Another week of comic books means another week of sunshine. At least for our comic book contributors. They take a peek at the comic covers of the comics coming out this Wednesday and make their judgements. Scroll down to see some pretty pictures and some fine choices.
Dave’s Pick
Dominique Laveau Voodoo Child #3
By Rafael Grampá
Dave: First off, the sketchy, caricatural style of the crowd of people at the edges is a nice way to frame the characters. They seem to be curving a bit as well along with the buildings which enhances the focus on the main characters. The confetti is just dazzling, along with that gorgeous umbrella. The come hither motion of the blue suited dude is a great way to bring the viewer in as well. Great cover.
Brendan: I love the colors but the figures throw me off a bit. I think it’s mainly our girl up front that throws me. She doesn’t seem to be quite a caricature, more-so just haphazardly done. I find myself getting lost in the umbrella. I like it, overall.
Brendan’s Pick
Dark Horse Presents #12
By Sam Kieth
Brendan: I love Sam Kieth and this cover proves why. The colors bring a grimey texture that is perfect for Aliens. I also love the look of horror/wonder on the girl’s face. The alien really embodies Kieth’s style with skewed proportions and rough outlines. This cover evokes the nature of its subject in a way that makes you want to open the book and read more.
Dave: This cover is good, especially the girl and the texture of her helmet. I’m not sure I dig the background as it looks too simple. The alien and bubbles are good, but unless it’s a story element, aren’t the Aliens supposed to be a lot bigger? Unless that girl is a giant that is the smallest adult Alien I’ve ever seen. The lack of anything opposite of the girl on the right side of the frame also throws me off.
Brendan’s Honorable Mentions:
Amazing Spider-Man #686 (Variant Cover)
By Gabriele Del’Otto
Brendan: That’s right, more reflection shots. Regardless of the somewhat generic scene there is a lot to love about this cover. The purple smoke is incredibly well done. Love the hypnotic vibe it evokes. I also love the reflection in Mysterio’s helmet, particularly the squinty-eyed Alex-Rossian Spidey. Honestly if it weren’t for the fact that I feel that we have been covering a bit of a reflection trend in our Cover Critiques I would have given this one the top spot.
Dave: “Alex-Rossian” perfectly explains Spidey’s look. For me this cover is most enjoyable due to the purple smoke. The hand in the reflection also adds a lot to the dynamic nature of this cover.
Astonishing X-Men #50 (Variant Cover)
By John Cassaday
Brendan: Hooray for self-referential cover art! To celebrate its fiftieth issue, Cassaday is paying tribute to his very own variant cover for Astonishing X-Men #1. It’s splendid execution and allows you to see just how much has changed. Only SnicktBub remains from the original cast, but the new line-up is just as formidable. It’s a classy work that references a classic cover.
Dave: Definitely classy, but is it as good as the work it references? Two things make this cover fall flat for me, especially in comparison to Astonishing X-Men #1. One, there’s a ton of wasted empty space below Wolverine’s foot in the new cover. That crams everybody in the top right corner. I suspect the titles will go down there, but be it as it may, this cover is also lacking the ray blast from Cyclops. Check out the cover this references here:
That optic blast really pulls the viewers eyes from left to right in the original. This cover doesn’t do that at all. The characters appear a little less detailed this go around as well.
Dave’s Honorable Mentions:
Batman Incorporated #1
By Chris Burnham
Dave: Batman Incorporated is finally underway after the New 52 put it on hold for nearly 9 months and what better way to unveil it than with this beautiful cover. What I love the most is that kaleidoscopic James Bond gun barrel effect. The black and white version is almost as good as this which is a testament to the quality of the inking and pencils.
Brendan:I thoroughly enjoy the outlines in the red and black scope sections. The figures are pretty good when focusing on Batman and the gargoyles, but I think Robin is a bit off. I almost picked the black and white version, myself. All in all a pretty great drawing.
Orchid #7
By Massimo Carnevale
Dave: Massimo has been churning out awesome covers for some time now. You might recognize his style as it has graced the covers of Y the Last Man, Northlanders and most recently Conan the Barbarian and the Mass Effect comics. What I dig the most in this cover is the rain effect, the torn stockings and the insane looking monster in the background.
Brendan: The transition from cool to fire-hot colors is pretty great. I’m very interested in seeing more of the mechanical fire-monster. The girl’s face is somewhat engaging. It has a bit of a pulpy feel to it. I like this cover a lot.
Godzilla #1
By Tony Harris
Dave: I can’t say I’ve ever read a Godzilla comic, nor seen most of the films, but this cover makes me want to take a peek inside. The colors in the puddle are astounding and the grime kicking up from that giant foot is scary. You can get a good sense of the urgency to get the hell away from that monster.
Brendan: Damn you, reflection shots! Why have I never noticed how many of these exist?
Regardless, this is a great perspective that you don’t really think about when it comes to Godzilla. You always get comparative shots of the lizard next to buildings, or maybe a blocking-the-sun low angle. This cover gives you that low-angle with a nice twist by using the puddle and it gives you what we really need to see: Those poor people running for their lives. It also gives us a nice reference by showing us how big that foot is compared to the civilians. My only gripe is that the characters are a little stoic. They don’t really seem alive. (And they probably won’t be in approximately four seconds.)
Teen Titans #9 (Variant Cover Edition)
By Brett Booth & Norm Rapmund (Black & White Variant Cover)
Dave: What sells this cover for me are the wings. The detail is awesome. The design of this bad guy, of whom I know nothing about since I haven’t been reading this book, is great too. I chose the black and white version mostly because the Tron suits are a bit wacky and make this cover silly when it should be admired.
Brendan: Tron or no Tron, this cover is very busy. Although it is admirable to pencil that much detail onto one page, I think that colors would be the only thing that could help one make sense of this thing.
WTF? Category
Where we don’t understand, are insulted by or would rather stab our eyes with acid pops than look at these covers for various reasons.
All Star Western #9
By Dan Green
Brendan: Okay, so this isn’t so much hate for the cover as much as it is hate for the content. I hate when the big wigs have to push their events on to every single series that has even a semblance of relevance. “Court of Owls are in Gotham! Jonah Hex patrols 19th century Gotham! Let’s do this!” It feels how it is: forced. As for the actual cover, I don’t really have a strong opinion either way. It isn’t amazing but by no means is it ugly.
Dave: I think the surroundings are done amazingly well. They remind me a lot of the Django Unchained poster, seen here, that was making the rounds last year prior to any official poster release.
Flash #9
By Francis Manapul
Dave: First off, when you do gorillas in comics, don’t cover them with stupid jewelry. A gorilla needs to have its chest hair out for crikey’s sake. Second off… are these guys going to rape Flash? Why are they pulling at both his legs in a rape-like manner? They might be keeping his feet off the ground sure, but the cover is suggestive and it weirds me out.
Brendan: Hey, if you put gorilla gang-rape into a Flash comic, you are guaranteeing that I am buying that bad boy. But seriously, how the hell did these gorillas catch the Flash? Google just told me that Gorillas can only run up to 25 mph at their fastest! 25 mph is like a death crawl to the flash. And chains! Come on guys! This isn’t golden age! No one is going to take these threats seriously.
Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Neverland Hook #5
By Stjepan Sejic
Dave: This cover forces the reader to ask so many questions they probably won’t bother reading it. First off, why is that damn hook so huge? Second off, the girl in the foreground appears to be bent so far down she appears to be peeing. Gross. The angle at which the fairy is coming in makes it almost as if she’s the hooked guys left arm. It takes an extra glance to see it’s in the background amongst the shadows. Still, an awkward cover.
Brendan: You know what Peter Pan always needed? Tittays. On this subject Grimm Fairy Tales delivers. I also have to wonder if that enlarged hook is a plot point or if this sexy-lady-artist is trying to throw as many phallic symbols onto the page as possible. The colors are nice, though.
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