Fifth Degree: Judging Books by Their Covers

by Josh Crawley

Avengers: Initiative #31

Avengers: The Initiative #31

I totally stole this idea from Brian Cronin over at Comic Book Resources. I was being a little extra lazy and using Google to refresh my memory as to which Superman/Batman cover I really, really like that DC changed before it went to press (issue 40, if you were wondering).

I ended up stumbling upon an article where books were being judged solely by their covers. Or rather, their covers were being discussed without too much context to their contents. Unlike Cronin, though, I’m not going through all of the DC and Marvel covers for the month; just some of them. In no particular order, some of my comments on covers in the December 2009 Previews catalogue!

Avengers: The Initiative #31
As someone who grew up reading Mark Gruenwald-pened Captain America, Taskmaster flanked by Asp and Black Mamba is pretty rad.

Black Widow: Deadly Origin

Black Widow: Deadly Origin


Black Widow: Deadly Origin #2
It’s Adi Granov illustrating a gorgeous redhead holding a rifle in the middle of a snow storm.

Fall of the Hulks Alpha

Fall of the Hulks Alpha

Fall of the Hulks Gamma

Fall of the Hulks Gamma


Fall of the Hulks Alpha & Gamma
My friend Tim is a fan of MODOK, and by fan, I mean he’s got a convention sketch of himself as MODOK. I also have liked how McGuinness has been drawing the hair on the She-Hulks Green and Red. My one question: where’s issue Beta?

Hulk: Winter Guard

Hulk: Winter Guard


Hulk: Winter Guard
Is Red Guardian sporting a redesigned costume?

Nomad: Girl Without a World

Nomad: Girl Without a World


Nomad: Girl Without a World #4 (of 4)
Nomad and my favorite of the Young Avengers! I really need to read #1 of this soon.

Marvel 70th Anniversary Frame Art
There’s no image, but all it is is covers! I hope they include both versions of the panel border. In case you hadn’t noticed, the frame variants for Dark Avengers and Thunderbolts had some characters or uniforms replaced: Ares for Thor, Weapon Omega for Cyclops, Dark Emma for regular, black costume Spidey, and silver centurion-colored Iron Man instead of gold!

Secret Warriors

Secret Warriors


Secret Warriors #11
Honestly, I’ve maybe read one issue of this title; doesn’t matter, though. Jim Cheung is awesome, and these covers have all been great. Fury breaking into the white space is a nice change of pace, too.

Dark X-Men

Dark X-Men


Dark X-Men #2 (of 5)
Mutant tribe shaman Nate Grey!

Dark Wolverine

Dark Wolverine


Dark Wolverine #81
Not as sexy as the cover to X-Force #9, but New York Times best-selling author and Dark Wolverine co-author Marjorie M. Liu used to shop at the Westfield Comics retail store, so that makes up for it.

Ed Hannigan: Covered
In a column talking about covers, it only make sense to include this. Limited to one printing, proceeds directly benefit Cloak & Dagger co-creator Ed Hannigan!

Blackest Night

Blackest Night


Blackest Night #6
Great use of the spectrum colors, but still not in “order.”

Green Lantern Corps

Green Lantern Corps


Green Lantern Corps #43
Red Lantern Guy Gardner is tearing out of his Green Lantern uniform with RAGE!

Batman: Streets of Gotham

Batman: Streets of Gotham


Batman: Streets of Gotham #7
I like Jim Cheung a lot, but I might like Dustin Nguyen’s covers even more. This Manhunter is awesome! Sadly, after actually reading the solicitation, it doesn’t seem Manhunter will be in the lead feature. It’s really great to see a second feature like this with such a great spotlight, though.

Superman: World of New Krypton #10 has a Dustin Nguyen variant?! There’s no image! ARG!

DC Holiday Special 2009

DC Holiday Special 2009


DC Holiday Special 2009 #1
Thankfully, there’s another Dustin Nguyen cover this month! Poor little snow-Batman. Also, #1? Are they really planning on surprise soliciting another DC Holiday Special 2009 to ship in the two weeks after #1? Because after that, it’s 2010.

Tiny Titans

Tiny Titans


Tiny Titans #23
There’s bunnies in the Batcave. No more need be said.

Ex Machina

Ex Machina


Ex Machina #47
I don’t know what’s been going on in the book, so I’m not quite sure why there’s a green Emperor Palpatine, but this cover’s hot, so I’ll let it slide.

Daytripper

Daytripper


Daytripper #1
This cover by Gabriel Bá uses colors and white really well. Joined by his brother, Fábio Moon, I’m sure this book will be great!

Fables Portfolio Set

Fables Portfolio Set


Fables Portfolio Set
It’s a portfolio set of some of James Jean’s astounding Fables covers. That pretty much says it all.

USER COMMENTS

We'd love to hear from you, feel free to add to the discussion!


Notice: Undefined variable: user_ID in /home/wfcomics/public_html/blog/wp-content/themes/westfield2010/comments.php on line 73