Batman #172

How can the knights be invisible? They're right there, Batman! It's probably the gold one. He looks the meanest.

Justice League of America #36

I like the drawing, but Ma taught me not to make fun of disabled people.

Adventures of Jerry Lewis #88

Bob Hope's comic is way better, especially since Super-Hip is in it. That's what my buddy Dave says, anyway. My Dad told me Jerry Lewis has too many loose screws, whatever that means. This issue looks really scary, though.

Green Lantern #37

Old man Burgas told me he saw something just like this when he took that trip to Mexico. I don't know what he's talking about. Evil Star doesn't look as tough as Starro, though. I bet Green Lantern can get out of this one.

Sea Devils #23

This is a pretty boring cover. I like it better when they fight weird monsters.

Blackhawk #209

The creepy mummy ants from last year are a lot cooler than King Condor. Why doesn't this cover have a background?

Strange Adventures #177

Millard's probably an alien! The monster's giant, veiny eye and bright red skin really jumps off the stands, but nothing here made me have to get this comic.

Secret Hearts #104

Ick! Kissing! This comic's for girls. And my Ma would say this one's a hussy!

House of Mystery #151

This comic never makes any sense to me. That Scipio kid at school likes it, but I think he eats paste.

Aquaman #21

I buy Aquaman sometimes, but that ugly face doesn't do this comic any favors!

Our Army at War #155

My brother Scott''s in high school, and he told me "fokker" is a really dirty word. How can they put it on a comic?

Showcase #56

He doesn't look like a pirate. Who wants to read a comic about these old superheroes anyway? I want them to bring back Tommy Tommorrow!

All-American Men of War #109

That flamethrower is really keen, but wouldn't the fuel tank explode from the bullets? I think it would work better if they colored Johnny Cloud something other than blue.

House of Secrets #72

The Morloo looks like he's made of broccoli. I always knew broccoli was evil.

Tomahawk #98

Why did they get inside a giant picnic basket? That was just asking for trouble. But I only buy this comic when they put a giant purple gorilla on the cover.

Honorable mentions! If only I had another quarter, I would've bought these!

Detective Comics #340

I heard the Cronin bully at school say that the Outsider is really Alfred, but that doesn't make any sense! Alfred died! They wouldn't bring a dead guy back to life. Anyway, I wanted to get this because of the Elongated Man story, mostly, but look how cool that Batmobile is!

Mystery in Space #100

It's really neat how the human guy is disguised as an alien and the alien guy is disguised as a human! But they gave away the secret on the cover, so I didn't feel like buying it. I bet this comic isn't half as "jolly good" as that Doctor Who show my British cousin Graeme keeps writing me about. But at least comics are in color!

Top Ten time! Holy cow!

10. Action Comics #325

I don't usually like Superbaby stories, but it says it's the best Superman story of the year! Why would they lie?

9. Captain Storm #7

I love bazookas.

8. Superboy #121

They sure use time travel a lot. This one looks like an interesting story, though! Will Superboy tell him? And why would Jor-El break his ship by flying out of it like that? Won't he need it to get back? I still have to know what's going to happen, though!

7. Adventure Comics #333

A superhero Civil War? I never thought anything like that could ever happen! I wonder why they're fighting.

6. World's Finest Comics #150

Couldn't Superman use his super-hearing or super-smell or something to tell Batman's there? Or maybe Superman's a dork! I think that's what that crumbum hood Nevett called old man Burgas that one time, anyway.

5. Girls' Romances #109

I didn't want to buy this one, but my sister Danielle made me, or else she'd tell on me for taking those dimes from Mrs. Curran's sidewalk! But maybe it's not so bad. I like the Beatles. Or are those the Rolling Stones? Actually, that one guy looks like poor President Kennedy, and the other fellow looks like this Donald Trump that my other cousin, Harvey, goes to college with. I don't think that Trump guy will amount to something as big as a comic cover, though!

4. Young Love #49

Sis made me get this one for her, too. I'm not real keen on these stories, but the colors on this cover make it look really groovy, or artistic, or something. It sure looks different from everything else on the newsstand!

3. Flash #153

Wow! He socked him right into the future! What a wallop! I've got to read this one!

2. Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #85

Jimmy sure seems off his rocker on this cover! He built a giant statue of himself and a Kryptonite catapult! Maybe it's a hoax, a dream, or an imaginary story. I have to find out! It sure looks wild!

1. Doom Patrol #96

This is the craziest comic book cover I've ever seen! It really beats the pants off those crummy Marvel comics! But where do they get the giant records?

Oh oh! Look at the time! If I don't hurry home now, Ma will kill me! And I'll miss The Munsters!

And I'm sure once the internet, or something like that, is invented, some spiffy website called, I don't know, The Grand Comics Database, will display all these covers. Maybe guys like me will be writing their own BLOGs! I guess it would be a GLOG, though, if it's somebody like little Greg Hatcher from down the block.

Bye!

40 Comments

• At July 15, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Oh good, I am pleased that you finished this so quickly - it's really a fun idea!

  Good job, Bill!

• At July 15, 2009, T. wrote:

  Is that Young Love cover by John Romita? It looks like it, especially the way the woman's lips are ...

• At July 15, 2009, T. wrote:

  Good job, Bill!

  Definitely.

• At July 15, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Funtastic, man. "Billy's List Of Goodness" was particularly inspired.

  And, yeah, that Doom Patrol cover was definitely the best of the ...

• At July 15, 2009, T. wrote:

  I was going to go with Cathy Lee Crosby by House girl works too.

• At July 15, 2009, Dean wrote:

  Wait ... Martian Manhunter was in "House of Mystery"?

• At July 15, 2009, matbs wrote:

  Ok, so you´ll only buy something like that Tomahawk-Book if there´s a purple gorilla on the cover, eh?

  Well, ok:

  http://www.comicmarktplatz.de/userimages/ui_4910c957f234b_20081104231447.jpg

  All ...

• At July 15, 2009, Matt wrote:

  I was waiting for "Why doesn't this cover have a background?" to show up, and like magic, there it was.

• At July 15, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  HA! I love it!

• At July 15, 2009, Dunc wrote:

  This is great but my god who did that Young Love cover?

  It's AMAZING.

• At July 15, 2009, Rob Schmidt wrote:

  Don't worry about the outcome in WORLD'S FINEST #150, Bill. Even though the dart will pop Batman's balloon, Superman's ...

• At July 15, 2009, T. wrote:

  Dunc, it looks like John Romita, Sr. to me. Very distinctive inking style, especially how he inks women's lips.

• At July 15, 2009, T. wrote:

  I googled and found this site:

  http://comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=588

  Yeah, it's Romita.

• At July 15, 2009, Patent Dragon wrote:

  Lovingly crafted from pure winium.

• At July 15, 2009, Dunc wrote:

  Thanks T.

• At July 15, 2009, Nathan wrote:

  I own a copy of that JLA issue.

• At July 15, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  That Flash issue was one of the first back issues I ever bought, at the tender age of 10. ...

• At July 15, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  Haha, awesome. Comics in the 60s were so much cooler.

• At July 15, 2009, Stephen wrote:

  So is that Flash issue like the old New Year's "I'm going to knock you into next week" gag, but ...

• At July 15, 2009, Dean wrote:

  I cannot get enough of this. It may be the most perfect blog post ever.

• At July 15, 2009, Ted wrote:

  Why does Curt Swan think that crowns have giant round things on the front? Because he draws crowns with them ...

• At July 15, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Man, that trip to Mexico was pretty wild. I even went to Tijuana and picked up a Bible. ...

• At July 15, 2009, T. wrote:

  I just realized that that isn't the normal Green Lantern costume on that cover, the green area of the suit ...

• At July 15, 2009, TimCallahan wrote:

  There are two types of comic book readers in the world: (1) The kind that thinks these comics (as a ...

• At July 15, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Let me tell you, it didn’t look like anything I learned in Sunday School!

  You're obviously not a Catholic then...

• At July 15, 2009, kushiro wrote:

  I guess back in the 60s it wasn't necessary to use the word "cover" in every single description. And ...

• At July 16, 2009, wil wrote:

  I'd so buy Disabled Justice League

• At July 16, 2009, jloder24 wrote:

  I want to see an all non-pc bruhaha between Disable Justice League, Evil Star midgets and Raging Redskins!!!

• At July 16, 2009, Brian wrote:

  That was great!

  I have a question about one of the covers. Adventure 333 has "Civil War of the Legion" ...

• At July 16, 2009, Anthony Strand wrote:

  Nice work, Bill. I especially like the gags about the other neighborhood children.

  And good call about Ringo looking like Kennedy ...

• At July 16, 2009, Lobstah Johnson wrote:

  Before I even read your commentary on Girls’ Romances #109, I thought wow that 'Lennon' looks like Donald Trump here. ...

• At July 16, 2009, rhod wrote:

  Looks like Green Lantern is fighting near the Star Trek/Bill & Ted rock.

• At July 16, 2009, JoeMac wrote:

  IMHO Flash #153 looks like the most interesting one. I have a copy of Our Army at War #155 that ...

• At July 16, 2009, benday-dot wrote:

  Just FYI for all that are digging the Young Love #49 cover by Romita... I have a copy of it, ...

• At July 16, 2009, Kid Kyoto wrote:

  Great stuff, sign me up for more!

• At July 17, 2009, Speed Reading: Interviews and Flashbacks « Speed Force wrote:

  [...] Should Be Good looks at DC’s June 1965 covers, including Flash v.1 #153, featuring Professor Zoom and the Mightiest ...

• At July 17, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  Awesome post, Bill.

  I wish I had those Flash and Young Love comics. I'd frame them and hang them on ...

• At July 17, 2009, The Cosh wrote:

  Ha! Good stuff.

  I had no idea Army at Love was a play on an old title.

• At July 17, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>I had no idea Army at Love was a play on an old title.

  *sigh* Kids these days ... What the ...

• At July 17, 2009, Ah, the Golden Age | HyipLife.com wrote:

  [...] http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2009/07/15/judging-dcs-june-1965-books-by-their-covers/ [...]

As always, the format:

• Title, issue number, artist

• Cover image
• Comments
• Covers are in the order they are solicited, for the most part
• My top five are at the end of the post

Halo: Helljumper #2 by Eric Nguyen

Ah, the visual disparity between background and foreground, one of my favourite things to see in a cover! The drawings are okay on their own, but they don't match up.

The Marvels Project #1 by Steve Epting

An iconic, theme-setting cover. I don't recognise that masked figure (anyone know who it is out of curiosity?). It works for me.

The Marvels Project #1 variant by Geralrd Parel

An interesting montage of images that don't quite match up. Does this hint at some major revelations in the book? That the heroes we know are a second happening after a first unknown one? Odd.

Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead #4 by Richard Isanove

Isanove continues to mimic Jae Lee's style, but with softer lines. That computer colouring sheen of Isanove's colouring is a constant and I'm not a big fan. The image itself is rather nice, though.

The Stand: American Nightmares #5 by Lee Bermejo

Dramatic and well drawn. Solid.

All Winners Comics #1 70th Anniversary Special by Daniel Acuna

A fun cover with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

Mystic Comics #1 70th Anniversary Special by Juan Doe

Sketchy and dramtic. The Vision terrorises the city! RUN!

Marvel Comics #1 70th Anniversary Special by Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic, and variant by Frank R. Paul and Dead White


Both doing their own version of Marvel Comcis #1. I prefer the variant, which captures the feel of the original a bit better, I think. The regular cover is more exciting, though.

Anita Blake: The Laughing Corpse -- Necromancer #5 by Harvey Tolibao

Giant tear ducts! Sadly, one of the better Anita Blake covers I've ever seen.

The Trojan War #4 by Dennis Calero

Most cover artists wouldn't have added the great touch of Zeus in the background, which helps pull it together, placing it firmly within the realm of mythology. A striking cover.

Price and Prejudice #5 by Sonny Liew

It suits the material. What more can you ask in this case?

Riftwar #4 by Jason Chan

Decent cover. Well drawn. Not particularly interesting.

Punisher Noir #1 by Tim Bradstreet and variant by Dennis Calero


Both amazingly striking, eye-catching covers. Bradsteet's use of photoreferences helps for the historical perspective/setting. Calero's is very simple, but no less powerful.

Luke Cage Noir #1 by Tim Bradstreet

Is Bradstreet using a different style here? It doesn't look as photoreferenced or clean as his normal work, and it's really great looking. Lovely cover.

Crossfire #1 and variant by Pierre-Mony Chan


The regular cover is much stronger with more action and drama. The differing looks on the man and woman's faces is interesting. The three women standing around is not.

Ultimate Comics Avengers #1 by Carlos Pacheco

Well drawn, but just some characters standing around with a total lack of background.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 by David Lafuente

That's one funny looking Spider-Man. That could be attributed to a new character behind the mask, though. Otherwise, a pretty standard Spider-Man cover.

Amazing Spider-Man #601 by J. Scott Campbell

I like J. Scott Campbell. He encourages my delusions that women like to sit around at home in skimpy clothing, pressing their breasts together to better show them off to any unseen watchers.

Amazing Spider-Man #602 by Adi Granov

Why is there no ground? Usually, in car magazines with women posing on vehicles, there's ground.

Dark X-Men: The Beginning #3 by Jae Lee

Why are their eyes glowing? Norman Osborn is one creepy looking weirdo here. Both characters look possessed or something.

Uncanny X-Men #514 by Terry Dodson

The Dark Avengers fight shitty looking robots to prove how tough they are. Not bad, really.

Dark Avengers #8 by Mike Deodato

What's better than Wolverine versus Wolverine? Wolverine versus Girl Wolverine! Ass shot! I do like how vicious and rough this cover looks.

X-Men Legacy #227 by Terry Dodson

I love the idea of Rogue taking Ares's battleaxe and using it against him. I don't like the lack of background.

Dark Wolverine #77 by Leinil Francis Yu

How is Dark Wolverine standing there with only one foot on the building? Why is he glowing? Has Dark Wolverine developed new powers? FIND OUT IN THIS ISSUE!

Dark Reign: Hawkeye #5 by Clint Langley

Very good cover. A nice little twist on Bullseye as Hawkeye, and draws the viewer in by wondering how this happened to him. Really good.

Dark Reign: Young Avengers #4 by Mark Brooks

Uh oh, someone's gone bad! Not terribly original, but intriguing and makes you want to know if Wiccan has betrayed the team for a little nookie.

Invincible Iron Man #16 by Salvador Larroca

We don't get nearly enough "jumping away from explosion" covers. They're dynamic and always make you want to know what's blowing up.

Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man #3 by Chris Bachalo

Great image and well executed. J. Jonah Jameson learns that ragging on the new Spider-Man isn't exactly a smart idea. It almost makes you want to cheer on Dark Spider-Man.

Dark Reign: Mister Negative #3 by Jae Lee

A really striking, engaging picture. I do want to know why there is a power cord there, though.

Thunderbolts #135 by Francesco Mattina

This cover makes me want to read this issue. What else need be said?

Skrull Kill Krew #5 by Mario Alberti

Very interesting and eye-catching. The dull colours don't help, but there's something very appealing about the composition. Great use of negative space and a solid idea.

Dark Reign: The Hood #4 by Marko Djurdjevic

A solid, symbolic concept that is executed well.

Ms. Marvel #44 by Sana Takeda

Not a bad image. I like the way that Ares is looking away.

Dark Reign: Lethal Legion #3 by Tommy Lee Edwards

Well drawn, nice concept, and obviously not what happens inside the comic. But who cares when it's Tommy Lee Edwards? Not me!

Dark Reign: Zodiac #3 by Nathan Fox

Interesting image -- in the sense that I have no idea what's going on. Not sure what I think about this cover. I think it's well drawn, but the design mystifies me a bit. There is something compelling about it.

New Avengers #56 by Stuart Immonen

Another Dark Avengers versus New Avengers image, but... by Stuart Immonen! Maybe I'm biased (actually, I know I am), but Immonen makes it better. He always makes it better.

Hulk #14 variant by Ian Churchill

We don't know what the normal cover looks like, but it's almost certainly better than this. Although, this is a pretty decent cover coming from Churchill, though the lack of background... *shakes head*

Agents of Atlas #9 by Leinil Francis Yu

Nicely drawn -- as you'd expect from Yu -- but his theme this month seems to be "people standing where they shouldn't standing" images. Although, this one is a bit more symbolic than Dark Wolverine's odd floating act.

Avengers: The Initiative #27 by Matteo de Longis

A dynamic design and really draws the eye to it. Bright colours, energetic figures... very well done.

Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #3 by Patrick Zircher

Beta Ray Bill: 1. Galactus: 0. Patrick Zircher's cover: rather nice.

Captain America Theater of War: To Soldier On by Phil Noto

I like this design and Noto draws pretty well. Something about it just isn't clicking, though.

Black Panther #7 by Paul Renaud

An oldie but goodie design and the contrast between bright, primary colours and the black helps.

Exiles #5 by Dave Bullock

Energetic drawing, but very, very, very boring idea. "Hey, look, it's Blink throwing those energy things! WOW!"

Daredevil #500 by Marko Djurdjevic

Montage! Well drawn, fits in a lot of stuff, not a bad thing to do on a big event issue. MONTAGE!

Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire #1 by Jae Lee

And the winner of "Boring-ass cover whose art doesn't resemble the interiors one tiny bit" award goes to...

House of M: Masters of Evil #1 by Mike Perkins

A bunch of villains standing around. Some look interesting, some don't, a pretty average cover.

Incredible Hercules #132 variant by Marko Djurdjevic

What I want to know is, who buys these boring, piece of shit variant covers? Do you idiots (those who buy them and want them) just get them because they're variants despite not being, well, good? Is it an automatic impulse where quality or originality have no influence? I'm curious.

Incredible Hulk #601 by Ariel Olivetti

Olivetti drawing a giant Skaar? About time he's put on a book where drawing giant, muscle-bound men is actually appropriate to the title. Decent cover.

Son of Hulk #14 by Dave Palumbo

Unknown characters standing around, looking angry and tough. Pass.

Immortal Weapons #2 by David Aja

This cover design never gets old. And neither does David Aja's art.

Marvel Divas #2 by Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic

Less stupid T&A than the first issue, but still just the four characters standing around.

Iron Man & The Armor Wars #1 by Scottie Young

Very good drawing, but not that interesting design-wise. Still, another good Scottie Young cover.

Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #4 variant by Niko Henrichon

A solid pet-themed cover, showing Redwing out fighting crime with Falcon and Captain America. Not too exciting, but good enough.

Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #14 by David Williams

Average action sort of cover. Not bad, not great.

Marvel Adventures The Avengers #39 by Casey Jones

Funny cover. Spider-Man is a goofball. I love how each character has a different look on his face. Thor is rolling his eyes, Wolverine is scoffing, and Captain America has a look of fatherly amusement.

Mighty Avengers #28 by Marko Djurdjevic

Good action cover with a nice, tight perspective.

Models, Inc. #1 by Scott Clark

Decent fashion parody cover and a resolicit, I believe.

Punisher #8 by Mike McKone

Classic Avengers attacking the Punisher, while he looks confident? Nice. The colouring really gives this image a pop.

Secret Warriors #7 by Jim Cheung

Three characters standing around. Nice to see them keeping the broader cover design, but I'd like to see them tap Jonathan Hickamn for some covers.

Timestorm 2009/2099 #4 by Tom Raney

Okay, is that meant to be the Ghost Rider from 2099? Because it doesn't really look that different. Add in awkward poses, lackluster drawings, and it all points to a horrible cover.

War Machine #9 by Francesco Mattina

Technically sound (pun intended), but not that exciting.

Runaways #13 by David Lafuente

Good use of logi integration and another "people running away from an explosion" cover. Two in one month!

War of Kings: Warriors #2 by Paul Renaud

dull dull dull dull dull dull dull background/foreground problems dull dull dull dull dull dull

War of Kings #6 by Brandon Peterson

They're not even fighting in space, which I would believe! They're fighting against indistinct weird background that makes no sense! GAH!

Guardians of the Galaxy #17 by Daniel Acuna

Is it just me or does Warlock look a lot like Ikarus here? Kind of boring cover with nothing else of note to mention.

Nova #28 by Daniel Acuna

Great cover! This is more like it! Energetic and dynamic, well composed, and full of action. Excellent.

X-Force #18 by Mike Choi and Sonia Oback

An homage that works, because of the Wolverine connection. Adding his reflection really adds an emotional element of this cover.

Wolverine Weapon X #4 by Adi Granov

Wolverine mad. Wolverine stand around like moron. Chad hate dumb cover.

Wolverine Origins #39 by Doug Braithwaite

Good action shot. The look on Wolverine's face is fantastic.

Cable #17 by Dave Wilkins

Aside from background issues, the drawing of Cable really grabs you.

X-Factor #47 by David Yardin

Surprise! I don't read this book and I kind of want to know how this future comes about.

Deadpool: Suicide Kings #5 by Mike McKone

Interesting idea and drawn well.

Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #2 by Arthur Suydam

Absurd Jaws homage. Made me chuckle.

Deadpool #13 by Jason Pearson

This reminds me of the Booster Gold cover for August. A t-shirt design you would never really wear.

Uncanny X-Men: First Class #2 by Roger Cruz

The new team in action, pin-up style. Not bad, not great.

X-Men Forever #6 by Tom Grummett

Engaging image that catches the eye. Not bad.

Genext: United #4 by Alex Garner

"Oh! Gambit flicking cards at us! I haven't seen that in... well, a while, actually. Wow. It has been a while. Why couldn't it have been longer?"

Dominic Fortune #1 by Howard Chaykin

Fun, tongue-in-cheek Chaykin cover... very nice.

Destroyer #5 by Jason Pearson

Dark, disturbing image. Nice design and, if I recall, a callback to the first issue. I love bookend covers.

Punisher: Frank Castle MAX #73 by Dave Johnson

Eye-catching image, but a little empty of meaning.

Top Five!

5. Scourge of the Gods -- The Fall #2 by Aleksa Gajic

Beautiful cover! Dynamic and engaging, great composition and design. The colours are expertly done, too.

4. Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #54 by Scottie Young

Great design that leads your eye down to Spider-Man and blonde girl. Kind of cute, funny, and clever.

3. Incredible Hercules #132 by Rafael Albuquerque

I love it! Funny and goofy. As a Thor fan, this cover may finally make me pick up this series that I've heard so many good things about.

2. Wolverine First Class #18 by Scottie Young

Wonderful design and execution. Pretty damn funny. Young sure does draw the hell out of covers.

1. Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #4 by Karl Kerschl

Sure, last month I bitched about lame homage covers and this month, we get some very good, very funny ones. I even like how this is the fourth issue and so was the Infinity Gauntlet cover this is parodying. Brilliant cover. Really.

29 Comments

• At May 20, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I love it! Funny and goofy. As a Thor fan, this cover may finally make me pick up this series ...

• At May 20, 2009, jorge f. muñoz wrote:

  that Jaws homage looks A LOT like a cover done by Tony Moore for Crawlspace/ XXX Zombies

• At May 20, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  FGJ--No matter how many good books you buy, there are always going to be some that escape you. Unless you ...

• At May 20, 2009, Benito wrote:

  Re: The Marvels Project

  "I don’t recognise that masked figure (anyone know who it is out of curiosity?)"

  Looks like the Angel ...

• At May 21, 2009, jason wrote:

  Do I detect Sarcasm about Larroca's cover? Just wonderin'

• At May 21, 2009, Nathaniel wrote:

  I was gunna get Deadpool #13 anyway but add a great cover, hillarouis premise and a Pixies homage ("Wave of ...

• At May 21, 2009, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  "Looks like the Angel to me."

  Yup, that's the golden age Angel. All three characters were on Marvel Comics #1 and ...

• At May 21, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  jason--Nope. Explosion covers are great.

  Benito--I should have known. Thanks.

• At May 21, 2009, K wrote:

  On the hulk cover, the angle of the characters makes the background look like a rocky ground shot to me.

• At May 21, 2009, C. Adams wrote:

  I love the Thunderbolts cover.

  Is it me or is there a phallus in the background of the X-factor cover?

  And what ...

• At May 21, 2009, Al Kennedy wrote:

  In respect of Wiccan on the cover of that issue of Young Avengers, I don't think he'll have sold the ...

• At May 21, 2009, Duff Mcwhalen wrote:

  Are you really that mad about the 70th anniversary variants? Am I a shit loving idiot for going with the ...

• At May 21, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Mustachioed Hulk! Awesome.

• At May 21, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  That Wolverine: First Class cover is my favorite of the month. Skottie Young nailed that concept and knocked the expressions ...

• At May 21, 2009, Casey wrote:

  That Thunderbolts cover looks like the artist heavily photo-referenced Ray Wise (Laura Palmer's dad from Twin Peaks).

• At May 21, 2009, Alvin wrote:

  Some Great Stuff! Thunderbolts looks cool!( I think that is Ray Wise). Digging D.D. 500! Immortal Weapons absolutely outstanding! ...

• At May 21, 2009, jhota wrote:

  re: Timestorm 2009/2099 #4

  looks nothing like the Ghost Rider (or Spider-Man) 2099 i remember...

• At May 21, 2009, Hal Turner wrote:

  I think this month has a couple of great Jae Lee covers...and then there's that pose-heavy, useless Ghost Riders cover. ...

• At May 21, 2009, P_B wrote:

  Maybe I'm just a nerd but that Nova #28 cover with the towering explosion immediately made me think of the ...

• At May 22, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  Nick Fury looks like Gordon Freeman to me from Half-Life (or is the pic Half-Life 2?) in the Thunderbolts cover ...

• At July 9, 2009, Andrew wrote:

  Soo.... Is this feature dead?

• At July 9, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  With me doing it, yes. Brian, though, seems determined to continue it somehow.

• At July 10, 2009, Andrew wrote:

  Aw. Shame.

  It's my favourite regular feature, though I imagine it's quite labour and time intensive.

• At July 13, 2009, Truman wrote:

  Yes, you are sarcastic and mean, but it's not enough that you disrespect the many talented artists who work so ...

• At July 13, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Truman -- Actually, I gave up doing these posts because of the mind-numbing tedium of writing them. However, your comment ...

• At July 29, 2009, Joe wrote:

  Marvel Goverment: Why doesn't Marvel USA...conciet to congress for cyclopian eye fight paint on the streets and across the Marvel ...

• At August 11, 2009, thegreatsatan wrote:

  so Olivetti just cribbed his work from Ranxerox for the Hulk cover. Still looks good though.

• At August 12, 2009, Andrew wrote:

  Well, any news then on Brian continuing the feature?

  Howsabout featuring all the covers, but with comments only for the ...

• At September 3, 2009, Devan wrote:

  Heh, it's funny that you always scoff at the variant covers with white backgrounds, those are my favorites(well, amongst ...

As always, the format:

• Title, issue number, artist

• Cover image
• Comments
• Covers are in the order they are solicited, for the most part
• My top five are at the end of the post

Blackest Night #2 by Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert

This is a very, very good cover. The use of green and the pencils is just wonderful. Part of me thinks this isn't the finished cover and I hope I'm wrong there, because this is just lovely.

Blacket Night: Batman #1 by Andy Kubert

I like it. Nice action shot that could have been drawn from a number of POVs, but this one works.

Blackest Night: Superman #1 by Eddy Barrows and Ruy Jose

Striking and intriguing image that presents the reader with a great idea of what's inside.

Blackest Night: Titans #1 by Ed Benes and Rob Hunter

I like the concept and the rougher linework is good on Black Lantern Terra, but not so much on Beast Boy. Then again, I'm not a fan of Ed Benes's pencils or Rob Hunter's inks, so what do you expect?

Green Lantern #45 by Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy

Sinestro's skin colour works to the advantage of this image, making his yellow uniform stand out very well in a sea of violet/purple/pink. It gives the cover some much needed pop since it's a boring, standard, two characters fighting image.

Green Lantern Corps #39 by Patrick Gleason and Rebecca Buchman

Like the cover to Blackest Night #2, I love the rough pencils and colouring. The image here is much more scary/creepy than the other cover, though. It's also a bit more dynamic.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Run! #4 by KAKO

I like the two characters, very clean linework and colours that jump off the page, but it's very static and boring at the same time. I'm usually a fan of the use of negative space to draw attention to an image, but in cases like this, simply having the background drop away for two characters standing around itself what I'm talking about.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape #4 by Scott Hampton

This series has had some great covers. This isn't one of them. I understand the use of computer images given the central image -- but, the focus of the background being the centre while the character runs towards something else... it just doesn't make sense to me.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance #4 by Stanley "Artgerm" Lau

Not terribly original, but well executed. The way Lau draws their injuries is really well done. And why is the police ID bar in Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash's mouth?

Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink #4 by Brian Stelfreeze

After last month's mundane tattoo-centric cover, this is a welcome change. Bolder and demonstrates the Tattoo Man's powers more explicitly. EDIT (May 28): This is actually the second page of Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink #1, not the cover to issue four. Still, it would make a decent enough cover, don't you think?

Batman: Widening Gyre #1 by Bill Sienkiewicz

Restrained work by Sienkiewicz, but also very engaging and detailed. The sketchier, more "out there" style is saved for Batman, which sets him apart. Very nice.

Batgirl #1 by Phil Noto

A cover we've all seen for quite some time and not bad. It works as a teaser image online or as an ad, causing buzz surrounding the identity of Batgirl, but as a cover... I'm not sure.

Batman and Robin #3 by Frank Quitely

Great angle that leads the eye to the centre where Batman and Robin fight this swarm of identical men. Quitely is an expert on this sort of POV.

Detective Comics #856 by JH Williams III

The fur on the animal in the background makes the foreground image that much clearer and emphasises it superbly. Another winner by Williams.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #3 by Dustin Nguyen

The billboard is a nice touch to an otherwise boring cover. Very well drawn and the odd border for the picture is nice, but it doesn't really draw me in.

Gotham City Sirens #3 by Guillem March

A sexy tease cover that maintains some standard of decorum, going for a more suggestive look than explicit. Reminds me of an old pulp image more than anything.

Batman Confidential #32 by Guillem March

Not nearly as good as his Gotham City Sirens cover, but decent enough. I do like how March can vary his style so much and this is a solid action pic.

Outsiders #21 by Tom Mandrake

A clever image, but a little too busy and vague in execution. The ice, as well, looks more like water than ice.

Adventure Comics #1 by Francis Manapul

A solid concept, showing the two sides of Superboy and spotlighting his return. I will say that this cover does make me want to go on my "So what if Lex Luthor's genetic material was part of Superboy's make-up?" rant.

Superman Secret Files 2009 #1 by Aaron Lopresti

A nice concept that ties into the "Secret Files" nature of the comic.

Superman Annual #14 by Renato Guedes

A montage image that doesn't really work for me. It's a bit too busy and confusing. The actual artwork is nice, but the composition is a mess (and, for me, the composition of a cover is as important as the art itself).

Superman: World of New Krypton #6, Action Comics #880, Supergirl #44, and Superman #691 by Fernando Dagnino and Raúl Fernandez




A nice concept and a great way to spotlight that these four issues are part of the same story. It also sets up the two sides of the conflict. I like them.

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen Special #2 by Pere Pérez

Jimmy Olsen in trouble cover #8576. It still works, though.

Superman/Batman #63 by Rafael Albuquerque

HA! Funny, engaging image. The "GRODD" at the top adds well, particularly the lettering.

The Red Circle: The Hangman #1, The Red Circle: Inferno #1, The Red Circle: The Web #1, and The Red Circle: The Shield #1 by Jesus Saiz




Getting one artist to do all four covers is a smart idea -- I would have liked a bit more of a unified visual theme, though. None of the images are that engaging or striking. If I were to rank them: Hangman, Web, Shield, Inferno.

Doom Patrol #1 by Matthew Clarke

Fantastic concept, mediocre execution. More of the original cover, a better sense of the trio of characters breaking through -- both would have made the cover stronger. It's kind of blah right now.

Booster Gold #23 by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund

This should work, but... it just reminds me of a shirt design I'd expect to see in Previews that I would never buy. Or wear if given to me.

The Brave and the Bold #26 by Michael Wm. Kaluta

The art on the Spectre is great, but the rest of the figures look rushed and incomplete. A strong design, though.

The Flash: Rebirth #5 by Ethan van Sciver

An homage/allusion cover that works well, because it takes the basic design/story idea of The Flash #123, but distorts it to tell a new story with its image.

Justice League of America #36 by Fabrizio Fiorentino

Great concept and the execution is pretty good, for the most part. Another pencil-heavy cover -- is this a new trend at DC or are they falling behind? If it's a new trend, I approve, because it's been done a very effective manner so far.

Justice League: Cry for Justice #2 by Mauro Cascioli

The foreground image is great, but the rest leave me cold.

Justice Society of America #30 by Jesus Merino

The speckled colouring effect on Dr. Fate and the background is cool. Fate himself is an imposing/intriguing figure. The villains at the bottom seem like an afterthought, though.

JSA vs. Kobra: Engines of Faith #3 by Gene Ha

I'm not sure what to make of this. The art is great and the cover draws me in. The sky has a water effect that you wouldn't expect. Huh.

Dead Romeo #5 by Ryan Benjamin

A touching cover, nicely done. It doesn't make me want to buy the comic, though.

Jonah Hex #46 Cristiano Cucina

A decent image. Nothing special really, but competently done.

Green Arrow & Black Canary #23 by Ladrönn

What is up with the women's hair? The colouring just doesn't gel. Their poses is also a bit bothersome since they're both capable women who are cowering while Ollie does the job. Odd.

The Last Days of Animal Man #4 by Brian Bolland

Okay, this is just gorgeous work. There is something so unsettling about the manner in which Bolland does the shattering/fragmenting effect. The rest of the image is pretty standard, but that effect really elevates this cover.

The Mighty #7 by Dave Johnson

The colouring on this cover is disturbing, which works with the image. Very striking.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #7 by Kalman Andrasofzsky

Good combination of computer effects and regular pencilwork. The drawing is very well done.

Power Girl #4 by Amanda Conner

She is pissed off. Conner's facial expressions are unmatched. The lack of any sort of background hurts this for me.

Secret Six #12 by Daniel Lu Visi

Gotta love a composition that makes sure there's just enough room for both sets of breasts on the cover, eh?

Solomon Grundy #6 by Scott Kollins

Kollins's rougher, cruder linework is very appropriate for these undead characters and this is a great action shot.

The Spirit #32 by Gene Ha

Uh oh! The Spirit is in some capital T Trouble! Something very basic about this that's also very effective.

Strange Adventures #6 by Jim Starlin and Rob Hunter

This adventure sure looks strange, so this cover lives up to the title. An offbeat composition and image with some Weird balloons. Pretty good.

Titans #16 by Angel Unzueta

WHERE IS THE BACKGROUND?!? WHERE, DAMMIT! (And why does the Flash look like he's concentrating on looking cool?)

Wonder Woman #35 by Aaron Lopresti

A cool-looking design. No background, but it doesn't require one.

Vigilante #9 by Walter Simonson

SIMONSON!!!!!!!! Great design, engaging image, I like it.

Warlord #5 by Mike Grell

A classic fantasy cover. Well executed and well designed.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #8 by Scott Jeralds

Batman versus Yeti! YAY!

Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! #7 by Byron Vaughns and Ken Branch

This gets the basic concept of the book across, but not much else.

Tiny Titans #19 by Art Baltazar

Very cute cover that makes me feel all mushy deep down inside where I'm soft like a woman.

Cartoon Network Action Pack #40 by Jay Stephens

Flying glowing worms? Cool! Nice cover.

Looney Tunes #177 by Scott Gross

It's like a complete story in one cover. Great design, great execution.

Scooby-Doo #147 by Vincent Deporter

The contrast between art styles for the dragon and the gang is very striking and nice.

The Authority #13 by Simon Coleby and Cliff Rathburn

A decent fight scene. I do love Coleby's style.

Gen13 #31 by Mike Huddleston

Kind of cute and boring. Plus, this really doesn't match up with the solicit text at all. Not even close.

Wildcats #14 by Ryan Sook

Well drawn, nice execution -- the background image seemingly coming out of Tao's head is a cool touch.

Astro City: The Dark Age Book 3 #4 by Alex Ross

A little too washed out for my tastes. I know that's a purposeful effect, but it doesn't work. The image itself has a very classic feel.

Ex Machina #44 by Tony Harris

A pulpy sort of cover. Solid image.

Red Herring #1 by Philip Bond

Not as engaging as I like to see in a first issue's cover, but a nice enough concept -- plus, it's Philip Bond! BOND!

Free Realms #1 by Jon Buran

Totally not to my tastes, but seems appropriate for the book and its content.

Gears of War #10 by Liam Sharp

Decent composition, nicely drawn.

Killapalooza #4 by Trevor Hairsine

Great action cover, well executed. I like the perspective a lot.

Prototype #5 by Darick Robertson and Matt Jacobs

I love Robertson's art, but this cover is just so damn boring and dull.

Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash: Nightmare Warriors #3 by Shane Davis and Sandra Hope

Oh, so these covers connect! That... doesn't help at all. Hated last month's cover, hate this month's.

North 40 #2 by Fiona Staples

There's a lot going on here and I'm liking all of it. Strong image with lots of small, interesting elements.

World of Warcraft #22 by Mike Bowden and Tony Washington

Where does this take place? Why is there a wooden support beam? Bad cover!

Starcraft #4 by Federico Dallocchio

Fight scene! No background! Pass!

Peter & Max: A Fables Novel by Steve Leialoha

While very appropriate and well designed for a novel cover, it also would make a great comics cover. Striking and simple in its design.

Jack of Fables #37 by Brian Bolland

Nice looking cover. A bit boring, but very well drawn.

Fables #87 by Joao Ruas

Strangely unsettling. Very nice.

Air #12 by MK Perker

Nicely symbolic and composed. Very close to making the top five.

House of Mystery #16 by Esao Andrews

Creepy, simple and strong.

Hellblazer #258 by Simon Bisley

Great painted cover. Bisley can really draw his ass off when he wants to.

Greek Street #2 by KAKO

Very busy and messy. Too busy and messy.

Northlanders #20 by Massimo Carnevale

Strong, central image that catches the eye. Very nice job.

Madame Xanadu #14 by Michael Wm. Kaluta

Kaluta's linework is very impressive, but the image is a little bland.

The Unwritten #4 by Yuko Shimizu

I like it. Tom in the middle of the fictional sea. Great concept and nice looking cover.

Unknown Soldier #11 by Dave Johnson

Dave Johnson's style recently seems rougher than I remember. Not the most exciting of images.

Top Five!

5. Batman #689 by Andy Kubert

Another seemingly incomplete cover that I hope remains this way. The black and white water colours look is beautiful. The image itself draws focus in a clever manner. One Kubert's best covers.

4. DMZ #44 by John Paul Leon

Fantastic concept, composition, and execution. Haunting and engaging.

3. Super Friends #18 by J. Bone

HAHAHAHAHA! Bizarro JLA run other way! I love it!

2. Red Robin #3 by Francis Manapul

I love this cover. A lot of elements are combined here that could have clashed, but Manapul integrates them all nicely. Not only that, but the central image is very well drawn. A step up from his previous work and I hope he keeps this up.

1. Young Liars #18 by David Lapham

Perfect cover. I'm sad already. Goodbye, Young Liars.

28 Comments

• At May 20, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  That Titans cover is one of the worst "drawings" I've ever seen. Who thought that would be a good ...

• At May 20, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  BRING BACK BRIAN!

  HAHAHAHAHA! Bizarro JLA run other way! I love it!

  AHHHH... I had no idea why people thought this cover ...

• At May 20, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I've got to disagree about that Geek Street cover - I think it's quite lovely.

  Nice use of iconic images from ...

• At May 20, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  That Red Robin cover is fantastic. I especially like the textures used throughout. Looks like thumbprints in the sky or ...

• At May 20, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Ian, I hadn't noticed the thumbprints. Good eye. There's some much in that cover you can keep discovering.

• At May 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Did CBR have that Kubert cover?

  I don't recall seeing it.

  It IS quite good.

• At May 20, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Indeed it did, Brian. I download the covers from Newsarama, because their versions don't need to be resized, but use ...

• At May 20, 2009, Dave wrote:

  For me the most disturbing part of the Blackest Night: Titans cover isn't that Ed Benes couldn't even avoid the ...

• At May 20, 2009, Fan4Fan wrote:

  So, DC is finally jumping on the Zombie bandwagon....

• At May 20, 2009, Dave wrote:

  I'd have to say that the most effective cover for me this month was, surprisingly enough, the Scooby Doo cover. ...

• At May 20, 2009, Okman wrote:

  When I first saw that Kubert cover, I coulda sworn it was by Nguyen. Has Kubert used that style before?

• At May 21, 2009, Stephen wrote:

  I've figured out what I don't like about the Super Friends cover - why is only GL's costume the "evil" ...

• At May 21, 2009, Brian wrote:

  Those Superman covers remind of the Emporer:Joker series fromthe alte 90s. those were cool, too.

  Cheers,

  B

• At May 21, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  Such a great cover by J. Bone. It's the little things that sell it for me, not the general ...

• At May 21, 2009, C. Adams wrote:

  "That Titans cover is one of the worst “drawings” I’ve ever seen. Who thought that would be a good cover?"

  Oh ...

• At May 21, 2009, David wrote:

  I think you missed the concept of the JSA cover. The top part is a perspective from underwater of ...

• At May 21, 2009, Jeff R. wrote:

  Speaking of possibly incomplete, is DC editorial still debating what dates to put on Johnathan Kent's tombstone? Because leaving ...

• At May 21, 2009, Ian wrote:

  That Batman and Robin cover is truly hideous

• At May 21, 2009, Chad Walters wrote:

  "I’ve figured out what I don’t like about the Super Friends cover - why is only GL’s costume the “evil” ...

• At May 21, 2009, Justin Z wrote:

  That Batman and Robin cover *is* hideous, but that is precisely what I love about it. It's the sort ...

• At May 21, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  I've seen a lot of complaints about the Batman and Robin cover, but nothing beyond, "it's hideous," or "it sucks." ...

• At May 21, 2009, joshschr wrote:

  I don't think it's hideous, but beyond the novelty of the framing device, it didn't really grab me for a ...

• At May 21, 2009, Ian wrote:

  Ok, maybe "hideous" was over-stating it somewhat, but there are many, many things wrong with that cover in my opinion, ...

• At May 21, 2009, Alex wrote:

  The Red Robin cover is amazing. Manapul may be one of DC's best finds in recent years. Which means it ...

• At May 22, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  I actually prefer the more dynamic Kubert cover for the "Blackest Night" Batman mini than the one you ranked. Also, ...

• At May 22, 2009, Graeme White wrote:

  What's with the gratuitous Flash-ass on the Titans cover?

• At June 8, 2009, Comic Reviews: Power Girl and The Unwritten | Pink Raygun.com wrote:

  [...] Judging (DC’s August) Books by Their Covers (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) [...]

• At June 15, 2009, unknown wrote:

  Blackest Night Superman #1 cover is actually drawn by Shane Davis. You can tell by his signature on the cover.

As I mentioned in my post on DC's July covers, my format is to tell you what comic the cover is for, who drew the cover, the cover itself, my comments with a top five at the very end. I'm also using the same order as the actual solicitations, which is an odd mix of grouping titles by imprints, characters, overarching stories, and alphabetical. I can't quite figure it out, but who cares?

Halo: Hell Jumper #1 by Eric Nguyen

That spaceship on the left just does not fit into the verisimilitude of this picture, which is pretty decent. It doesn't blow me away, but it does the job.

Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead #3 by Richard Isanove

Isanove's art here has a "Jae Lee lite" quality and the computer colouring isn't too intrusive like a lot of Isanove's colouring can be. The image itself draws attention and catches the eye.

The Stand: American Nightmares #4 by Lee Bermejo

A horror comic with a horrific cover. This cover doesn't immediately jump out, but when you actually look at it, there's a lot of elements that really give it a sharp edge like the man eating the rat and the lighting.

All-Select Comics #1 70th Anniversary Special by Russ Heath

I'm not familiar enough with old covers to know if this an homage to a specific cover, but I'm not sure it works otherwise. Or, at the very least, this cover needs some text. The inset of the male character is a nice touch, but without text, it just looks odd.

USA Comics #1 70th Anniversary Special by Clint Langley

A striking image, but I really don't like this sort of colouring. For a nostalgia book, it doesn't fit. Though, I do enjoy that it looks ready to jump off like that were the top rope.

Anita Blake: The Laughing Corpse -- Necromancer #4 by Ron Lim

Ron Lim trying to imitate Brett Booth to maintain an artistic consistency is admirable, but misguided since this art style is godawful, ugly shit.

Riftwar #3 by Jason Chan

Minimal, but effective. I really like the composition and how the background figures blend into the darkness.

Pride & Prejudice #4 by Sonny Liew

Rather boring, but I'm also not sure how one could make a Pride & Prejudice cover exciting. This looks very much like one would expect a cover for this comic to look, so... no real complaints, I guess?

The Trojan War #3 by Dennis Calero

Very striking and designed well. The focus is clear and the drawing itself is engaging.

Daredevil: Noir #4 by Tomm Coker

Good use of shadow and light with a moody, dark composition.

Wolverine: Noir #4 variant by Dennis Calero

The use of black and white is a nice callback to the era with the use of yellow an allusion to Sin City, another noir comic. The image itself is dynamic. If I had to choose between this and the regular cover, I'd have a hard time.

Scourge of the Gods -- The Fall #1 by Aleksa Gajic

Not bad. The art is clean and nice, and I like the colouring. The composition is decent.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz #8 by Scottie Young

Scottie Young has really become one of the cover artists I look for in each month's solicitations as his covers are always unique, dynamic, and wonderfully drawn. This one is no exception.

Ultimatum: Fantastic Four Requiem #1 by Pasqual Ferry

The "end of the school year" vibe works well since Ultimate Fantastic Four has always been the smart teenagers comic. While it may not match up with what's been going on, symbolically, it's the right way to end the book.

Ultimatum: X-Men Requiem #1 by Mark Brooks

And, going the other way is this perfectly acceptable but utterly boring cover by Mark Brooks. "Oooh! Wolverine, Cyclops and Jean Grey in action -- kind of! Haven't seen that before!" At least it doesn't have the horrible colouring that early Ultimate books used on their covers.

Dark X-Men #1 by Jae Lee and Uncanny X-Men #513 by Terry Dodson


I've grouped these covers, but they pretty much have the same concept, just executed differently. Both do nothing more than illustrate the new Dark X-Men group. Both demonstrate the differing styles of Lee and Dodson, but aren't that spectacular in their own rights. Thankfully, neither artist did an homage to Giant-Size X-Men #1.

Dark Avengers #7 by Mike Deodato

Osborn and Frost as the minds behind the fight below? Effective concept and well executed.

X-Men: Legacy #226 by Terry Dodson

I imagine this comic is about Rogue, Gambit, and Danger. Not really dynamic or interesting, but Dodson sure can draw a nice looking picture.

New Avengers #55 by Stuart Immonen

A pile of Avengers... whenever I see an image like this, I always hope that, in the comics, the heroes will get beaten and, then, th villain(s) will gather them up in a pile like this. But that never happens. THAT NEVER HAPPENS, SO DAMN YOU, IMMONEN FOR MAKING ME HOPE IT WILL HAPPEN THIS TIME! GAH!

Secret Warriors #6 by Jim Cheung

The design for Secret Warriors covers is pretty good. The connected Jim Cheung covers have worked out well, too -- especially since he hasn't had any problem depicting the same characters multiple times despite the covers forming one larger image.

Dark Reign: Elektra #5 by Lee Bermejo

Well drawn, solid concept, that's about all.

Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #5 by Pasqual Ferry

Wow, this version of the Fantastic Four sure doesn't look that different from the one in Ferry's Ultimatum: Fantastic Four Requiem #1 cover despite one group being teens, the other being adults. Oh, except Reed's hair has that white streak here. Totally different. I was wrong.

Dark Reign: Hawkeye #4 by Clint Langley

Very striking and eye-catching. I like it.

Dark Reign: The Hood #3 by Marko Djurdjevic

Thanks to writing a review of Thor #601 earlier in the week, I can now spell Straczynski and Djurdjevic without looking. I thought that fact may be more interesting than this cover. I was right.

Dark Reign: Lethal Legion #2 by Tommy Lee Edwards

I love Tommy Lee Edwards's art. This cover is pretty standard, but his art is fantastic. I do hope this fight between the Williams ends with one saying "I quit." Superhero fights need more 'I Quit' resolutions.

Deadpool #12 by Jason Pearson

Cute.

Dark Reign: Young Avengers #3 by Mark Brooks

Well drawn, kind of cliched concept, but not bad.

Dark Reign: Mister Negative #2 by Jae Lee

Nicely drawn, but not that interesting.

Black Panther #6 by J. Scott Campbell

Um, what is up with these poses? Very odd.

Agents of Atlas #7 and 8 by Leinil Francis Yu


The foreground/background disparity on issue seven's cover is bothersome, especially because the drawing isn't that dynamic. Issue eight is put together much better.

Dark Wolverine #76 by Leinil Francis Yu

The Thing looks PISSED OFF. I like the composition here and the continued playing with shadows to suggest the similarity between Logan and his son.

Dark Wolverine #76 variant by Mike Choi and Sonia Oback

Bloody and boring. Very, very boring.

Dark Reign: The Goblin Legacy by Kalman Andrasofszky

I like that they coloured the line surrounding Osborn green. Other than that, it's very typical.

Skrull Kill Krew #4 by Mario Alberti

Interesting, but not well executed. The animal-tinged villains are interesting, especially the Galactus in the background.

All-New Savage She-Hulk #4 by Stephane Roux

The look on Ms. Marvel's face is perfect. The faded, muted colours is a great way of suggesting the dust and dirt in the air as a result of the fight. Rather good.

Ms. Marvel #41 by Sana Takeda

Not to my taste, but not bad. A little too posed.

Invincible Iron Man #15 by Salvador Larroca

This should be intriguing and dynamic, but it isn't. Something about Larroca's style makes images like this fall flat and seem lifeless.

Thunderbolts #134 by Francesco "Matt" Mattina

Energetic and moody. Good use of light and shadow.

Amazing Spider-Man #599 by Phil Jiminez

Solid composition. Nicely drawn. Definitely not a bad cover, but not really great either.

Amazing Spider-Man #600 by Alex Ross

The blank background really hurts this for me, as does the all red colouring. The image itself is very nice.

Amazing Spider-Man #600 by John Romita, Jr. (click for larger)

A standard Spider-Man shot. Well drawn. But so very mediocre in conception.

Amazing Spider-Man annual #36 by Olivier Coipel

Fun, standard, I like the suit on Spider-Man.

Amazing Spider-Man Family #8 by Nuno Plati

I really like the effect of the symbiote taking over Spider-Man. The background is awful, but that central drawing is rather good.

Avengers: The Initiative #26 by Matteo de Longis

Mediocre propaganda-tinged image. Not nearly as dynamic or original as other covers in this vein.

Astonishing Tales #6 by Kenneth Rocafort

I like the art style here, but the montage concept is weak. I understand that this is an anthology book, but a stronger central image would work better.

Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #2 by Patrick Zircher

The Silver Surfer doesn't quite look himself. Otherwise, I like this image. A classic mid-brawl bit.

Captain America #601 by Gene Colan

I can't explain why exactly, but I really like this. The combination of images and the paint... lovely.

Captain America #601 variant by Marko Djurdjevic

Nice drawing. Boring otherwise.

Captain Britain and MI:13 #15 by Mico Suayan

Nice image, nice concept, well drawn... overall, pretty good.

Exiles #4 by Dave Bullock

Solid cartooning. Every character has a unique look/feel.

Fantastic Four #569 by Bryan Hitch (click for larger)

Looks good, but is so very boring and uninteresting.

Franklin Richards: School's Out! by Chris Eliopoulos

Wow, the larger version of this cover did not turn out well. But, looking past the poor resizing, it's a good concept and very well executed. Eliopoulos does some very good work here. It's a shame we get a horribly resized image.

Fantastic Force #4 by Bryan Hitch

This looks rushed, not up to Hitch's usual standards. The concept isn't bad, but the execution isn't great.

Incredible Hulk #600 by Alex Ross

I don't know what to say. This cover isn't that bad, but there's nothing about it that I really like. Angry Hulk coming at us with angry Rulk and mushroom cloud in the background. Yeah... I don't know. Let's just move on.

Incredibe Hercules #131 by David Williams

Very static despite the emotional undertones.

Mighty Avengers #27 by Marko Djurdjevic

USAgent's curled fingers is a nice touch in an otherwise serviceable cover.

Immortal Weapons #1 variant by David Aja

No regular cover given, and this one is rather boring with the characters just standing around. But, still, it's David Aja, so at least they're standing around looking very good.

Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #3 variant by Nico Henrichon

I love the art here. Very sketchy and whimsical.

Iron Man: Armored Adventures #1

This advertises the contents ably enough.

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #53 by Scottie Young

And this cover seems like the partner to the Iron Man: Armored Adventures #1 variant by Young. Poor Tony couldn't outrun Peter. HA HA! This cover works more when put next to that one.

Marvel Adventures The Avengers #38 by Casey Jones

Not sure why some of these heroes look scared. This doesn't quite work, but isn't bad.

Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #13 by Patrick Sherberger

The art isn't the best, but something about this just makes me laugh. It's so absurd and funny. And weird. Heh.

Marvel Divas #1 by J. Scott Campbell

OH MY GOD NO NO NO NO NO HORRIBLE FUCKING COVER DIE RIGHT NOW

Marvel Zombies 4 #4 by Greg Land

That woman's face is freaking me out. She is enjoying her magic a little bit too much. Awful.

Marvels: Eye of the Camera #6 by Jay Anacleto (and black and white variant)


Very good (albeit brainless) concept and well executed. The black and white variant spotlights Anacleto's gorgeous pencils.

Punisher #7 by Mike McKone

Very striking and strong.

Son of Hulk #13 by David Palumbo

A little mysterious, nicely drawn... pretty tame, but still nice.

Kid Colt #1 by Luke Ross

A great action shot. Who is Kid Colt shooting at? I want to know.

Runaways #12 by David Lafuente

Cute, but kind of blah.

Thor #603 by Marko Djurdjevic

Doom looks like an evil robot. Still, I like this cover.

Thor & Hercules: Encyclopedia Mythologica by Mico Suayan

A bunch of mythological characters standing around... what else would you want from a cover to a book like this?

War Machine #8 by Francesco "Matt" Mattina

This image tries to be energetic, but it's very static and lifeless.

Timestorm 2009/2099 #3 by Piotre Cielinski

Very static despite this image obviously being the middle of a fight. The art itself is really energetic. I like the sketchy look.

War of Kings #5 by Brandon Peterson

I like the energy in Black Bolt. Very nice.

War of Kings: Ascension #4 by Brandon Peterson

*yawn* I already passed over this for the next cover on the rack.

War of Kings: Warriors #1 by Paul Renaud

Simple, but effective. Striking and very focused. Lovely.

Guardians of the Galaxy #16 by Salvador Larroca

Meh. But that could be because I miss the old Drax and Warlock. Or it could be because this cover isn't very good. Whichever reason makes you feel better.

Nova #27 by Daniel Acuna

Good design, nice use of colour to bring one character into focus while not distancing him from the background too much.

X-Force #17 and "bloody" variant by Mike Choi and Sonia Oback


I like the drawing and the pose, but there's not really anything to this cover. Either of them.

Cable #16 by Dave Wilkins

That kid has GIANT EYES. I like the concept, but it's a little empty. Doesn't anyone do background anymore?

New Mutants #3 by Adam Kubert

Hey! A background! And a compelling image! Nice!

Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #1 by Arthur Suydam

Okay, it says this is by Arthur Suydam, but it doesn't look like his work. Neither does it quite have the quality of Ed McGuinness who does the variant cover. *shrugs* Again, where's the background? Nice enough drawing.

Genext: United #3 by Alex Garner

Oh, those colours are just fucking horrendous. The image is okay.

X-Factor #46 by David Yardin

I like the close-up nature of this image. It focuses on the rage and energy of the fight without going for a "cat fight" feel. Well done.

Deadpool: Suicide Kings #4 by Mike McKone

No more goddamn homages to Amazing Fantasy #15! Or Action Comics #1! Or any of those cliched, over-referenced images! It's lazy! Create your own epic, memorable cover!

Wolverine: Origins #38 by Doug Braithwaite

This image looks familiar... another homage? Or is it just another Wolverine fighting someone cover?

Uncanny X-Men: First Class #1 by Roger Cruz

No background. Characters standing around. I don't care.

Wolverine: First Class #17 by Cameron Stewart

Heh. I like this. The body language, the composition, the actual drawing... really, really nice.

X-Men: Forever #4 by Tom Grummett

BORING BAD NO BACKGROUND NO MORE

Punisher: Frank Castle Max #72 by Dave Johnson

Johnson working the title of the storyarc into these covers has been really nice. A very design-oriented cover, but not that striking.

Terror Inc. -- Apocalypse Soon #4 by Marko Djurdjevic and Jalena Kevin Djurdjevic

Whatever.

Destroyer #4 by Jason Pearson

Nice use of colouring and dynamic image. Great facial expresson on the soldier.

Kabuki Reflections #14 by David Mack

Gorgeous, typical Mack.

And, now, the top five!

5. Incognito #6 by Sean Phillips

A great call-back to the second printing cover for the first issue. Very direct and grabs the attention.

4. Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man #2 by Chris Bachalo

BACHALO! EATS HACKWORK! CRAPS OUT BRILLIANCE! BACHALO! CRAZY VENOM TONGUE! DYNAMIC ANGLE! BACHALO!

3. Woverine: Noir #4 by C.P. Smith

An old trick of using Wolverine's claws to reflect another person's face, but the way that Smith breaks the woman's face up is fantastic. As is the darkness on Logan... very evocative.

2. Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #3 by Karl Kerschl

A really interesting cover. Great conception, great execution, all around a great cover. I like it a lot.

1. Iron Man: Armored Adventures #1 variant by Scottie Young

Goddamn, Young is good! Everything about this cover works. It's cute, funny, energetic, beautiful. Well done, sir.

That's it until next month. What do you think?

41 Comments

• At April 23, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Young is great, for sure.

  I really dislike the placement of the "camera" on that Sinister Spider-Man cover. A Venom crotch-shot? ...

• At April 23, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Yeah, I don't care (in that way where knowing would change my opinion of the cover -- thanks for the ...

• At April 23, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Yeah, referencing older work can get a bit tired.

  Here is the image I was thinking of, by the way. It ...

• At April 23, 2009, Reader Zero wrote:

  I'll give the Terror Inc. cover credit for referencing the Laocoon statue

• At April 23, 2009, Reader Zero wrote:

  Darn, you guys beat me to it.

• At April 23, 2009, Adam wrote:

  I like that Athena (I assume that's her) on the cover of the Trojan War #3 strongly resembles Athena in ...

• At April 23, 2009, Agent_Torpor wrote:

  That Wolverine Noir #4 cover looks like it has huge red hairy asscheeks in the bottom corner. Gross.

• At April 23, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I didn't even see that Iron Man cover in the solicits! If I had, it'd probably be my #1, too!

• At April 23, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  CBR didn't have it, but Newsarama did. Don't know why.

• At April 23, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  Is the Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth cover the first Heisman Trophy homage in comics?

• At April 23, 2009, tekende wrote:

  Dark Reign: Sinister Spider-Man - do we really need to be looking at Venom from that angle? I mean, really?

• At April 23, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Venom's crotch at #4? Really?

• At April 23, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  It's not like there's any groin details...

• At April 23, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  I dunno, I sense some kind of Byrnian Phantom Wang.

• At April 23, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  That Wolverine: First Class cover isn't just my favorite this month; it's my favorite ever. Cameron Stewart rules. He and ...

• At April 23, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  That "I Quit" reference would only have been weaker if I mentioned the Hardys by name.

  But, yeah, next time, I'll ...

• At April 23, 2009, HCE wrote:

  The idea of "bloody" variants is both hilarious and horrifying. Have Marvel done these before and I'm just forgetting, ...

• At April 23, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  My God, there are a lot of Dark Reign books. If you don't like the general concept of Dark Reign, ...

• At April 23, 2009, rwe1138 wrote:

  "... I’m also not sure how one could make a Pride & Prejudice cover exciting."

  Add zombies.

• At April 23, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Oh Daken, they may be crawling in your skin, but these wounds will indeed heal...

• At April 23, 2009, mycr0ft wrote:

  Speaking of homages, I'm pretty sure that the Wizard of Oz cover is supposed to be a reference to Andrew ...

• At April 23, 2009, Dave wrote:

  Marvel did bloody variants in a 50/50 ratio for the entire first arc of X-Force and a bloody variant for ...

• At April 23, 2009, layne wrote:

  Aw, beat to the Deadpool/Heisman reference!

  That Fantastic Four cover is really not good - what is up with Reed's face? ...

• At April 24, 2009, Orson Randall wrote:

  Hey Chad,

  Immortal Weapons regular cover was showed here:

  http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20683

  It is one hundred tinmes better than the variant, though.

• At April 24, 2009, Glen Newman wrote:

  That Wolverine Origins cover is a homage to the cover of X-Men #5 from back in 1991. Why anyone would ...

• At April 24, 2009, sniperboy wrote:

  I find your comments about Ron quite funny and uninformed. If you look at this artwork for Anita Blake, he ...

• At April 24, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I actually have heard that, sniperboy, that Lim's work on the Anita Blake stuff is often more about "doing the ...

• At April 24, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Be that as it may, it's still Lim's name on the cover and his art, so...

• At April 24, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Oh yeah, agreed. Just noting that I actually had heard that in the past about Lim from other people (that ...

• At April 24, 2009, doron wrote:

  can some one explain to me the hulk # system? didnt herc take over incredible? shouldn't that be ...

• At April 24, 2009, Brian wrote:

  Why is the Cap America 601 cover so good? Because it's Gene Colan. That's all we need to ...

• At April 24, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Um, If that's Bachallo's Venom, Why does it say "Townsend" on his palm? Or is the target thing Bacchalo's ...

• At April 24, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Tim Townsend is Bachalo's inker. I think the target is a signature of sorts.

• At April 24, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Thanks, Chad!

• At April 24, 2009, Anna wrote:

  The Ultimate X-men cover looks fine to me, energetic and dynamic. The Greg Land cover on the other ...

• At April 24, 2009, Tim wrote:

  Spidey takes a ride on Mjolnir and gets his head humped by a dog. Awesome.

• At April 26, 2009, Ike Iszany wrote:

  Daredevil Noir...A guy in a DD wife beater fights Curly??

  Dark X Men (Isn't that redundant?) That guy in the front ...

• At May 14, 2009, Jack Barron wrote:

  Trojan War #3 is terrific. #1 this month for me. Just a dynamic, striking cover by an artist I've barely ...

• At May 15, 2009, Hal Turner wrote:

  Man, I really like the Alex Ross "angry Hulks" cover. You, obviously, not so much. I really think that you're ...

• At May 18, 2009, Brandon Harbeke wrote:

  I think you were a little hard on the Uncanny X-Men: First Class #1 cover. Colorful characters on a white ...

• At August 1, 2009, Andrew Kilian wrote:

  How was the War Machine 8 cover NOT energetic? Are you joking?! I think you're being overly critical and have ...

My format will be slightly different from Brian's. No honourable mentions, only a top five. As well, I'll be listing the name of the book and the artists credited for the cover prior to the image with my comments below. I'm not quite as nice a guy as Brian who always went out of his way to say something positive about each cover. I won't be doing that, preferring to take the term "judge" a little more literally.

(Oh, and there was a snafu earlier where Brian accidentally published an incomplete version of this post. I didn't change my approach as a result of any comments. And, yes, I am harsh. Covers are important and they matter, and they should be nothing short of excellent or they're worthless.)

Blackest Night #1 by Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert

Kind of creepy and gets the broader idea of the book across. Passable.

Green Lantern #43 and 44 by Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy


These two work well as a pair, showing a sort of "before and after" view of the same spot. But, where's the background in #44? Is there one coming, because the lack of a background really hurts the pairing of the two covers. The design on the Black Lantern Martian Manhunter is nice, but a bit too subtle in its callbacks to his costume. The Black Hand looks suitably creepy, as well.

Green Lantern Corps #38 by Patrick Gleason and Rebecca Buchman

A nice twist on the normal "handing someone a Green Lantern ring" image with a handful of bloody rings. How did they get bloody and how did this Green Lantern get them? I kind of want to know now.

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1-3 by Ed Benes and Rob Hunter (click for larger)

Oh how I hate Ed Benes's art. And oh how I hate Rob Hunter's inking. These covers are even more comical when you look at each on its own, like how issue two will have Star Sapphire's crotch in the lower right corner. Did Benes realise this when he drew the covers? We have to assume that he did... and yet he did it anyway. Odd.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Run #3 by Kako

Static and kind of blah. I like the look on this woman's face if only because it shows that posing in this manner is actually requiring effort on her part.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape #3 by Scott Hampton

Not sure how the small "speed" effect for only part of the wheel works, but, otherwise, a lovely composition. Some good pop art.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance #3 by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau

I've been digging the painted/computer colouring look of Dance's covers, and this one continues that in fine form. Most Honorable Super-Bat kissing a girl in his costume, which is then displayed on a giant screen in the background? Good stuff.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink #3 by Brian Stelfreeze

A snake tattoo... each cover focusing on a different tattoo could be an interesting idea, but it hasn't worked out that way.

Batman and Robin #2 by Frank Quitely

Quitely's covers can be a bit hit or miss, and this is a miss. A boring composition that we've seen a thousand times before. Nothing that new here.

Batman #688 by Tony Daniel and Sandu Florea

Oh, Tony Daniel... it's Batman's head covered with a liquid of some kind. He looks mad. Probably because this cover is very mediocre.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #2 by Dustin Nguyen

Dynamic, and I like the sketchy, washed-out look of the art. It gives what could be a pretty standard action cover a little bit of flare that makes it stand out. Probably not to everyone's taste, but it is to mine.

Gotham City Sirens #2 by Guillem March

Not as exploitive as most artists would make this image. Kind of cool and clever, especially Catwoman coming off as cat-like.

Red Robin #2 by Francis Manapul

Is this a spoiler? If these are the same character, their jawlines could indicate a bit of aging. The colouring makes this image work fully. Much better than the first issue's rather dull cover.

Batman Confidential #31 by Guillem March

Ugh, a great example of foreground and background images put together on a computer in a way where they don't match up at all. Obviously, the creepy batty Batman in the foreground should stand out, but his relationship to the background looks like bad greenscreen work. There are better ways to make foreground figures standout from the background. Very distracting.

The Outsiders #20 by Lee Garbett and Trevor Scott

Boring. A lot of negative space that does nothing with dreary colours. This will blend into the sea of covers on the rack on July 22. There's no pop to it. Next.

Superman #690 by Andrew Robinson

This cover, when compared to Robinson's Superman cover, doesn't work nearly as much for me. The figure work is less competent and it doesn't have quite the same POP to it. Still good, it just suffers by comparison.

Supergirl #43 by Joshua Middleton

I can't look at this cover without thinking that that bird behind Supergirl is totally sneaking a look up her skirt. A very generic cover that's well drawn, but nothing special.

Superman/Batman #62 by Rafael Alburquerque

Very quirky in a creepy, campy sort of way... if that makes sense. I like how the Joker is so over-the-top, as if he's been altered by the overactive imaginations of Robin and Supergirl.

Superman: World of New Krypton #5 by Gary Frank

A good use of light and shadow. A very stark figure that gives a good impression of what's going on inside the comic. Despite not wearing his costume, it's clearly Superman and is engaging enough to make me wonder how and why he's been put in this position.

Booster Gold #22 by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund

Is the side of Deathstroke's face supposed to be that lumpy? It seems to accomodate for the image Jurgens places on his mask, which doesn't quite work. It's a good idea, but that lumpiness bothers me.

The Brave and the Bold #25 by Mario Alberti

Not bad, meant to be very basic and uses a lot of negative space. The shadow works, but I'm not sure what Hardware is doing to Blue Beetle. Is he holding him back or pushing him aside? The snow effect at the bottom is... vague and unclear.

The Flash: Rebirth #4 by Ethan Van Sciver

Dynamic and an interesting twist on this sort of image. I like the altered lightning bolt and that it seemingly takes place on a Flash logo. The juxtaposition of the very muscled Flash and the labcoat wearing Allen is a little disconcerting...

Dead Romeo #4 by Ryan Benjamin

Godawful colouring and computer effects over some godawful drawing. Why is most of this out of focus to demonstrate movement, while some parts aren't? Is the main guy's face not moving at all while the rest of his body is?

Green Arrow & Black Canary #22 by Ladrönn

I'm normally a big Ladrönn fan, but the cleavage on Black Canary here is rather distracting. I love the muted colouring and that it's obvious that the energy being sent out is sound waves. It's effective at getting the message across, but that cleavage... a bit much.

Justice League of America #35 by Eddy Barrows & Ruy Jose

Pretty solid coming from Benes. The ultra muscles and veins on Ace are horrible, but, otherwise, a solid and engaging composition. Though, why are the two women surprised in a frightened manner, while the guys are suprised in a pissed off way? Edit: As pointed out in the comments, the solicits are incorrect to credit Ed Benes since Eddy Barrows & Ruy Jose did this cover. Because I pay attention so much, I totally missed that signature. Apologies.

JSA vs. Kobra: Engines of Faith #2 by Gene Ha

Well drawn, but pretty boring. The JSA rushing off somewhere while Mr. Terrific carries a policeman. So what?

Justice League: Cry for Justice #1 by Mauro Cascioli (click for larger)

It's painted heroes coming at you out of hyperspace! With villains in the background looming overhead! I never quite understood how the Atom, a regular scientist, got so muscular and well-toned. That's weird. Not a horrible cover, but nothing that makes me want to actually pick up this comic.

Justice Society of America #29 by Jesus Merino

Is this meant to be symbolic or does the JSA actually get trapped in Mr. Terrific's black egg in this issue? I kind of want to know. I'm hoping for the latter, honestly. No real complaints or compliments here.

Jonah Hex #45 by Cristiano Cucina

Wow. This is very striking, particularly the casualness of Hex. He's in the rain in a town full of people who have been strung up and he doesn't seem to care that much. Very powerful.

The Last Days of Animal Man #3 by Brian Bolland

Everyone looks very unimpressed with Animal Man. Almost bored. Yet, he's freaking out. Older Superman's hair looks different from how older Superman's hair usually looks when an older Superman shows up. I like it. Nightwing is still Nightwing in the future? That we only see small, minor changes for the most part is really interesting and unexpected. Plus, you know, Brian Bolland draws pretty damn well.

The Mighty #6 by Dave Johnson

The contrast between the crayon-esque colouring of the astronaut and the very solid black of the Mighty is interesting. A striking image.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #6 by Kalman Andrasofzsky

Very dreary colours, but the drawing is good and grabs your attention.

Secret Six #11 by Daniel LuVisi

Not sure what I think of this. It's not bad, not good. The vague background figures are ominous, while the main image combined with the weather and torches has a very "virgin sacrifice" feel. Not sure the look on her face matches the setting... it's neither defiant nor beaten down. It's a bit too sultry.

Solomon Grundy #5 by Scott Kolins

Meant to have a very horror comic feel, obviously, but this is also very cartoony. Those two elements don't quite mix, but there's a certain power to this cover that I can't ignore. The figure is a little stilted, which holds the cover back.

The Spirit #31 by Nick Cardy

The Spirit knocks the second guy back with barely a thought! That's a great little touch! Cardy apparently only drew so much of this cover, but the colouring continues past his art... I wonder if that will get touched up for the final version. A solid piece of art that is better for the odd angles Cardy uses.

Strange Adventures #5 by Jim Starlin and Rob Hunter

A nice concept and the execution isn't bad. Since this cover features a relatively unknown character, not sure it has the drawing power you want. That bottom Weird looks out of his mind. He's my favourite one.

Teen Titans #73 by Joe Bennett and Jack Jadson

The shadow of Wonder Girl's head looks strangely tall and what's with her right (our left) leg? She's seemingly pressed against the wall, but the shadow suggests more room between her and the wall. Those small details jumped out at me, because this image is very boring and something I've seen a thousand times, done better in many instances.

Titans #15 by Angel Unzueta and Wayne Faucher

A comic drawn by Ed Benes but not featuring one of his covers? Weird! And I assume the Titans are in water, but it looks nothing like water. They look like they're in liquid light or something. And Tempest's positioning is awkward and I have no idea what his facial expression is meant to tell us.

Wonder Woman #34 by Aaron Lopresti

Wonder Woman is using a piece of wood she randomly grabbed as a weapon. I like that a lot. Not sure about that top shadowy figure, but, otherwise, a decent cover. Wonder Woman and Black Canary ready to kick some ass. Good stuff.

Vigilante #8 by Walter Simonson

Despite being the middle of some action and by Walt Simonson, this is rather boring and static. Don't look away or you'll forget the image entirely.

Warlord #4 by Mike Grell

You've seen this sort of fantasy image many, many times before, but Mike Grell sure does it nicely, doesn't he?

Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! #6 by J. Bone

Simplistic, but effective. A solid pin-up.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #7 by Scott Jeralds

I can't quite figure out what's going on here. Is Batman stealing Robotman's head? Are people scared of Beast Boy turning into a bat? I have no idea.

Tiny Titans #18 by Art Baltazar

The body language on each character is wonderful here. Everyone is doing their own thing and having Robin sitting up straight and proper is perfect.

Cartoon Network Action Pack #39 by Jay Stephens

I have no idea who these characters are, but the cover gives me a good enough idea. Not very exciting.

Looney Tunes #176 by Scott Gross

The angle used is really good, putting us right in the middle of the action. Bugs looks panicked, while Daffy barely cares that his car is up in the air. Why? I want to know.

Cartoon Network Block Party #59 by Robert Pope

This is the final issue, so having every character on the cover makes sense.

Scooby-Doo #146 by Vincent Deporter

Action, monster, fireworks, exictement... pretty much what you want from a Scooby-Doo cover.

The Authority #12 by Simon Coleby

I had to look at this cover entirely too long to figure it out. At first, I thought Midnighter and his two pals were looking through some sort of portal at a city. Then, I noticed the other part of the city beneath them and the moon in the background. Oh, someone is stealing the city! Except, in the real world, I moved on to another cover around "Then, I noticed..."

Astro City: The Dark Age Book 3 #3 by Alex Ross

Despite not liking Ross's work usually, I almost always like his Astro City covers. The unique, unexpected colours and lack of easily-referenced characters makes this one look really good and eye-catching. What an odd collection of characters.

Stormwatch PHD #22 by Leonardo Fernandez and Francisco Paronzini

Winter. Standing there. Looking grim. YAWN!

Wildcats #13 by Ryan Sook

I like it, but is it just me or do Grifter's eye look very feminine? Has Grifter become a woman? Nothing else indicates that, but I'm curious. The foreground/background discontinuity bothers me less here, because the background isn't the literal background.

North 40 #1 by Fiona Staples

Kind of static, but does showcase a bunch of characters I presume show up in this issue. For a first issue, though, I generally want (and so should everyone else) something that screams "YOU MUST BUY THIS COMIC!" and this cover doesn't do that.

Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash: The Nightmare Warriors #2 by Shane Davis

I like nothing about this cover. The art is ugly, the pose anything by engaging or dynamic. Ugh.

Gears of War #9 by Jim Lee and Scott Williams

Very similar to the Power Girl cover, but Lee doesn't pull it off quite as well as Conner. It's close, though. I'm actually amazed at how much I like this cover since I'm not a fan of Lee's art. At all.

Killapalooza #3 by Trevor Hairsine

I could do without any more crosshairs covers for at least five years, but, putting that aside, Hairsine captures a lot of energy of a rock show. I like it.

Prototype #4 by Darick Robertson and Matt Jacobs

Kind of boring. I like Robertson's art and this gives a general sense of the story, but, really, boring.

Starcraft #3 by Federico Dallocchio

I like the actual art, but the image is very static and dull. Another bothersome foreground/background disconnect. But, yeah, the actual drawing is rather good.

World of Warcraft #21 by Mike Bowden and Tony Washington

A two-headed monster shouting "By the power of Greyskull"? This reminds me of a splash page that would work within the context of a story, but, as a cover, is just wrong.

Greek Street #1 by Kako

A little too busy. I like the roughness of the character in the foreground and the use of pink. Dropping out a lot of the background stuff and simply focusing on the woman would have been stronger.

Fables #86 by Joao Ruas

Haunting, creepy, very well done.

Jack of Fables #36 by Brian Bolland

Very fun. The glee on Jack's face combined with the shock and outrage on the apes' faces... fantastic.

Air #11 by M.K. Perker

The white background could be boring, but the bird shadows, shaded appropriately sketchy make it work. The foreground figure is very interesting and draws the eye well. A striking image.

DMZ #43 by John Paul Leon

A central image with a bunch of small images, almost like photographs piled atop the main image. Most of the figures in the main image are wearing gas masks for some reason, while one isn't. Another cover that I find myself looking at for a long time, but not to figure anything out.

Bang! Tango #6 by Howard Chaykin

Well designed and composed. A striking image with a background that tells you a bit about the book. Chaykin is quite good at covers and drawing readers in through the single image.

House of Mystery #15 by Esao Andrews

Interesting image. The house is prominent, which I like -- it's the title "character" after all. The outside force unleashing ghosts on the inhabitants is well executed.

Madame Xanadu #13 by Michael Wm. Kaluta

Interesting composition. I'm not familiar with the book, but the doubling of these two characters intrigues me with the similar looks, eyes, and objects... wait, does the background figure have three hands?

Northlanders #19 by Massimo Carnevale

Violent, dynamic, fluid... very good.

The Unwritten #3 by Yuku Shimizu

What the hell is going on? Not in a "I don't understand" way, but in "I want to know how these events have come about" way. What the hell is with that guy in the front? Very interesting and makes me want to pick up this book to find out what's going on.

Scalped #31 by Jock

Very lovely design and a good use of negative space to emphasise specific elements. The focus is really drawn to Dash and his obvious problem with needles and guns.

Unknown Soldier #10 by Dave Johnson

Wow. This is a beautiful cover and, again, great use of negative space to draw the viewer's attention. The various versions of the title character are interesting as he grows with different objects -- each less deadly in an immediate sense (the camera not deadly at all usually).

Young Liars #17 by David Lapham

Striking popart image with the Benday dots and the guitar/gun Young Liars symbol on Sadie's sunglasses. Part of how this works as a cover is in the final product with the colour scheme and text.

And, now, for the top five!

5. Super Friends #17 by J. Bone

I like it. Very basic, but Bone gives each superhero their own little quirk. The Flash looking like he accidentally swallowed a bunch of sand is priceless. More comics need stuff like that on their covers. How about a month of "I think I just swallowed a bug" variants? Anyone?

4. Power Girl #3 by Amanda Conner

Gotta love the look on Power Girl's face. Sort of tired, sort of "screw you," sort of... I don't know, but it's really good. Amanda Conner draws faces that's almost on the same level as Kevin Maguire. The disconnect between the foreground and background here is problematic, though (it's a pet peeve of mine apparently -- I wasn't aware of it until this post).

3. Action Comics #879 by Andrew Robinson

I really like this cover's art. The absent-minded, distant look in Nightwing's eyes is engaging. Why is his fist raised that way while he looks bored? There's a lovely Sienkiewicz quality to Robinson's Nightwing here.

2. Hellblazer #257 by Simon Bisley

Is that John Constantine looking oh so scuzzy and horrid? I feel dirty just viewing this cover. Everything about the image screams seedy and horrible. I love it.

1. Detective Comics #855 by JH Williams III

How good is JH Williams III? This is a trippy, complex piece of art. I don't know where to look first and find myself coming back to it again and again.

That does it. Agree, disagree, let me know.

32 Comments

• At April 21, 2009, David wrote:

  I agree with almost everything you said with the exception of Gears of War - the coloring gives no sense ...

• At April 21, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  I like that you're judging these covers more harshly, but...er...where's the Top 5?

• At April 21, 2009, Matt Bird wrote:

  Nice write-up! And I love how you now give identifying info for every cover. It always drove me ...

• At April 21, 2009, Rob wrote:

  You said this about North 40: "I generally want (and so should everyone else) something that screams “YOU MUST BUY ...

• At April 21, 2009, Henry wrote:

  The rest of the Vertigo solicits and the top 5 seem to have been truncated. Liking the new format though.

• At April 21, 2009, Maurice Kane wrote:

  Your critique and assessment of covers is very insightful and intriguing. I like the opinionated nature of your observations,

  Your ...

• At April 21, 2009, Squashua wrote:

  JSA #29. Bottom left, look at Terrific's finger. Is the tip supposed to be visible through the otherwise ...

• At April 21, 2009, Squashua wrote:

  Also, there is something fundamentally wrong with the legs on that Wonder Woman cover.

• At April 21, 2009, Mea wrote:

  Is it just me or is the cover for Fables #86 not showing up. I note it has ...

• At April 21, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  WHOOPS! Not done yet... did I hit the wrong button? Sorry... I'll try and fix this now.

• At April 21, 2009, Henry wrote:

  Working great now! Thanks Chad.

• At April 21, 2009, C. Adams wrote:

  You know, I have no clue why your always so down on Benez. His art harkens back to when ...

• At April 21, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  You know, I have no clue why your always so down on Benez. His art harkens back to when comic ...

• At April 21, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Nice write-up! And I love how you now give identifying info for every cover. It always drove me crazy having ...

• At April 21, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  The JSA cover with the team in Mr. Terrific's "egg" is an homage to a 1940s JSA cover, All-Star Comics ...

• At April 22, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  Nice to have a cover judge that knows how to use the word creepy properly.

• At April 22, 2009, Bat2supe wrote:

  Nice thing to mention the artist name after the title.

  I 'm not that much with the new arsh way, it ...

• At April 22, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Never thought I'd live long enough to see Hellblazer make the number 2 spot.

  Now, I can die happy. ;-)

• At April 22, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Bat2supe--Regarding Alex Ross... Normally, I'm not a fan, but this Astro City cover is pretty good. I didn't do those ...

• At April 22, 2009, Bat2supe wrote:

  Hey, Chad !!

  Sorry, i got you confused with Brian, heck the "in your top tens"

  No problem, the JLA thing ...

• At April 22, 2009, Ike Iszany wrote:

  When you have a pin up shot of Supergirl flying or Batman's face covered in goo that doesn't make me ...

• At April 22, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  It take s a lot to make my eyes bleed ... but Ed Benes manages to pull it off, almost ...

• At April 22, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  I always thought that Gears of War needed a redheaded girl on the roster. Hope she makes it in to ...

• At April 22, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Wrestling references in the Marvel post just for you, Brad.

• At April 22, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  I do love being pandered to.

• At April 22, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Just wanted to reiterate that I dig this take on "Juding Books by Their Covers" and add that that's a ...

• At April 22, 2009, Eliot Johnson wrote:

  That Alberti Brave & the Bold cover is an homage to an old issue of Detective Comics.

• At April 22, 2009, C. Adams wrote:

  I can't hardly ever bring myself to say something is necessarily "bad art" because it is far beyond my ability ...

• At April 23, 2009, Tekende wrote:

  I have to disagree on one point. That Super Friends cover is absolutely awful. The Flash spitting out sand is ...

• At May 10, 2009, Scott Gross wrote:

  I was VERY VERY disappointed to see how the colors looked on the image you received for LT 176. ...

• At May 16, 2009, Hal Turner wrote:

  Scott Gross, thanks for the revised image. A very nice Looney Tunes cover, by the way.

  I usually like Lopresti's ...

• At July 23, 2009, AMP wrote:

  WOW - I just became a fan!

Let's begin!
___________________________________________________

A really nice drawing by Andrew Robinson (boy is he good) for Action Comics, but it's not all that dramatic of a piece, especially for a cover.

___________________________________________________

It's interesting, Guillem March draws all his women with prodigious breasts, yet Nightwing apparently is a eunuch.

Seriously, though, this Azrael cover is pretty strong overall. March IS more fun to see when he doesn't have any women to draw (well, that depends on what you want to see from the women he draws - the man does have a fine reputation at drawing erotica, so if that's what you like, I guess it WOULD be more fun for you if he drew women).

While off on a bit of a tangent, what strikes me most about March is the fact that he's a very good storyteller. Very good. Not only that, but I've seen advertisement work from him, and it's also very good - including very nice drawings of ladies. So why, then, when he draws women on superhero covers, they all look like they've stepped out of the pages of Eros Comix?
___________________________________________________

Jason Todd looks kinda cool on this Battle for the Cowl cover.

Is Penguin, like, two feet tall on this cover?
___________________________________________________

Perhaps I should give this Dustin Nguyen Gotham Gazette cover higher marks, but I dunno, while it is good, it also looks basically the same as his previous cover with a similar motif, only scratchier.

___________________________________________________

Okay, yeah, I missed it the first time around, but holy jeebus, Ladrönn has decided to go an extremely odd way with Batgirl's breasts.

They seriously appear to take up her entire stomach and chest.

Weird decision on Ladrönn's part for this Battle for the Cowl tie-in cover.
___________________________________________________

Interesting Stephane Roux cover for Batman Confidential.

I can't believe they're actually revisiting the silly Joker storyline from a few issues ago.
___________________________________________________

At least on this Guillem March cover of Oracle, she has a good reason for her shirt looking so disheveled!

___________________________________________________

See, now this is when an ass-shot really is not an ass-shot. This Joshua Middleton Supergirl cover has Superwoman's ass on the cover, but it seems quite natural and not exploitative.

It's a strong cover overall
___________________________________________________

Stronger Andrew Robinson cover for Superman.

It's another great drawing, but it's also unique enough to stand out as a cover, too.

___________________________________________________

I'm constantly amazed at just how dynamic Francis Manapul is.

This Superman/Batman cover is not even some brilliant design or anything like that, and yet he infuses it with a great deal of "life."

___________________________________________________

Interesting cover for Superman: World of New Krypton.

Who is this by?

Why not just let the great Pete Woods do the covers?
___________________________________________________

Fair enough Brave and the Bold cover by Dan Jurgens, although it seems like Jurgens only recently used this very same cover motif on a Booster Gold cover (only there it was someone else being reflected in Booster's arm).

But really - Magog and Booster Gold? There are few team-ups that the phrase "Because YOU demanded it!" applies to LESS than this one.
___________________________________________________

Good Jurgens cover for Booster Gold's comic, proper.

With a minimum of drawing, Jurgens tells the reader TONS about the issue.
___________________________________________________

A very appropriate cover by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau for the Final Crisis Aftermath mini-series dealing with the Super Young Team.

And man, Joe Casey is a perfect choice for the gig (after Morrison himself, of course).
___________________________________________________

Imposing Brian Stelfreeze cover for this Final Crisis spin-off mini starring the Tattooed Man.

___________________________________________________

Kako really put a ton of personality into the Human Flame's face (heck, his whole BODY) on this Final Crisis spin-off mini starring the Human Flame being on the run following the Martian Manhunter's murder.

___________________________________________________

Very cute cover homage by Ethan Van Sciver for Flash: Rebirth.

___________________________________________________

I really dig the computer effects on this Ladrönn Green Arrow/Black Canary cover.

___________________________________________________

Patrick Gleason always fills his covers with such awesome manic energy. I really enjoy his Green Lantern Corps covers.

___________________________________________________

Decent looking Justice League cover by Ed Benes.

His last few covers have been quite good, so it'll be interesting if it keeps up.
___________________________________________________

Strong cover design for Jonah Hex by Paul Gulacy.

___________________________________________________

Cool Justice Society cover by Jerry Ordway. Ordway seems to be vibing Carlos Pacheco a bit on this cover.

It's an interesting look.

___________________________________________________

Interesting, if a bit straightforward, cover by the great Dave Johnson for The Mighty.

___________________________________________________

Lee Garbett is doing some very engaging member spotlight covers for this series of Outsider covers.

___________________________________________________

Cute Power Girl cover by Amanda Conner.

Conner does a strong job of making Power Girl's chest seem almost natural.
___________________________________________________

Cool Ed Benes cover for R.E.B.E.L.S.

Benes has been coming up with some cool-looking cover layouts recently.
___________________________________________________

Intriguing Ryan Benjamin cover for Dead Romeo.

When given time, it's interesting to see what Benjamin can come up with, design-wise.
___________________________________________________

Suitably eerie looking Solomon Grundy cover by Scott Kolins.

___________________________________________________

Nicola Scott uses a slightly different style on this Secret Six cover - it almost feels painted.

___________________________________________________

Wow, it looks like Starlin's own characters are getting irked at the stories in Strange Adventures.

___________________________________________________

I continue to dig the Deathtrap trade-dress for this Titans/Teen Titans/Viglante crossover that Andrew Robinson has been doing.

How random is this whole, "Hey, Andrew Robinson, want to do a gazillion covers for us?" deal out of seemingly nowhere? Andrew Robinson has been awesome for years, then all of a sudden, he's doing every other DC cover.
___________________________________________________

Nice bit having Bagley finish out the triptych for Trinity.

I wonder where Bagley will go next?

JLA would be a nice fit.
___________________________________________________

The reflections are way off on Ravager's swords!!

Seriously, fine Teen Titans cover by Joe Bennett.
___________________________________________________

The golden lasso compels us to note how ridiculous Genocide looks.

Besides the terrible design job on Genocide, fine work by Aaron Lopresti! And if he did not design Genocide, then he's absolved!
___________________________________________________

Decent Brave and the Bold cover, but to be honest, Scott Jeralds can (and HAS) done a lot better, cover design wise.

___________________________________________________

Nice straightforward Ben 10 cover by Min S. Ku for Cartoon Network Action Pack.

I am LOVING the idea to go to spotlighted covers for these books. Ben 10 is so popular, why NOT spotlight the character?
___________________________________________________

Cute Cartoon Network Block Party cover by Stephanie Gladden.

You can (like me) know nothing about the characters featured on the cover and still get the basic gist of the cover.

Good work by Gladden.
___________________________________________________

Eric Jones does a good job introducing Comet the Super-Horse into the Supergirl comic book.

___________________________________________________

I am shocked by this, but I must admit, while it's certainly not a BAD cover, I don't particularly dig this J. Bone cover for Super Friends.

Super Friends are usually marked by one of three types of covers by Bone...

1. Clever cover designs (the League dressed as Batman, the League as finger puppets on Faust's fingers, the League about to be hit by a giant pie, the League as apes)

2. Colorful, bright scenes (the birthday party one, the Christmas/Hanukkah one, the circus one, the skateboarding one, the Halloween one)

or

3. Engaging action scenes (the pirate one, the locked in a cage one, the first issue group shot, the dinosaur one)

This is not a clever cover design - a bunch of question marks and face shots of the League? This is not a colorful, bright scene. And this is not an engaging action scene.

I think J. Bone has mostly been doing those three styles of covers because, well, those are all really good ideas for covers (especially for kids covers). This cover, meanwhile, is drab colors with a fairly mundane cover idea.

Ah well, I'm sure next month will be awesome as usual!
___________________________________________________

Dynamic Alex Ross Astro City cover, and another good demonstration of the wonders Ross can do with adjusted angles.

___________________________________________________

That's a shadow on ApolloEidolon's head there, right? Not a headband or something like that, right?

Fine cover by Simon Coleby.
___________________________________________________

Lots of interesting elements in this Tony Harris Ex Machina cover.

I wonder what percentage of Ex Machina covers have The Great Machine on them?
___________________________________________________

What is there really to say about the covers of Fringe?

___________________________________________________

Woah! Out of nowhere, Shane Pierce delivers a striking Gears of War cover!

Good stuff.

Especially when compared to the monstrosities they kept making Brendan Badeaux draw.
___________________________________________________

The name Killapalooza is a great. The concept behind Killapalooza is neat (a rock band secretly working as assassins, using the access afforded to them as a popular rock band to target highly secure people).

Heck, the basic idea behind Trevor Hairsine's cover for Killapalooza #1 is even good.

So why such a generic-looking outfit for the character on the cover?

It really detracts from the overall vibe of the comic.
___________________________________________________

I'm not quite sure what is going on on this Mysterius cover, but Tom Fowler makes whatever it is seem quite compelling.

___________________________________________________

In the alternative, this Prototype cover by Darick Robertson really does not make the material seem all that compelling, but of course, Robertson is not exactly given a brilliant premise to work with here.

Then again, part of that comes from the sheer ubiquity of characters/designs like Witchblade and the Darkness, who make seeing a "normal" looking person with a big ol' claw-like monstrosity on their arm seem almost common place.

So that raises the question - is it Robertson's responsibility to convey the fact that the design given to him by the video game company is a bit of a retread? If the design was unique, then this cover likely would come off better, so is it really Robertson's "fault" that he designed a cover based upon the uniqueness of a design handed to him from a video game company? I mean, his duty here is really to the video game company, right? So he probably SHOULD treat their design like it is really cool looking.
___________________________________________________

Fair enough Resident Evil cover by Kevin Sharpe.

Is that seriously what the guy looks like in the game?

Pretty funny.
___________________________________________________

Decent cover design by Federico Dallocchio for the new Starcraft tie-in comic.

When it comes to details, though, I love how Dallocchio had to go with the classic "tear the woman's shirt just enough to show SOME of the breasts" bit. That's a timeless gag.
___________________________________________________

Straightforward, but not bad Stormwatch PHD cover by Leandro Fernandez.

I love the abbreviation PHD for Post-Human Defense.

They should do more stuff like that - Wildacts NASA (National Attack Squad Alpha) or Gen 13 JD (Judo Doctorate).
___________________________________________________

Fine design by Neil Googe for this Wildcats NCAA cover.

By the way, I especially like the bit from the solicit about the back-up story - "Also, it’s the start of a backup story explaining why Deathblow isn't dead." I think all Christos Gage comics should involve stories explaining why various characters aren't dead.
___________________________________________________

So Pete Woods isn't doing Superman covers, but they'll have him do World of Warcraft covers?

Seems like an odd arrangement.

So does the interior artist of World of Warcraft get to do covers for even lesser books, then?
___________________________________________________

Interesting design by David Lapham for Young Liars.

___________________________________________________

Funny Seaguy cover by Cam Stewart.

___________________________________________________

Good to see Michael Wm. Kaluta doing more covers.

This Madame Xanadu cover is a strong cover.
___________________________________________________

The Great Fables Crossover is a bit of an interesting time to bring on Joao Ruas as the new Fables cover artist, because the trade dress for this crossover dwarfs the cover content SO much so that it is pretty negligible what the cover content is, so Ruas, Brian Bolland and Mark Buckingham don't have much room to work with.

Now, is it a GOOD idea to bring him in like this (less pressure) or a bad idea (less chance to make his mark)?

I lean towards the former.
___________________________________________________

Some nice, nuanced work on this Hellblazer cover by Lee Bermejo.

From an artistic standpoint, I think the barely noticeable tear is brilliant. From a cover standpoint, maybe it is a bit TOO nuanced.
___________________________________________________

I love how prototypically Chaykin these Bang Tango covers are.

___________________________________________________

HONORABLE MENTIONS
___________________________________________________

Very striking Air cover by M.K. Perker.

It's a very clever cover design.
___________________________________________________

Esao Andrews has been doing a wonderful job as the cover artist on House of Mystery.

It's a delightful idea to work the issue's number into the cover in this manner.
___________________________________________________

Not one of Jock's better Scalped covers, but still a strong work.

That's how awesome Jock is - weak Jock is still a very good cover.
___________________________________________________

Jeff Lemire manages to convey a style and mood for his new graphic novel, The Nobody, very quickly and very subtly.

I admire his ability to get the THEME of the work across so seemingly effortlessly.
___________________________________________________

Is this a new cover by Dave McKean for the Absolute Death Hardcover?

New or old, it's a beautiful cover.
___________________________________________________

The solicits say cover by Jim Lee, so I guess this Diego Olmos artwork is interiors, which is a shame, as I think it works very well as a cover.

It has a real timeless quality to it and really captures the wonder of Batman (the whole "guy swooping in from the darkness seemingly out of nowhere to save day" jazz) nicely.

___________________________________________________

Speaking of conveying a particular mood (I just was, honest!), Scott Hampton does so quite strongly on this Final Crisis tie-in mini featuring Nemesis being taken prisoner.

___________________________________________________

Art Baltazer's Tiny Titans covers are usually quite cute, but this one is a little more clever than usual.

A VERY cute homage by Baltazar.
___________________________________________________

Classic Paul Rivoche drawing.

It is almost Top Five material, but I think it is just slightly too subdued.

Still, it's a really great drawing and a good cover.
___________________________________________________

Not much to this Warlord cover besides it being just a Warlord pin-up by Mike Grell.

But damn, that's one fine Mike Grell Warlord pin-up!!
___________________________________________________

I really like the way that Vincent Deporter does not allow the reader to miss the eyes in the middle of the gold course. It's a clever idea to have the eyes there, but you run the risk of the viewer missing it on a quick glance - he solves this problem by making Shaggy and Scooby have over-the-top (for a normal person - typical for Scooby and Shaggy) reactions to the eyes to make sure the reader sees it.

I appreciate the approach, especially for a kid-oriented book, where subtly is not exactly a major virtue.

___________________________________________________

I think this Scott Gross Looney Tunes cover is excellent.

It pops off the page and draws the reader's eye with a clever/unique cover idea.

It ALMOST made the Top Five. VERY close between it and the #5 pick below...
___________________________________________________

TOP FIVE
___________________________________________________

5. I typically love Massimo Carnevale's Northlanders covers, and this one is no exception.

I don't think that the clever idea behind the cover really translates as well as Carnevale probably wanted it to, but still, it's a very strong cover.
___________________________________________________

4. This Dave Johnson cover would be a great cover withOUt the twist of having the gunmen mixed with the photographers.

What's amazing to me is how Johnson manages to make the man hidden while also clearly drawing the reader's eye to him.

Johnson's practically a cover virtuoso.
___________________________________________________

3. It's hard to decide which Bolland cover is better.

I guess I'm going to go with this Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow cover as #3.

It's a great representation of the original, only with the added coolness of Julie Schartz being there.
___________________________________________________

2. This Death of Animal Man cover, though, is a more powerful image as an homage.

It plays with the original better, and it also really works well even if you are unfamiliar with the original cover.

___________________________________________________

1. Yuko Shimizu, though, takes the cake with this tremendously clever and striking cover for the first issue of Mike Carey and Peter Gross' new series, The Unwritten.

It is really amazing how much it stands out, how well it matches the theme of the comic, how well it uses negative space.

Just a fabulous cover.
___________________________________________________

That's it for this month! Feel free to share YOUR prejudices and YOUR top five!

24 Comments

• At March 23, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  I'm surprised you used the word "cute" to describe a Flash cover with four corpses on it!

  There's a Looney Tunes ...

• At March 23, 2009, Brian wrote:

  And the best part of Kaluta's Madame Xanadu #11 cover? He's doing the interiors as well - for 5 ...

• At March 23, 2009, Nick Marino wrote:

  love that Power Girl cover. damn, Amanda Conner is so dynamic!!!!!!!!!!!!

• At March 23, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  I agree wholeheartedly with your top two pics. I loved 'em both as soon as I saw the solicits some ...

• At March 23, 2009, Chad Walters wrote:

  Killapalooza seems to have the same idea behind it as Zoolander. That's not to say it's a bad idea, ...

• At March 23, 2009, Dave wrote:

  I've played a fairly significant portion of the Resident Evil series, and I'm pretty sure none of the characters on ...

• At March 23, 2009, Thok wrote:

  The best one, I think, is Human Flame cover — he almost looks cool!

  More accurately, he looks very much like ...

• At March 23, 2009, Moored wrote:

  Thats not Apollo. Thats Eidolon

• At March 23, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Power Girl for #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  Hellblazer for #2

  Madame Xanadu for #3

  House of Mystery for #4

  Alex Ross's Astro City cover for #5

  Comments:

  The ...

• At March 23, 2009, comb & razor wrote:

  The Death cover is old... Still great, though.

• At March 23, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  The Death cover is old… Still great, though.

  Thanks!

  Where is it from? I couldn't find it among the various Death covers. ...

• At March 23, 2009, Michael wrote:

  No, Brian, I'm pretty sure it's a headband.

• At March 23, 2009, comb & razor wrote:

  Yeah... I think it was one of the pin-up books or something; I'll have to check, though.

  About that Batman/Killer Croc ...

• At March 23, 2009, Cass wrote:

  I can’t believe they’re actually revisiting the ABOMINATION OF A Joker storyline from a few issues ago.

  I agree.

• At March 23, 2009, The Mutt wrote:

  It's odd to see Harley with such a dour expression on her face. Her boobies look great, though.

  The Madame Xanadu ...

• At March 23, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Which Joker story? The only Joker recent story I've read was Batman RIP, and I'm sure that's not the one ...

• At March 23, 2009, Mr. Arkadin wrote:

  That's not Eidolon. That's Jenny Sparks's ex-husband, Lorenzo.

• At March 23, 2009, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  To be fair, Ladronn probably used as reference the Batgirl drawn by Damion Scott, who did most issues of her ...

• At March 23, 2009, Doug Atkinson wrote:

  The Absolute Death cover is from Death Gallery #1:

  http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=256272&zoom=4

• At March 23, 2009, 3viso.com » Blog Archive » A giudicare i PVS maggio Editoria Con loro Cover wrote:

  [...] Fonte Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources [...]

• At March 24, 2009, JumpingJupiter wrote:

  I liked your comments regarding March and Middleton. Middleton is one of my favorites for this reason. I'd like to ...

• At March 24, 2009, Si__ wrote:

  Joshua Middleton is a genius. Period.

  Magog and Booster - it could involve time travel, so why not?

• At April 7, 2009, Scott Gross wrote:

  Thanks for the praise on my Looney Tunes cover. That's an homage to the LeBron 'chalk' commercial btw -- ...

• At April 10, 2009, shane pierce wrote:

  hey thanks for the compliments on the cover - I was definitely trying to stay simple/graphic with the cover, ...

Let's begin!
___________________________________________________

Interesting Marko Djurdjevic cover for this 70th Anniversary variant, but I do have to wonder what's the deal - if 60s Marvel characters count for these covers, why not have Black Panther be the variant for, you know, Black Panther #1?

___________________________________________________

I can only imagine how unenthused Ron Lim must be about drawing these types of Anita Blake covers.

I'm with you, Ron! I'm with you!
___________________________________________________

See, Billy Tan! Cap's current costume CAN look cool!

Well done, Adi Granov!
___________________________________________________

Nice straightforward Barry Kitson cover.

I wonder how long the Hitch revamp of the FF costumes will last. I don't think it will be very long. It seemed to very much "his" thing, so when he leaves the book, I think they'll be gone soon after.

That's not a knock on the designs, I think they're fine, I just don't think they will last.
___________________________________________________

Kitson does a much cooler job on the second part of the story.

Very striking cover!
___________________________________________________

Gotta give Joe Quesada credit, he's pulling out all the stops to help Amazing Spider-Man!

Having Joe Quesada draw your covers is a huge boon for ANY book.

This is a pretty cool cover by Quesada.
___________________________________________________

"Damn it, Mephisto! What now?!?"

Seriously, nice cover by Ron Frenz introducing Spider-Girl to the Spider-Man Family fold.
___________________________________________________

Kenneth Rocafort certainly has a flair for the dramatic, doesn't he?

___________________________________________________

Not digging either Storm OR Emma on this Simone Bianchi cover.

Both are actually kinda frightening.
___________________________________________________

So wait, is Night Thrasher supposed to be with Justice and the others?

Ramos' design doesn't seem to indicate that, but I THINK that's what he's intending.

___________________________________________________

Decent Alex Ross cover.

I like the cover split, but I don't know if any one of the three slivers stands out that much, and the background color is kinda garish.
___________________________________________________

Did someone bet Ariel Olivetti that he couldn't do a cover made up of just old 90s X-Men images?

What a weird cover.
___________________________________________________

I think J. Scott Campbell gets a real bum rap sometimes. I mean, commercially, he's a total star, but critically, I think he gets knocked too much. The guy is a very talented artist.

This is a nice cover.
___________________________________________________

I'm not exactly sure what Deadpool is doing on this cover (is he grabbing Cable's shoulders?), but overall, it does stand out.

Olivetti is good at making his figures pop on his covers.
___________________________________________________

Great drawing by Mitch Breitweiser, but I don't think it really rises beyond "pin-up."

It's a great pin-up, though!
___________________________________________________

Okay cover by Stuart Immonen.

Not one of his best, really. It reminds me of an early 90s Marvel cover. Something you'd see during the summer when a title had six issues in three months.
___________________________________________________

You have to love the energy pouring out of Djurdjevic's covers.

___________________________________________________

What the hell?!?!? A Noir take on Daredevil?!!? That is sacrilege!! What's next, Sin City Noir?!?! Spirit Noir?!?

Some books just don't mix with the noir concept, Marvel!

GEEZ!

Good noirish cover by Tomm Coker, though.
___________________________________________________

Cute cover by Jason Pearson.

___________________________________________________

And another good cover by Pearson for the start of the Destroyer.

___________________________________________________

When I think of the three most badass super villains in the Marvel Universe, my mind automatically goes the Trinity....Doom...Magneto...Princess Python.

Thank you, Roger Cruz, for making my dream a reality!
___________________________________________________

I love that Deadpool is suddenly popular enough for his own mini-series concurrent to his ongoing series!

Hopefully that means Deadpool Classic Vol. 3 will be out soon (with Deadpool #11 FINALLY reprinted!).

I dig this Mike McKone cover, it plays to Deadpool's surreal qualities well.
___________________________________________________

I don't think Deodato quite pulls off the depiction of action on this cover.

Doom is handled well, but Iron Patriot doesn't actually seem to be pushing him.
___________________________________________________

Strong Daniel Acuña cover.

He has the ominous feel down pat.
___________________________________________________

Lee Bermejo kicked this cover's ass.

Very strong, bold work from Bermejo.
___________________________________________________

I think they just took an old Pasqual Ferry Ultimate FF cover and added grey to Reed's hair.

___________________________________________________

Come on, archery fans, let's hear it?

Does Clint Langley pull it off?

After Green Arrow Year One, Andy Diggle should write every archer.
___________________________________________________

Well designed cover by Pasqual Ferry.

___________________________________________________

I'm not as impressed with the design on this Tim Green cover.

The characters almost appear randomly placed.
___________________________________________________

Very fun looking cover courtesy of the always fun Dave Bullock!

___________________________________________________

For the second month in a row, I love the expressions on this Hitch FF cover.

You see, the key thing is when you're doing the "photo realistic" art like Hitch is to make the expressions still feel like they're being drawn, and Hitch has done that very well the last two covers. They're realistic without looking like ACTUAL static photos.

Fluidity is almost always the key difference between good photo-realistic work and awful photo-realistic work.
___________________________________________________

You have to love the brassiness of actually naming another comic book Fantastic Force.

Decent Hitch cover, but I think the decent part comes strictly from him drawing them - the layout and design of the cover is extremely bland. It's just his skills as an artist that makes this bland design still look cool.
___________________________________________________

I'm sorry, Chris Eliopoulos, I don't get the joke!

Franklin is putting a mean sign on the back of H.E.R.B.I.E., but unbeknown to him, a sign is being placed on HIS back...but it's not a mean sign! Doesn't that sorta defeat the joke?
___________________________________________________

I like how Salvador Larocca almost depicts for us the exact point where Star-Lord goes from being okay to being totally screwed - right after that lightning flash!

Cool cover.
___________________________________________________

Darn it, Suydam, last month you showed off how detailed you could be! I'd love to see more of that!

This is still a pretty good cover, but I like the Suydam from last month.
___________________________________________________

Very good placement of the guest stars by David Williams.

___________________________________________________

If Alex Garner just made all of his covers, like, 20% less shiny, I think it would improve them all a whole lot.

All New She-Hulk...that's pretty funny.
___________________________________________________

Sean Phillips continues to really match the noir feel he's going for on these covers.

___________________________________________________

Patrick Zircher gets the story across well, but I don't know if that merits the less than striking cover design.

___________________________________________________

Certainly not a BAD cover by David Mack, but I haven't seen an absolutely striking Kabuki cover in a few issues.

___________________________________________________

Imposing cover by Tommy Ohtsuka.

He conveys the terrifying nature of the bad guy quite well on this cover.
___________________________________________________

Is Jon Buran trying to make a statement by making it appear as though Hulk is on a whole other cover? Like the FF are so unimportant to him that's he acting like they're not even there?

Think that's what he's going for?

___________________________________________________

Nice return of Patrick Scherberger to Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man for the fiftieth issue.

___________________________________________________

It's amazing to me how well John Watson is aping these other Marvel covers.

___________________________________________________

I've been enjoying Greg Tocchini's covers for this series a lot the last few months, but for the finale, the cover layout just seems to sort of be, like, "just there."

After a number of clever arrangements, this one is a bit disappointing.
___________________________________________________

I get that Jay Anacleto, like last issue, is trying to convey the sort of tackiness of this era in Marvel history, but unlike last issue which wonderfully conflicted the tacky with the mundane to show how sharp the contrast must have been, this cover just shows the tacky, and it's not as cool.

___________________________________________________

You just gotta love Greg Land's cover arrangements.

If you didn't, you would perhaps weep at the sight of them...

___________________________________________________

Great pair of covers by David Williams.

The mixture of styles is PARTICULARLY impressive.
___________________________________________________

This Khoi Pham piece looks more like interior work than a cover.

___________________________________________________

Not a bad Billy Tan cover.

The design certainly helps the cover overall.
___________________________________________________

Darnit, Jo Chen, what's with the full pants?!?!

I mean, you remembered the correct way to have her facing, but demerits for the pants.
___________________________________________________

Diogenes Neves draws an interesting group here, although I wonder why Wolfsbane is missing.

In addition, Karma does not look Asian, like, at ALL.
___________________________________________________

Dude!

This is how bad ass this Daniel Acuña cover is - Gladiator punched that one Nova and his legs fell off!!

___________________________________________________

Cool cover homage by Mike McKone.

___________________________________________________

Terrible, terrible TERRIBLE cover homage by Mike McKone!!

___________________________________________________

I think perhaps the style of Lucy in the Sky's powers appeals to Ramos' pencils, because this is one of the best Runaways covers he's done recently.

___________________________________________________

This one-shot just does not have enough words in the title.

How "Dark Reign" was not part of the title is beyond me.

The cover itself, though, is quite good. Djurdjevic did a nice job.
___________________________________________________

Mario Alberti breaks out a grittier side for this Skrull Kill Krew cover.

I dig it!
___________________________________________________

Andy Blase's cover reminds me a bit of the late, great Mike Wieringo.

___________________________________________________

I LOVE the creepy eye expression Bermejo has going on this The Stand cover!

___________________________________________________

Mitch Breitweiser captures the Sub-Mariner's demeanor very well on this cover.

___________________________________________________

Jimmy Cheung uses the design limitations of the cover very well on this cover, by actually working the cramped space into the art. Clever.

___________________________________________________

Wow, I guess there's no more red body paint left?

Maybe THAT's what Maleev has her legs crossed...
___________________________________________________

I almost admire the fact that Alex Ross has the fabric fold there.

It's almost a bit of an achievement to have that there.
___________________________________________________

Nice offbeat cover by Francesco Mattina.

___________________________________________________

Hehe...while this looks like a fairly bad photoshop job, it does look pretty funny!

So good job by Leinil Francis Yu.
___________________________________________________

Denis Bajram goes from an incredibly striking cover last issue to just a dude.

Kind of a let down right there.
___________________________________________________

Weird cover layout by Francesco Mattina.

And the facial expressions on the right - so odd.
___________________________________________________

Cool Brandon Peterson cover, although I got sort of a kick out of seeing Lilandra being in basically the same pose Nightcrawler was in on last month's Peterson cover (different angle, but same pose).

___________________________________________________

Peterson's Darkhawk here is suitably eerie looking.

I dig it.
___________________________________________________

Strong cover layout by Doug Braithwaite.

I particularly dig the spittle from Wolverine's mouth.
___________________________________________________

Pretty cool Bianchi cover, although I wonder exactly how Wolverine is holding his footing on the plane.

___________________________________________________

Cool idea by David Williams.

We've seen Wolverine do this actual routine in a comic, right?

Anyone recall where?
___________________________________________________

Awesome C.P. Smith cover.

He sure as hell gets across the whole "noir" angle.
___________________________________________________

That's one shiny Wolverine by Nelson.

___________________________________________________

While I'm sure the book will be cool, I'm not too impressed by Ron Garney's cover here.

If you're going to do a riff on the whole "Wolverine holding his claws out" cover, you have to come up with a clever angle, and not just "Wolverine holding his claws out."
___________________________________________________

I like Frank Martin's drawing of Wolverine here.

I don't know if many of these Wolverine tie-in books are going for covers beyond "Here's a drawing of Wolverine! Done!" but at least it is a good drawing.
___________________________________________________

I love the expressions Yardin gives the Madroxes.

What's really impressive to me is the fact that Yardin is not alone there - a lot of other artists have made a point of giving different Madroxes different expressions. It's definitely appreciated.
___________________________________________________

It's interesting that Roger Cruz decided to give Cyclops a bit of a package and not Angel.

In any event, this is a decent cover in what will be a very cool looking quadtych saying good bye to a very fun book by Jeff Parker and Roger Cruz.
___________________________________________________

See? This is what I love about Clayton Crain.

He just EMBRACES this crazy crap.

"You know how Stryfe is kinda lame? Well, let's just take that to the NEXT LEVEL!"

I might not like the results, but I love how he gets there.
___________________________________________________

Oh man, Danger just radiates lame, doesn't she (it?)?

So I think Lee Bermejo deserves extra credit for somehow making the cover even kind of cool looking.
___________________________________________________

An origins book for Wolverine?

What a clever concept!!

Cool Tex cover.
___________________________________________________

I like the expression on this Adrien Floch cover, but I think it is might not be all that striking of an overall cover design.

___________________________________________________

HONORABLE MENTIONS
___________________________________________________

Great finale cover by Stuart Immonen.

___________________________________________________

I'm unfamiliar with Christopher Shy's work. It looks a lot like Tomm Coker.

Anyhow, this is a strong return to the 2099 titles.
___________________________________________________
Probably doesn't stand out enough to make the Top Five, but wow, what an amazing design of the Wicked Witch by Skottie Young.

___________________________________________________
Not as cool as the previous issue's covers, but still a cool pair of covers by Ed McGuinness.

___________________________________________________

Salvador Larocca does a great job here using all the computer effects available to him to make a cool looking cover.

___________________________________________________

I love so much of this David Williams' cover, except for Batroc's movement lines - I think they should not be directly down like that. I think more of a twist to them makes a lot more sense.

Still, the rest of the cover is out of sight. A great piece of cover art.
___________________________________________________

Awesomely clever Clayton Henry cover.

He's bound and determined to make Ant Man look cool, isn't he?
___________________________________________________

Gabriele Dell'Otto knows that Mexican Wrestlers are awesome!

___________________________________________________

It's a tough Top Five this month, some great covers.

I love this Marcos Martin cover, but I think I may love it more as a drawing than I do as a cover.

Still, in a lesser month (like the last couple of months) this would be Top Five easily.
___________________________________________________

TOP FIVE
___________________________________________________

5. Dang, that's one striking cover by McNiven!

The Red Skull wearing Cap's costume?

Awesome idea.
___________________________________________________

4. Why is everyone so mad at that shiny thing in the middle of the cover?!

Great Alan Davis work.
___________________________________________________

3. I am unfamiliar with Rafael Grampa's work, but woah, what an awesome cover this is!

Reminds me a little of the great Claire Wendling.
___________________________________________________

2. If this cover was any more appropriate for the themes that Duane Swierczynski was looking to explore, then it would have come out in 1953.

What an awesome cover by Dave Johnson. The sand dripping is perhaps the best of the lot.
___________________________________________________

1. Sonny Liew wins the internet with this amazingly clever Pride and Prejudice cover.

I absolutely adore this cover.
___________________________________________________

Okay, that's it! Feel free to share YOUR Top Fives and YOUR prejudices!

41 Comments

• At February 13, 2009, ejulp (John) wrote:

  That Jo Chen cover...never realized Ronin's costume is actually quite beautiful when it's not using the mask. Would love to ...

• At February 13, 2009, Oz the Malefic wrote:

  The arrow placement and artist signature on Marvel Adventures The Avengers #35 made me think that they had accidentally left ...

• At February 13, 2009, Mordechai Luchins wrote:

  That's "Evilhawk" on the War of Kings Ascension cover. You can tell by the helmet and shape of the gem.

  I ...

• At February 13, 2009, Michael wrote:

  Y'know, I'm not necessarily opposed to the notion of an "evil Darkhawk." I mean, the character was intentionally patterned after ...

• At February 13, 2009, Mel wrote:

  How did Marvel get permission to use The Joker on that Astonishing Tales cover???

• At February 13, 2009, James Figueiredo wrote:

  Brian,

  If you're unfamiliar with Rafael Grampá's work, you might want to check out last month's Hellblazer #250, where he drew ...

• At February 13, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Holy crap, that's a lot of cover judging today.

• At February 13, 2009, DubipR wrote:

  Lots of great covers this month.

  I agree with James, Rafael Grampa's work A-Mazing! Check out some updates here:

  http://muertoz.blogspot.com/2008/09/rafael-grampa-brazil.html

  But my ...

• At February 13, 2009, Steampunk Willy wrote:

  "Olivetti is good at making his figures pop on his covers."

  That's because he doesn't do BACKGROUNDS!

• At February 13, 2009, Tom wrote:

  Just wanted to point out that the "garish" cover background on Avengers/Invaders #10 is the Irish flag.

• At February 13, 2009, Miles wrote:

  Rafael Grampa is the next Great.

• At February 13, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  And now I can't stop staring at Danger's robo-nipples.

• At February 13, 2009, tk. wrote:

  Astonishing Tales and Secret Warriors are my favorites of the bunch. I'm pretty biased against all things Pride & ...

• At February 13, 2009, Lee wrote:

  That wolverine first class cover seems to be an Akira homage to me.

• At February 13, 2009, Dave wrote:

  I don't know about if Wolverine's ever done it in a comic, but the cover to Wolverine First Class is ...

• At February 13, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Maybe Cable and Deadpool's doing the tango, Marvel-style?

  Maybe there's an inside joke about what one feeds Lockjaw that makes it ...

• At February 13, 2009, Cully C wrote:

  I think Marvel needs a few more Wolverine titles.

• At February 13, 2009, S_O wrote:

  "Darnit, Jo Chen, what’s with the full pants?!?!"

  Well, they DID say something about "a great secret" in the solitics.

• At February 13, 2009, R.nav wrote:

  The Life and times of Lucas Bishop cover is based on the "Bishops Crossing" cover from his first.. second? appearence ...

• At February 13, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  All-New Savage She-Hulk??? Who is she? She's got red hair - JeanGrey? Madeline Pryor? Why ...

• At February 13, 2009, Biggles wrote:

  Seriously, Land's "Sisterhood" cover for Uncanny rocks.

  Knocking him is sooo kinda over.

• At February 13, 2009, Richard J. Marcej wrote:

  "All-New Savage She-Hulk??? Who is she? She’s got red hair - JeanGrey? Madeline Pryor? Why is her top stapled to ...

• At February 13, 2009, Teebore wrote:

  That Hulk #11 cover is, I believe, an homage to the Defenders first appearance in (??) Marvel Premiere #4 (??). ...

• At February 13, 2009, JG wrote:

  I don't find Danger lame. Not my favorite villain by any stretch, but I'd take her over say, Stryfe. I ...

• At February 13, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Isn’t that Thundra? It's Thundra's daughter with the Hulk.

• At February 13, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  "Seriously, Land’s “Sisterhood” cover for Uncanny rocks.

  Knocking him is sooo kinda over."

  It won't be until his art improves or goes ...

• At February 13, 2009, Chris Jones wrote:

  What's everyone's problem with Danger?

  I liked that arc.

• At February 14, 2009, The Mad Monkey wrote:

  Humberto Ramos - Yes...the bashing continues....

  With so much talent out there, why must The House Of Wolverine (for this month ...

• At February 14, 2009, Sanagi wrote:

  Missing caption for the Cable/Deadpool cover:

  Deadpool: Crap! I forgot, there is no such thing as a Vulcan death grip!

• At February 14, 2009, Anna wrote:

  Hmm..is knocking Land over? No. Not when he draws like this. also the Sub-mariner cover? Is that a big ...

• At February 14, 2009, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  For the Universal War One cover, that issue centers on the character's guilt for not being able to prevent the ...

• At February 14, 2009, Cable himself wrote:

  - I think the Thunderbolts and New Avengers: Reunion covers work well side by side.

  - The Runaways cover really ...

• At February 15, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  It’s Thundra’s daughter with the Hulk.

  Oh. My. God....

  Well at least that gives me an excuse to NOT ...

• At February 15, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  By the way...

  Is Marvel Zombies 4 also written by Fred van Lente? MZ3 was brilliant. I think he ...

• At February 15, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yep, Van Lente is writing the new one, too.

• At February 16, 2009, ron garney wrote:

  its about the attitude, not the 'cleverness' of the angle.

  ...

• At February 16, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  It's a pain, with ONE HUNDRED (capitalized because, well, DAMN that's a lot of covers) to go through, I often ...

• At February 18, 2009, David Williams wrote:

  HONORABLE MENTIONS

  "I love so much of this David Williams’ cover, except for Batroc’s movement lines - I think they should ...

• At February 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Sure thing, David, I'll gladly elaborate.

  When I think of Batroc, I think of his movements as a flip, which is ...

• At February 19, 2009, David Williams wrote:

  Thanks for clearing that up for me Chief...

  A bit to geeky but I can see what U mean. :)

  Maybe I ...

• At February 19, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Haha, yes, you should definitely make sure to run all lines before me to make sure I approve of the ...

Let's begin!
___________________________________________________

I don't know if Ursa is really famous enough for this cover to work the way it is intended. You know, like, "Oh man, it's URSA!!!"

Otherwise, though, it's a strong Andrew Robinson cover for Action Comics.
___________________________________________________

Guillem March has already established himself a bit as a fellow who likes to draw some top-heavy characters, hasn't he?

Still a pretty good Azrael cover, though.
___________________________________________________

Ladrönn is such a great artist, so I'm disappointed when he comes up with bland covers like this Arkham Asylum one-shot.

This would be a boring looking drawing if it was an interior page, let alone the cover of the comic!!
___________________________________________________

He gets slightly more stylized with this Man-Bat cover.

It is a step up.
___________________________________________________

I think it would be awesome if Squire was the new Batman.

While I dunno if I like the idea of a triptych for such a big mini-series for DC, Tony Daniel does a cooler looking cover here at least for the second part of The Battle for the Cowl.

It's quite odd, though, how Catwoman is in the same pose as Damian - almost exactly, reallly.
___________________________________________________

Perhaps we're not getting the whole story on these Ladrönn Battle for the Cowl covers, maybe there is some notable part of the trade dress that explains why he's doing these bland arrangements of just drawings of people (well done drawings, of course, as he IS Ladrönn, after all).

___________________________________________________

Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez has been using silhouettes on every part of this Batman Confidential series.

It's an interesting little touch.

Another good cover by the old pro.
___________________________________________________

Very cool Zach Howard cover for this collection of Batman stories with Two-Face and Scarecrow.

The design is quite sharp.
___________________________________________________

A suitably eerie conclusion cover by Kelley Jones to this Batman: Gotham After Midnight story.

___________________________________________________

Hahahaha!!!

Come on, seriously, no one saw Guillem March's cover here and didn't think it was a bit over the line?

No one looked at that and said, "Wait, huh? Why is Oracle dressed like that? Why are you focusing on Oracle's breasts? What gives?!?"

That said, if DC ever starts doing a line of Naughty Librarian comic books, they know who to turn to for the covers...
___________________________________________________

I like Joshua Middleton's thinking here... a shock for Supergirl and a treat for the audience!

I'm gonna give Middleton a pass on the odd ass shot, as it seems like a momentary lapse.
___________________________________________________

So is Andrew Robinson the regular cover artist on the two Superman titles?

If so, you could certainly do worse.

Nice looking cover, the reflection idea is an oldie, but a goodie.
___________________________________________________

So....what's going on on this Whilce Portacio Superman/Batman cover?

Should I know by looking at it?

___________________________________________________

Is that a new Carlos Pacheco cover for this collection of Superman: Ending Battle?

I seem to recall liking Ending Battle. That was Geoff Johns' first Superman work, right?

It was good, I particularly liked Joe Kelly's finale to it all, with Superman versus Manchester Black.
___________________________________________________

This World of New Krypton cover is by Pete Woods, right?

It's a good looking cover, a good examination at the torn nature of Superman between Krypton and Earth.
___________________________________________________

Dan Jurgens does a lot of these dramatic old-school pose covers. He's gotten quite good at it. He used to do it on Superman covers a lot

___________________________________________________

Very clever cover idea for the beginning of Flash Rebirth by Ethan Van Sciver.

___________________________________________________

Isn't it kind of silly to expect some random obsessed lady to handle herself at ALL in hand to hand combat with Black Canary?

Isn't Black Canary supposed to be really, really, really good at this stuff?

AH well, forgetting that minor detail, good Black Canary/Green Arrow cover from Ladrönn.

___________________________________________________

That's a pretty cool cover design for this Green Lantern cover by Philip Tan.

If you were going to design a character who was "greedy" and have them go into action, isn't that basically exactly how you would draw it?

Good job!
___________________________________________________

Interesting Green Lantern Corps cover by Rodolfo Migliari.

It certainly has a strong bold feel to it.
___________________________________________________

This History of the DC Universe cover by Alex Ross is not a new piece of artwork, is it?

If it is new, it's a good piece, although Captain Marvel's presence is kinda odd. You split the cover into three...then add Captain Marvel! Strange.
___________________________________________________

Okay, is this, like, three good months in a row for Ed Benes?

Very strong work on this Justice League cover, without any of his typical problems.

Top notch execution of an engaging cover idea.
___________________________________________________

Cute Jordi Bernet Jonah Hex cover.

I love how he is playing upon the reader's knowledge of Hex, while at the same time, for a new reader, the question would be "How could he get out of this?" while the regular reader is thinking, "It'll be fun seeing Hex get out of this."
___________________________________________________

A cool send-off to the creative team of Geoff Johns and Dale Eaglesham by Alex Ross.

Although Wildcat II's spot in the picture is kinda odd.
___________________________________________________

A typical striking piece of cover work from Dave Johnson.

This time on The Mighty.
___________________________________________________

These character spotlight covers for the Outsiders by Lee Garbett are quite striking.

___________________________________________________

What a bizarre Andy Clarke cover for the R.E.B.E.L.S.

I dunno what is going on on it, to be honest.

Is that supposed to be Dox?

If so, why is his space suit shaped like a woman's bathing suit?
___________________________________________________

This Robin cover by Alex Ross is also not a new piece of artwork, right?

It's a very charming piece of art if new!
___________________________________________________

Ryan Benjamin tries out a different style on the cover to this new project, Dead Romeo.

Honestly, though, it might just be a matter of him simply taking more time. His recent awful Batman fill-in could easily have been due to being rushed.
___________________________________________________

An interesting exaggerated cover by Scott Kolins on this Solomon Grundy cover (vs. Bizarro).

I think the whole thing works pretty darn well.
___________________________________________________

Everyone is once again a little too smooth, but the design of the cover by Billy Tucci is sound.

___________________________________________________

I dig the sort of off kilter expression Bolland gives the Spirit on this cover.

Almost as though he is unease in the different duds.
___________________________________________________

Speaking of off kilter expressions, Deadshot certainly has one on the cover to the Secret Six, courtesy of Nicola Scott!

___________________________________________________

Impressive design work by Tony Harris on the latest Starman Omnibus.

___________________________________________________

With Adam Strange pointing at the sun that is still there, I think it defeats the purpose a bit on this Strange Adventures cover by Starlin to show that the OTHER sun is disappearing.

Why not draw attention to the VANISHING sun?
___________________________________________________

These Andrew Robinson covers for Titans, Teen Titans and Vigilante, respectively, are clever.

I really dig the whole "targeting" aspect of the covers.

Good crossover tie-in motif.
___________________________________________________

Shane Davis appears to be more concerned with each part of this Trinity triptych working on its own than for them to work together as a whole, as the three main figures really don't seem to interact well enough on the cover.

Wonder Woman, in particular - what is she even doing?
___________________________________________________

Nice George Perez evocation by Eddy Barrows on this Teen Titans Annual cover.

___________________________________________________

Neat Howard Porter cover for the last issue of The War That Time Forgot.

This series has had some very strong covers!
___________________________________________________

I dig Aaron Lopresti's style on this Wonder Woman cover.

It almost had a Brian Stelfreeze feel to it!

Impressive.
___________________________________________________

Cute Billy Batson cover by Mike Kunkel

___________________________________________________

It's Batman in a dinosaur, so I have to give Scott Jeralds credit for THAT idea, but otherwise, this cover seems oddly bland.

And Aquaman just looks ridiculous.
___________________________________________________

Jay Stephens sets the mood nicely on this Cartoon Network Action Pack cover.

___________________________________________________

Very clever Cartoon Network Block Party cover by Andy Suriano.

Definitely the sort of cover that stands out on a rack.
___________________________________________________

Good take-off on Supergirl #1's cover by Eric Jones.

___________________________________________________

Another cute Tiny Titans cover by Art Baltazar.

___________________________________________________

Great Ex Machina cover by Tony Harris.

I love the overlaps of the heads.
___________________________________________________

I dunno, does this image make you intrigued by Fringe?

___________________________________________________

Mike Huddleston reminds me of Eric Powell a bit on this Gen 13 cover.

That's a good thing!
___________________________________________________

Is this the cover of Gears of War #7?

It says "Video game cover art" in the solicitations.

Doesn't LOOK like vidoe game art. I dunno.
___________________________________________________

Niko Henrichon actually mixing up the Mirror's Edge cover format a bit - I like it.

Henrichon has a really nice flair to his pencils.
___________________________________________________

It must be pretty darn cool to have Jim Lee do the cover of the first issue of your comic book.

It'd be nicer if the Prototype didn't look so generic.

Man, with some of these video games, I think Bloodlines was just fifteen years too late and in the wrong media format!
___________________________________________________

I love how Sean Phillips works Point Blank into the Sleeper mythos through his cover.

Good stuff.
___________________________________________________

Well then, C.P. Smith does draw alien troops quite well.

I would not have expected that, to be honest.

So I guess him doing covers for Resistance makes more sense than I thought at first.
___________________________________________________

Good cover art by Kevin Sharpe for the Resident Evil comic.

It has an interesting, almost Dodson-esque flair to it.
___________________________________________________

I like this Neil Googe Wildcats cover.

Intriguing match-up.
___________________________________________________

This Jon Buran Worlds of Warcraft cover is almost overflowing with dynamism.

___________________________________________________

Interesting cover layout by Brian Denham.

___________________________________________________

I dig the cover design of this issue of Air by M.K. Perker.

It gets across the feel of the book nicely.
___________________________________________________

For Howard Chaykin, this Bang Tango cover is practically G-Rated.

___________________________________________________

Cool book design of the first Bayou print collection by Jeremy Love.

___________________________________________________

Joao Ruas gets thrown into the mix, and his Fables cover holds up admirably well.

I do think Bolland....

and Mark Buckingham...

outpace Ruas, but Ruas had a good debut.

The overall trade dress for the crossover is excellent.
___________________________________________________

Clever cover design by Esao Andrews for House of Mystery.

___________________________________________________

An expertly haunting Haunted Tank cover by Ted McKeever.

___________________________________________________

Decent Madame Xanadu cover by Amy Reeder Hadley, but I don't think we're exactly seeing anything new here.

___________________________________________________

Good Scalped cover by Jock, but I think a lot of the power comes from what we know of the character, and I dunno if that's the sort of thing you want people to have to know to appreciate the coolness of a cover.

___________________________________________________

Decent Young Liars cover by David Lapham.

It seems to actually be repeating a lot of last month's cover, but in a less distinct manner.

___________________________________________________

HONORABLE MENTIONS
___________________________________________________

A standout DMZ cover by John Paul Leon.

___________________________________________________

Gotta give it up to Simon Coleby - a dude in armor riding a dinosaur through a portal with some World War II-era airplanes on his side?

That's an awesome cover for ANY title, and certainly for The Authority.
___________________________________________________

Interesting cover idea by Scott Gross.

A good job playing with the character's personalities to comedic effect.
___________________________________________________

They're being attacked by a book on this Mysterius cover, right?

Awesome idea, Parker and Fowler! And great execution of said idea, Fowler!
___________________________________________________

TOP FIVE
___________________________________________________

Man, NO Massimo Carnevale covers this month?!!? What will the Top Five be like if I don't have a Massimo Carnevale cover in it??!!??!
___________________________________________________

5. Awesome Mike Grell cover for the return of Warlord!

Wish he was drawing the interiors.
___________________________________________________

4. Dave Johnson gets me - he knows how much I love me some negative space.

Very cool cover for the Unknown Soldier.

It reminds me a lot of his current Punisher cover gig.
___________________________________________________

3. Well, if you are at all going to be interested in Seaguy, this Cam Stewart cover is going to do the trick for you.

An engaging, offbeat cover.

That is also how I would describe Seaguy!
___________________________________________________

2. I think I'd prefer they just reprint the issues from the first Static series. They were really, really good (as opposed to the just plain good of the Static Shock: Rebirth of the Cool mini-series).

Great John Paul Leon cover - I absolutely LOVE the whole "collecting the issues" deal. I can't wait until I see that when it is finished.
___________________________________________________

1. J. Bone beat Pet Avengers to the punch!

After a couple of slightly down covers, Bone returns to greatness with this amazing Super Pets cover.
___________________________________________________

Okay, that's it! Feel free to share YOUR Top Fives and YOUR prejudices!!

29 Comments

• At February 13, 2009, buttler wrote:

  You're right, those two Ross pieces aren't new nohow.

• At February 13, 2009, Goh Mifune wrote:

  They've often sexualized Oracle. I don't think this is new, how often do you have Superhero who is also a ...

• At February 13, 2009, Mark Cook wrote:

  I think there's only one sun on the cover with Adam Strange; the starfield stays the same in all three ...

• At February 13, 2009, DubipR wrote:

  Brian,

  I know we all want Grell to draw the interiors of Warlord. Personally I would've picked Phil Winslade ...

• At February 13, 2009, David wrote:

  The Batman and Robin cover is from Legends of the Dark Knight #100. The story was about Robin's (Dick ...

• At February 13, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Is that Wonder Kangaroo? Does that exist in previous continuity? How could i not have known!?

• At February 13, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Um, I really, really like the Oracle cover...

  The Alex Ross History of the DC UNiverse cover looks like a Photoshop ...

• At February 13, 2009, Kelson wrote:

  One of the interesting things about that cover for Flash: Rebirth#1 is that it's exactly the same pose as the ...

• At February 13, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  And I think they've fixed the boots too... They were a bit chunky in the promo...

• At February 13, 2009, ThatGuy wrote:

  Why does Ursa need a pack belt and a weapon?

• At February 13, 2009, joshschr wrote:

  Did Oracle just discover a voyeur cam that Dr. Light left in her bathroom? It's not just the cover ...

• At February 13, 2009, Teebore wrote:

  I'm also curious about the Wonder Kangaroo...how could I have missed that all these years?!?

• At February 13, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  March's cover is a bit much, but then you give Ladronn a pass on that Black Canary cover, where her ...

• At February 13, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Or, you know, her shirt.

• At February 13, 2009, Stephen wrote:

  - Is JLG-L doing interiors for Confidential as well, or just covers?

  - What, no mention of the Booster ass shot ...

• At February 13, 2009, Thok wrote:

  The Kanga is a long time piece of Wonder Woman lore (it dates back to Marston.) Basically, it's the ...

• At February 13, 2009, Evan Waters wrote:

  For what it's worth, I've never read SCALPED and know nothing about any of its characters, but that is a ...

• At February 13, 2009, Teebore wrote:

  The Kanga is a long time piece of Wonder Woman lore (it dates back to Marston.) Basically, it’s the Paradise ...

• At February 13, 2009, Chris Jones wrote:

  You guys should know that Guillem March used to draw cartoons for European Playboy magazines.

  So you can hardly fault the ...

• At February 13, 2009, T. wrote:

  I love how Sean Phillips works Point Blank into the Sleeper mythos through his cover.

  I don't get this sentence...what do ...

• At February 14, 2009, The Mad Monkey wrote:

  R.E.B.E.L.S. - Dox got a sex change?

  Brian...look closer at the chest...that ain't a guy. ;-)

  Batman: Gotham After Midnight - ...

• At February 14, 2009, Sean Whitmore wrote:

  The Pacheco cover was also used for one of the individual issues of "Ending Battle".

  Am I the only one who ...

• At February 14, 2009, Tom wrote:

  Nearly all librarians are sexy. Trust me, I know (and am one).

• At February 14, 2009, comb & razor wrote:

  The anatomy on that Teen Titans Annual is VERY strange.

• At February 14, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I don’t get this sentence…what do you mean? The Sleeper characters appeared in the Point Blank book, I don’t see ...

• At February 15, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  The R.E.B.E.L.S. Cover features a character called "Wildstar" - not sure who she is, but there is a character sketch ...

• At February 15, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I've got to say, that Black Canary cover is the worst Landronn cover yet.

  He's normally so very very good, and ...

• At March 24, 2009, MacQuarrie wrote:

  Yes, that's Jumpa, Wonder Woman's kanga from Paradise Island. The story also features Aquaman's octupus, Streaky, Ace, Beppo and Krypto. ...

• At April 7, 2009, Scott Gross wrote:

  Thanks for the review. It's an honor to be included with so many great artists.

Let's begin!
___________________________________________________

Here, Juan Doe seems to almost embrace the odd anatomy he often does with his characters, and it really works nicely.

___________________________________________________

One of Greg Land's better covers.

___________________________________________________

Nice Ed McGuinness variant cover.

Pin-up pieces like this work better as variant covers.
___________________________________________________

John Romita Jr. is really good at drawing beat-up Spider-Man.

Remember the fight against Morlun? JRjr really knocked that one out of the park.

This is a good cover, too.
___________________________________________________

Who drew this cover, exactly?

The solicits credit Klaus Janson, Chris Eliopoulos and Dean White.

So is it a matter of Eliopoulos creating the letters, Janson then drawing the arm and Dean White coloring it all?

However it was put together, it looks good!

I love the little touch with the webshooters being visible. I don't recall ever seeing them shown like that before.
___________________________________________________

Good cover by Tomm Coker, if a bit straightforward.

___________________________________________________

Intriguing cover by Kenneth Rocafort.

___________________________________________________

Not a bad cover by Humberto Ramos overall, but geez, if you're going to depict the follow-up to an action, you really ought to show some sign that the actual action took place, right?

The clawed dude slashes at the dinosaur and we get...nothing?
___________________________________________________

I like this Ariel Olivetti cover as a sort of a reminder, "See, folks! I was lame when I debuted, too, so it's just like I've come full circle!"

___________________________________________________

You know you went overboard with the female anatomy, Ken Lashley, when J. Scott Campbell does a cover and he makes the female character look more realistic than you did on your cover.

Overall, it's a strong cover, really, from Campbell, who has been known to do some great cover work.

I don't exactly get why Doom is clutching his own cape, though...
___________________________________________________

Has the kid shrunk since last issue's cover?

Olivetti has been weird with people's sizes on these covers.
___________________________________________________

Cool group pose cover by Immonen.

___________________________________________________

Impressive Daniel Acuña variant cover for Dark Avengers.

___________________________________________________

Morgana Le Fey's breast sure seem powerful!

Seriously, this is an intriguing perspective by Deodato.
___________________________________________________

It's tough when you're going to be compared to Jae freakin' Lee, but this Richard Isanove cover is a bit of a step down from Lee's striking Dark Tower covers.

___________________________________________________

Intriguing cover idea by Marko Djurdjevic.

___________________________________________________

I like Patrick Zircher's take on the Werewolf better than Mico Suayan, but I might add that Suayan apparently is just drawing from Marko Djurdjevic's designs, so I suppose it is Djurdjevic that I should take issue with, re: the design of the Werewolf.

___________________________________________________

I like this Karl Kerschl cover better than last month's - it pops out a good deal more, and I love his Blastaar.

___________________________________________________

Cute cover idea by Greg Land.

___________________________________________________

Gotta hand it to Lee Bermejo, he managed to get some wind so that we get a clear shot of Elektra's ass.

Seriously, though, I can't knock a dude for showing Elektra's ass, as she fights in a freakin' bathing suit, basically.

So fine cover by Bermejo.
___________________________________________________

I'm more suprised/impressed by Clay Mann's variant.

I love it when I see artists raise their game, and Mann has definitely been improving!

___________________________________________________

Simone Bianchi may win the "oddest Fantastic Four layout" award.

What an odd angle to get Johnny from, and the ripple effect on Reed is beeee-zarre.

___________________________________________________

I'm a bit disappointed in Marko Djurdjevic's depiction of the Thing on the variant cover.

The brow really doesn't work for me, and it distracts from the rest of the piece.
___________________________________________________

Nice Ender's Game cover by Pasqual Ferry.

___________________________________________________

Love the eye-blast battle, but what the...is that supposed to be Wolverine?

It looks like Baron Blood!

Otherwise, fine cover, Eric Nguyen!
___________________________________________________

Good use of the whole cast by Bryan Hitch, and I love his expressions, particularly Valeria's.

___________________________________________________

Cool David Yardin cover, but so sad, I never took Captain Marvel for a gay-basher.

___________________________________________________

Awesome character work by Arthur Suydam. I love that. Man, I'd love to see more character work like that from him - the expressiveness, the posing, the whole deal - top notch.

Good cover, as whole, too.
___________________________________________________

Decent Hercules cover by Dave Williams.

The expressions (particularly Amadeus) seem a bit strange.
___________________________________________________

Clever cover idea by Mark Brooks, but I don't think the execution of said idea really works as well as the idea itself.

In particular, the fist does not work well in silhouette and the torso bit just doesn't even make sense. It would be one thing if it was half green/half red, but mostly green with a red arm and, oh, let's say part of the torso red, too.

Kinda weird.
___________________________________________________

I think Sean Phillips definitely evoked the kind of pulp-y look he was going for.

___________________________________________________

Interesting cover idea by Salvador Larocca.

I think it might have actually been served better by making the figures even smaller, making the cover stand out even more.
___________________________________________________

Interesting cover by Tommy Ohtsuka - is this two sides of the same person? Someone tell me!

___________________________________________________

Strong Roger Cruz cover.

I especially like the way he uses the flamethrower to light the Avengers. Clever.
___________________________________________________

An amusing Roger Cruz cover.

Odd take on Doc's hair, though.
___________________________________________________

I dig the cover design on this Francis Tsai cover.

Tells the story nicely.
___________________________________________________

I love John Watson's homaging a cover from, like, last year!

Is Bryan Hitch's first cover of Fantastic Four actually that well known?

Watson does a helluva job aping that style, though!
___________________________________________________

Decent finale cover by Gerald Parel.

___________________________________________________

Khoi Pham, like Clay Mann, keeps growing as an artist, and it is a delight to see.

___________________________________________________

Scott Clark does a good job with this Models, Inc. cover.

Evoking the feel without going overboard with photocopying.
___________________________________________________

Okay, fill me in, what's going on on this Gabriele Dell'Otto cover?

___________________________________________________

Pretty cool Phil Jimenez cover.

I particularly dig the background - makes the character pop.
___________________________________________________

While some of the figures in the boxes look downright awkward (is Doom's mask uneven or something?), overall this is a strong cover by Billy Tan.

___________________________________________________

Again, that's Mockingbird's actual costume, so I guess I can't bust Jo Chen too much for it.

Okay, yeah, I can.

Come on, Jo Chen! When they said, "We want the cover to emphasize that Mockingbird's back," I think you might have missed the "that."
___________________________________________________

Daniel Acuña came dangerously close to making Vulcan look kind of cool!

Frightening.
___________________________________________________

Pretty cool Mike McKone cover.

___________________________________________________

TERRIBLE Mike McKone cover!

___________________________________________________

I like the energy on this Humberto Ramos cover, although I'm not exactly positive what is going on - he's flying, yes?

___________________________________________________

The spotlight effect works well here.

Good job by Aleksa Gajic.
___________________________________________________

Jimmy Cheung's part of the cover is quite cool looking, but I still am unsure if I like the idea of doing this Civil War cover format style.

___________________________________________________

I think both Juan Doe covers for this English/Spanish one-shot are a lot of fun.

I think I like the English version SLIGHTLY better. I liked the use of the two heroes more there.
___________________________________________________

Good Zircher cover.

___________________________________________________

I like how Skaar is, like, totally embracing the Surfer as a guest star. This is about the third cover in a row that the Surfer has been prominently featured.

Good Alex Garner cover - his style can sometimes not work so well with human features, so an alien works really well with Garner's style.
___________________________________________________

Not a bad Deodato cover for Squadron Supreme.

___________________________________________________

Odd poses on this Mike Perkins cover.

They're all drawn well enough, but their poses are kinda strange.
___________________________________________________

"Namor's phallus shall reign supreme!!!!"

Esad Ribic has had some interesting cover designs on this series.
___________________________________________________

Pretty cool cover by Francesco Mattina, but I think the design is actually a good deal less interesting than some of his previous efforts.

Still, at the worst, it's a striking cover.
___________________________________________________

Very cool cover design by Marko Djurdjevic.

___________________________________________________

Forgetting everything else, I love how David Finch draws Spider-Man's eyes.

___________________________________________________

Interesting cover layout by Stuart Immonen.

He frames the shot very well.
___________________________________________________

Those are some awfully narrow claws by Leinel Francis Yu.

Otherwise, it's a cool cover for the return of Ultimate Hulk vs. Wolverine.
___________________________________________________

I like the drawing of Colossus by the Dodsons, but it is a bit on the bland side for a cover.

___________________________________________________

Like I was mentioning on his Thunderbolts cover, Francesco Mattina can come up with some interesting cover designs, and this War Machine is one of them.

Love the use of white - makes it all pop like crazy.
___________________________________________________

I really enjoy this Brandon Peterson cover - it has all the ingredients you look for in the debut cover of a series.

Very much "setting the scene and the cast of characters."
___________________________________________________

The Ron Lim variant, on the other hand, is sorta goofy looking.

Not BAD, exactly, just kinda goofy.
___________________________________________________

Both covers work fine, it's just amusing to me to see Brandon Peterson have two covers this month that involve a character sort of lurching forward.

___________________________________________________

I love Dougie Braithwaite's cover layout, but the figures seem sort of off (particularly Cannonball).

___________________________________________________

Cute McNiven cover.

Can't wait 'til I see what McNiven has planned next! What a great artist.
___________________________________________________

I love how ersatz this David Williams cover looks, especially Kitty's facial expression.

Good stuff.
___________________________________________________

Klaus Janson does a nice job depicting a lot of Wolverine's life.

It's interesting seeing him draw modern Wolverine.
___________________________________________________

David Yardin does a really nice job using the Sentinels to both frame AND light his shot.

Love the expressions on the Madroxes.
___________________________________________________

I like this Roger Cruz cover better than last issue.

He has a real good angle on Jean Grey.
___________________________________________________

Clayton Crain did not draw enough blood on this X-Force cover!

I demand a re-draw!!
___________________________________________________

Danger is less noticeable on this Lee Bermejo cover - so only five cool points deducted!

As a triptych, the whole thing probably works okay, but as individual pieces, not so much.
___________________________________________________

Like I mentioned before, my biggest problem with Alex Garner are his faces, and I have a bit of a problem with his Psylocke.

The rest of the cover, though, is quite good - especially the effects on the sword.

___________________________________________________

Nice throwback cover by Dennis Calero.

___________________________________________________

I dunno if this Brandon Peterson cover achieved the intended effect - Nightcrawler appears to be falling back not forward.

___________________________________________________

I like the quirkiness of this Pasqual Ferry cover for the final issue of Young X-Men.

Now I hope I see no more of Ink ever again!
___________________________________________________

HONORABLE MENTIONS
___________________________________________________

Very cool job by Kaare Andrews, doing the best he can with the material given to him.

___________________________________________________

Very cute David Williams cover.

Love the expressions, love the movement. Great job.
___________________________________________________

Is this Alex Ross cover an homage?

It reminds me of some Invaders cover from the 70s. I could be totally wrong.

Homage or not, it's a strong cover.

I love Cap readying his shield.
___________________________________________________

Great farewell cover by Ron Frenz!

Love the bookend treatment.
___________________________________________________

Epting tells a story nicely here - we have an idea of what the story will be like by a simple image. Nicely turned.

___________________________________________________

Nicely stylized cover by Greg Tocchini.

___________________________________________________

Great use of filling the cover to direct your attention.

Zircher is doing some strong cover work lately.
___________________________________________________

TOP FIVE
___________________________________________________

5. I've been loving the use of negative space on these covers.

Great work by Dennis Calero.
___________________________________________________

4. Skottie Young's art is amazing.

This cover is great art AND tells the story, so it makes the top five.
___________________________________________________

3. Dave Johnson continues his striking cover work for this Duane Swierczynski storyline.

He's nailing the mood perfectly.
___________________________________________________

2. Jason Pearson's cover is so good because it both tells the story (the Thunderbolts attack Deadpool) while also being one hell of a stylized cover.

___________________________________________________

1. My favorite cover this month, though, is Dennis Bajram's cover which is similar to Pearson's cover in that it relays plot while also being striking on its own, only this cover is a bit MORE striking than the Deadpool cover.

You don't get much more iconic imagery than seeing a damaged Statue of Liberty floating in space.
___________________________________________________
That's the list! Share your prejudices and YOUR Top Fives!

19 Comments

• At February 13, 2009, Thomas Pierce wrote:

  you have two mistakes in this

  That's not Wolverine being given a noogie by Ikaris in the Eternals #9 cover thats ...

• At February 13, 2009, Oz the Malefic wrote:

  Spider-Man #588 just reminds me way too much of JRjr's cover of Kick Ass #2

  And for the entire time I ...

• At February 13, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Re: pin-up covers. Did anyone else buy Thor #600 and flip through the cover gallery? Being unacquainted with the series ...

• At February 13, 2009, chris wrote:

  Yeah, the guy that's being wrangled on the Eternals cover is Vamprio.

• At February 13, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Somebody SHOT the teddy bear !!! :-(

• At February 13, 2009, joshschr wrote:

  Lots of questions this month:

  That is a bizarre pose for Lilandra on the first War of Kings cover, isn't it? ...

• At February 13, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  I figured someone woulda mentioned the crotch lensflare with that Guardians cover.

• At February 13, 2009, joshschr wrote:

  Oh, forgot my biggest question, really non-cover related, but does Marvel have some plan to discontinue monthly titles? It ...

• At February 13, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  LOVE LOVE LOVE the Brandon Peterson War of Kings and Alex Garner Silver Surfer covers...

• At February 13, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Is it just me, or do Namorina's [Namora?] thighs look over-large on that McGuinness variant?

• At February 13, 2009, joshschr wrote:

  And two month's reviews where you use the "aping" joke. Good joke.

• At February 13, 2009, The Mad Monkey wrote:

  Ultimate Spider-Man #132 - That's Kitty? I don't read the Ultimate comics. I always love me some SI ...

• At February 13, 2009, Ant wrote:

  What the hell is going on with Lilandra in the War of Kings cover?

• At February 13, 2009, buttler wrote:

  Yeah, all this talk of butt shots, and yet somehow War of Kings gets a pass. It would be ...

• At February 13, 2009, HCE wrote:

  I thought both the Panther covers were Campbell. Misattributed in the solicitation?

• At February 14, 2009, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  About the Universal War One cover, I shall say that the issue is even more impressive. I read it in ...

• At February 14, 2009, wil wrote:

  that ghost rider cover is a swipe from devon aoki/miho in sin city, right?

• At February 16, 2009, Dunc wrote:

  And on the subject of swipes I'll be damned if that's not Adrian Brody on the cover of X-Men noir.

  Though ...

• At February 17, 2009, tk. wrote:

  Love the X-Factor cover.

Let's begin!
___________________________________________________

Nice pair of covers (Superman and Action Comics) from Eddy Barrows.

The combined piece is even cooler.

___________________________________________________

I dunno, I dig me some Ladrönn, but this cover for a Commissioner Gordon one-shot seems to be missing something - perhaps it is as simple as no bat in the Bat-Signal.

Hmmm...no, even then, the drawing would have an odd point of focus.
___________________________________________________

I dislike a lot of this Battle for the Cowl cover, but boy, Tony Daniel's Robin is awesome - just bursting with the sort of manic energy I think we will see from Damian as Robin.

Otherwise, a lot of awfully stilted poses, especially from Nightwing.

By the way, I love Wildcat being there. How hilarious would it be if Wildcat became the new Batman?
___________________________________________________

Strong Batman Confidential cover from Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, but I'm sure that comes as no surprise to anyone.

___________________________________________________

I like a lot of this Kelley Jones cover for Batman: Gotham After Midnight.

The weird anatomy almost works well here and I LOVE the touch with Croc's foot and hand marks on the chimney.

___________________________________________________

Bravo, Guillem March!

You have tapped into a new "sexify" market - Oracle!

You gotta love that outfit.

Otherwise, it's actually a good cover for her new mini-series, but boy, that's a silly design for Oracle. It's more like the cover for a Birds of Prey porno.

Birds of Lay, perhaps?

Someone come up with a funnier porno title for a Birds of Prey porno!
___________________________________________________

I am about 80% sure this is not the actual cover for Supergirl.

So, well, no comment then, since I don't think it is a cover.
___________________________________________________

Wow, Whilce Portacio being able to do Spawn AND Superman/Batman? Impressive!

The cover is not bad, I love the layout but the Superman figure seems a bit off.
___________________________________________________

I still think his figures are on the stiff side, but the design and layout of this World of New Krypton cover by Gary Frank is outstanding.

And the figure work is not bad, either.
___________________________________________________

This Black Lightning: Year One cover by Cully Hamner is quite oddly designed.

He has done some striking covers for the earlier parts of the story,
___________________________________________________

I like the new Katana costume, but I dunno if I am just reacting to the fact that the last costume was so goddawful.

Anyhow, decent cover by Lee Garbett. His Katana is great, I'm slightly put off, though, by the random Halo ass shot.

___________________________________________________

Dan Jurgens is good at these straightforward dramatic covers.

They tend not to be the most creative layouts in the world, but they still work pretty well just because he's so good with the dramatic shots.
___________________________________________________

Is that seriously George Pérez on this Legion of Three Worlds cover?

Wow, that's an interesting style.
___________________________________________________

It's weird, Ladrönn has been really looking like Scott Kolins a lot on these recent Black Canary/Green Arrow covers.

Anyhow, it's a pretty good cover. Some of the poses off a tad, though. Like the reactions of Dinah and Ollie.
___________________________________________________

As usual, I love Pat Gleason's energy, but I can't honestly say that I totally know what's going on on this Green Lantern Corps cover.

___________________________________________________

This Green Lantern cover - it is by Rodolfo Migliari, right?

I can't tell for sure.

In any event, I don't really dig it that much - the characters seem waaaay too smooth.
___________________________________________________

The solicitation copy does it again!

The way this Jonah Hex cover appears to be lit, it really looks like there is some sort of computer effect on it, but I know that David Allen Beck does not use computer effects, and I bet that the published cover will look much less

___________________________________________________

Honestly?

I'm just glad she appears to be wearing panties.

It IS a bit disappointing that Ordway is doing such an amazing job on the interiors of JSA.
___________________________________________________

Nice, classic Dave Johnson cover for The Mighty.

___________________________________________________

I like this Andy Clarke cover for R.E.B.E.L.S.

I think Clarke might soon be one of DC's bigger artists.
___________________________________________________

That's some prominent spittle right there!

Otherwise, that is a good Solomon Grundy cover by Scott Kolins.

___________________________________________________

While I have enjoyed most of them, it's interesting to note how many of Scott Hampton's Simon Dark covers seemed to have close-ups on the mask on them.

___________________________________________________

Brian Bolland looks like he's getting a real kick out of handling the cover duties for the Spirit!

___________________________________________________

Cute Secret Six cover by Nicola Scott.

___________________________________________________

Sort of a jumbled cover for the first issue of Jim Starlin's new book, Strange Adventures.

___________________________________________________

Not a bad Terror Titans cover by Joe Bennett, but not exactly a stand-out one, either.

Seems a BIT like a "panel" cover.
___________________________________________________

I think Howard Porter's concept for this Titans cover is strong, but the characters seem a tad off.

Good idea for a cover, though!
___________________________________________________

Good looking Teen Titans cover by Eddy Barrows.

___________________________________________________

Boy, Aaron Lopresti's beards are really, really odd, aren't they?

I presume this Wonder Woman cover will look differently when it is actually published.
___________________________________________________

Very cool Cartoon Network Action Pack cover by Min S. Ku.

Good enough that I wondered if I should have had it in the honorable mentiosn.

It's a real striking work and a great use of shadows.
___________________________________________________

Cute Robert Pope cover for Cartoon Network Block Party.

___________________________________________________

I'd have this cover of this JLU trade collection higher, except I find it hard to believe this is an original piece of artwork.

Anyone know for sure?
___________________________________________________

Another cute Tiny Titans cover by Art Baltazar.

___________________________________________________

Strong cover work for the Authority by Simon Coleby.

Nice use of the devastated Earth situation for the cover layout.
___________________________________________________

Straightforward but good cover work for this Ex Machina Special cover by Tony Harris.

___________________________________________________

Wow! That's Mike Huddleston?!? That's an impressive change of style by Huddleston for this Gen13 cover!

___________________________________________________

I know it's not cover artist Brandon Badeaux's fault, as this is how Gears of War looks, but man, is it ugly.

___________________________________________________

Niko Henrichon, similarly, is restrained a bit by the Mirror's Edge game, but it is still a good looking, simple cover.

___________________________________________________

Good, engaging cover for Mysterius by Tom Fowler.

Delfi's skin color seems a bit odd, though. There doesn't seem to be much of a difference, hue-wise, between her and Mysterius, and that's weird, as one is white and one is black.
___________________________________________________

Good Resistance cover by C.P. Smith.

Not much of a challenge for Smith, really.
___________________________________________________

So wait, who did this Resident Evil cover?

Is it just art from the comic or is it Brandon Badeaux? Doesn't look like him, but if that's video game art, they sure chose a cool pose from the game. Well done, art-pickers!
___________________________________________________

Good use of shadows by Leandro Fernández for this Stormwatch cover.

___________________________________________________

Not really much to this Top Ten cover by Gene Ha, is there?

Nicely drawn, I suppose.
___________________________________________________

Yep, that IS a drawing of Majestic.

I would have preferred something more striking for the cover of Wildcats by Neil Googe.

But I guess it is at least a nice drawing of Majestic!
___________________________________________________

This Jon Buran World of Warcraft almost seems unfinished, like the background is meant to have some sort of importance to the cover but there is nothing there.

Because otherwise, just the character drawings don't seem all that dramatic.
___________________________________________________

Decent Brian Denham cover for the X-Files, although the faces are a little on the subdued side.

___________________________________________________

Strong Bang Tango cover by Howard Chaykin.

This cover is like the epitome of Chaykin.
___________________________________________________

This John Paul Leon DMZ cover does an impressive job of telling a lot of information with a paucity of images.

___________________________________________________

Decent Lee Bermejo cover for Hellblazer, but not one of his more creative efforts.

___________________________________________________

See, this is the Shane Davis that I love a lot!

It's not over rendered and it has a real charm to it.

Good stuff for the last issue of Haunted Tank.
___________________________________________________

Funny Jack of Fables cover by Brian Bolland.

___________________________________________________

A well drawn Madame Xanadu cover by Amy Reeder Hadley, but I dunno if it is an engaging cover.

Amy Reeder Hadley is a good artist, though.
___________________________________________________

Igor Kordey continues some imposing Unknown Soldier covers!

I am not even sure if I like the art, but damned if it is not a bold cover!
___________________________________________________

Strong work from David Lapham on this Young Liars cover - clever layout and a good execution.

___________________________________________________

HONORABLE MENTIONS
___________________________________________________

The solicitations are correct, this Esao Andrews cover for House of Mystery IS evocative!

Good work.

What else has Andrews done?
___________________________________________________

Good cover design by Billy Tucci.

___________________________________________________

Guillem March is better when he isn't doing Barbie Oracle covers.

Dynamic Azrael cover, although I wonder why not just let the great Frazer Irving do the cover?
___________________________________________________

Ed Benes with the good cover!

He even managed to keep Wonder Woman's ass in shadows!

Odd back of Superman's head, though.
___________________________________________________

Extremely dynamic Vigilante cover by the legendary Walt Simonson!

___________________________________________________

Eric Jones does a cute cover here on the Supergirl book evoking classic covers of the past.

___________________________________________________

J. Bone keeps coming up with great cover themes for Super Friends (although this one is a little bit less interesting than some of his earlier covers).

___________________________________________________

Massimo Carnevale has come up with a great cover design for the Y hardcovers.

___________________________________________________

Great piece by Geof Darrow for The War That Time Forgot.

___________________________________________________

Awesome "Wow, what the heck is happening THERE!" cover by Scott Jeralds for the Brave and the Bold tie-in comic!

___________________________________________________
TOP FIVE
___________________________________________________

5. Death, taxes and Massimo Carnevale's covers for Northlanders being good.

All things you can count on.
___________________________________________________

4. Adorable cover homage for Looney Tunes by Scott Gross.

It's an almost universally known cover, so it's perfect for parodies and Gross nails it.
___________________________________________________

These top three are all pretty even, their rankings are almost random...

3. Wow, James Jean is gone, but Mark Buckingham follows his lead with a great, subdued Fables cover.

Great stuff.
___________________________________________________

2. Striking, dramatic Scalped cover from Jock.

LOVE the use of negative space.
___________________________________________________

1. Dustin Nguyen does an amazing job on capturing a mood on this Battle of the Cowl (Batman Dead?) one-shot.

I love love love the cigarette flame.
___________________________________________________

That's the list! Share your prejudices and YOUR Top Fives!

20 Comments

• At February 13, 2009, Thok wrote:

  I like the new Katana costume, but I dunno if I am just reacting to the fact that the last ...

• At February 13, 2009, The Mad Monkey wrote:

  Take one part He-Man, add an equal part Dreadstar, and you end up with a Worlds Of Warcraft cover.

• At February 13, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  Someone NEEDS to photoshop a black bat icon onto the guy on the right on the Worlds of Warcraft cover ...

• At February 13, 2009, Adam Jones wrote:

  Birds of Prey porno idea:

  Turds on my BelLAY.

  It's German.

• At February 13, 2009, Robert Pope wrote:

  What, no Scooby-Doo this month? I'm always curious to see what you think of my covers (and yes, I'm ...

• At February 13, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  What, no Scooby-Doo this month? That's it, exactly, Robert. :)

  There were no new Scooby Doo covers this month.

  However, when the ...

• At February 13, 2009, Robert Pope wrote:

  Ah, well, live and learn! Great stuff, pal, great stuff!

• At February 13, 2009, Stephen wrote:

  - Kinda funny that the new Action Nightwing actually looks a lot like Dick Grayson.

  - I don't think either of ...

• At February 13, 2009, Evan Waters wrote:

  Wait, the Manhattan Guardian is white again now?

• At February 13, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Wait, the Manhattan Guardian is white again now?

  Different guy.

  And yeah, don't you remember, the Manhattan Guardian was a character Morrison ...

• At February 13, 2009, Evan Waters wrote:

  I dunno, if I were in his shoes that would seem like the kind of compliment I could do with ...

• At February 13, 2009, Alvin wrote:

  Wow the Batman Confidential cover rocks.. speaking of rockin time for Babs to get her legs back so she can ...

• At February 13, 2009, Gene Ha wrote:

  There's more to that Top 10 cover. I don't know why they got rid of the non-girl parts. There's two ...

• At February 13, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  That would explain it, Gene!

  Thanks!

• At February 13, 2009, rwe1138 wrote:

  "Wow, Whilce Portacio being able to do Spawn AND Superman/Batman? Impressive!"

  IIRC, Whilce mentioned at Wizard World Texas that the issue ...

• At February 13, 2009, Alvin wrote:

  I thought the cover was a bit simple but it's girl 2 what's not to like

• At February 13, 2009, Ian wrote:

  I disagree with the game limiting the potential for the Mirror's Edge cover. The game's art stye (from what ...

• At February 13, 2009, Anthony Strand wrote:

  What cover is that Looney Tunes paying homage to? I don't recognize it.

• At April 4, 2009, Apokoliptian wrote:

  I think that the "No-cover" for Supergirl was way better than the Gray Frank's cover to Superman.

  Regarding the Green ...

• At September 1, 2009, Scott Gross wrote:

  Re: the Looney Tunes cover --

  The idea was to give it a James Bond look-and-feel. I found that most ...

Let's begin!
___________________________________________________

Perhaps it is the coloring, but for whatever reason, this Ron Lim cover pops more so than a typical Anita Blake cover.

Certainly more so than those odd "pose" covers they so often have.
___________________________________________________

Juan Doe certainly knows how to do dynamic covers.

I think the figures here are a bit too loosely drawn, but the overall feel of the cover is strong, as Doe covers so often are (and the loosely drawn figures thing is actually a bit of a constant, too, now that I think about it).
___________________________________________________

Strong Dave Bullock cover.

I especially love the faces in the background. Total Silver Age throwback (and that drawing of the dog is great).
___________________________________________________

Is this the actual cover for this issue?

If so, it's kinda weak by John Romita, Jr. It is almost the opposite of a cover "popping." It practically withdraws from the reader (which is why I honestly wonder if it is the final cover).
___________________________________________________

He does a much stronger job on this cover.

Way to fully incorporate the whole cover as a piece of the drawing, JRjr!!
___________________________________________________

Strange Barry Kitson cover.

It almost looks like they digitally inked his rough pencils (note that Kitson has some of the sharpest rough pencils ever).
___________________________________________________

Clever cover design by Ron Frenz.

Possessed Peter's grin matching the mask is a nice touch.
___________________________________________________

Certainly an interesting cover by Kenneth Roquefort.

It reminds me a lot of the late, great Seth Fisher.
___________________________________________________

I love how random these 70th Anniversary covers are.

A Namor variant cover on Black Panther #1?

That's more than a wee bit silly, especially as Marvel Girl is on the X-Men's 70th Anniversary cover, so it's clear that the 60s characters count, so why in the world would T'Challa NOT be the variant for the first issue of a new Black Panther series?

Great drawing of Namor, though (Djurdjevic rocks!).
___________________________________________________

That is a scary looking Black Panther by Ken Lashley.

And I don't mean the cat on the left. I like that the Black Panther's costume is so tight it actually wraps her breasts completely.

(Note: Someone else out there somewhere is likely saying that last sentence, sans sarcasm)
___________________________________________________

Lovely Olivetti cover.

Very eye-catching.
___________________________________________________

Bland cover by Jae Lee, but it fits the format of the book.

You don't exactly expect super exciting covers for a guide book, ya know?
___________________________________________________

Much stronger Lee cover for the main book.

Jae Lee would make one hell of a novel cover artist. He gets the dynamic poses down pat, and he's such an excellent draftsman, as well. I can't wait until we see him do something else (not a shot at Dark Tower, just that he's been doing only Dark Tower for years now).
___________________________________________________

I dunno if Mico Suayan is even trying to make the design of the Werewolf make sense on this cover, so I suppose I should cut her some slack there.

Otherwise, it's a pretty nice action cover - the blurring effect helps well.
___________________________________________________

Decent Karl Kerschl cover.

I like the layout a lot, but am somewhat underwhelmed by the character figures.
___________________________________________________

That's quite a bad ass looking little kid by Tim Green III.

Nicely done.
___________________________________________________

I normally love Eric Nguyen's work, but this cover leaves me a bit cold.

Especially the "action" sense of the cover (or rather, the lack thereof).
___________________________________________________

Very cute Bryan Hitch cover.

___________________________________________________

Certainly a striking Clint Langley cover.

That Blastaar design, though, is hideous.
___________________________________________________

Is this Arthur Suydam cover an homage?

That would explain some of the odd decisions made in the layout.
___________________________________________________

I was not all that impressed with the last few covers of this series, but I think Langley does a very nice job here, particularly with the Danny Ketch figure.

___________________________________________________

Straightforward but well-drawn (and with a decent amount of "pop") cover by Ed McGuinness.

Certainly a strong cover for a "jump on point" issue.
___________________________________________________

Not a bad Kabuki cover by David Mack, but not exactly an enthralling one, either.

It does have a certain uniqueness that I do like.
___________________________________________________

Tommy Ohtsuka's Varian should have a contest with Korvus (from the X-Men: Kingbreaker series) to see who has the more comically large sword.

___________________________________________________

Very nice drawing by Roger Cruz.

It's not such a striking cover, though.

Very nice drawing, though.
___________________________________________________

Cute and odd and cool cover by Clayton Henry.

___________________________________________________

Isn't this a cool bit how Clayton Henry can change his approach so dramatically from the one cover to the next?

Strong dynamic work.
___________________________________________________

I really enjoy the way that Francis Tsai tries sort of an off-kilter approaches with his covers.

It gives them a unique feel.
___________________________________________________

Heh,

Too easy.
___________________________________________________

Interesting work from Gabriele Dell'Otto.

A real departure for him - I think I'd like to see some interior work from him in this style. I dunno if I like this particular cover layout, but the style is definitely intriguing.
___________________________________________________

Fun cover by Juan Santacruz.

It reminds me of Pat Olliffe's work in a BIG way.
___________________________________________________

Excellent layout for the final issue of New Exiles by Tim Seeley.

Some of the character work looks almost unfinished, but overall, a very nice cover.
___________________________________________________

That's a chillingly weird cover by Alina Urusov.

___________________________________________________

This Humberto Ramos cover is a bit of a mess.

Sort of all jumbled together with bad "lighting."
___________________________________________________

Interesting Aleksa Gaji cover.

I like how it "forces" the reader to take a double look.
___________________________________________________

Lovely David Williams cover to the last issue of She-Hulk.

___________________________________________________

Cool Patrick Zircher cover.

___________________________________________________

The Calero variant does do much for me - a surprising lack of dynamism, which is strange, because Calero conveys so much with his static covers, yet with this action shot, it seems less striking.

___________________________________________________

This David Yardin cover certainly comes up with a catchy visual.

It's well drawn, too.
___________________________________________________

I really enjoy Deodato's character work here.

Impressive work from him on in an area of his art that I am not as usually impressed by.
___________________________________________________

Interesting stylistic choice by Jimmy Cheung and Marvel - going to the Civil War trade dress.

Probably a good idea - that event has good brand identity at the moment.
___________________________________________________

Ed McGuinness has two good "farewell" covers to two Ultimates titles...

I wonder whether the Ultimate FF will ever get a series again (you have to figure that the X-Men will be back).
___________________________________________________

Some nice character work by the Dodsons.

They're a good deal more palatable when they're drawing guys.
___________________________________________________

Decent cover by Gurihiru.

___________________________________________________

Fair enough Brandon Peterson drawing of Darkhawk.

That certainly IS Darkhawk!

Not much more going on but that.
___________________________________________________

This is an intriguing cover by David Williams.

On the one hand, I dunno if I like the design work on Wolverine, but on the other hand, while he may not exactly LOOK like Wolverine, he sure as hell FEELS like him, doesn't he?

Williams' Wolverine oozes attitude.
___________________________________________________

Well designed David Yardin cover.

___________________________________________________

I don't like this Roger Cruz cover as much as his other cover this month.

In particular, his Beast looks far too slick, and when that's your main figure, it's a bit of a problem, ya know?
___________________________________________________

You have to sort of admire the guys Clayton Crain has sometimes to just all out with these covers.

It doesn't exactly make sense, but damn, is it full of vim and vigor!!
___________________________________________________

Not one of Lee Bermejo's best covers, even if it is part of a (trip?)tych.

Then again, any cover featuring Danger automatically gets 10 cool point demerits.
___________________________________________________

That's a very cool looking Polaris by Brandon Peterson.

Well done by Peterson.
___________________________________________________

Cute Dennis Calero cover.

Love the claws.
___________________________________________________

Perhaps it is a statement or something, but Mario Alberti's characters seem to be a bit off, anatomy-wise, on this cover.

___________________________________________________

I like this Dan Panosian drawing, but it is far from an appealing cover image.

I do dig the sort of Jordi Bernet feel to it.

As a drawing, it's quite good.
___________________________________________________

HONORABLE MENTIONS
___________________________________________________

Very cool Pasqual Ferry cover.

Uses the character's powers to as good of a visual effect as you could imagine!
___________________________________________________

This Stuart Immonen cover is exquisite.

I only hope fans will give it enough of a glance to appreciate it.
___________________________________________________

Another strong Immonen cover.

___________________________________________________

When Juan Doe does not have to draw normal characters, he is amazing.

No one does propaganda-style comic book covers like Doe!
___________________________________________________

I dig the shadow work on this Steve Epting cover.

___________________________________________________

It is striking how much power is in Patrick Zircher's art these days.

Very impressive (not that he wasn't a fine artist in the past, but I think it is fairly evident that as he has taken more time with his work, the overall quality had improved a lot).
___________________________________________________

What I like the most about this Gerald Parel cover is that it catches the eye right away just due to a strong drawing of the Captain, but THEN you notice the nice attention to detail with both men eying each other and readying their respective weapon.

___________________________________________________

Dig that 3-D effect, Greg Tocchini!

___________________________________________________

I actually don't like the cover design here that much, but damned if Scotty Young doesn't draw the hell out of it, making it worth at least an honorable mention.

___________________________________________________

Strong concept (Dark Reigning Cats and Dogs? Priceless) that is well executed by Chris Eliopoulos.

___________________________________________________

TOP FIVE
___________________________________________________

5. Jay Anacleto delivers an excellent cover taking into account the exact type of reaction that Busiek is looking for, where the "realistic" approach conflicts with the almost gaudy decade of the 80s.

Brilliant idea for a cover.
___________________________________________________

4. You know I loves me some negative space covers.

This Dennis Calero one uses that to great effect.
___________________________________________________

3. Wow, what a strong return cover for the Kingpin by Marko Djurdjevic!

___________________________________________________
2. Dave Johnson is an amazing cover artist, and he is buying into Duane Swierczynski's storyline motif wonderfully.

___________________________________________________

1. Knock the book all you like, the art on Hulk has been awesome, and these Ed McGuinness covers are top notch.

___________________________________________________

That's the list! Share your prejudices and YOUR Top Fives!

15 Comments

• At February 13, 2009, The Mad Monkey wrote:

  I'll honestly never understand how Humberto Ramos keeps getting work.

• At February 13, 2009, DIOS die autentisen wrote:

  X-Men Origins: Sabretooth

  http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff87/jasikev/42s33flzw6.jpg ?

• At February 13, 2009, Tim wrote:

  I'm not prejudiced, I'm just happy this section is back.

• At February 13, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Jae Lee (I believe) is doing the covers of DEAD IRONS over at Dynamite Entertainment.

• At February 13, 2009, Teebore wrote:

  Glad to see this section back, too!

  That Darkhawk cover looks like it could be from a trading card back in ...

• At February 13, 2009, salamurai wrote:

  I wonder why Marvel didn't use the original cover for that Galactus special?

  (The actual cover, at least on the copy ...

• At February 13, 2009, Rusty Priske wrote:

  Humberto Ramos is a great artist on the right book... and a terrible artist on the wrong one.

  Runaways is a ...

• At February 13, 2009, Chris Jones wrote:

  Why is the Hulk your number 1?

  It's so...bland.

• At February 13, 2009, TimGunn wrote:

  This is my favorite feature on here!

• At February 13, 2009, Biggles wrote:

  The David Mack Kabuki cover is downright ugly.

• At February 13, 2009, Corey Thomas wrote:

  The Black Panther cover attributed to Ken Lashley is actually J. Scott Campbell. You can see his signature on the ...

• At February 14, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  That Wolverine: First Class cover is based on a Kevin Maguire JLI cover, no?

  Certainly seems to evoke the classic ...

• At February 14, 2009, comb & razor wrote:

  Hmmm... Another David Mack swipe? The model and the pose on that Kabuki cover are... familiar, I think.

  I need to ...

• At February 14, 2009, buttler wrote:

  Oh yeah, Ian, it totally is. That didn't even register initially for me because it zooms in so much ...

• At February 19, 2009, noh_one wrote:

  @ comb & razor:

  The model for the Reflections #12 cover is photographer Linda Costa, whose experimental photos have appeared in ...

Let's begin!
___________________________________________________

Dynamic Aaron Lopresti cover for Action Comics.

___________________________________________________

Bit of a lackluster cover homage, though, by Lopresti to the #0 issue of the new Adventure Comics.

I really don't understand why you'd change the angle on the shot like that. I don't think it helps the piece at all.
___________________________________________________

Decent straightforward Batman Confidential cover by the legendary Jose Garcia-Lopez.

Can't believe it's really taken this long to get King Tut into the comics!
___________________________________________________

I was there that day that Kelley Jones and Anatomy got into a huge fight. As Anatomy walked away in a huff, I heard Jones shout, "I'm through with you, Anatomy! THROUGH!"

This Batman: Gotham After Midnight shows the ramifications of their quarrel.
___________________________________________________

I'm digging the slightly tighter pencils from Lee Garbett here.

How amusing is it, though, that the book lasts 50 issues as the Outsiders, gets re-launched as Batman and the Outsiders, and within 15 issues, it's back to the Outsiders again?

Not exactly stellar future planning there...
___________________________________________________

Speaking of odd homages to classic covers, Andy Kubert makes some rather, well, odd design decisions on this Detective Comics cover homage to Bob Kane's famous Detective Comics #27 cover.

I think it works better, though, than Lopresti's Adventure Comics #0.
___________________________________________________

Strong final issue cover by Don Kramer.

___________________________________________________

Good final issue cover by Freddie Williams III (I wonder where he's going to be going next?), although Robin really should ease up on the hair product.

___________________________________________________

I love me some Joshua Middleton, and this Supergirl cover is okay, but it's not nearly as dynamic as his usual Supergirl covers.

In addition, is Superwoman supposed to look that unimposing?
___________________________________________________

Impressive cover layout on this Brave and the Bold cover by Doug Braithwaite.

___________________________________________________

A very clever farewell cover by Rafael Albuquerque.

One of the few things to look forward to re: Blue Beetle's cancellation is that we will likely get to see Rafael Albuquerque get bigger and bigger assignments - he is good and just getting better all the time.
___________________________________________________

Woah, unannounced Marvel/DC crossover on this Cully Hamner cover for Black Lightning Year One!

Look everyone, it's that guy from that issue of Generation X!

Or at least his cousin.

Seriously, though, that's a nice cover design by Hamner - the Superman, in particular, looks dynamite.
___________________________________________________

You can usually count on Dan Jurgens to provide bold superhero poses on his covers, and he does so on this Booster Gold one!

___________________________________________________

Nice final issue cover by Stephane Roux.

___________________________________________________

If you add some laughter to this cover, Joker-style, this Phil Hester cover would be amazing.

Even without lettering, it is quite good. Electrifying, even.
___________________________________________________

Gotta give Ivan Reis credit, he delivered on the emotion "required" by the character on this Green Lantern cover, and greed is certainly something that's not exactly easy to convey. So good job, Ivan!

___________________________________________________

Pat Gleason must have missed the memo - he covered up the female character's ass shot and gave us the guy character's ass shot!

Doesn't he know anything about the public's desire to see the asses of female comic book characters on comic book covers?!?!?

Someone get Professor Benes on the line for some tutoring!
___________________________________________________

Of course, as if on cue, right after I tease the guy, Benes come back with this stunning Justice League drawing (sans ass shot).

I dunno if it necessarily works as a cover, but wow, as a drawing, that's an amazing looking Doctor Light by Benes (he's credited in the solicits, at least).

If we could get THAT in JLA monthly, could that be arranged?
___________________________________________________

The cover idea is good, but David Michael Beck's art here is way too "photoshop-y."

The flier looks like it does not exist on the same plane as the background figure.
___________________________________________________

That's an awesome, awesome drawing by Jerry Ordway.

I don't have it higher because the way it is laid out, it looks more like an interior panel than a shot meant to stand on its own, but still, what a great drawing.

I have been LOVING the way Ordway has been given more and more to do with JSA as of late.

He's a great artist.

And I bet he's happy with the notion that Desaad has likely been possessing Mary Marvel for quite some time now (yes, that was not conveyed in Countdown at ALL, but hey, communication between creators is overrated).
___________________________________________________

Good Dave Johnson cover for this new out of continuity superhero book by Peter Tomasi and Peter Snejbjerg (you might recall them as being the creative team for Tomasi's first comic work for DC,

___________________________________________________

A fun thing about outer space is that you can have people leaping out at you at all sorts of odd angles and explain it as "no gravity!"

With that in mind, good REBELS cover by Andy Clarke.

When did Vril Dox start working for JAG, though?
___________________________________________________

The slightly more restrained approach really suits Justiniano.

Good cover for Reign in Hell.
___________________________________________________

Scott Hampton's Simon Dark covers usually are not the most dynamic of covers, but usually the design elements are so strong that the cover still pops.

This cover, though, seems flat AND doesn't exactly have an impressive design.
___________________________________________________

Nice drawing by Nicola Scott, but I don't think it is bold enough for a cover shot - as an interior, it'd be great, but as a cover it is lacking.

___________________________________________________

Interesting to see Dan Jurgens do the cover for the last issue of Tanget: Superman's Reign.

Decent enough cover by Jurgens.

___________________________________________________

Poor Joe Bennett - the Clock King is not exactly the greatest figure to feature on a comic book cover, and a result, this Terror Titans cover just looks kinda hokey.

But Bennett draws it well enough.
___________________________________________________

I love how bold this Howard Porter Titans cover is, however, the character drawings are way too sharp and angular, and the perspective seems to be all off for most of the characters on the cover.

___________________________________________________

It's interesting, I am not too impressed by the main character drawings on this Shane Davis triptych, but the REST of the characters are drawn quite well, and in the cool style that I know Davis can draw in (and the inker helps, too, of course) - bright and not a lot of cross-hatching.

___________________________________________________

So...male or female on this Eddy Barrows Teen Titans cover?

___________________________________________________

Nice sense of movement by Walt Simonson on this Nightwing cover, but the figures look a lot less sharp than a typical Simonson drawing.

Nightwing, in particular, appears to be lacking definition.
___________________________________________________

Good Justiniano cover for the War that Time Forgot.

___________________________________________________

Can't blame Aaron Lopresti for this Wonder Woman cover - unless, of course, he was the one who designed Genocide.

If so, then, well, okay, I guess we can blame him.

Genocide looks re-donk-you-lus.
___________________________________________________

Nice Mike Kunkel cover for Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam.

___________________________________________________

Very strong cover layout by Scott Jeralds for the Batman: Brave and the Bold.

___________________________________________________

I love the idea of giving the popular features of Cartoon Network Action Pack the whole cover, and a group shot works well here that it might not work so well on a serialized comic.

This Jay Stephens' cover of Secret Saturdays could really help sell the book in a way that an action shot really might not.

___________________________________________________

Good Camp Lazlo cover by Robert Pope for Cartoon Network Block Party.

___________________________________________________

Perhaps I should move this Robert Pope Scooby Doo cover up higher - it's a very strong visual design.

___________________________________________________

Very cute Supergirl cover by Eric Jones.

I love the look on her face as she drops the book and pencil.
___________________________________________________

I really don't get how this Simon Coleby Authority cover is meant to sell the book.

It's well-drawn, but it is as interesting as paragraphs of exposition.
___________________________________________________

Howard Chaykin gives the first cover of Bang! Tango a cover that certainly evokes the title better than one could ever expect.

___________________________________________________

Once again, Brandon Badeaux is doing his best with what he has to work with.

What fascinates me is that Liam Sharp is not doing rhe covers - the he-men of Gears of War seem to fit Sharp's style perfectly.
___________________________________________________

An okay Niko Henrichon cover for the Mirror's Edge.

Excellent city backdrop, though.
___________________________________________________

A very endearing cover by Tom Fowler for the second issue of his new book with writer Jeff Parker.

___________________________________________________

Maybe I should just drop judging these video game covers, because you have to imagine the editorial restraints are massive.

Mario Alberti is a lot better artist than this, and I bet it came down to him following some sort of guideline for the cover. Same with Mirror's Edge, Gears of War, etc.
___________________________________________________

Then again, while I am unfamiliar with the video game Resistance, I find it hard to believe that this CP Smith is what the game is like, so perhaps they have more freedom than I think.

___________________________________________________

Leandro Fernandez changes his usual Stormwatch cover routine a bit, and the results are impressive.

Nice motion and an intriguing design.
___________________________________________________

Neil Googe, too, comes back from a rather disheartening Wildcats cover last month with an intriguing one here.

A lot more laid back of a cover than last one, with the over the top silliness of Maul fighting some other jolly goofy giant.
___________________________________________________

Straightforward Jon Buran cover for World of Warcraft, but I think it's an effective one.

___________________________________________________

I'm really liking these drawn X-Files covers by Jim Daly & Tim Bradstreet.

Nice dramatic feel to the cover, and the characters are still cartoon-y enough to be fluid and not stiff.
___________________________________________________

I still can't get over how seamlessly John Paul Leon took over DMZ cover duties.

___________________________________________________

Man, what a lame cover by James Jean! Who wants to see a big ol' Top Secret sign on a cover?!?!

Of all the nerve!

What's that?

Oh....

Never mind, then.
___________________________________________________

I like the slightly different cover layout than normal from Glenn Fabry for Greatest Hits.

It's a nice mix of the mundane with the surreal.
___________________________________________________

That's one scary-ass effed up baby right there by Lee Bermejo!

___________________________________________________

This Glenn Fabry cover, unlike the Greatest Hits cover, is ONLY mundane.

Nicely drawn of course, as this IS Glenn Fabry we're talking about, but what a boring cover image for House of Mystery.
___________________________________________________

A strong Kaluta cover for Haunted Tank.

This book has gotten some impressive cover artists so far!!
___________________________________________________

Brian Bolland must be having a BLAST with these Jack of Fables covers.

Yet another hilariously offbeat one.
___________________________________________________

Solid Young Liars cover by Lapham, as usual.

___________________________________________________

HONORABLE MENTIONS
___________________________________________________

I love the layout on this Yuko Shimizu Dream Hunters cover.

__________________________________________________

Brian Bolland is having some fun on this Spirit cover, too, but I think this cover idea jumps out a bit more than the Jack of Fables one.

___________________________________________________

Bold Air cover by M.K. Perker.

It adds a bit more flair than previous issues - so it was definitely a good pick by DC to use for their "jump on" issue.
___________________________________________________

A good, distinct conclusion to the Vixen mini-series by Joshua Middleton.

___________________________________________________

Come on! It's Starro as a pirate!!

J. Bone - will you marry me?
___________________________________________________

Mike Huddleston has such an amazing style to him.

This Gen 13 cover is way too cool for a cover that is basically just a guy riding a skateboard.
___________________________________________________

It's not even that Amy Reeder Hadley rocks this Madame Xanadu cover, execution style, but the idea is so strong that I still enjoy it a lot.

___________________________________________________

It's Jock!

He is almost genetically incapable of doing a bad cover!

___________________________________________________

Igor Kordey has had a number of very striking covers for Unknown Soldier.

Love the water effect.
___________________________________________________

A grand farewell to 100 Bullets courtesy of Dave Johnson.

For 100 issues, Johnson has delivered with numerous stunningly designed covers - he is a comic book treasure.
___________________________________________________

TOP FIVE
___________________________________________________

5. Andy Kubert is a pretty good cover artist, but this Batman cover for the first part of the Neil Gaiman two-parter is some of the best work I've seen from him on a cover in awhile.

The layout is excellent and the execution is strong, too.
___________________________________________________

4. This Alex Ross cover loses some points for the fact that Pa Kent died, what, seventeen months ago or something like that?

Still, it's a powerful image.
___________________________________________________

3. Speaking of a powerful image (and I was - look at ranking #4 if you don't believe me), Ladrönn delivers one on this Green Arrow/Black Canary cover.

Definitely a cover that forces you to take a gander at it.
___________________________________________________

2. See, this is what I'm talking about when I say Billy Tucci should just DRAW!

When he is just drawing freehand, he can be dynamite, like this bursting off the page Sgt. Rock cover.

If Tucci spent too much time on photorealism for Rock and the Tank (which many artists do), it would have DRAMATICALLY sapped the cover out of tons of energy - by drawing them freehand (with photo references, of course, but that's fine), Tucci allows himself to add a great deal of manic energy to the cover, resulting in an awesome cover - the best of the series so far (by far).
___________________________________________________

1. Massimo Carnevale should really start doing covers on, like, stilts or something or drawing in the back of a convertible with the top down. He needs to up the difficulty level somehow, because he makes great covers look so easy.

Yet another dramatic cover using colors and shading beautifully, as well as shadows and perspective to create a beautiful work of cover art.
___________________________________________________

Well, there you have it!

Feel free to share YOUR Top Fives and YOUR prejudices!

39 Comments

• At December 16, 2008, Matt wrote:

  In that Booster Gold cover, it almost seems like the lower body was an afterthought.

  And the Authority cover definitely ...

• At December 16, 2008, Richard Pachter wrote:

  Aaron Lopresti has really learned his craft. Kudos!

• At December 16, 2008, Matt D wrote:

  I love Misfit's body language/expression in that BOP cover.

• At December 16, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Is it just me, or does Dr. Light appear to have some man parts in that drawing? I'd read ...

• At December 16, 2008, Sallyp wrote:

  Of COURSE they used well-rounded male Green Lantern buttocks in that cover. It's practically a requirement! ALL Green ...

• At December 16, 2008, Dave wrote:

  After watching some more Gears of War cutscenes on youtube recently, the thing that struck me about the Badeaux cover ...

• At December 16, 2008, Ian A. wrote:

  I'd put money on that Mirror's Edge piece being an internal panel, since it looks exactly like Matthew Dow Smith's ...

• At December 16, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  WTF?!!

  Is that Night Owl from Watchmen on the Outsiders cover??!!?

• At December 16, 2008, The Mutt wrote:

  Bwah! Green Arrow got his ass kicked by a leetle girl.

  Second on the Night Owl WTF. That looks like a ...

• At December 16, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Hey. Another Team-Up book.

  And while I grant you it's probably an improvement, Tucci's actual Sgt. Rock figure ...

• At December 16, 2008, Tenzil Kem wrote:

  "Is it just me, or does Dr. Light appear to have some man parts in that drawing? I’d read the ...

• At December 16, 2008, Omar Karindu, back from an Internet Thogal ritual wrote:

  Nope, it's Owlman of the Crime Syndicate, not Night-Owl.

• At December 16, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Is it just me, or does Dr. Light appear to have some man parts in that drawing? Ha!

  Without color, ...

• At December 16, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I hope they tell the story of how the Justice League told her there was nothing in poor taste about ...

• At December 16, 2008, Agent_Torpor wrote:

  I love your "Judging by the Covers" series as much as I hate Misfit. And that's a whole lotta ...

• At December 16, 2008, Agent_Torpor wrote:

  P.S., is it me or did the Johnny DC titles kick overall arse in the covers dept? So good ...

• At December 16, 2008, Chris McAree wrote:

  "Look everyone, it’s that guy from that issue of Generation X!"

  or is it crazy old Jamie Braddock!

• At December 16, 2008, Vincent Murphy wrote:

  The Vigilante-Nightwing cover is from the Vigilante series and isn't a Nightwing cover.

• At December 16, 2008, D. Peace wrote:

  I agree with your number 5 choice... that's quite an impressive shot by Andy Kubert.

  My all-time favorite cover artist, Dave ...

• At December 16, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  - I think they’re still worried about being sued by Fox over King Tut.

  - I really don’t understand what’s going on in ...

• At December 17, 2008, JackKing wrote:

  I'm pretty sure that's Kid Eternity on the Teen Titans cover, so the answer is 'Guy'.

• At December 17, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  I think they’re still worried about being sued by Fox over King Tut.

  How?? King Tut is a nickname for King ...

• At December 17, 2008, Ted wrote:

  'Abandon all hope etc.' doesn't look so depressing with such an interesting font. It should really have a more diabolical ...

• At December 17, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  "If it was the Mummy from The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, etc., I can see the point… But that wasn’t ...

• At December 17, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Ah! Thank you Stephen.

  Don't recall ever seeing an episode with a mummified enemy... But then, I barely remember the ones ...

• At December 17, 2008, Graeme White wrote:

  Not Nite Owl or Crime Syndicate Owlman. It's Alfred dressed as Owlman.

  One of the clues from an old DC ...

• At December 17, 2008, Graeme White wrote:

  Sorry, it was DC Nation 137 and the clue was "the Owl and the Butler are the same person"

• At December 17, 2008, Graeme White wrote:

  JUST DISCOVERED MIGHT NOT BE TRUE

  DAMMIT!

  10 clues, five true, five false

• At December 17, 2008, T. wrote:

  Bit of a lackluster cover homage, though, by Lopresti to the #0 issue of the new Adventure Comics.

  To be fair, ...

• At December 17, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:

  I like that Fabry House of Mystery cover more than you do. I'm not exactly sure why, It looks right ...

• At December 17, 2008, GarBut wrote:

  "If you add some laughter to this cover, Joker-style, this Phil Hester cover would be amazing."

  Great idea, Brian. Here are ...

• At December 17, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  The cover idea is good, but David Michael Beck’s art here is way too “photoshop-y.”

  The cover idea is generic. ...

• At December 17, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  "Don’t recall ever seeing an episode with a mummified enemy… "

  You wouldn't. If memory serves, he was a fat professor ...

• At December 17, 2008, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:

  The Simonson Vigilante cover is one of the weakest things I think I've ever seen him do. But I notice ...

• At December 18, 2008, Hal wrote:

  Have you noticed that DC covers are exciting and fun and maintain the look of comic book covers while more ...

• At December 27, 2008, David Michael Beck wrote:

  Dear CBR,

  A friend of mine sent me this link with your comment regarding the cover for Jonah Hex #40,...I thought ...

• At January 11, 2009, Andrew wrote:

  Any chance of March's covers going up and being jjudged soon?

• At February 5, 2009, Phil wrote:

  I second the request for some judgement and posting of March Covers!

• At February 10, 2009, Mak wrote:

  Here Here! The people have called for March Covers!

Let's begin!
___________________________________________________

Yet another adorable Dave Bullock cover.

Gotta love that dial.
___________________________________________________

Decent cover by the master, John Romita.

___________________________________________________

Strong cover by the master's son.

___________________________________________________

Ha!

I was just talking about how I thought a certain pose was quite common on recent Spider-Man covers, and ta da - that same pose shows up on a Spider-Man cover!

Still, it's a good cover by Stephane Roux.
___________________________________________________

Very good cover by Ron Frenz.

I wonder where he'll end up when Spider-Girl ends.
___________________________________________________

What an odd design by Simone Bianchi.

Nice character drawings, though!
___________________________________________________

Cute cover by David Nakayama.

___________________________________________________

An impressive cover design by Ariel Olivetti, but his everyone still looks way too bulky.

What a weird thing to be Olivetti's "thing." "Yeah, I'm the guy who draws everyone really bulky."
___________________________________________________

I tend to believe that this Stuart Immonen cover is missing something that will be added later on.

___________________________________________________

Cool variant cover for Captain America #46.

That's Djurdjevic, right?
___________________________________________________

You could make a strong argument for this Epting cover for this Cap one-shot to be an honorable mention.

It's a very well drawn piece - it just seems a bit too similar to past Epting covers to merit honorable mention - is there a category for just plain ol' mentions? Like, "While I might not wish to honor it exactly, I think I should still mention that this Epting cover is really well drawn?"
___________________________________________________

Powerful Jae Lee cover.

___________________________________________________

This is a very engaging cover by Roger Cruz.

Doom's pose is intriguing, but I especially love Chameleon's pose - "Anyone can try to look menacing, but who else but the Chameleon can gently cover one eye? No one, that's who! Nyah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Nyah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Nyah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Yes, I am bad ass."
___________________________________________________

Really impressive figure drawings by Eric Nguyen, but the basic cover concept is fairly routine.

The angle isn't really even interesting.
___________________________________________________

Nice action shot by Clint Langley.

I'd love to see Langley do some sequential work.
___________________________________________________

Trippy angels, Suydam!

I love when Suydam isn't doing homages to old Marvel covers.
___________________________________________________

More of an imposing villain by Clint Langley on this month's cover as compared to last month.

___________________________________________________

Ed McGuinness appears to be vibing the late, great Mike Wieringo a bit here.

___________________________________________________

Interesting cover by Mike Perkins, mostly because it really doesn't look like his usual style. It has an almost Mark Bagley quality to it.

___________________________________________________

An early contender for "Most Superfluous Comic Book of the Year!"

Still, a fine cover by David Yardin.
___________________________________________________

This might not even be the cover, right?

They've done that before with the Kick Ass solicits, show a page rather than the cover.
___________________________________________________

The girl on the bottom of this Tommy Ohtsuka cover is sad because she doesn't have sharpened ears like the other two people on the cover do.

"Yeah, I have neat purple hair, but my ears are so boring and round!"
___________________________________________________

At first, when I saw this Salva Espin cover, I thought, "Wow, the Avengers look really pissed at someone just outside the lower right hand corner of this cover!"

Then I looked at it further and realized that that was not anger, that was yearning!

My theory was proven when I noticed that I did not think to look beyond the boundaries of the page, and once I did so, it was clear.

So see for yourself.

Damn, superheroes sure do love that stuff!
___________________________________________________

Good Tom Grummett cover. I was going to note that I thought that the "playing pranks on each other" cover motif seems to be a bit over-used on these FF covers, but looking back, I guess it's only been used twice or so.

___________________________________________________

Decent Salva Espin Thor cover.

I see Louise Simonson is writing this one! That's neat "casting."
___________________________________________________

Good to see Sanford Greene end up somewhere else after his Batman title at Jonni DC ended.

He brings his standard dynamic cover work to Marvel.
___________________________________________________

FULL FACE COVERS ON PARADE!!!!

First, a fairly scary cover by Mico Suayan.

___________________________________________________

Next, a well-drawn by surprisingly laid back Gerald Parel cover.

___________________________________________________

Good job by Marko Djurdjevic pulling away from his previous themes for this Magneto cover.

It gives it much more of a punch.
___________________________________________________

Is that actually Lee Bermejo? Looks more like Mike Perkins to me. Could it be the Perkins variant?

Strong cover, though.
___________________________________________________

That's one smooth looking Punisher by Jay Anacleto.

I doubted myself on Jay's last name, but I was correct! Yay me!

How is that pronounced, by the by?
___________________________________________________

Clever cover homage by Greg Land.

The British zombies are done to an homage of Shaun of the Dead.

Clever!!
___________________________________________________

Hmmm....

I usually love Gabrielle Dell'Otto's work.

And there is a lot to like about this cover.

But I just don't think the two figures go together all that well.

Individually, though, good stuff!
___________________________________________________

You've never gotten a real back rub until you've gotten one from the original Human Torch!

Rather odd cover idea by Esad Ribic.
___________________________________________________

There is a certain engaging quality to this Alex Garner cover, but man, that face does not look like it belongs to the rest of the drawing, and that really throws the whole thing off for me.

___________________________________________________

Nice Nic Klein cover.

It'll be nice seeing him do covers for a better book!
___________________________________________________

See?

Even Richard Rider thinks his costume is lame!

Good cover idea by Adi Granov.
___________________________________________________

Not sure exactly what it supposed to be going on on this Alina Urusov cover.

___________________________________________________

Very cute Mike McKone cover.

___________________________________________________

Striking Dave Johnson cover.

___________________________________________________

Decent cover by Aleksa Gaji - I think the dramatic intent is carried fairly well.

___________________________________________________

On that note, I dunno if Brandon Peterson DID carry the dramatic intent of this cover well enough.

I think his work on this cover had a slightly detached feel that takes away from the dramatic impact. Sort of like a colorform cover (although not to that extent, of course - same basic theory, though).

To wit, does it even feel to you like Black Bolt's foot is actually touching that Skrull?
___________________________________________________

That's some odd lighting there by GG Studios.

Otherwise, it's an okay cover.
___________________________________________________

I really like this Patrick Zircher cover - it only loses some points since it is basically the same exact cover design as Dennis Calero's #1 variant.

___________________________________________________

I love how you can almost always count on Ed McGuinness to bring a ton of energy to his covers.

___________________________________________________

I debated whether this Mike Deodato cover should count as a full face cover.

In either event, it's a pretty strong cover - nice stylizing.
___________________________________________________

Two good covers for Thor #600 by Olivier Coipel and Marko Djurdjevic.

Both good works, but I think I prefer Djurdjevic's, especially the part where he actually tries to get across some story in his with the Balder bit.
___________________________________________________

Another cute Gurihiru Wolverine/Power Pack cover.

I wonder how many iterations we could get for this Power Pack deal?

Will we get to the point where it's a four issue mini-series starring Yondu and the Power Pack as they get into hijinx in the future! Katie with a fin would be adorable!

Or maybe D-Man/Power Pack! I can see the odor lines already!!
___________________________________________________

I've been enjoying Michael Ryan's covers for this series so far.

___________________________________________________

I forget, is Cyber really that big?

Or is this new Cyber bigger than the old one?

I liked the old one - Peter David created him, no?
___________________________________________________

Now, here, on this David Williams cover, the lighting is SUPPOSED to be mysterious.

So it works.
___________________________________________________

Another powerful cover homage from Dave Wilkins.

___________________________________________________

What a weird cover by Das Pastoras.

The actual figure drawing is fine, but the rest of the cover does not fit together.
___________________________________________________

Another cute Mike McKone cover.

___________________________________________________

I guess Clayton Crain does a nice job of setting up the collage effect...I suppose I just don't like his character drawings very much.

___________________________________________________

An odd Lee Bermejo cover.

The layout is actually quite good, and the Rogue figure even works more or less, but holy crap, that's a weird Wolverine!
___________________________________________________

Speaking of awful character work, holy jeebus, Humberto Ramos! What an utterly dreadful Dazzler!

I especially dislike the Exorcist-style head.
___________________________________________________

Nice classic sci-fi style cover by Brandon Peterson.

___________________________________________________

Good job by Mario Alberti.

When, though, did Storm have a costume like that?
___________________________________________________

Very nice Stephane Roux cover, although it's pretty similar to some of the previous covers in this series.

___________________________________________________

Interesting Dennis Calero cover.

Sorta Land-ish, though.
___________________________________________________

I like this Billy Tan cover, it adds a certain dynamic this book was lacking - that is, a certain straightforward "we're a superhero team."

___________________________________________________

I like the design on this Adrien Floch cover.

___________________________________________________

Does this count as a full face cover?

Anyhow, good Sean Phillips cover!
___________________________________________________

HONORABLE MENTIONS
___________________________________________________

Very impressive group shot by Patrick Zircher.

___________________________________________________

Great Alex Ross cover.

___________________________________________________

The character work is not very good, but that's some awesome background work by Juan Doe.

REALLY awesome.
___________________________________________________

Another strong Ultimate Spider-Man cover by Stuart Immonen.

He is awesome-rageous.
___________________________________________________

I love the energy Mike McKone shows on this cover.

Not the actual energy, of course, but the sense of power and action.
___________________________________________________

TOP FIVE
___________________________________________________

5. What an awesome design by Humberto Ramos.

It's funny how he does this cool cover the same month he does that goddawful Dazzler one.
___________________________________________________

4. I can't get over how much this Mico Suayan cover pops.

___________________________________________________

3. This is a beautiful execution of the story by Greg Tocchini.

___________________________________________________

2. Skottie Young is just KILLING this series.

Can't wait until I see the interiors.
___________________________________________________

1. I love it when Djurdjevic does offbeat covers.

This one is awesome, offbeat and even tells the story!
___________________________________________________

Okay, that's it!

Feel free to share YOUR top fives and YOUR prejudices!

27 Comments

• At November 24, 2008, Anonymous wrote:

  The reason I can't love the dial on the Age of the Sentry cover is because "villain" is misspelled.

  List ...

• At November 24, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  It’s a very well drawn piece - it just seems a bit too similar to past Epting covers to merit ...

• At November 24, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Also, are you sure that NYX cover isn’t drawn by Josh Middleton?

  Looks incredibly similar to his style.

  Urusov has been vibing ...

• At November 24, 2008, garbonzo wrote:

  Are there no Avengers covers for the month of January? Did I miss something?

• At November 24, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  The Avengers covers are "classified" until after Secret Invasion #8, as the covers likely spoil the events of that issue.

• At November 24, 2008, Thok wrote:

  Am I the only person who looks at the Incredible Hercules cover and sees Vixen? (Yes, I know that ...

• At November 24, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Urusov has been vibing Middleton the whole series long.

  So they've gone from 'Draw like Kirby!' to 'Draw like Middleton!'?

  Guess it's ...

• At November 24, 2008, Ryan wrote:

  I actually love the X-Men legacy cover. Its a really creative way to convey the history of the characters.

• At November 24, 2008, Maurice F wrote:

  I'm a fan, but I can barely tell what's going on in that Alex Ross cover.

• At November 24, 2008, Ron wrote:

  The X-Men Legacy cover is part of a Triptych, and the cover for Civil War: House of M is an ...

• At November 25, 2008, layne wrote:

  I think Anacleto would be pronounced like 'Anna-klepto' but without the 'p'. But I am not a linguist and only ...

• At November 25, 2008, The Mad Monkey wrote:

  Wolverine: Switchback #1

  "The actual figure drawing is fine"

  Ummmm...

  Perhaps I'm not seeing the same drawing you are, but that is just ...

• At November 25, 2008, Chris McAree wrote:

  -"When, though, did Storm have a costume like that?"

  Way back when Uncanny was in the high 280s and low 290s.

  Get ...

• At November 25, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  "I’d love to see Langley do some sequential work."

  Dig out some 2000ADs... I'm sure Rebellion have collected at least one ...

• At November 25, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:

  My favorites: Spidey/Man-Thing, Baby Madrox, Wizard of Oz, Wolverine/Power Pack, and the Romitas Spidey covers.

  I can't figure out what's going ...

• At November 25, 2008, GarBut wrote:

  FF ADVENTURES: this "prank" cover works because of Sue's embarrassment/disappointment; it's quite poignant, really.

  X-MEN NOIR: When did Lt. Data join ...

• At November 25, 2008, Ian A. wrote:

  Heh, your #1 pick could also qualify as a full-face cover -- a damn good full-face cover.

  The upside-down-ness really puts ...

• At November 25, 2008, Jordan wrote:

  Sorry, but did I just see you use "Alex Ross" and "great" in the same sentence? Isn't this against the ...

• At November 25, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Ummmm…

  Perhaps I’m not seeing the same drawing you are, but that is just plain terrible “art”. It's not photo-realistic or ...

• At November 25, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Way back when Uncanny was in the high 280s and low 290s.

  I dunno - they certainly have similarities, but ...

• At November 25, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Sorry, but did I just see you use “Alex Ross” and “great” in the same sentence? Isn’t this against the ...

• At November 25, 2008, Agent_Torpor wrote:

  David Nakayama is absolutely KICKING MAJOR ARSE on Big Hero 6. Would love to see him on a regular ...

• At November 25, 2008, Daniel O' Dreams wrote:

  It should've been Hostess FRUIT PIES... They seem to prefer them three to one on cupcakes and Twinkies ...

• At November 26, 2008, The Mad Monkey wrote:

  No...the art on Strikeback is not photo-realistic. Like many others, I'm tired of Greg Land-style cheating in comic art. ...

• At November 26, 2008, Jason wrote:

  Pardon my ignorance but does design and layout mean the same as composition? And what do you mean exactly by ...

• At November 27, 2008, Ted wrote:

  At first I didn't realise that the ASM Extra cover was a reflection and thought that 2 spidermen were doing ...

• At January 11, 2009, Andrew wrote:

  Thanks Brian - are Marvel's Feb covers on the way?

Let's begin!
___________________________________________________

Okay, so this January, DC is doing a theme month, and the majority of their DC Universe comics are going to have similar covers - an all black background with the sole figure of a villain (typically a villain connected to the title in question) on the cover.

Since I really can't give any of these covers points for creativity, I've decided instead to just show them all, ranked in order of my least favorite cover using the theme until my favorite cover using the theme.

Then the covers shall continue as regularly scheduled!
___________________________________________________
I normally always enjoy Brian Stelfreeze's covers, but here, two of his entries I think are the two worst covers...

First off, here's a weird new re-design of Anarky (not Stelfreeze's fault, I presume) for Robin...

Then a weird looking Ra's for this Nightwing cover...

___________________________________________________
This Hush Detective Comics cover is here more of my bias against Hush than Andrew Robinson's fault.

___________________________________________________
Tony Daniel MIGHT be going for lecherous with his Jericho look here on this Titans cover - but I don't think so.

___________________________________________________
Kobra is normally pretty silly, but he looks REALLY silly on this Andrew Robinson cover for the Kobra one-shot.

___________________________________________________
Although at least Robinson's cover isn't taking itself quite as seriously as Mauro Cascioli's cover for this Prometheus one-shot.

So maybe I should have Kobra first - it's slightly goofier looking, but it's done in a more cartoonish style...hmmm...I dunno.
___________________________________________________
The normally solid Stephane Roux has a bit of a mis-step with this Birds of Prey cover...

It doesn't look ominous, it looks silly.
___________________________________________________
Shane Davis is also working with what they gave him, and I can't say red vomit is all that imposing on this Green Lantern cover.

Davis seems to be vibing Ed Benes a bit on this Grundy one-shot cover.

That's not a good thing.
___________________________________________________
The following covers by Robinson, Benes, Eddy Barrows then Robinson again are all pretty straightforward covers.

Nothing much to say about them, except to note that Benes' Starbreaker cover for JLA is not bad (the books covered here are, by the way, Secret Six, JLA, Teen Titans and Vigilante - it's kinda odd that two of the books have, for their "evil" covers, the main characters from the book itself - that sort of seems to defeat the purpose of this event, but whatever).
___________________________________________________
Aaron Lopresti's Wonder Woman cover has a little more flair to it...

___________________________________________________
And Brian Stelfreeze Dan Jurgens definitely tries out something unique for this Booster Gold cover...

The result is the best cover of his three.
___________________________________________________
I like the energy in this Pat Gleason Green Lantern Corps cover...

___________________________________________________
Ladrönn TIME!!!

How's the archery on this Green Arrow/Black Canary cover?

It looks pretty good.

His Deathstroke cover for the one-shot is suitably ominous...

And the Bizarro cover for Action Comics is interesting...

___________________________________________________
Joshua Middleton is a good cover artist, and he does a fine job on this Supergirl cover introducing Superwoman.

___________________________________________________
Finally, when you come up with the idea of doing covers with black backgrounds and a single character posing ominously, then darnit, that's practically the definition of Alex Ross' wheelhouse, so unsurprisingly, he rocks this category, with covers for Superman, JSA and Batman, respectively.

That's an awesome looking Catwoman by Ross.
___________________________________________________

Okay, on to the rest of the covers!!
___________________________________________________

I like the design of this Phil Noto cover, but the finished artwork looks a bit flat.

___________________________________________________

Decent Stephane Roux cover for Batman Confidential, but certainly lacking some of the oomph of previous Roux efforts.

___________________________________________________

I think this is one of Kelley Jones' best covers yet for this Batman: Gotham After Midnight series.

It is vintage Jones right here.
___________________________________________________

This Adam Kubert cover for the Batman and the Outsiders one-shot has a really cool design to it, and I even appreciate some of the character work (Kubert's Creeper is very cool looking).

The best part of the cover?

It APPEARS as though it is lacking Grace.
___________________________________________________

I bet this Bernie Wrightson Superman/Batman Annual cover will look cool when its finished.

I wonder what is the smallest amount of visual evidence a comic company has used for a cover solicit?
___________________________________________________

Those are some darn smooth figures on this Doug Braithwaite Brave and the Bold cover.

A bit too smooth, but still!
___________________________________________________

Interesting cover by Rafael Albuquerque for Blue Beetle.

I wonder where Rafael Albuquerque will end up after Beetle? He's quite good.
___________________________________________________

An all right El Diablo cover by Phil Hester.

___________________________________________________

I was pleased to see Jim Shooter, in his exit interview, basically say the same stuff about Manapul's covers that I was saying. The guy is a really talented artist, yet his covers were strangely undynamic.

This last issue cover, though, has energy in spades.

Good job.
___________________________________________________

Pretty good final cover of Manhunter by Brad Walker.

___________________________________________________

Yet another Justiniano Reign of Hell cover that is way too busy.

I love his energy, though.
___________________________________________________

This Sgt. Rock cover by Billy Tucci is way too bright.

Less bright and I think this would look cool.
___________________________________________________

Another neat Scott Hampton cover for Simon Dark.

___________________________________________________

An okay entry by Paul Rivoche.

It seems like a lot of Spirit covers have used the fire escape angle - I wonder why.
___________________________________________________

Very nice Ivan Reis cover for the Tangent comic book.

I love how stylized he draws the characters.
___________________________________________________

I like Joe Bennett's work, but man, this Terror Titans cover is not a proper return for one of the coolest characters from the 1990s.

___________________________________________________

So, the whole "all covers will be done by Jim Lee, Andy Kubert and Carlos Pacheco" thing lasted about halfway through the year, if we listen to the solicits (who say Shane Davis is doing two covers)

That's actually not that bad.

This Andy Kubert triptych is cool looking.
___________________________________________________

It's extremely difficult for an artist like Middleton to get across the feeling of floating, and I don't think he pulled it off on this Vixen cover.

___________________________________________________

Fine throwback cover by Ladrönn for the War that Time Forgot.

___________________________________________________

Fun first cover of Batman: The Brave and the Bold by James Tucker.

___________________________________________________

Smart to spotlight Ben 10 on the cover of Cartoon Network Action Pack.

Fine Min S. Ku cover.
___________________________________________________

Also good that they're letting Stephanie Gladden just do a full cover on one of the three features in Cartoon Network Block Party.

___________________________________________________

Is this a new Walter Carzon cover for Looney Tunes?

___________________________________________________

Good Eric Jones cover for the second issue of the new Supergirl comic.

Nicely foreboding.
___________________________________________________

Another cute Art Baltazar Tiny Titans cover.

___________________________________________________

I guess if this Authority cover was just going for gross, then Simon Coleby did a fine job.

I sorta figured you'd be trying for something more than just "gross," though, ya know?
___________________________________________________

Trippy Jonathan Wayshak cover for Ferryman.

Quite haunting.
___________________________________________________

Since I've been told this is what the Gears of War people actually look like in the game, then Brandon Badeaux is doing the best with what he has to work with.

___________________________________________________

Cool Stelfreeze cover - this is the sort of thing I expect from a Stelfreeze cover, not a weird looking dude in a diaper!

___________________________________________________

Cool looking Mario Alberti for Push.

___________________________________________________

Cute Tom Fowler cover for Jeff Parker's new Mysterius comic.

___________________________________________________

Strong CP Smith cover for the Resistance comic.

___________________________________________________

Actually a bid of an oddly boring cover by Leandro Fernandez.

The characters are all drawn well, though!
___________________________________________________

Good Gene Ha Top Ten cover.

___________________________________________________

I like the design of this Jon Buran Worlds of Warcraft cover.

___________________________________________________

Oooh...good return to comic book-y artwork for this X-Files cover by Jim Daly & Tim Bradstreet.

___________________________________________________

I ponder...is this Neil Googe Wildcats cover SUPPOSED to look unbelievably goofy?

Or is it supposed to be taken seriously?
___________________________________________________

A good Dave Johnson 100 Bullets cover, although it's a bit of a retread, concept-wise.

___________________________________________________

Decent M.K. Perker cover for Air.

Another homage, I presume.
___________________________________________________

Another fun Rick Veitch cover for Army@Love.

___________________________________________________

I can't get over how easily John Paul Leon slipped into cover duties - he picks up where Brian Wood left off without skipping a beat.

Good work.
___________________________________________________

Interesting Greatest Hits cover by Glenn Fabry.

I always like it when he mixes things up on his covers.
___________________________________________________

Strong Lee Bermejo cover for Peter Milligan's first issue of Hellblazer.

___________________________________________________

Another different looking Fabry cover, this time for House of Mystery.

Cool.
___________________________________________________

Good drawing on this cover of Haunted Tank #2, although I dunno how well it works as a cover piece (it reminds me of a similar looking piece on a recent Secret Six cover which I thought didn't work as a cover).

Still, great drawing.

Is that Paul Pope?
___________________________________________________

Very cool Yuko Shimizu cover for this Sandman: Dream Hunters cover.

___________________________________________________

Another fun Young Liars cover by David Lapham!

___________________________________________________

HONORABLE MENTIONS
___________________________________________________

Pretty straightforward Bill Sienkiewicz cover, but he's so good that even a typical cover of his deserves some honorable mention...

___________________________________________________

Awesome! Dan Hipp!

Very cool cover for Gen 13.

And very cool of DC to think of Dan Hipp to do an issue of Gen 13!
___________________________________________________

What a bold cover by Igor Kordey for Unknown Soldier.

Really stands out.
___________________________________________________