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Face Value: The Best Comic Covers of January 2017

By | January 24th, 2017
Posted in Columns | % Comments

They say you can’t judge a book by it’s 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. In this edition, we’re looking back at the very last comic book releases of 2016 with the best of December.

Hellboy Winter Special 2017 by Sebastian Fiumara

You could probably call this a simple idea but Fiumara’s execution of this cover is great. The way the snow plays on the light in the background compared to the lonely darkness of Hellboy himself is a great contrast. It’s an effective image and looks fantastic without the dressings on it.

Motor Girl #2 by Babs Tarr

I’m not as in love with “Motor Girl” as a lot of other people are but I absolutely love Babs Tarr’s art. This cover gives us our first glimpse at a major new character within the series. It kind of looks like we’ve intruded on her bike ride. She’s looking directly at the reader with this amazing glare. The styling is great and the color work is a great tease of the kind of stylized art we get inside.

Dept. H #10 by Matt Kindt

I’m a couple of issues behind on this series but I saw this cover and felt the need to immediately catch up. I love how space is used here. Kindt perfectly captures this feeling of being lost and you can visibly feel that wind blowing onto this character. It tells a story without saying anything.

Shade, The Changing Girl #4 by Joelle Jones

It has been hard to not over hype the covers for “Shade, The Changing Girl” but this series has been the artistic gem of the Young Animal line. This month’s variant cover was done by Joelle Jones and it almost knocked me out of my chair. It perfectly combines Loma, Megan and the power of the madness vest in a beautifully dizzying design.

Raven #5 by Stephanie Hans

Stephanie Hans is one of my favorite cover artists in comic books right now. Her output isn’t nearly as vast as someone like Francesco Francavilla but what she does is so beautiful. “Raven” is a series I’m completely out of the loop on but if this had been the cover for the first issue, I’d have bought it. This is a striking image that completely nails the darkness that comes with the character.

Justice League/Power Rangers #1 by Dan Hipp

I love Batman being paired up with characters who are basically light incarnate. He’s grumpy about it and that always makes me laugh. I loved the first issue of this series ending on these two and that’s why I picked this cover. Hipp’s idea of their team up is an opposites attract kind of relationship and his work here is a ton of fun. I’m super here for this dynamic duo.

Faith #7 by Kano

Faith is kind of personal to me as a plus sized woman so any cover that puts her at the center as a force is something I love. Homages to Rosie the Riveter might be a bit overdone but for me, Faith represents a different kind of strong woman we don’t see in comic books.

Southern Bastards #16 by Jason Latour

This cover got around for all the right reasons but was also met with noticeable resistance for pushing some sort of political agenda. Because, dear readers, equality is some kind of aggressive agenda (sarcasm). I digress, even without the message on the shirt, this is a good cover. It’s strong and captures the spirit of this series. A message is just the cherry on top and something I wish more creators weren’t afraid to do.

Continued below

WWE #1 by Jamal Campbell

The thing about drawing the superstars of the WWE is that you can’t simply draw them in an action pose. That’s easy. What’s tough is capturing the spirit of that wrestling gimmick or character because the WWE is built on characters. Razor Ramon is a villain of his time and that’s what Campbell captures so well in this image. There’s a cockiness here that only Razor Ramon could have and through the coloring, completely captures the early 90’s vibe of professional wrestling.

Sunstone Volume 5 by Stjepan Sejic

“Sunstone” is one of the most romantic and sexy series comic books has ever seen and each cover has gotten progressively more flirty. With this final volume (of this arc) Lisa and Ally are much happier and way more comfortable with each other. This cover is a culmination of their relationship as it is less unsure. Sejic’s work is so underrated and he’s truly a master of expression.

What were your favorite covers this month? Let me know in the comments below!


//TAGS | Face Value

Jess Camacho

Jess is from New Jersey. She loves comic books, pizza, wrestling and the Mets. She can be seen talking comics here and at Geeked Out Nation. Follow her on Twitter @JessCamNJ for the hottest pro wrestling takes.

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