There are three for-sure things all people love in life: comic covers, cover bands, and MS Paint. Some warned us to never combine this holy trinity. We here at Multiveristy Comics said no, threw caution to the wind, and combined mankind’s three favorite things into our new weekly feature: MS Masterpaint Theater! Each week, we will highlight some of the best comic cover art by recreating those masterpieces in the artist’s ultimate tool, MS Paint.

Welcome to this week of MS Master Paint Theater. Hopefully you checked out and enjoy our debut last week. Before we enjoy this week’s masterpieces, let’s run over the rules again real quick.

Rules: 

1. Must use MS Paint. 
2. Must use mouse and keyboard. 
3. No tips, tricks, or hints. 
4. 1 hour per piece. 
5. Each piece will be rated on a scale of 1 to 10. 

Simple enough! Let’s open the curtain on this week’s covers! Enjoy

Masterpaint Theater

Mirror #4 
By Hwei Lim

“Mirror” is one of the prettiest book on stands. To think Emma Rios could be a creator on a book and it’s someone else’s art who stands out is mind boggling. Hwei Lim paints some extremely beautiful pages and layouts in “Mirror”. Her covers are no exception. I love the color palatte on this cover. It is just so warm and so inviting. Surely mine will be just as comforting.

Mirror #4 
By Kyle Welch after Hwei Lim

What is the oposite of inviting? This cover slams the door right in your face. I will say I got the circle down pretty well. The contents of the circle not well at all, but the actual shape . . . well, that is definitely a circle. My character looks a bit stubbier and a little chunkier. I think the gravity in my world is a little greater than Lim’s.

4 perfect circles out of 10. 

Karnak #4
By David Aja 

There is not much to say that is not obvious about the brilliance of Aja’s covers. Not only is he a great artist but he has an amazing sense of design. His covers are more than just drawn images, they are works of graphic design beauty.

Karnak #4
By Kyle Welch after David Aja 

You know what’s not easy? Drawing optical allusions in Paint. You know what else is not easy? Drawing little people in Paint. You know what else is not easy? Creating halftones or filters in Paint. You know what? Fuck Paint. That said, if you squint and kind of turn your head real fast, it’s not half bad. I don’t hate this one. (I still hate it.)

5 and 1/2 uneven boxes out of 10

Thank you for checking out another installment of MS Masterpaint Theater. Look for two more stunning recreations next week. Hopefully as the feature goes on, other Multiversity Staff will be tricked into contributing, and maybe even possible creator guests! If you are a reader and would like to contribute, we would love your submissions for your MS Paint masterpieces. Send them here: kwelch@multiversitycomics.com. Until next week, may your airbrush always be crappy.