Cover of the Week – May 23, 2012

Cover of the Week is a presentation of the best cover from last week’s comic book releases, based on the art, design, and overall good looks.

This week features one of the masters of horror and creepy art! The one and only, Richard Corben!

Ragemoor #3 by Richard Corben

Not a lot of people like Richard Corben’s art. But nobody can deny his genius when it comes to drawing horror comics, it’s even synonymous with his name! If you say Richard Corben, the first thing that comes to mind is horror comics!

Corben made the tentacles the main focus of this cover. The red spots highlight them against the blue background, and he also drew the limbs like how they would look like in the real world. Functional and realistic, and also paying a lot of attention to detail like how the limbs expand and contract when gripping an object.  Great stuff!

Other books with pretty covers: All Star Western #8, Dark Horse Presents #12, and Unwritten #37

Cover of the Week – April 26

Cover of the Week is a presentation of the best cover from last week’s comic book releases, based on the art, design, and overall good looks.

Last week was Avengers week, so I guess everyone is busy looking at pictures of Iron Man, Thor, Cap, Hulk, ScarJo, and Jeremy Renner on the internet!

And speaking of Avengers, this week we have a lone Avenger for our cover of the week:

Moon Knight #12 by Alex Maleev

Now, I am a big fan of Maleev’s work, both covers and interiors. Ever since I’ve seen his work in Daredevil, I’ve never stopped following his projects. And I must say, his covers are one of the most iconic covers I’ve seen in Marvel.

This is a classic Maleev cover where he features the character in his full glory, while utilizing a design as minimalist as possible. In this case, using a full body pose with the bright moon as background, then frame it with his fist holding his signature weapon. And with that, we can see the character’s basic essence in one simple striking image!

To bad it’s the last issue. I’ll miss you, MK.

Now, here’s some other covers that I thought were pretty cool too:

See you next week!

Cover of the Week – April 11

Cover of the Week is a presentation of the best cover from last week’s comic book releases, based on the art, design, and overall good looks.

Last week was a Massimo Carnevale comics cover festival! We have 2 books that came out last week which I think had the best covers, Conan The Barbarian #3 and the final issue Northlanders #50.

I love Massimo Carnevale’s work starting way back when he was doing the covers for Y the Last Man until now. He’s an artist who’s not only good at drawing people, but also gives the reader a taste of the overall feel of the book.  Each cover is like a teaser poster that makes the reader curious and interested as to the book’s contents.

Take for instance this Conan cover.  We have Conan grabbing Belit, who looks like she is seducing him, and the color tones suggest that they are in a semi-dream state underwater.  These elements appear in the book, so what you expected to read after seeing the cover is what you get within!

I don’t know if I’m just being biased, but I love this cover of the final issue of Northlanders.  An abandoned broken down helmet on a rock near the sea is a good metaphor for a battle that has ended.  And the seagull’s legs show the remoteness of this battlefield.  I find this image very dramatic and brutal at the same time, just as how the whole series have been.  It’s been a great run.  I’ll miss you, Northlanders.

Here are other covers that I thought were pretty cool: Saga #2 by Fiona Staples, ‘68 Scars #1 by Nat Jones, and Lobster Johnson #4 by Dave Johnson.

 That’s all for now, see you next week for more covers goodness!

Cover of the Week – DOUBLE FEATURE!

Yes kids! Time for another edition of COVER OF THE WEEK! This time, I will showcase two covers from the past two weeks (Oct 13 & 21 releases), featuring the covers of Hellblazer – City of Demons #1 (Sean Murphy) and Thor – First Thunder #2 (Jay Anacleto)

It’s not always easy choosing the cover for the week, especially if there’s not that many good books out on that week. Most of the time, they have a generic cover format or pose; and although it’s not noticeable to most of the readers, they have a tendency to look stale and static. But there are times when gems like these are found along with average and “meh” cover art. Two books with two very different styles, but both really are very pleasing to the eyes. (oh wow, did I just make a rhyme?)

So now let’s take a look at the covers, starting with Hellblazer – City of Demons #1.

… and Thor – First Thunder #2.

And there you have it! Sean Murphy and Jay Anacleto cover of the week double feature!

If you have your own cover of the week, or if you think I don’t know my art theories (which I don’t) and I’m just making these things up (which I do). Feel free to post a comment and we can do a pokemon battle!

Cover of the Week! (Oct. 6, 2010)

Hello and good day! It’s another edition of NITPICKING ON COMIC BOOK COVERS AND ACTING LIKE I KNOW A LOT ABOUT ART!

In this week’s edition of CoTW! Wolverine #2 by JAE LEE (I like to call him Jay)Don’t you just love Jae Lee’s covers. They’re simple, clean, dynamic, and they make very good posters! Also, this cover reminds a lot of this painting:Notice how similar it is to the illustration above? Come to think of it, almost all of Jae Lee’s (recent) covers look like Frazetta paintings. Sounds like a good homage to me.

Anyway going back to the cover, let me point out the magic points.First, the characters follow a general diagonal motion, starting from Sabretooth up above, to the tentacles under wolverine. They all follow one motion, and Wolverine goes against that motion, creating an “underdog ” effect to his pose.  Second, the simple effective use of a warm foreground color versus a cool background color. This separates the figures from the backgrounds while maintaining a sense of environment. The simplistic background provides a third purpose, allowing the main title to be clearly visible to the reader. One more thing is that the cover follows the natural zig-zag pattern people do when reading.Jay is awesome, no?

So there you go, my pick for the Cover of the Week! If you have a better opinion as to what cover should be CotW, or if you think I don’t know what I’m talking about, feel free to drop a comment.

Cover of the Week – Sept. 29 2010

OK,  here we go!

For this edition of CoTW, I choose Captain America – Patriot #2 art by Mitch Breitwiser

So, I guess Captain America is the new Wolverine or Deadpool now. He has a million books with his name on it, and he’s spread out so thin you can see through him.  Joking aside, this cover gets the medal because of the dramatic pose and the clean effective poster-like layout.

Let me illustrate:Also, even though I’m not a big fan of digital art in comics. I’m a big fan of Mitch Breitweiser’s art.  He’s able to give this book a sense of rawness and sketchy pulp feel with his portrayal of a 1940’s superhero era.

So even though I really liked Ryan Sook’s detailed sexy female trio cover in Artifacts #2 (which is really good), this book’s efficient layout and design gets the cake.

Cover of the Week!

Cover of the Week is a presentation of the best cover from last week’s comic book releases, based on the art, design, and overall good looks.

This week we have Jurassic Park Redemption #1 by Frank Miller

WAIT WHAT?
JURASSIC PARK?!
YES THAT’S RIGHT!
JURASSIC PARK!

I’ve always said that Batman books usually have great covers. This week saw an army of good Batman covers. We have Return of Bruce Wayne, Detective Comics, and Streets of Gotham featuring awesome Batman art. I would have easily chosen any of the Batman books to be the cover of the week, but this week belongs to DINOSAURS!

Let me ask you, when was the last time you saw a Dinosaur in a comicbook cover? Ok, and when was the last time you saw a dinosauar in a comicbook cover eating a person?! And when was the last time you saw a dinosaur in a comicbook cover, eating a person, and drawn by Frank Miller!

Sure, a lot of people hate Frank Miller for his All Star Batman & Robin stint (and his newly Hollywood showbiz “sellout” status), and not that many people like his art style. But you can never deny the awesomeness of a freaking DINOSAUR!

Design-wise, the near-blank background efficiently contrasts the detailed T-rex drawing. The logo is also unconveniently placed on the bottom-right (compared to normal top-banner logos), guiding the reader to look at the logo after viewing the main image. Sort of a diagonal directional composition technique. Subtle yet effective.

Now, i’m not justifying my pick with all that technical giberrish design fag talk. I mainly picked this because of the fact that dinosaurs are awesome, and nobody can deny their awesomeness!

EVEN BATMAN KEEPS A DINOSAUR IN HIS BATCAVE! THAT’S HOW AWESOME DINOS ARE!

Cover of the Week – May 20, 2010

Cover of the Week is a presentation of the best cover from last week’s comic book releases, based on the art, design, and overall good looks.

This week, we will showcase an awesome art from ink master Sean Gordon Murphy.

Joe the Barbarian #5, art by Sean Murphy

The first thing I noticed about this cover is it’s composition. At first glance, the main focus on this image is the big knight holding a chain. But then after a few seconds Joe and Jack come into the picture and few seconds more you will see the swirling water behind them establishing that they are in the water and the knight is actually an reflection of what Joe is looking at!

For me it was 3-step process with the last step seeing the “whole” image. I really like how the cover was conceptualized and designed. The cover set up the mood for the book, a feel of exploration and awe, and how the point of interest is both in and out of the image!

The linework here is great. I’ve always admired Sean Murhpy’s work ever since he started with this style in Hellblazer. He has great control over blacks and whites and his images are always moving and dynamic.

As an artist, looking at this cover would make me shoot myself.

So what’s your cover of the week?

Cover of the Week – May 12, 2010 releases

Cover of the Week is a presentation of the best cover from last week’s comic book releases, based on the art, design, and overall good looks.

Hello everyone and welcome again to another issue of Cover of the Week. Today we will discuss the beauty of Kaare Andrews’ Astonishing X-Men.

Astonishing X-Men – Xenogenesis #1, art by Kaare Andrews

I rarely use group shot covers because of two things. One, the cover looks cramped with all the characters in it; and two, they all have these generic poses. So why choose a group shot this time? Well, because of two things! One, because it’s a double spread, that means you don’t have to cramp 6 characters in one page; and two, the poses are generic, yet Andrews is able to draw it in such a way that each characters’ personality shows on their poses! I also like how he used a plain white background, that way the characters are highlighted without unnecessary details. A black border on the top that blends in to the title, which doesn’t make the title very awkwardly placed. If you want, you can buy another copy of this book and turn the cover into a poster!

I know some people don’t like Kaare Andrew’s art. They say the anatomy is so off and everything looks weird. Well, Andrews is one of those artists who sacrifice anatomical accuracy to gain fluidity in storytelling. Sure, he’s not accurately drawing which muscle contracts when drinking a glass of water, but he sure knows how to make his characters “move” from panel to panel. It also allows him to draw characters who are oozing with individuality and personality that other “realistic” artists cannot do. And that’s exactly what he was able to do with this cover.

It’s a clean straightforward cover that’s perfect for a first issue arc. And if you like to check out more Kaare Andrews art, try picking up Spider-Man: Reign.

So, what’s your cover of the week?

Cover of the Week – Feb 4, ’10 releases

Cover of the Week is my presentation of the best cover from last week’s comic book releases, based on the art, design, and overall good looks.

Hello everyone! I hope you didn’t miss me that much.  This week we feature a book by the “wonder twins”, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba.

Daytripper #2

Okay, this cover looks just how the book’s title says it is — trippy.  So here, on the top part of the cover, we see a guy who’s swimming underwater then as we go down it gently blends into two guys looking at the sky, which is really a guy underwater with dudes looking at him from a desert cliff.  What?  Exactly!  The composition of this book is very well done, light blue/white tones on the upper part which highlights and focuses our title, then it slowly transitions into dark waters/cloudy horizon in the middle, then back into a sunlit effect on a cliff at the bottom.  And I like how the use of watercolors and pens give a soft and sharp contrasting look to it. The cover also gives us a small peek as to what happens in the book.  And I must say that you need to read this issue to fully appreciate the cover (the story is amazing).    — Alex