without much thematic weight or special visual “pop.”

And that Kitson cover for LSH basically is a 30-something year-old cover — there were a couple of covers from Avengers during the Korvac Saga that had the same basic idea and layout.

I have to disagree on just about everything, but mainly on these points:

The green background issupposed to look creepy (Kryptonite is scary); the Chaykin Guy Gardner cover features static pose and smile, is a banal and overused sentiment with this character and not nearly as appealing as Gibbon’s Guy Gardner, who is in action with tentacle imagery; the Outsiders cover falls apart because Acuna did not get the faces (particularly Grace’s) and figures right, the layout is perfectly fine; the Karl Kerschl cover does indeed make me want to buy Secret Six; the Freedom Fighters cover idea is far from silly; the Boys cover is brilliant; I’ve seen the reflection trick on the A Man Called Kev used to greater effect and beauty elsewhere, here it’s clumsy; none of your top five should be in the top five; and the Jonah Hex cover is not “nuanced” in any way, shape or form.

So on that The Boys cover… do both hands belong to the same guy or two different people? It could really be read either way.

At first glance of the Robin cover I thought he was dropping the guy until I looked closer and saw the shadows on the wall. I liked the effect of it in that sense.

Definitely. That was a really nice effect by Gleason.

That’s a really nice Vixen image, has she ever had a solo cover before? I mean outside that trial issue she was supposed to have.

I think she had a solo cover right after she joined JLDetroit. Each one of the new members got a solo cover.

Ladronn really made that Atom costume look pretty dang cool. Not only is it the strongest cover the series has had so far, it’d probably rate as my fave of the bunch.

I think, apparently, the first few covers were drawn without any real idea what the book was about, so that might explain their lacklusterness.

That Mystery in Space cover looks just like an old Judge Dredd tpb cover. I shall have to track down the image in order to comparee.

Please do, I’d like to see it!

Oh, and look how the Red Tornado and Vixen covers are the same, going for that “noble savage” idea. Bleh.

Yeah, I can see that for the 52 cover, but the Vixen one - that’s her power! She has animal powers!

You mean the Tortoise and the Hare. It’s the turtle/tortoise that goes slow and steady. Rabbits and Hares are almost the same thing, and they don’t go slow and steady.

Thanks for picking that up! I corrected it!

Also, that Matt Wagner Batman cover is decent, but I think it’s a bit bland and it only scores that high because it’s Wagner. I think there were a lot more deserving covers.

I agree that the same layout - different artist, it probably wouldn’t make it, but that’s because I think Wagner’s art is so strong that it took a generic cover idea and made it work.

And even I agree about the Kubert Batman cover this week, really bad.

I don’t even know what he thought he was accomplishing with it - what a weird idea for a cover.

That Outsiders cover looks like the interiors artist to me. Possibly Acuna was miscredited?

I think you’re right! I corrected it!

Steelfreeze did the interiors of Matador last year. It was only six issues, but still.

Thanks, Greg!

Actually, now that you remind me, that might explain why he is only doing covers, as I believe he broke his hand while working on Matador.

And that Shadowpack loos to have Derenick’s (sp?) signature–and it looks like his art anyway.

Thanks for the Derenick pick-up, Tim!

Silly DC solicits with miscredited art!!

Whole lot of what I call “extracted panel” covers this time: covers that might just as well have been panels from inside the book, since they’re competently drawn action shots without much thematic weight or special visual “pop.”

Good call, Omar. I think the Green Lantern Corps cover is a great example of that. Looks almost literally like it IS a panel from the inside comic!!

And that Kitson cover for LSH basically is a 30-something year-old cover — there were a couple of covers from Avengers during the Korvac Saga that had the same basic idea and layout.

I know the issue you’re referring to (#176, right?), but I don’t think it’s trying for nearly the same scale as this Legion cover. And I think that’s mainly because they DIDN’T have the technology then to pull it off, so they had to go with what they did on that cover, which was reduce the size of the figure (and the light emanations). If they tried to fill the whole cover with it, I think it would have looked much worse than this Legion cover (not that this Legion cover is some amazing cover or anything).

I have to disagree on just about everything, but mainly on these points:

Well, I certainly don’t have to disagree, but you made it look like so much fun!

The green background issupposed to look creepy (Kryptonite is scary);

Not scary creepy - weird, smelly person talking to themselves sitting next to you on the train creepy.

the Chaykin Guy Gardner cover features static pose and smile, is a banal and overused sentiment with this character and not nearly as appealing as Gibbon’s Guy Gardner, who is in action with tentacle imagery;

Gibbons’ Guy is well-drawn, but he’s not doing anything special.

Chaykin’s Guy has panache! And the sentiment IS the character! Like having a cover with Batman being menacing!

But if you don’t that particular take on Guy Gardner, I can perfectly understand why it would not be appealing to you as a cover.

the Outsiders cover falls apart because Acuna did not get the faces (particularly Grace’s) and figures right, the layout is perfectly fine;

The layout is all over the place! It looks like Metamorpho is sucking a boomerang up his ass! But yeah, the faces are all off. Although I’ll take that Grace over the actual one!

the Karl Kerschl cover does indeed make me want to buy Secret Six;

Well, I can’t very well disagree with your personal opinion, so that’s cool!

the Freedom Fighters cover idea is far from silly;

It’s a superhero all decked up like one of those terrorist videos we see on the internet every once in awhile - seems pretty silly to me! The very height of taking oneself too seriously! Again, though, I can see how “silly” can certainly be in the eye of the beholder!

the Boys cover is brilliant;

Again, can’t very well argue with that! I think it’s boring (and talk about static) and you think it is brilliant.

Damn mileage varying!!!

I’ve seen the reflection trick on the A Man Called Kev used to greater effect and beauty elsewhere, here it’s clumsy;

Wait, this isn’t the first time it’s been used? Oh crap, it must suck then! My bad!

Seriously, though, again, I differ, but that old mileage is varying again!

none of your top five should be in the top five;

Well argued!

and the Jonah Hex cover is not “nuanced” in any way, shape or form.

Except for the shapes and forms of the drawings on the cover!

Seriously, though, here we have the “bad guy” (Confederate soldier) being tortured by the “good guys,” along with a black soldier, watching a man get lynched - only all the Union soldier stuff (particularly the black soldier) are in the background, with the eye-catching torture scene popping out to the viewer, with the viewer having to take a second glance to notice that the varmints who are torturing Jonah Hex are the “good guys.” I thought it was a nice subtle difference with “accepted” roles.

Okay, my memory was playing tricks on me; the Judge Dredd cover isn’t that similar, although it’s the same basic idea.

I love it when an artist homages himself:

http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=40947&zoom=4

The new one is not so much an homage as an update, I think.

Which one do you like better, Chaykin’s original or the updated? The updated is more polished, I think, but something about the original I really like.

The color choices in the update are better (blue background instead of the red), but I think more attitude shows through in the original.

Oh yeah, that’s also what I loved about the new cover - it totally captured the same spirit of the original.

I do agree that the original is a superior cover, though.

I think I know why I liked the original better. The new one looks more professional and polished, which is a good thing. It shows how Chakykin has improved as a technician. But the fact that the original has more rawness and technical crudeness almost seems to work for it, especially in conveying Guy Gardner’s attitude.

Thanks for mentioning KRYPTO again– Jeralds is awesome. But, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention colorist Dave Tanguay’s contribution to the series’ gorgeous covers. And wait ’til you see Min Ku and Dave’s inside art!

the snarky comments were particularly funny this month. Myspace kudos to you.

Are you going to be posting up the Grant Morrison Interview from newsarama, it’s just so funny.

Yeah, I stirred the pot up some in the comments section to that Morrison interview.

Well, like I said, disagreements and opinions, but I do think you may need to look up some words in your dictionary.

There is NOTHING subtle about the Jonah Hex cover. Slightly faded figures against a single colored background does not equal subtlety. It’s shorthand for ghostly, it’s readily apparent on the first glance.

Nuanced and Subtle would be the Fables cover, where the tentacles are disguised as a wartime backdrop in the shadows. If you glance at it you get the overall impression but don’t immediately see the details that lead to it. It gives a feeling, but it’s not immediately obvious why.

The Jonah Hex cover is a number of images together, nothing is disguised or hidden, it is far from subtle, it beats the point over your head.

And (hit enter too early) the good guy bad guy thing is not really a switch. Jonah Hex is established as an ex-confederate soldier. The Confederate flag is draped over him. His general costume is the Confederate uniform. He fought on the side of the Confederacy in the war. It’s not surprising that the Union soldiers are the ones mistreating him, especially given that Jonah wears that Confederate uniform on several of the previous Jonah Hex covers.

We have our hero (Jonah Hex) being tortured by some folks. Upon closer inspection, however, the hero is the “bad guy” (Confederate soldier) and the torturers are the “good guys,” along with a black soldier, watching a man get lynched - only all the Union soldier stuff (particularly the black soldier) are in the background, with the eye-catching torture scene popping out to the viewer, with the viewer having to take a second glance to notice that the varmints who are torturing Jonah Hex are the “good guys.” I thought it was a nice subtle difference with “accepted” roles.

But hey, let’s check the dictionary - “1. a subtle difference or distinction in expression, meaning, response, etc.”

Works for me, but I can see how it might not for you.

It only works if you automatically ASSUME that the Union soldiers are bad and the Confederates good. Which is only possible if you somehow miss the blindingly obvious point that the HERO is DRAPED with a Confederate Flag

No closer inspection necessary.

Right, Bernet, with his cover, is calling into question the entire notion of who the “hero” is. He’s showing subtle differences in the meaning of “good guy” and “bad guy.”

The “hero” is the Confederate.

The “villains” are the Union. The “villains” are the emancipated black Union soldier, present for a lynching of a Southern soldier.

All of this, though, is not immediately present in the image - at first glance, it’s just Jonah Hex being tortured. The extra information is subtler, in the background (and by what Jonah is draped in).

What Jonah is draped in is draped across the cover.

This cover beats you over the head with this.

I think, as Bernet designed the cover, the reader’s eye is meant to see Jonah Hex tortured #1, then the confederate flag #2, and only then their eyes go to the background characters #3.

Whether people view the image like that or not, I believe that was Bernet’s intent, and his intent seems to be to subtly take the reader from a scene of “Oh lord! Some varmits are torturing Jonah Hex!” to “Oh wait…confederate flag? And are those Union soldiers?”

I think that’s a nice, nuanced approach by Bernet, rather than having the cover be the union soldiers in the forefront, clearly torturing Jonah.

Okay, what does “color form” mean? Or is it “colorform”?
I’ve seen you use it a lot (English being second language and all that)
Maybe you should do an article about it. Why, I don’t know. Just so I learn.

Thanks.

Quoting wikipedia here, Colorforms are an American toy that consist of “paper-thin, die-cut vinyl sheet images and shapes that could be applied to a slick cardboard background board, much like placing paper-dolls against a paper backdrop. The images would stick to the background via static cling and could be repositioned to create new scenes.”

Therefore, when I say a cover looks like colorforms, I mean that it appears as though the artist drew a backdrop and then used photoshop to place a separate image on to the backdrop, giving it a disjointed feel that is similar to what colorforms look like.