Comic Book Resources

I think Niko Henrichon deserves massive props for that Fantastic Four cover, mainly because of the absurd level of architectural detail on the buildings. That’s some Gene Ha-caliber stuff right there. Very impressive.

I think that Loners cover should be in the top 5. The faces are so expressive, and the homage itself is a great idea.

When did Skottie Young start trying to be Bill Sienkiewicz?

With that Ultimate Power cover . . . wow, yeah. I totally missed that. It actually looks like they’re about to sail past each other without landing a punch.

I could really never stand Cable as a character, but I love that cover of Skottie Young’s. It reminds me of the good ol’ days of Bill Sienkiewicz’s work on New Mutant covers (Demon Bear et al).

That Ant Man cover is all kinds of weird. The girl looks like she’s not yet really gotten into the shower, but it’s already dripping like it was just turned off (unless people back out of the shower? do people really back out of the shower?). And I know there’s censors and all, but I’ve never known girls to wear a towel into a shower. Hm, so yeah. Intentionally phallic.

Danggit. E.D. types faster than me.

This is the part where I copy and paste almost everything I told Brian already.

Isn’t that Barracuda cover almost the exact same as last month’s? Weird.

I wondered this the first time I saw the cover, and I still don’t know. What the hell is coming out of Cable’s chest? Is it a super long opposable nipple?

I actually like Turner’s Silver Surfer on the FF cover. The extra-long arms add to his overall look somehow.

What’s the homage on the Marvel Zombies cover?

I thought there’d be a Watchmen countdown-like theme for the Moon Knight covers, but the clock doesn’t make much sense when looking at the last few issues’ covers. It doesn’t even have hands on one of the covers.

Is Juggernaut like Hulk? Does he get bigger the angrier he gets? Otherwise, I’m trying to figure out why Nocturne is so small on the Excalibur cover. His right shoulder is almost as big as her whole body.

I’m totally ok with elbow spikes on Nova. At least, they could have some sort of offensive weapon advantage.

Ha! Not the mama!

I actually said, “Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me” when I saw Ronin on the Ult. Spider-Man cover.

Now, for the only part where I include Brian’s part in the conversation because it reveals horrible secret about Brian.

Me: I have to ask. What look would satisfy you for Rahne’s Wolfsbane appearance? I thought the head looked good this time around, but Strong Guy’s face is a bit off.
Brian Cronin: anything but a giant wolf head on a normal female body
Me: You can’t even see her body on the cover!
Me: Just a head and one hand!
Me: I think you’re prejudice against werewolves.

There you have it, folks. He’s a lycanthrope bigot.

Man, I used to love Dinosaurs. I wonder if I’d still think it’s good. Should check out the DVDs.

Speaking of dinos. Is that Devil Dinosaur on the Heroes for Hire cover? ’cause I may have to buy it if so.

The Marvel Zombies cover is a reference to Uncanny X-Men #268 - “Together Again! For the First Time!”

http://www.jimbodalobster.com/xmen268.JPG

Holy crud, where did you get these covers without their titles on them?

And I have to say, that Cable and Deadpool cover has me a little depressed. Nice enough cover and all, but the story better not be switching back to Cable…

Holy crud, where did you get these covers without their titles on them?

Follow the link at the top, Shea! They’re all there!

That Marvel Adventures FF cover was by far the best of the bunch.
As for the #1 pick, ehh. The right arm is off.

That Ultimate Power cover looks like they’re getting ready for a violent, super-manly hug.

Grinning in anticipation.

RE: Omega Flight
Will Captain America use his old “The Captain” moniker again?
(The Captain - his name is The Captain!

Blade’s fist is bugging the hell out of me. The angle’s all wrong, and it’s too small.

Silver Surfer, on that FF cover, really does look like he’s posing to accentuate his, um…cosmic batch. It’s disturbing. Especially since that’s his skin, so he’s basically smooth down there. Perhaps that’s why he poses like that, to compensate.

“I’m not a Ken doll, mine is the Power Cosmic!”

The catchphrase wasn’t “Not the Mama!” It was “Knock the Mama” because the little baby dinosaur would then knock the father (I think his name was Earl) over the head with a frying pan.

The main thing I remember from that show was how it ended. A giant meteor came to earth, destroyed everything, and it just ended with the TV showing a horrified newscaster, and then it goes to snow. How depressing for such a light hearted show.

That Greg Horn cover for Ms. Marvel looks like the pre-fight screen from Street Fighter II. Sorry, that’s the best I got.

I also thought the Marvel Adventures FF cover the best of the bunch. I never buy something just because of its cover, and haven’t ever read any of the Marvel Adventures line… but that cover tempts me to break both habits. Very striking with a nice dash of mystery.

I’m gonna go ahead and agree with Punch and Frug about MAFF. It really was just awesome.

The Heroes For Hire cover should be number 1. Not only is it a great composition, but is the only non-cheesecake, posing cover that I remember for the series.

I dig your cover commentaries, keep it up.

I’m afraid you’re mistaken Mr. Jones. It WAS “Not the Mama!” As in Earl was “Not the Mama” because he was the dad.

I think the Bianchi covers are a sequence. You said they were all the same, but now they’re fighting where-as in the first issue they were just approaching each other. I don’t recall the other covers, but if they are sequential, that would be pretty darn cool.

Hey Cronin, you ever think of doing a “dog of the month” to counteract the top five?

First off, I really enjoy this feature and read it every month. This is the first time I didn’t agree with any of the top five, so I thought I would submit my own comments.

Top Five: Black Panther, Marvel Zombies, Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four, Spider Man Loves Mary Jane, Daredevil

The Black Panther cover is tops! Rockin the boat, so to speak. Excellent design, excellent illustration, and most importantly a blast! Look at The Thing shaking his fist at the Human Torch!

Honorable Mentions: White Tiger (excellent, but the covers for this book look to similar), Iron Fist (good design, good illustration, but a little flat, just a slight angle would have the Iron Fist striking Hydra but in the direction of the reader, also putting one of those sites OVER him would give a bit more depth), X-Men First Class, Heroes for Hire (first cover I remember liking for this book)

Hulk 105 has to be one of the boringest covers this month. Don’t get it. I guess there is some artistic skill involved, but what is going on? The Hulk is lying down on an exploding bed of rocks and sunlight? Its not comfy, making him shout?

The Omega Flight cover is outright terrible. Sure, it has some nice design elements, but nothing stands out except the big red arrow-thingy. Everything else is a horrific mess. Too many lines, you can’t tell where one character begins and another ends, lumpy, swirly textures in the background (and foreground!) that are almost as distinct as the characters. Yuck!

I don’t understand the Punisher 46 cover. Is someone standing over him unloading round after round into him? Are the shell cases bouncing off his chest? No damage? What the hell’s going on? Nice drawing, but… Maybe I’m dense or something?

I usually don’t mind Greg Horn *too* much, but the She-Hulk cover has the same problem as the Ultimate Power cover: they look like they are illustrating a pose for a martial arts class and that they will not actually hit each other. Or maybe they are playing twister?

I’m not sure about the Loners cover. The girls’ faces looks like a weird cross between manga and playdough… I guess its just not a style that works for me. The fact that two of the guys have their faces completely hidden (or barely existent as the case may be) makes the strange style of the faces even even more apparent.

Marvel Adventures FF for me, too. It’s rare these days to see a cool cover concept that actually makes you think “Wow, I need to read this book and find out how that happened!”

Hulk/Power Pack is a great one, too.

Interesting covers around this month.
By far my favorite of the month is the Kano SPIDER-MAN ADVENTURES. Vibrant colors mixed in with the dark inks of his work.
I also love the Hulk/Power Pack covers. David Williams does a fantastic job taking over the much missed Gurihuru art team; as I’m looking forward to reading this mini.

The Bad:
The hell is up with those Cable covers? Skottie Young’s was nice, but what terrible anatomy that is; his neck is as thick as his shoulders are. Its a nice attempt to be all high-brow comic art, but get the basics down before going to the next level. And the other is “Generic Cable metal arm and Shining Eye” cover…breaking some new ground there! *rolls eyes*
Zombies: Am I the only one that doesn’t get the Zombie Craze? Did I miss the email about this one? Are Zombies supposed to be that effing cool? I prefer Arthur Suydam drawing his Libby from the Lost World than another zombie cover.

The rest were decent generic covers that usually have nothing to do with the interiors I’m guessing.

The Ant-Man cover is definitely intentionally phallic.

Joke for the Ms. Marvel cover: “1, 2, 3, 4, I declare a thumb war!”

My Ms. Marvel cover joke:

“Tastes Great!” “Less filling!”

Eh, best I got.

You liked that She-Hulk cover? You can barely tell which arm Iron Man’s supposed to be punching with.

Also, boo for Tony villainisation.

I’ll say the same thing about the Nova cover that I did at work:

It looks like the cover for Grease, the Movie Musical, starring… Nova!

Wella-wella-umph, tell me more, tell me more….

DubipR said:

“Zombies: Am I the only one that doesn’t get the Zombie Craze? Did I miss the email about this one? Are Zombies supposed to be that effing cool? I prefer Arthur Suydam drawing his Libby from the Lost World than another zombie cover.”

Zombies are supposed to be that effing cool, but most of the comics aren’t living up to it.

Re: Michael

“The Omega Flight cover is outright terrible. Sure, it has some nice design elements, but nothing stands out except the big red arrow-thingy.”

That “big red arrow-thingy” is a Canadian Maple leaf. You know, because Alpha/Omega flight are a Canadian super hero team.

I must voice my disapproval of the Heroes for Hire cover due to the emphasis on dinosaur taint.

I like the maple leaf motif on the Omega Flight cover, but that’s the only positive thing I have to say about the cover or concept of the book.

Good god, that is one ass-ugly Michael Turner cover. Wow. Silver Surfer looks ridiculous, from the overly-defined abs (which are pointing to his lack of crotch), to the elongated arms, to the stupid pose. Just awful.

I think Ms. Marvel and Spider Woman are arguing over who got the worst breast implants. I mean, come on Greg Horn, have you ever looked at a woman? Jeez.

I am righteously stoked about that Jeff Parker/Mike Wieringo Spider-Man/Fantastic Four miniseries. It looks awesome. The cover is okay; nothing too amazing. Maybe future issues will be more dynamic.

Is that Marvel Illustrated a reprint of some old “Classics Illustrated” style stuff? I dig the P. Craig Russell cover.

I gotta disagree with you about the Newuniversal cover, Cronin. I think it’s pretty dynamic, and very striking.

Definitively, it IS “Not the Mama!”
…and so ends that…

For ONE NIGHT ONLY!!!
This Saturday! Saturday!!! SATURDAY!!!
At the Jack Kirby Memeorial Civic Centre!
Ms. Marvel Vs. Spider-Woman!!!
Featuring Special Guest Referee…BEVERLY SWITZER!!!
BE THERE!!!

Re: Ryan H

That’s illustrates the problem better than I could have hoped to articulate! I’m Canadian! I’m pretty familiar with the maple leaf. But that cover is an absolute mess. Even each point of the maple leaf has a different texture applied. It’s just a headache-inducing mess.

The whole “characters walking past hieroglyphics featuring them” has been done, like, a gazillion times (okay, maybe only a bazillion), so that was why I didn’t have the Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four cover higher - as I did not think it was all that original, and if you take away originality points (which I presume is what people are giving him credit for), then the cover really isn’t all that great.

Good cover, though.

There’ve been more characters walking past heiroglyphics covers?

Huh. Never would’ve guessed.

I’d have called the Heroes for Hire cover the best of the month, too. But I collect “Dinosaur Crotch Shot” books.

I really like the Blade cover too, though. I figure the backgrounds should clue us in that it ain’t goin’ for photorealism.

It seems to me that s April) Books By Their Covers would have more to do with Baby shower game idea than just about anything else. Hello from the US please give a little more detail for us \’dunderheads\’.

Honourable mentions:

Exiles 93 - what can I say? Another sexy cover
Iron Man 17 - brave choice of cover
X-23 5 - that Choi should be used more
X-Factor 18 - another strong X-Factor cover - very reliable!

Top Five

5 Marvel Zombies/Army of Darkness 2 - with so many zombie homages, you have to pick the stand out ones carefully. But this is great.

4 Cable & Deadpool 39 - absolutely no idea what is going on but isn’t Skottie Young capable of compelling, idiosyncratic covers?

3 Irredeemable Ant Man 7 - because it sums up Eric O’Grady perfectly

2 Loners 1 - I love the 80s homage and very cutely conceived.

1 Nova 1 - what can I say? It made me buy the book and what more can you ask of a cover? Outstanding.