Welcome to Matthew’s Got You Covered! In this week’s episode, I pick covers for titles I normally wouldn’t by artists I admit to not always loving, with three #1s and two finales! Wow. It’s like some kind of cosmic force is setting this up to fit a specific design where no middle issues are allowed, or something like that. I dunno. That sounds like crazy talk.
Click past the cut to look at pretty pictures and watch me try and talk about them eloquently.
Justice Society of America was a book I was so excited about for so long, and after Johns left my interest slowly waned until I finally dropped it during Guggenheim’s. The book certainly reached a point where I no longer felt I needed to be reading it, but damn if they didn’t give a great cover to go out on.
As far as we know, the JSA is not coming back in the DC Reboot any time soon (especially since the Justice League being the “first team” in the new continuity makes them obsolete beyond existence), and this cover acts as a kind of farewell. Darwyn Cooke is an artist great at evoking nostalgic emotions in his images, and is certainly known for doing so in books like The New Frontier, the Spirit or the Parker series. This image is pretty powerful to that regard – the team, in their latest incarnation with all their various new costumes and whatnot, run forward into the future away from the JSA logo, leaving it behind. It’s a visual that allows the team a powerful send-off as they fly towards the unknown, with Cooke’s characterization bringing back the team back to a 1940’s vibe.
This cover, unlike most covers in DC’s final month before the relaunch, actually pays tribute to the fact that the title is ending and not just the arc, and that final send-off for one of the most important teams in comics is a nice touch. (It’s just too bad Cooke couldn’t draw the interiors as well – that would’ve been dynamite!)
In my review, I mentioned that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a book that won me over before I bought it based on nostalgia alone. While Duncan’s visuals are certainly a great match for Eastman’s original character designs, what better way to celebrate the return of the heroes in a half-shell than to have Kevin Eastman illustrate a cover?
I for one paid the extra dollar for the one retail variant my shop got in. Admitting that nostalgia was a huge a factor in my decision to sign up for this new series is not something that I’m afraid to do, nor am I shy about admitting that nostalgia is playing a huge role in why I put this cover on the list. Not that it’s a bad cover, mind you; Eastman’s style hasn’t changed much over the years except for being a tad bit cleaner and having a few more details in the lines, but these are still the same turtles they were when first introduced. Of course, that being said, TURTLE POWER!
For the most part, Jae Lee’s work doesn’t appeal to me. I enjoy his use of shadows, but his characters often look anorexic to a creepy extent for me (seriously, what is up with this MODOK?). This cover, however, really knocks it out of the park as far as I’m concerned. While it’s certainly a cover that is enhanced once you’ve fully read the issue, standing alone it’s still a great visual: Wolverine, atop the skulls of people he has slain, looks up to the Heavens in question as snow (or ash?) falls about him. Damn.
Continued belowAaron’s whole run of Wolverine has been about the character’s emotions. While it features plenty of good ol’ violence as you’d expect, Aaron has been trying to really bring out the emotional core of the character, which is what makes this run stand out so much and which is why we end up caring about what happens. With this issue bringing to a close the first major story of Wolverine (combining the first three arcs worth of this volume), the cover to it is pretty much the perfect bookend image to everything that has been building up over the course of 14 issues.
While Aaron is reminding us within the pages of the book why we shouldn’t like Wolverine, Jae Lee is bringing that concept to life in just one image; Wolverine is a man with blood on his hands (and claws) who stands atop the bones of people he is too busy or selfish to know as anything more than people in his way. Bravo.,
With the relaunch of Marvel’s Ultimate line, Kaare Andrews has signed up to do all of the covers that adorn this gala event. With that comes a series of absolutely gorgeous images that remind everyone who ragged on his artwork in Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis exactly why he’s a respected illustrator. Bringing back the sideways letterboxes from the original Ultimate line, the cover image features Marvel’s trinity blasting off and ready for action.
Obviously the image is somewhat reminiscent of the films Marvel is currently putting out, which in turn have influenced the movies themselves. Iron Man’s suit has once again gone under a redesign (after Bendis tried to explain in Ultimate spidey why he has so many costumes), while Thor remains Ultimate with just a slight hint of Chris Hemsworth in the face. That Cap is basically Chris Evans though, no doubt about it.
What really brings this cover off the stands, though, is the coloring Andrews has done to it (I think it’s Andrews, anyway – I can’t find credit to say otherwise). It adds that sense of realism that in turn immediately sets this story apart from anything Millar has done with the Ultimates, and that’s without even cracking open the issue. The combination of a) Ultimate nostalgia and b) this basically being a Marvel Studios Avengers poster nets Kaare Andrews second place this week, because this is a poster for my wall waiting to happen (or at the very least a framed issue).
I have not read any of the Retrospective stuff from DC, but if you put Frank Quitely on a cover you’re bound to catch my interest. I, like many other comic fans, am quite fond of the ’90s Bwa-ha-ha run of JLI that Giffen and DeMatteis wrote, and Quitely’s cover here nails that idea. Featuring the goofy looking villains THE INJUSTICE GANG! over the fallen bodies of our heroes with a just as humorous quote, it reminds everyone that at this point in time the Justice League comic was less about STATUS QUO SHAKING and UNIVERSE ALTERING EVENTS, and more about having a good time while reading comics that starred affable characters.
Add into the mix Quitely’s signature and arresting character design, and you have a cover so good I almost considered buying it. Taking into account my complete lack of interest in the whole Retroactive endeavor, I think that is about as high a praise as I can give any issue.
Runner ups: Kid Flash Flost #3 by Francis Manapul, Xombi #6 by Frazer Irving, Batman Inc #8 by Chris Burnham
The Blunder of the Week Award goes to Marvel for polybagging Ultimates #1.
What was the point of that? Marvel brought back the polybag for the death of the Human Torch and utilized it again for the death of Ultimate Spider-Man. It was the return of a ’90s trick to keep spoilers inside the comic. With the polybagging of Ultimates #1 (and the odd clear plastic bagging of Ultimate Fallout #4), Marvel has taken what seemed like a gesture of solidarity towards both the characters and the nature of spoilers and have now officially just made it back into a stunt. Granted, it always was a stunt, but for two issues we could pretend like that wasn’t the case.
Continued belowMaybe I’m being cynical, but what is there to spoil about the first issue of the book? It’s good, but not so grandiose and/or epic that I can’t say, “Yeah, shit gets fucked up, yo” now and ruin it for anyone. Shit getting fucked up is a given, yo! I don’t know how I could spoil that issue for someone if I tried!
—————-
That’s it for this week’s Got You Covered. Here are your weekly stats, based on appearances on the list:
Adi Granov — 13
David Finch — 12
Dave Johnson — 9
Jae Lee – 9
Jock — 8
Jae Lee moves up, but not much else changes that you can see. Either way, tune in next week for more eye candy.
