I'm gonna start this off with this beauty from Andrew Robinson. Andrew is one of those "artist's artists." He always looks at subjects in a totally unique way. The design is classic, but it's the rendering that is just so well done. My only beef is the blurb on the cover. Andrew has such a talent for lettering, I would have loved to see his take on the title working more with the illustration; however, sometimes it's just not possible time-wise.
I'm really a big fan of these Jennifer Blood covers Bradstreet is doing. They simply have a different flavor than what he's done in the past, and they stand out because of it. Ultimately, that is what I look for in a cover.
Landronn has made the list again. He's done just a great job with lighting and rendering; moody yet bright, which is really hard to pull off, believe me. The layout/design is also really strong. He really is scary talented.
This is simply a fine example of a well done montage. All of the elements flow and work together without fighting each other. Montages are hard to do and can fall apart very easily. My only beef would be the lack of a bit more contrast in the coloring on Captain America in order to make him "pop" more.
Speaking of making things "pop" with coloring, this cover does it in spades. Also, the layout has an exciting aspect to it. It's everything you could want out of a super hero comic book cover.
And finally I have to comment on the master himself. Sure it's simple by design, but the weirdness of the long, blood-red tongue in contrast to the white, creepy skin set against that interesting green background makes it stand out.
Once again, beyond everything else like drawing, color, design etc, a good cover should just stand out as something different and unique.
Gotta disagree about that Secret Avengers cover. The coloring is a mess. There is nothing higher than the midrange on the two central figures so they just look muddy and confused. The eye goes immediately to the queen figure on the right because she's the hottest thing (color wise) on the cover and she's just a throw away bit of sexiness that really has nothing to do with the image. In the hands of another colorist the stuff you praise could have really worked, but as it is? No.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right about the color. That said, the design by the artist ( who probably didn't color it) is still solid.
DeleteOn that KING CONAN piece, it's a lovely painting, but I think there's too much dead space between Conan and the logo. I'd have been tempted to zoom in and crop a little to get the image bigger, or to do something with typography either in that space or below the art to move it up a bit.
ReplyDeleteI agree.
DeleteDave, since it's been brought up before. What's your opinion on the use of the Bow in the Secret Avengers piece?
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm missing something, but how does the second to last cover "pop"? Isn't it just red and yellow in front of...red and yellow? Shouldn't the background be a darker color, like a deep green or blue?
ReplyDeleteLove the blog, keep it up!
Which comic is that Ladronn cover from?
ReplyDelete