Welcome to the twenty-second installment of Comic Book Cover-Up! Every week, We the Nerdy assistant editor Henry Varona weighs in on his choices for the best comic book covers coming out, along with some great honorable mentions worth checking out! Looking at the layout, artistic talent, and the overall craftsmanship, the covers are analyzed and ranked accordingly. At the end, each book will be given points based on their ranking. Then Henry adds up points for the various series, which will work towards earning further accolades in the future! Here’s a point breakdown for what every ranking will earn:
- 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. Life with Archie 36 by Adam Hughes (Featured Image)
There is something truly iconic about Archie Andrews. A relic from an age long gone, Archis is known throughout America as a constant. So long as there are comics, there will be Archie. That’s what makes the cover to Life with Archie 36 so powerful. With the Death of Archie storyline, the title character sacrifices himself to save the life of another. In doing so, his death is incredibly powerful. Taking the iconic shot of the gang sitting around Pop’s Malt Shoppe with the empty chair for Archie, while Betty and Veronica long for him, is flat out depressing. Adam Hughes’s realistic style only adds to this, making Archie feel like a part of our life, a part that we always thought would be there, but is now gone. Good stuff.
4. Ms. Marvel 6 by Jamie McKelvie
Ms. Marvel is one of the greatest young characters that Marvel has created in years. Her title is fun and wacky, creating a great proxy for young teenaged readers to enjoy. Jamie McKelvie has been a brilliant choice for cover artist for this book, with his hip, young style that complements the character so well. Here we see young Kamala chilling on her phone, doing the things that every teenaged girl does. But while he’s sitting, she’s also punching a robber in the side of the head, saving the day. It’s a really fun image that McKelvie makes stand out from many other books. The phone, the outfit, the cash flying through the air, all of it together makes for a really fun take at what life is like in the Marvel Universe. If I had one complaint, it’s that Kamala’s face doesn’t look particularly distict and blends in with other McKelvie creations. That aside though, McKelvie is really helping to keep this book fun and exciting to even the most unaware readers out there.
3. Secret Avengers 5 by Tradd Moore
Secret Avengers always has some of my favorite covers from Marvel. Every month, Tradd Moore does something that’s just bizarre and defies traditional cover traditions. This month he continues the trend by showing the entire team standing around a crime scene, somewhat idiotically. They’ve all got little icons over their heads to show you who they are, but then they’re all kind of just doing their own thing. Black Widow’s scoping out whatever’s behind her, Spider-Woman is taking notes upside down, and for some reason, Hawkeye is playing with a goat. It’s just bizarre enough that you want to check out the book. Oh yeah, and the goat is wearing roller blades for some reason. When you have MODOK as an apparent agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and that’s not the weirdest thing in your book, you know that it’s something special. It’s another great cover for a great series that works very hard to defy your expectations for what S.H.I.E.L.D. should be.
2. Teen Titans 1 by Cliff Chiang
Teen Titans is one of the greatest franchises that DC Comics has. With multiple successful comic books and cartoons, they are a multi-media sensation that unfortunately was poorly utilized with the New 52. In their attempt to relaunch the title, they sought out Cliff Chiang to create a young, fresh take on the characters. Of course, that means they’re all on their phones. It’s silly to think of, but this kind of cover really works well with the modern day teenager, much in the same way that Ms. Marvel 6 did this week. But what separates the two covers it that Chiang captures everybody’s personality so well through their posture, and makes them all look so fresh. When you consider how outdated many of the New 52 designs look for these characters (Looking at you Raven and Red Robin), it’s great to see them look clean and fly. Bonus points for showing us their messages in the background of this image, and even more bonus points for perfectly integrating the theme of the cover with the actual necessary text of the title. It’s a fun look and another stellar cover from Chiang.
1. Harley Quinn Invades Comic-Con International San Diego by Amanda Conner
There is so much to love here. First off, bravo to DC Comics for putting out a San Diego Comic-Con special starring Harley Quinn. Brilliant move on their part. But then to go ahead and just be this goofy with how they represent it, they’ve really done a great thing. Amanda Conner’s Harley Quinn is quickly becoming iconic in itself, and seeing her run around past memorable creations re-imagined as cosplay is great. It’s extra cool how Conner plays around with lightly homaging things such as Doctor Who, and also shouting out to old DC concepts such as the super pets via the background posters. While DC make take a lot of criticism for being too serious, they never have to worry about that happening from the likes of Harley Quinn, who is proving time and again that she is one of DC’s best things going on.
Still Gorgeous:
- 100th Anniversary Special: X-Men 1 by Jason Latour
- Army of Darkness Ash Gets Hitched 1 by Arthur Suydam
- Robin Rises Omega 1 by Andy Kubert
- Robin Rises Omega 1 by Cliff Chiang
- She-Hulk 6 by Kevin Wada
Thanks for coming by! Be sure to check out past Comic Book Cover-Up’s HERE!
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