Do you know the first attraction I ever built when I first came here from Scotland? It was a flea circus…Petticoat Lane. It was quite spectacular. Spared no expense. There was a miniature merry-go-round and a wee trapeze and a car-carousel… and a best of the week in covers feature. They all moved, motorized of course, but people would say they could see the fleas. “Oh, I can see the fleas, mummy, can’t you see the fleas?” Clown fleas and high-wire fleas and fleas on parade. But this place….. I wanted to show them something they could see… and touch. Not just devoid of merit.
Astro City #1
Cover by Alex Ross
An open doorway supplies the classic tease, just the enticing gateway this new volume represents. It’s a call to adventure and the reemergence of some old friends. From concept to execution, this cover gets everything right.
All-New X-Men #12
Cover by Stuart Immonen
Summers brother smothers brother! Forget that Havok has that whole Care Bear stare thing going on. This is a downright spectacular set piece made all the more visually interesting by the tight perspective, combative colors and iconic concentric circle.
Planet of the Apes: Cataclysm #10
Cover by Gabriel Hardman
This is the kind of movie poster you spy in the lobby that makes you inexplicably forget whatever movie you came to see in the first place. I love the line of the composition, the call to adventure, and the earthy color scheme. Perfect.
The Fearless Defenders #5
Cover by Mark Brooks
All of the tokens. All of ’em! Mark Brooks outdoes himself each month with these fun, thought-provoking treatments on the women of Marvel. Between this, the paper dolls, and the action figure packaging mockup, there’s a dissertation to be written. Though I’m not exactly sure of the thesis. I’m intrigued though.
Winter Soldier #19
Cover by Declan Shalvey, Jordie Bellaire, & Jason Latour
Talk about going out with a bang. Stop throwing heads of rancid lettuce at me! Seriously, just look at the smithereens! Getting meta with the cover logo can get dicey, but they truly nailed this one, especially with that canted Marvel logo and the hammer and sickle. So good, it radiates heat and leaves a ringing in your ears long after. Maybe even til’ Cover of the Year time rolls around.
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Some rights reserved.
Excellent collection, Paul. It’s a shame about the back-of-the-trade-paperback copy hogging space on the Astro City cover, there really is no need for it there.
My pick is Phantom Stranger #9’s wonderfully weird piece by Jae Lae, so strikingly coloured by June Chung – creepy fun!
The placement of the masthead on the “Apes” book is strange. There’s clear negative space just above it & “Cataclysm” obscures the right background character’s eyes completely. Is there a symbolism here that’s related in the story (sorry, not reading it)?
As a designer, it looks like an off-kilter decision (or printing mistake?), but I actually really like it. Makes the composition feel tighter & leads the eye directly from the title to the main woman figure.
You’re right. And I agree, it’s a visually interesting placement that probably shouldn’t work but does.
I loved Jock’s cover for Swamp Thing this week as well. Great choices though, especially that Winter Soldier piece.
I love the last 3 covers of Swamp Thing! All good covers though, I listed the ones that stood out to me this week.
I hadn’t seen that Fearless Defenders cover, that’s pretty awesome. That Winter Soldier cover is pretty spectacular too, good choices all around this week.
Well that’s the best thing Shalvey, Bellaire, and Latour have ever done. Can that be a poster please?
That Jae Lee Phantom Stranger deserves a shout out to, what’s up Phantom!! No but it is a seriously cool cover and so was the 68′ cover B after Frazetta and the DD End of Days #8. Also, the badass Wolverine Weapon X variant of Cable & X-Force.