On to the list!
Art by Sean Murphy
Sean Murphy is a killer. It’s a true story. He crushes each and every piece of art he sets his mind to, and this cover, like the comic inside of it, is absolutely stunning. I would love to know the process he took to create this beauty, as it seems like it is a range of mediums combined to create this spectacular cover. One thing I love about it is it feels completely unlike anything else on the racks. It stands out as its own thing – nothing else is like it. Once again, just like the comic inside of it. Fantastic work.
5. Creepy Comics #9
Art by David Palumbo
This was a very surprising effort, especially in that it surpassed people like John Paul Leon and Rob Guillory to pass the spot. Frankly, I’d never heard of David Palumbo before this, but man, what a gift this guy has based on this cover alone. The title surely fits the cover, as two hunters discover a forest full of hanged men. It’s gorgeously painted with a phenomenally muted color scheme save the orange of the hunters jackets (so that does really work, huh?), and I love the way just the foot of one of the dead men hangs in the foreground. It’s pretty damn effective cover work by Palumbo.
Art by Massimo Carnevale
Whenever Massimo Carnevale has a cover, he’s a strong contender to make the list. Realistically, he’s a lock, but let’s not tell the other competitors that.
Carnevale is, in my opinion, one of the best artists around today. Period. The guy just has boatloads of talents, and whatever deal with the devil Brian Wood had to agree to so he could make their partnership happen, I say keep on it. This cover is actually my favorite Massimo cover for Conan yet (oddly, I wasn’t a huge fan of the previous ones), as it does an amazing job of blending foreground and background imagery into a full story (as Massimo frequently does). Not only that, but he also creates just a gorgeous, powerful image with perfectly selected colors to make it work even better (something else that is a trademark of his work). Basically, the guy is the bee’s knees. Keep on keepin’ on Massimo.
Art by Craig Thompson
It’s very rare that we get to see a cover on a monthly title from graphic novel god Craig Thompson. The creator of “Blankets” and last year’s MC GN of the Year “Habibi” kind of sticks to doing his own thing, but somehow Tim Seeley, Mike Norton, Image Comics, or someone involved in this project managed to rope him in for at least this one variant cover for the rural noir that is “Revival.” And it’s easy to see why he was chosen – the wintry, rural setting; the almost religious posing of the lead; the weaving of multiple layers of imagery into one big beauty – all of these are things that Thompson is known to excel at simply because the guy is freakishly good at doing them.
For me, it was a joy seeing one of my favorite artists put together a cover on a title I was excited about. It made the experience all the more awesome, especially considering how brilliantly it turned out.
Continued below
Art by Charlie Adlard
This whole week sort of feels like a coronation for “The Walking Dead,” doesn’t it? We know it is going to be the #1 seller of the month, if not the #1 seller of the year. We know there were like…a billion covers to choose from. Basically, it’d be a complete shock if one of them didn’t take the #1 spot here, right?
It is perhaps fitting though that series artists Charlie Adlard’s wraparound variant is the one that takes the top spot. This is an outrageously great cover for many reasons. Let’s count them down, shall we?
1. The way that the foreground is in color and only Rick and the title are grayscale (like on the inside)
2. The who’s who of dead characters that are depicted
3. The way Rick is posed, with his back turned to the dead, looking down at his missing hand
4. The prominence of certain characters – The Governor! Shane!
It all blends together to be a very powerful image, especially considering…you know, the business that happens inside its pages. “The Walking Dead” is a runaway train of awesome. We just need to get onboard and hold on for dear life.
