For how many books I bought last week, there were very few covers even worth a second look, let alone mentioning in this week's Cover to Cover feature. Annihilation: Conquest picked up my Cover of the Week and while it's one of my favourite covers in recent memory, there wasn't exactly much competition for that award this week.
Anyways, let me know what covers caught your eye this week, random thoughts on the covers I've highlighted this time around or if there was a certain cover I might have missed that deserves some recognition.
Anyways, let me know what covers caught your eye this week, random thoughts on the covers I've highlighted this time around or if there was a certain cover I might have missed that deserves some recognition.
Cover of the Week - Annihilation: Conquest #5 Cover by Aleksi BriclotThe only thing wrong with this cover is the amount of clutter from the title, UPC and random Marvel and Secret Invasion crap littered about. Say what you will about how Conquest stacks up to the first Annihilation, it's hard to deny how visually striking this cover is.
Worst Cover of the Week - Amazing Spider-Man #553 Cover by Phil JimenezFor the second week in a row, Jimenez manages to spew out one of the worst covers imaginable for Amazing Spider-Man. If this is the best they could do for this 'brand new day', I'm beginning to think the new shipping schedule might be affecting the art quality already. Disproportioned, unimaginative and just plain ugly all describe this cover.
Fantastic Four #555 Cover by Bryan HitchThere's a bit of controversy going around with this cover. I don't really subscribe to that train of thought, but many are complaining that only "white people" get to be evacuated from Earth based on this cover's mass exodus. The only thing I really notice when I look at it is the Fantastic Four, who are the only things brightly coloured in the image and designed to draw our attention. The rest are a dingy colour and just there to show a sea of people. It would have taken me effort to go through it looking for random nationalities and I think people are just looking for something to bitch about if this is the best they can come up with in terms of racism in comics.
As for the actual cover, I really like the look of it, but, aside from the building of Nu-World, nothing remotely close to this happens in the book and it's way too misleading. It's the name of the game with cover designs I guess, but still annoying. I, also, hate the magazine style cover format and interiors of this issue. I actually found it harder to read the text at the top of the page and those by-lines, like you see on random trash magazines at grocery stores, piss me off for some unexplainable reason. I like the spartan look of the page with the lack of the logo at the top, though.
As for the actual cover, I really like the look of it, but, aside from the building of Nu-World, nothing remotely close to this happens in the book and it's way too misleading. It's the name of the game with cover designs I guess, but still annoying. I, also, hate the magazine style cover format and interiors of this issue. I actually found it harder to read the text at the top of the page and those by-lines, like you see on random trash magazines at grocery stores, piss me off for some unexplainable reason. I like the spartan look of the page with the lack of the logo at the top, though.
Green Lantern Corps #22 Cover by Rodolfo MigliariThe actual drawing and colouring of this cover is great. It's like something I'd want for a poster or background on my computer. As a cover that's supposed to draw me into a book and make me want to pick it up, though, I just find myself bored and uninterested in it for some reason. It's just some random robotic looking Green Lantern (yes, I know it's an Alpha Lantern) with a glowing hand. There's no conflict or indication of what the book is even about and the tagline at the bottom is even more confusing as no one was lost last issue and no one is lost in this issue and I can't figure out what, "Alpha Lantern Lost!", even means in the context of the cover or after having read the story.
Cover looks great, in a poster or picture book-like way, but does nothing for me as a comic cover.
Cover looks great, in a poster or picture book-like way, but does nothing for me as a comic cover.
Nova #11 Cover by Alex MaleevThis is a rather simple drawing for a cover and not usually something I'd think twice about, but the colouring and faded, almost like a colour pencil, look to it elevates the piece to a new level in my eyes.
However, it suffers a bit from the same thing the GLC cover did - that being it's just Nova posing on the cover and has nothing to do with the actual contents of the book. This one at least makes me wonder what Nova's thinking about and why he's sitting there with his helmet off, so it's a little better in that regard that most random posing covers.
However, it suffers a bit from the same thing the GLC cover did - that being it's just Nova posing on the cover and has nothing to do with the actual contents of the book. This one at least makes me wonder what Nova's thinking about and why he's sitting there with his helmet off, so it's a little better in that regard that most random posing covers.
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5 comments:
Ultron leans forward, stretches his arms in relaxation and then sighs in relief.
Ultron: AH! So. How's about a brewski?
I totally see Ultron saying that to me.
--The cover art for Conquest, as well as the interior art, always looks very saturated for my tastes. It's like the art is over-streamlined.
--I never know what to think about Phil Jimenez. He doesn't seem to grasp that Spidey has a nose under that mask, yet he is just so fluid with his paneling. It's genius, but it's anti-genius at the same time.
--It's really, really jarring for me to see a Nova cover by Maleev, because I've always associated Maleev with noir/crime (Daredevil). I'm not sure about the dirtier style he brings to the cover, but at least his covers aren't as bland as Granov's (which lacked backgrounds, but were beautiful nonetheless).
Hey Kirk,
Among the few things I've done working as an educator over the past few years, has been to teach diversity courses to graduate students. I happen to be African American, but one of the things I always remind my students of is that we cannot help but to view things through the lens of our own cultural experience. We have to understand our own perspective and inherent prejudices before we can truly be accepting. Many times people complain for no reason, other times they have a legitimate beef. The FF cover (beautiful as it is) may not bother you on cultural level, but it can potentially bother me. Any consumer of print, electronic, music, tv, or movie entertainment wants to see themselves reflected in their particular pastime. I love great characters and great comic book stories, but it's always nice to see people of color who serve the story and help reflect the diversity of the universe we inhabit...fictional or otherwise.
Every time I hear about the FF cover contreversy it reminds me about the old bit about how it's be better if there were a different planet for all the different groups. Maybe Reed consulted Barney Gumble?
When I look at that Fantastic Four cover, I just see "People."
I don't see any individual person or race. I just see it for what it is, the "People" are leaving everything behind.
I kind of like that Spidey cover. It conveys an eerie sense of menace, plus you see something new in it every time you look at it... like those ripples beneath Spidey's feet.
I certainly like it better than the random "posing" covers such as your GLC and Nova examples. No wonder comics sales are so low. There is no discernible reason to get excited about either product.
And as for that FF cover - could this be the first time a Big 2 comic has used the word "sexy" in its cover lines? Memo to Marvel: Show, don't tell.
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