Welcome to the second installment of Comic Book Cover-Up, where We the Nerdy writer Henry Varona weighs in on his choices for the best comic book covers coming out this week, along with some great honorable mentions! Each week, Henry explain his picks and just what makes them so darn pretty. At the end, he adds up points for each given series, which will work towards earning further accolades in the future!
Point breakdown:
- First-10 Points
- Second-7 Points
- Third- 5 Points
- Fourth and Fifth- 3 Points Each
- Still Gorgeous- 1 Point Each
So without further ado, here’s the week’s best!
5. Quantum and Woody 8 by Ming Doyle (Featured Image)
I’ll admit that I’ve never read Quantum and Woody. I know next to nothing about the book except that it’s published by Valiant, has superheroes of some kind, and that there is a goat. And this cover makes me really want to find out more. Ming Doyle’s simple layout of placing the faces of Quantum, Woody, and Vincent Van Goat in strips above one another creates a very fun image. Most of this, I’ll admit, is because there’s a goat on the cover, which throws the otherwise serious looking title into a different realm altogether.
4. Amazing X-Men 4 by Ed McGuinness
Ed McGuinness has really stepped up his game on the new Amazing X-Men series. His monthly covers are very fun and what they lack in concept, they make up for in execution. Take this cover for example, in which two Canadian heroes find themselves freezing in the snow. There is nothing about the images concept that wows me, but the details of the image force me to take notice. The icy breath of Wolverine feels so helpless. His frozen claws, posed in his famous form, have never seemed so useless. And the one that kills me, the frozen eye that shows a nuance of pain. Add in the tracks, Northstars impending doom, and the cool color palette, and you have a cover that succeeds in so much more than you could hope for.
3. Daredevil 36 by Chris Samnee
Chris Samnee closes the door on this era of Daredevil with his cover to issue 36 of the series. Samnee’s art has become synonymous with the title over time, and this cover shows why. Samnee masterfully shows both the city of New York and Matt Murdock’s saddened physique, as he tries to gather himself. It’s clear that Matt is not well, and the cluttered image conveys this so effectively that I can practically feel him shaking. His posture, cross-legged on a box, is uncomfortable and helps readers grasp the emotional severity sure to lie within.
2. Batwoman 28 (Steampunk) by Dave Johnson
The steampunk covers DC has produced for February offer fun takes on their characters. Here, Batwoman is re-imagined by Dave Johnson, with a well-designed outfit that captures the spirit of her usual outfit, with a nice twist. My favorite parts of the cover are the mechanical bats that fly beside her. Not only do they portray the classic Batman image of flying with the bats themselves, but it also has intense detail. The bats are not solid pieces, but instead have gears and patterning throughout. They immediately make the steampunk aesthetic real, taking a neat idea and making it superb.
1. Punisher 2 by Jerome Opeña
Nothing about this image screams Punisher and yet everything somehow does. Jerome Opeña carefully illustrates Frank Castle himself, shrouded in shadow. The sunset and palm trees make the cover image exotic and tropical, two words I never thought I’d use for Punisher. The graffiti behind the Punisher, cleverly used as the books title information, shows the shift in urban environment and places a halo above Frank. But more than anything else, bringing everything together, is his dead gaze, piercing straight into the viewer. Gun in hand, ammo readily available, Frank almost looks to be smirking as the sun sets. He knows his time to shine is coming, and he knows how this story ends. But by keeping his eyes in darkness, he loses emotion, and becomes a force of nature.
Still Gorgeous:
- White Suits 1 by Tony Cypress
- Harley Quinn 3 by Amanda Conner
- Uncanny X-Men 17 by Chris Bachalo
- Wonder Woman 28 (Steampunk) by J.G. Jones
- Justice League 28 (Steampunk) by Dan Panosian
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