They say you can’t judge a book by its cover. While that might be true for prose, it’s not entirely true for comic books. Comic books are a visual medium and more times than not, it’s the art that draws you in. With so many comic books coming out these days, a cover that stands out from everything else on a wall of new releases can determine how well it sells. I know that I’ve picked up new titles solely based on the cover.
It is with that in mind that we bring you Face Value, a column where we will be looking at the best covers in comics, both new and old, every two weeks. This week, we’re looking at the best of January 2018. This was a five Wednesday month so there was a lot to choose from, which means I’ll probably regret leaving something off.
WWE Royal Rumble Special 2018 #1 by Rob Guillory
BOOM! has to let Rob Guillory draw the eventual Broken, I mean WOKEN, Matt Hardy comic because the amount of energy, chaos and woken brilliance in this one image is amazing. This is like everything the Hardys are from the colors, to the poses, to the styling itself. It’s so good.
Sword of Ages #2 by Gabriel Rodriguez
I haven’t had the chance to read “Sword of Ages” just yet but as a big fan of Gabriel Rodriguez, I love to see him draw straight up fantasy like this. I’m interested in the story being told with this image and the colors are absolutely fantastic.
Ice Cream Man #1 by Frazer Irving
I liked “Ice Cream Man” #1 so much but I didn’t even know this cover existed and my god it’s perfect. Irving takes the horror on the inside of the book, brings it to the forefront and then colors it like ice cream. This is like a David Lynch nightmare come to life and I love it.
Abbott #1 by Taj Tenfold
A first issue has to sell you on the series and a lot of the time, that can come down to the main character. That’s what Taj Tenfold’s cover does for me. I want to know about this person, I want to know why they’re on top of dead demonic creatures and I want to know what brand she’s smoking.
Doom Patrol #10 by Nick Derington
Covers, in such an over-saturated market need to be unique and eye catching. You can’t see this on a shelf and not grab it. This cat as human eyes? Why is there a VHS on the cover? What are those pink things? Literally nothing else looks like this and if that doesn’t sell you, then I don’t know what will.
Legion #1 by Bill Sienkiewicz
Bill Sienkiewicz is one of the most revered artists in comic books and stuff like this is why. I love the scratchings over the painted portrait of David. It kind of mirrors the split personalities that he struggles with.
Hellblazer #18 by Sean Phillips
Sean Phillips doesn’t do much at the “Big Two” anymore which has really allowed him to blossom into such a special talent. I like this cover because it’s very much a Phillips cover. It’s got this retro pulp detective story vibe to it that really works for Constantine.
Eternal OGN by Eric Zawadski
It’s very hard to make so much white work on a comic book cover but this is, at least to me, the most striking and movement filled cover in January. This character, pushing against the snow, as she and the title are faded against the strong storm all works so well and I added this to my pull the moment I saw it.
Mystik U #2 by Julian Totino Tedesco
Tedesco’s cover here is like one part flirty romance and one part magical fantasy. I don’t know what “Mystik U” is about but I gotta know.
Eternity #4 by Jelena Kurvic Djurdjevic
I’ve fallen off Valiant really hard as of late aside from the various miniseries Faith headlines but when I saw this cover, my jaw kind of dropped. I love the colors especially. This mix of reds and black works for me so much and this character design is so weird and unique. I like Djurdjevic’s work a lot but this is one of the best covers to date.
