This week on David’s Got You Covered, we’ve got a very small week – I only picked 3 books to make the covers list this week because I really didn’t find the selections available that exciting. In fact, if it weren’t for one very, very wonderful cover, this article might not even be happening whatsoever.
But it is because there was one, so you can deal with it.
Find out my picks after the jump.
3. DMZ #60
Art by John Paul Leon
Why It’s Awesome: Just like the rest of Vertigo’s titles, DMZ is blessed with very good covers, and this month’s effort from John Paul Leon is no different. This is the first issue of the “Free States Rising” arc, and this cover beautifully captures the passion and the meaning behind that movement that starts taking form in this issue.
The cover highlights what I can only assume are the founding fathers of the Free States movement, and the way Leon highlights them in monochrome imagery within their own symbol (a wonderfully designed fractured star) is an intelligent and engaging beginning to another really solid issue from Brian Wood and his merry bunch of artists.
2. Black Panther: The Man Without Fear #513
Art by Francesco Francavilla
Why It’s Awesome: I haven’t been ashamed at all about my recent torrid love affair with Francesco Francavilla’s art, as his work on the new Black Panther book turned an absolute not buy into something I actually quite enjoyed. Not only that, but he provided a variant that, if given the chance, I would have purchased in a heart beat in the place of the Simone Bianchi cover.
Francavilla’s image has an oddly classic sense to it, looking like some sort of Kirby/Ditko blend but with noir coloring and angles to it. Combine that with the pulpy lettering (something Francavilla often does) and we’ve got a cover that is a beauty and worth a purchase unto itself.
1. The Unwritten #20
Art by Yuko Shimizu
Why It’s Awesome: Yuko Shimizu is such an incredible cover artist, as her work on The Unwritten has been nothing short of spectacular. This cover rivals my very favorites (namely, #1 and #16), as it finds Tom Taylor and Lizzie Hexam in present day looking down on their past as friends in the Villa Diodati as they play with cut outs of Moby Dick and the Pequod. It’s an incredible image just as a standalone artistic piece, with Shimizu’s remarkable eye for design and detail standing out as per usual. Plus, the coloring really makes it leap off the racks when you’re shopping for books.
But the thing that really gets me is the level of thought that goes into the design from a story structure standpoint. I’m not sure what the process for cover design is (Do Carey and Gross give her notes? Does Shimizu read the script and then create the piece? How does it work?), but so many aspects of the story are factored in here. The budding relationship between Lizzie and Tom that has recently been amplified by them regaining their memories growing up together, the Moby Dick aspect, and the new villainous character who uses puppets and sets to do his evil work are all represented in this cover, and it combines into a thoughtful storybook image that is so much more than just a picture. If a picture is worth a thousand words, Shimizu’s images are finely tuned scripts that tell a story within them, and it’s a gift that she has that many other cover artists cannot seem to comprehend. That’s why it’s the cover of the week and why she was my number two choice for cover artist of the year.
