Super-clean and dramatic, this John Cassaday ASTONISHING X-MEN cover uses the outline of the hole Cyclops has just blown through the wall to perfectly frame the characters. Stance and body language conveys something about the individual heroes. And the red background provided by colorist Laura Martin grabs your attention like the center of a bullseye. … Continue reading Great Covers – ASTONISHING X-MEN #7
Feel like I’ve been featuring mostly older covers, so for today some more recent ones. Artist Steve Epting reworked his ideas for this crucial CAPTAIN AMERICA cover a few times before finally hitting on this approach. But it’s very effective. The red of the one glove and the droplets of blood silhouette beautifully against the … Continue reading Great Covers – CAPTAIN AMERICA #25
comicbookcovers: Action Comics #52, September 1942, cover by Fred Ray
It’s really the cover copy that makes this Ed Hannigan JONAH HEX cover memorable. but that copy really works with the image, as does seeing Hex’s disfigurement exaggerated by the fish-eye lens of the booze-bottle. Even the fact that there’s a second, empty bottle off to the right provides more information. I also love the … Continue reading Great Covers – JONAH HEX #83
Here’s another excellent Jack Kirby cover to X-MEN. It’s a bit strange for a super hero cover in that we’re seeing almost all of the heroes from the back, where common wisdom would want at least one of them turned towards the camera, so as to engage the reader–nothing commands the attention of a viewer … Continue reading Great Covers – X-MEN #16
This Carmine Infantino FLASH cover was editor Julie Schwartz’s favorite of all the covers he commissioned. And it’s a tough choice to argue, as this image is so direct and so simple that you could use it as the cover of virtually any Flash story. I’m not wild about the candy cane striping in the … Continue reading Great Covers – FLASH #163
A terrific concept cover–too bad the story that goes with it is so mediocre–by Kurt Schaffenberger for LOIS LANE #63 (with some revisions to the Clark/Superman figure by Wayne Boring, it looks like.) This one’s all about the promise of the story. But that yellow background is like a beacon, and Superman’s primary colors aren’t … Continue reading Great Covers – LOIS LANE #63
Here’s a beautiful CAPTAIN MARVEL ADVENTURES cover by C.C. Beck. What really makes this one work is its sense of mood–it’s pretty well removed from the sort of whimsy and hi-jinx that most think of when they think of Captain Marvel covers. The fine detail in the pouring rain and on the stacked sandbags is … Continue reading Great Covers – CAPTAIN MARVEL ADVENTURES #132
Nice PHANTOM STRANGER cover by Nick Cardy, likely over another Carmine Infantino sketch. A good concept, and fine composition–see how the converging gunfire draws your attention right to the figure in the center–and a nice use of color on this one.
The cover to BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS by Frank Miller is a classic, but for all the right reasons. Here, more than in any comic book cover produced before this point, strong design and typography lead the way. This image is designed to feel far more like a book cover than a comic book … Continue reading Great Covers: BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS #1
The Tom Brevoort Experience 