Our weekly covers column is back, and look for it to start covering the best and the brightest out of each week in covers on Sundays going forward. This is a smaller week in terms of high class covers, but it’s still a quality one with one cover in particular standing out greatly.
Find out what my favorite covers in this week of comics were after the jump.
3. The Goon #36
Art by Eric Powell
Why It’s Awesome: Eric Powell has a gift for humor, and it’s something that has made The Goon one of the most entertaining books around for a long, long time now. And this cover shows that gift, as it manages to, in so many ways, share what the comic is about while displaying a beautiful and funny as hell image in the process.
I love the vampy realism Powell goes for on Roxi Dlite, especially in comparison to the brutish Goon, cartoonish Franky and hysterically only-in-fiction images of the money bags and The Goon’s piggy bank. The comparison of the styles makes the cover stand out and entertain more, and cheerio to colorist Dave Stewart for his predictably great work as per usual.
2. Invincible #84
Art by Ryan Ottley
Why It’s Awesome: This issue is one of change for the character of Invincible as well as the series, and one that ways heavily on the character of Mark Grayson. It’s befitting to the issue that its cover has such a somber, funereal tone, as Mark holds his mask in his hand while he looks downwards longingly, with that image fused with a purely black background save the bold yellow lettering of the title. It’s exceptional work, and it does everything a cover needs to do in my book. It a) tells the story inside the book in so many words, b) stands out on a comic rack, and c) exists well as a standalone image.
It’s definitely the type of thing that has been done before, but Ottley is such a great it doesn’t even matter.
1. Sweet Tooth #27
Art by Jeff Lemire
Why It’s Awesome: This cover completely floored me, I’m not going to lie. While the week overall was on the weaker side, Lemire’s cover for this issue is just spellbinding. His usage of white space to really make the central image pop was a spectacular choice, and the image itself does a phenomenal job of bridging the present we know (with Gus) and the past we’re learning about in this current arc.
Without having read the issue, it stands out as a powerful image because of the composition and execution that Lemire throws down, but once you read the book, the image stands out all the more. Why? Well, read the issue, but suffice it to say the connection between the Native Alaskan like imagery with the familiar shape and look of Gus is all the more understandable after reading this issue. Lemire kills it here, and this is arguably the best cover yet for another Vertigo Series that consistently has great covers.
