This ASTONISHING X-MEN #17 cover by John Cassaday looks simple, but there’s a lot of strong thought work going on behind it, and it’s an effective and memorable cover. To start off with, that white space is going to stand out on the sales racks like a beacon. And that petrified face of Wolverine peering in from the left hits a perfect note in its features. The fact that he’s chewing on one of his claws rather than a fingernail makes that gag that much better. Cassaday also positions Wolvie within the Dynamic Live Area of the cover, the spaces most likely to be visible regardless of how the comic is racked, insuring that he’ll be seen by most potential buyers. And the entire image makes a statement and conveys an idea, one that’s hopefully interesting enough to get a viewer to stop and flip through the magazine: what could have made the fierce and unstoppable Wolverine cower in fear in such an uncharacteristic manner?
The Tom Brevoort Experience 
Another great we’ve lost. 😦
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Cassady was so great. Its a sad loss.
I think the other elements on the cover undercut the idea here somewhat. The title type is very clunky to my eye, and the prominent barcode becomes an element about as important as Wolverine. In short…. it’s a good idea that was well-drawn but, poorly designed due to packaging constraints.
While most periodicals do keep the barcode on the front….I wish comics would/could move it to the back like proper books. The New Yorker is probably the only mag that lets a drawing be a drawing with few distracting elements… but even they put the barcode on an overleaf and don’t cut into the back cover advertising.
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A clever cover but not a great one — the logo and barcode etc have such corporate conventionality it reduces the overall impact.
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I’ve always liked that cover. My favourite of that entire run.
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