The Best of the Week in Covers – 01.09.2012

Submitted for your approval, the Alan Arkin, Jessica Chastain and Daniel Day-Lewissssessssess of this week’s comics covers:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_The Secret History of the Foot Clan_1
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Secret History of the Foot Clan
Cover by Rafael Grampa

One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2013 is to get to write about the devastatingly talented Rafael Grampa far more often. I know that’s doing it wrong. But it feels so damned right. The endless tide of ninjas has become a wildly popular cover trope for good reason and is even repeated elsewhere this week. But Grampa gets it right by adding some depth, layering the composition without bogging it all down with background detail. Then there’s the depiction of the turtles themselves. To each their shade of green (always a thumbs up) and that animalistic ferocity that’s become signature to Grampa.

Spawn-226_C
Spawn #226
Cover by Todd McFarlane

In the comic cover game there’s always that question of homage vs. ripoff. But what if you’re doing it to yourself? This one is, of course, a takeoff on McFarlane’s own cover for Incredible Hulk #340 from way back in February of 1989. Compare the two and you’ll see just how far production has come in a generation, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse.

Star Wars_1
Star Wars #1
Cover by Alex Ross

Oh, yeah. That’s Star Wars alright. Oh, yeah! This is probably so Star Wars, it’d nod knowingly if you said, “Splinters of the Mind’s Eye?” In all seriousness, I admire the total abandon here. There are TIE fighters streaming out of their pours.

BPRD_Hell on Earth_The Abyss of Time_1_103
B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth – The Abyss of Time #1
Cover by James Harren

I love the composition here. That face! Like classical sculpture, if I stare at it too long, I get a little creeped out the austerity of the divine. That face in the darkness, so ominous and composed. Then there’re our agents posed in a tried-and-true call-to-adventure configuration, a relic brandished like an exploratory torch. That ancient eye, so casually dislodged, becomes a moon, gleaming over a pine forest of Tesla coils. Terror and romance as it lives on and on in the Mignolaverse.

 

 


Comments

  1. Love The spawn cover

  2. Rafael Grampa can do no wrong, I love his style. Great Turtles cover up there.

  3. That Turtle cover is radical!
    In this day and age who could ask for more?

  4. I can’t remember the last time a Star Wars issue had such a great cover

  5. OK, first Ifanboy makes a Star Wars book POW, and now there’s a Todd McFarlane cover featured in the “Best of..” article….I think the world might be ending.

    • Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

      We’ve showcased McFarlane covers before.

    • Fair enough, I was just playing around. I actually enjoy Todd’s art. I’m an 80’s baby, so I grew up with Todd’s Spidey and Spawn.

    • Todds Spidey is the main reason I picked up Spawn, and his art is excellent, glad to see him doing covers again & some interiors and writing on Spawn too since the whole Endgame & New Beginnings arcs.

    • On another note, my friend thinks you guys lean towards the same books too much and especially the big 2….Star Wars being the POTW is definitely not common and know you guys have had plenty of other indie POTW but does seem like more often than not its a big 2 title. I know you guys can’t read m all but think some great books get overlooked and should have a cpl honorable mentions for POTW as well. Thank,Scott.

    • I don’t choose the picks of the week. The guys do cover the honorable mentions on the Pick of the Week podcast, a good survey from multiple publishers.

  6. Grabbed all 4 of those this week, I read BPRD regularly anyway, have been collecting all the Spawn homage covers and picked up all the Spawn Endgame and New Beginnings cause I used to love Spawn and wanna read the story on how Al Simmons finally broke the deal w he devil curse of Spawn, plus gotta see the new Spawn. TMNT I grabbed just for the cover, it’s sweet w more of a flat pastel pallet going on and bout Star Wars cause I had to, I love Star Wars, Brian Wood & Alex Ross, it was a no brainier, and glad to see it getting some good reviews.

  7. Grampa is amazing. I can’t wait until he’s on a book that I read. Until then, I’ll just have to admire him from afar.

    I was over Ross years ago. And I just don’t care for that composition. It’s no fun when you can tell which photos the artist is using for reference. Although that probably says more about my level of nerdiness than it does about Ross’ work.

    Those Spawn covers have been tons of fun.

    • Lol, true, true and true. Although I still love the JSA covers he did for the 1st 26 issues of Geoff Johns run (maybe because I’m obsessed with they’re crazy history and loved seeing a single character highlighted on each cover then 3 versions of #26 that make one big team photo. Also love his covers on the only Spaceghost story told in comics, he’s also doing some fine work on Masks, but so are all of the 3 other artists each issue so far, aside from that I’m kinda tired of seeing his style but him Jae Lee, Francavilla, Cassaday, Chaykin and I think another artist rotates w them. Star Wars looks great but definitely looks like A New Hope poster. He probably did the piece years ago and when asked said use this, lol.

  8. Great choices, When I walked into the comics store on weds- first thing that caught my eye was the TMNT’s cover. ‘Fucking love Raph’s face. He looks like a total boss.

  9. Wow this may be the first time where I’ve agreed with the awesomeness of every single cover selected. Just awesome. And this is the first time in a LONG time that I’ve actually missed McFarlane’s art…I was over it a long time ago but that Spawn cover is pretty damn nice.

    • These Spawn homage covers brought me back as well, I’ve been interested in the Spawn Endgame & New Beginnings stories for a few but haven’t read em yet. Check out some of the other Todd McFralane/Spawn homage covers he did that really showcase his talent, DKReturns #2 is cleverly on point, Spawn of the Dead looks just like The Walking Dead #1, Spawn 222 is ASM 316 (Todd’s 1st Spidey cover ever w Venom choking Spidey), Amazing Fantasy 15 homage, Watchmen (simple but fits in), Savage Spawn looks just like Savage Dragon #1 with Spawns cape looking like Dragons mohawk fin,Youngblood #1 which is all versions of Spawn making up,the team,which is cool cause theyre all of Images 1st titles released when Image started and Spawn & Savage Dragon are the only two still going,then the next 3 are gonna cover ASM’s classic #300 cover w Spidey in the circle, then Action Comics #1 and Hulk Return of the Monster cover. I love this stuff, just google em and look at the Images of em compared side by side, really says a lot. Spawn 200 did a homage to Batman 316 and Spawn #8 did the cover for Spider-Man #1 (self titled series that McFarlane did), also a great cover.

  10. Grampa drawing TMNT?

    Please let that happen.

  11. The cover for the TMNT: Secret of the Foot clan is ‘retailer incentive’ cover. If you don’t see it on the shelf ask the store manager as it is sometimes behind the registers. The regular cover was also very nice (I preferred it actually) and featured a close-up of the Shredder with the Turtles in the background.

  12. The Alex Ross Star Wars cover threw me for a loop. I could have sworn that it was made by the Hildebrandts.

    The cover that owns tho is that Turtles cover. Just effin’ Grampa goodness!!!