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| Wolverine #300 variant by Geof Darrow |
Today at MC, I’m going to start a monthly round-up of the Best Covers. We normally feature covers in our weekly “Got You Covered” series, but I want to start a monthly one up too. I’ll track those who have covers in each monthly edition for a rolling count that will feed into my own personal end of the year rankings for Best Cover Artist.
These covers won’t be ranked, they’ll just be a look at which covers are my favorite with a quick note as to why they made the list, all in alphabetical order. The featured cover this month is Geof Darrow’s exceptionally detailed variant to Wolverine #300. Any time Darrow makes an appearance is reason to be celebrated, but this cover is an outstanding example of his work and of the story inside of it (to a certain degree).
The rest of the covers can be found after the jump.
Batwoman #5
Art by JH Williams III
JH Williams III is, needless to say, one of the best artists in comics today. His cover work is almost an underrated aspect of his work at this point, as his interiors allow him for the inventive, innovative layouts he’s become known for. However, his covers are beautiful, and this gorgeous cover is no different. It’s a dense image that ties into the story and has many layers of meaning, and I have to say, one of my sneaky favorite things about it is simply how the credits are structured into it. Wildly impressive work by Williams, as per usual.
Fables #113
Art by Joao Ruas
Joao Ruas has one of the hardest jobs in comics, as the cover artist who replaced James Jean on his legendary run on Fables. While he hasn’t been uniformly superb like Jean, on occasion, he has a stunner on par with Jean’s work. This is one of those, as he highlights the stories from inside of the book in a wonderfully layered piece. I have to say though, my favorite part of this piece are the colors. The muted, unnatural palette he uses gives the cover an ethereal and haunting quality that makes it really incredible.
Journey into Mystery #633
Art by Stephanie Hans
I just recently caught up with Journey into Mystery, and I have to give everyone involved credit: this book is great. Everyone praises Kieron Gillen, Rich Elson, Dougie Braithwaite and Mitch Breitweiser, but one name I’ve seen rarely is Stephanie Hans. This French artist has provided all of the covers for the book since it changed its name, and she’s been killing it every issue. This one is no different, depicting Loki as a rock in a rather hard place. It’s beautiful, otherworldly work, but come on Marvel, cut it out with the “Shattered Heroes” banner at the top. It kills me to see beautiful work like this downgraded by a forced banner.
Lobster Johnson: The Burning Hand #1
Art by Dave Johnson
This cover is rock awesome (rock lobster?). It makes sense, because this book is also amazing, and it comes from cover artist rock star Dave Johnson. His work is typically great, but this one does a superb job of recreating the feel of old pulp covers. It’s a perfect stylistic blend, and the composition itself is not too shabby. Bonus points to Johnson or whomever for the pitch perfect credit font choice. There is something about that font that just pops.
Morning Glories #15
Art by Rodin Esquejo
Esquejo is one of the underrated players in the cover art game (even if he was nominated for an Eisner), and this cover is a good example as to why. It’s not a flashy cover, and it easily could be an up close shot from the interior of the book, showing Zoe in the midst of a torturous game of Woodrun. But the composition of the cover, with the shadows and the distrustful look that subtly graces her face, really makes the book pass the rack test. It’s hard not to notice this book as you look through comics at your local shop. That’s a great thing indeed for a cover.
Punisher Max #21
Art by Dave Johnson
Two Johnson efforts this month on the list, and with good reason. Both are great, but this one is definitely my favorite. I’ve loved his work on Punisher Max, and this cover does a marvelous job of pairing a small color assortment with white space to make a highly effective image, both from a storytelling and composition standpoint. Keeping the page mostly to black and white allows for the red of the dropped blood and of the “Max” to have significantly more effect on you visually. This is a top notch example of a master at work here my friends.
The Unwritten #33
Art by Yuko Shimizu
The Unwritten #33.5
Art by Yuko Shimizu
I’m keeping my write-up for both of The Unwritten covers in one spot because…well, there’s only so many different ways I can say that Yuko Shimizu is incredible. I’m a huge fan of her work, and both of these examples are a great reason why. From a sheer visual standpoint, they’re gorgeous, with phenomenal colors and a unique look that is entirely Shimizu’s. But the thing that I love the most about her work the most is that each cover is a story unto its own. For a book about the power of the written word and storytelling on the collective consciousness of the world, having someone who is such an effective visual storyteller to cover each book is a match made in heaven. She’s one of my favorites, and even with two covers of a month for this stretch, her work hasn’t suffered in the least.
