Every Wednesday is new comic book day and hundreds of comic books hit local comic shops and the digital market. While many readers pick books based on the creative teams involved or the stories and characters contained within, each comic is trying its best to grasp the consumer’s attention with its cover.
Each week, we will be highlighting some of the best comic book cover art from the past week’s releases and discussing the artists involved. Here’s what caught our eye so far:
Vertigo Comics has been delivering some great new series with the revamp of its brand, and the covers have been just as appealing. Red Thorn #2 by Choong Yoon caught our eye for its use of realism, storytelling, and lighting. The cover depicts Isla being crowned by Thorn.
Max Bemis and Tommy Lee Edwards’ new series takes a look at the teenage years of Clark Kent. For the cover of Superman: American Alien #2, artist Ryan Sook did the black-and-white rendition of Clark, who has apparently been arrested. The shading here is fantastic and Sook does a fine job with the character’s facial expression.
Kamala Khan punches her way into this week’s best covers. Ms. Marvel #2 makes the list this week featuring art from Cliff Chiang and Ian Herring. The cover does a fine job of giving people an idea of the tone and the story contained inside. At its heart, it’s a book about a young girl trying to be a superhero while also dealing with the same things as any normal teenager.
The cover for Uncanny Inhumans #3 does a fine job at telling the story within the book. Human Torch and Black Bolt (featured on the cover) are in a no-holds-barred fight. This cover was created by Steve McNiven, Jay Leisten, and Justin Ponsor. Ponsor delivers fantastic color work on the fire and the glowing emblem on Black Bolt’s head.
Coming out from Valiant this week was Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #2 by Adam Pollina. This is a 1:20 retailer incentive cover, so it’s a bit harder to find, but what really stands out is the background. While Gilad looks great, the background lighting and colorwork flesh this out as a whole scene. There are also some great smaller details in Gilad’s armor as well.
The variant cover for Illuminati #2 caught our eye this week. Julian Totino Tedesco was the artist here and he does a nice job of balancing the characters with the negative space. He’s great at showing movement in this villainous team by blurring some of the elements on these characters.
The next cover on this week’s list is probably one of the coolest. Squadron Supreme #1 has a hip-hop variant this month based on the cover art of Wu-Tang Clan’s “Enter the Wu-Tang.” This cover was created by artist Mike Del Mundo and features the members of this new team with Nighthawk front-and-center.
This week, IDW put out a new Judge Dredd series that thrusts Dredd into a future where Mega-City One is back in the Stone Age. The variant cover above is part of Archie Cover Month and features the artwork of Francesco Francavilla. His signature style has gives this cover a darker and sinister feel, as Archie Andrews flies past Dredd on a hoverboard.
Finally, Harley Quinn #23 is the last cover on this week’s list. Artist Amanda Conner and colorist Alex Sinclair created this 1:25 variant cover. Sinclair’s colors make Harley pop off the page and help add a lot of texture to the overall piece. Per usual, Conner does a sensational job at giving Harley a tough look while adding a dash of humor to the cover.
That’s it for this week. If there’s a cover you loved that you think we missed, let us know.