Johnson Cover Hi-lo

Cover "Fails" from 2/18/11

2012-02-20T08:38:00.000-08:00

Ok, here we go again. Sorry I missed last week, but that's how it goes sometimes. Also, this week we have a guest reviewer, and his name is Viktor Kalvachev. Just scroll down a bit to see his side of things. I hope to get other guest reviewers in the future.

OK, first off, I'm not sure if its supposed to be upside down. I only say that because there's so much weight with the cape on the top of the cover that it feels weird upside down. And then there's the anatomy. Good Christ! It's all kinda weird...from Batman's Barbie sized waist to his tiny hands. Finally, the way his arm looks like its double jointed at the elbow just ruins it for me. "A" for effort though.

Kill it with FIRE! Seriously, who buys these books!?! All this cover is missing is glitter and a full bedazzled treatment. Like I said, KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!

OK, we get it. You had a great photo of the actress, but crapped out on finding a reference photo of a guy sitting at a bar holding a pacifier. So your solution was to just making him up outta your head. Oh, and for good measure, lets make him cross-eyed.

Arty and moody only works if it's engaging. This is not. A dark face and a photo negative of a house doesn't make me want to buy this book. An equivalent to this cover would be a teenager dressing like Robert Smith of the Cure while listening to Miley Cyrus while quoting something from the Twilight books.

Cover "wins" from 2/18/12

2012-02-20T08:37:00.001-08:00

Man, when it comes to Mignola, I feel like a broken record. So lets focus on Dave Stewart's color job. This guy is one of the greatest colorists out there. Why? Because he just gets it. With Mignola, he knows over-rendering and over-shading would work against what Mike is trying to achieve.

And speaking of great coloring, the blues on this cover are so nice. Very European in a way. And the red in the mouth really set this off. To my eyes, this cover just stands out as being different.

Story and depth make this Sook cover work for me. Does it "pop"? No, but not everything has to. It's just a well done cover. Engaging.

Back to awesome color choices. Ladronn is firing on all cylinders month after month on this title. The cover pops, tells a story, and is beautifully rendered. Amazing.

I've railed against covers like this in the past, but as I've also said, if you're going to do a "character standing there looking bad-ass" cover, you'd better do it well. In this, Mark Brooks does just that.

I gotta say I'm not a big fan of the illustration on this cover, but the design, color, and font choice made me stand up and take notice. I "klimaxed" a little when I first saw it. Uggh, sorry, that was too much information.

I also like the design and color choices here. The use of negative space is well done and makes the colors richer by contrast.

As with other selections this week, color plays a big part in this cover as well. Keeping the mob rising up against Nightwing dark and muted in contrast to the hero leads your eye right to him, making him the focus.

This just has that classic Marvel design that still works today. It needs a star-burst story blurb with a classic font so badly! I just hope the color kicks as much ass as the line-art.

Guest Reviewer this week: Viktor Kalvachev

2012-02-20T08:37:00.000-08:00

I put the offer out there to some of my fellow artists asking if they wanted to add some of their thoughts on the week's current crop of covers, and if so, then I'd be happy to post them here. So this week, Viktor Kalvachev of Blue Estate fame decided to throw his hat into the ring and suffer the slings and arrows for having an opinion. So, let's see what Viktor has to say:

Cover fails:

I love when a cover provokes questions and you want to know what the book is about. Questions like, "Why are these characters in this situation?" However, if the artist pushes it too far (as in this case), the answers seem as though they are being articulated in a language the audience simply doesn't understand. The fact that there are some anatomical issues and compositional challenges doesn't help this cover either.

This could have been a great cover, if only she was not holding a lipstick, but a freshly cut off finger using the dripping blood to paint her lips. Also, why put a mirror in the composition if you are not going to use it to your advantage? She isn't even looking at it.

I am really puzzled with this one though...

Beautifully rendered; great colors and composition, incredible motion that grabs you immediately... but why does Spider-Man have a woman's body? Put a pair of boobs on his chest and that's one sexy Spider-Woman jumping at you.

And here are Viktor's Cover Wins:

The composition is solid, pushing everyone off balance except the giant bat. I like the green background and warm foreground. Great expressions too! Pretty much all the covers of this series have been exceptional so far!

Fantastic composition, sucking the character into the unknown. Such great use of empty space and colors, all of which make the cover stand out. I definitely want to know what's going to happen if he walks down those stairs.

That's just simply bad-ass!

Cover "Fails" from 2/4/11

2012-02-04T18:28:00.000-08:00

We start this week off with a Red Hulk cover. I normally try to stay away from critiquing an artist's style, but in this case I have to say something. Basically, if you're gonna do an extreme close up of a face, you better bring it. This illustration feels more like a sketch for editor approval than a finished piece. I'm not saying it has to be photo-realistically rendered, but it just feels sloppy and unsure more than expressive.

Speaking of rendering, air-brushy rendering can't hide the lack of artistic ability to draw the female form. If I had this artist in front of me, I'd slap the J.Scott Campbell comics outta his hand and replace them with a Famous Artist course book or an Andrew Loomis "How-To" book and say the following: "It works for J. Scott. You? Not so much."

OK, can somebody tell me when Superman's costume changed to a shitty hue of blue-green? Then the colorists adds into the mix some "Prince Purple" to make me wonder if he/she is color blind, which would be supremely ironic. Or maybe he/she just hates Superman. It's hard to tell.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....snort,wha, ummm. Sorry, I fell asleep. This cover works better than Sominex....Boring angle, boring poses, and the expression on the Baroness is....well, expressionless. Maybe she's just checking out her drooping silencer. C'mon people, Baroness is supposed to be super hot. Her gun should be fully erect at all times!

This isn't a cover, is it? Seriously. It's really art on the side of a 70's van. Admit it. You can't fool me.

I actually like this cover. Well, what it could have been. As it is, it's just too dark, which is too bad, because all it needed was something like the red I added to make it pop; or for that matter, any light color. Dark tones like this are fine, but when the entire cover is dark, it's just too much. Also, the dead space is just screaming for a designer to get in there and do something cool with the title, but we're talking about comic book covers here, not major paperback book releases. And they have much bigger budgets.

Cover "wins" from 2/4/12

2012-02-04T16:26:00.000-08:00

Boy, talk about getting right to the point. How could I pass this book and not give it a look? A beautiful illustration mixed with a dirty gesture. Sometimes a simple idea can elevate what would otherwise have been a boring cover. Also, going with more of a paperback-novel-jacket design is a great touch. It really makes this book stand out as an island in an ocean of comic books.

Another one of those "this is more than just a superhero comic" covers. Nice job on the font and over-all design. The use of limited color is nice. Also, having the rifle breaking into the above illustration brings together what otherwise might have seemed like two separate illustrations; plus, the rifle helps lead the eye down to the gunman.

Here's an example of a straight forward cover. Nothing special about the design, but the execution makes it a solid cover. I would love to take the illustration and integrate the type into the design, like an old 40's-50's B-movie poster. The bottom line is: Brereton can paint!

A strong juxtapose between a war helmet and a mushroom cloud. You just can't ignore this cover. It opens up a serious can of whup-ass; about 10 megatons worth.

Imagine this cover colored normally. It just wouldn't have the same impact as this minimal palette cover does. Your eye has no problem finding the main focus, the main character. The only thing is, I might have pushed the tones a bit more to give it depth; darker shadows in front and lighter in back. The reverse of that would also work.

Hiding illustrative elements in the shadow of a strong silhouette is a classic design that continues to work, as it does here in spades. Also, having cool tones on the outer part and warm tones on the inner works well.

Speaking of tones, notice how the tone gets lighter and lighter as we get closer to hero? It's like a subliminal bullseye for your eye. Plus, keeping all the secondary elements more on the monochromatic side keeps this complex drawing from becoming a clusterfuck of detail that confuses the eye; not to mention, the colors themselves are really nice. Kudos to the colorist.

Another one from myself 1/28/12

2012-01-28T14:43:00.000-08:00

It seems by the comments to this part of the blog, that you guys are more fond of trying to rip me a new one than respond to my cover critiques, ha ha. But I can take it. Hell, I even agree with many of the comments. Maybe I should only post my own stuff from now on, just to give you guys a forum to give me your opinions. Nah, that's a horrible idea.

Cover "Fails" from 1/28/12

2012-01-28T14:42:00.001-08:00

OK, I'm sure I'll get some heat on this one, but this cover just doesn't do it for me. Is it moody? Sure, in spades. But in terms of design, it just kind of sits there. Both elements are almost the same size for no reason. And what's up with the guy? Did someone slip him a ruffie? I mean, if this chick walked up on me, I'd be losing my shit, but our hero seems more annoyed at the situation. Again though, as I stated above, it just doesn't seem much thought went into the design of this cover. I'd almost have rather seen just the vampire girl.

One question: Who runs like this? That's it.

I don't mind a simple cover when it's done right, is rendered in an engaging way, or features a unique subject, such as the Moebius cover I talk about in cover "wins" this week. But seriously, how many covers can you do of a guy (usually Wolverine) holding up his fist with claws coming out before it becomes so hackneyed that it's a joke? Another example is Batman standing on the edge of a building next to a gargoyle. The artist needs to do something unique in order keep me from rolling my eyes, and saying, "Not again!"

I can forgive the drawing and the coloring, but that photo background is criminal. First, I'll bet you dimes to dollars the artist didn't take it, and second, a cartoon style and photos mix about as well as ammonia and bleach. I did that once as a teenager working in a steak house thinking it would clean the floor even better and like this cover, it did NOT end well.

Beyond the crazy color job, this is on the list primarily because of the way Ming is sitting. Sitting is one of those things an artist needs to learn how to draw. What's funny is, it's one of the easiest things to take reference photos of. Think about it, chairs are readily available to most people on this planet. Maybe not in the Congo or a few other remote places, but I'm sure the artist was sitting on one when drawing this cover. Also, cameras with self-timers are super cheap. Even if you don't own one, a mirror is always an option. Bottom line, if you're drawing something out of your comfort zone, find reference.
Ming just doesn't look natural.

Well, that's another week down. I hope you guys still realize this are just my opinions I'm presenting here and nothing more.

Cover "wins" from 1/28/12

2012-01-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

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.

Once again. Your turn to nit pick my work 1/21/12

2012-01-21T11:42:00.000-08:00

Well, this came out a while ago, but they just re-solicited it for the trade. When they asked me to do the cover, all the direction I received was to draw a "Green Lantern ring with blood on it". I came up with idea to make the ring act like an actual lantern to add a little bit of drama. People seemed to dig it, but I'm sure you bastards will find something wrong with it, ha ha.

Cover "wins" from 1/21/12

2012-01-21T11:33:00.000-08:00

Blah. It's raining outside and I'm sick with a virus that has been kicking my ass for a week now, so I've decided that I just don't have the energy to talk about anything negative concerning covers this week. So let's just focus on the positive, shall we?

First off, this Chiang cover is so much fun to look at. Everything about it screams AWESOME! Highly readable, well drawn, and nicely rendered. It's just a fun illustration on all levels.

Beyond the sweet Art Adams drawing, it's the coloring that really makes this pop. I've always loved the yellow/green combo. Fantastic.

Speaking of yellow and green, Acuna is one of my favorite artists currently working. If artistic skill were measured in strength, he'd be the Hulk.

Wow.

I ran rough-shod over a Kaare cover last week, but this one I like a lot. Great job on the effects.

I always dig seeing an artist get away with realistic folds on costumes. Sometimes the people in charge, put their foot down on this kind of stuff. Glad it didn't happen here.

Just a well-painted illustration. I'm not sure how it relates to the book, but I don't care; I just like the final product.

Strong composition wins the day here.

Your turn once again to rip me a new one. 1/14/12

2012-01-15T13:57:00.001-08:00

Two covers this week. BTW, it appears that I can now respond directly to each comment given on this blog. I'm not sure why I couldn't before, but oh well. I will try my best to do so in the future.

This Lobster Johnson series is set in the 30's, so for all the covers for the series I was trying to reflect old movie posters from that era. Some worked, some didn't. I'm sure you'll let me know which ones didn't.

I've already taken some heat for this Punisher cover. Frank was a Marine not a Green Beret. Oops.

Cover "Fails" from 1/14/12

2012-01-15T13:57:00.000-08:00

This Moriarty cover is not a bad cover. It is only here because I wanted to talk about the importance of "values". Having two elements right next to each other that are the same value, even if they're 2 different colors, is a no-no. A simple test to check this is to squint your eyes. If the design becomes one shape as opposed to separate/readable shapes, then you've done something wrong. In this case, the black and the maroon are too close in value, even with the red outline. So I added a little color shift in the maroon by adding red, and darkened up the blacks in the main figure. Looking at it now, maybe I should have changed the value in the yellow also, now that the red is lighter at the bottom. BTW, the artist is a friend, so at least I'm trying to be fair on this blog. It's about the art people.

When I saw this, it immediately jumped out at me. The girls arm is anatomically wrong. Seriously, I even looked online just to be sure (since I don't personally know any 13 year old girls) . Even at a young age, with the lower part of the arm against the head like that, the elbow would be much higher and the forearm would be resting on top of the head. It's just freaky.

This is here not because of the Wolverine drawing (which is great BTW), but because of the shadows below Wolvie. Since there are shadows in front and behind him of the same value, its hard to tell one from the other. It flattens out the composition and destroys the illusion of depth. That smoking gun barrel in front ends up looking like a falling ember. Wally Wood showed what I'm talking about better than I can in 22 panels that always work. Check it out here: http://horrorthon.blogspot.com/2011/07/wally-woods-22-panels-that-always-work.html

Fail. Simply a fail. Why the designer thought it would be a better idea to use shitty looking photos and ugly computer graphics instead of close ups of Kirby art is beyond me. Let's not even get into the logo work. FAIL FAIL FAIL!!!

Characters ripping through other art is an old classic, but the trick is making sure both elements are separate and readable. This cover fails at that. It's too busy. Sure it's rendered very prettily but in some ways, that's what makes it hard to read.

Is this a cover? Or an interior panel? The design, and sound FX make me wonder. I never understood the 30 foot long Batman cape either. I know a lot of fans love it along with the "butcher knife" bat ears, but I always liked the more efficient looking Batman myself. Different strokes I guess.

Ahhh, my favorite subject... archery. This time the artist didn't even DRAW a bow string. What is she gonna do? Push the arrow at you? The rest of the cover is fine. It's the classic "coming at you" action cover, but the fact that she's the main focus, made the lack of that one detail painfully obvious.

Cover "wins" from 1/14/12

2012-01-15T13:56:00.000-08:00

We start this off with Mignola. What can you say that's not already said? Mignola's composition is so strong, it's bullet proof.

Man, what a wonderful cover. The idea, the painting, the colors...everything is readable without competing with the main subject of the cover. Strong design by using the "A" frame design. I would have moved the credits up a bit to balance it out with the story title, but that was probably out of the hands of the artist. It's covers like this that raise the bar of "comic book" illustration to a higher level.

Man, I liked this the first time I saw it in previews, and I still like it now. That bloody hand just POPS! And it's got mood for days. It shows you can do dark moody covers and still make them readable. I'm glad the production dept. picked red for the logo, although I would put the UPC box on the right side. Nothing interesting going on on that side compared to the left where all the gory bits are.

I also talked about this a while ago on twitter. So much going on, and yet the important parts are clearly defined. It allows you to discover the other elements at your leisure instead of being hit with them all at once. It's artists like this that make me think I'm in the wrong field.

Alex Ross did a really great job here. It's a classic design that really works when done well. The shift from red to grey/black works wonderfully. Also, making Flash all red is a nice touch to bring the two together. I'm not sure I would have liked it as much if he was normally rendered with regular colors.

This cover is on here because I was impressed that the artists pulled off nicely what would have killed me: An underwater action scene that's interacting with the surface above. Also, it's an exciting angle. I'm even gonna forgive the the breaking of the law of physics that states that a bullet traveling through water is only effective for a couple of feet at best. It's a comic book after all.

ACTION!!! A classic example of the How to draw comics the Marvel Way cover! Captain America pops! Falcon is right beside him, face front and kicking ass. It just works.

Well, I'm just gonna say it.

2012-01-02T10:34:00.000-08:00

In my opinion, Jock has created the cover of the year. Bar none. He should win the Eisner and the Harvey awards for this alone. And any blog site that lists the "Best covers of 2011" and doesn't include this on their list (I've seen many so far that haven't) makes me believe that they don't know their asses from their elbows.

It's funny, one of the reasons I started this blog was to voice my opinions on what a good cover should be by pointing out the really good ones and the really bad ones. What makes me scratch my head is how people judge a cover. A lot of times, they add extra credit to a cover because of content in the book. If they liked the book, or the character, or the artist, then the cover becomes better in their eyes. I'm not doing that. The point of this blog is to look at the cover as a piece of stand alone art; to celebrate its strengths or talk about it's weaknesses, free from all the other baggage that, to be honest doesn't mean shit to me. It's only about what's on the cover.

So congratulations Jock. I don't have a statue or anything. Just me giving you a thumbs up. And I'll be buying you a beer the next time I see you at a show.

Once more, it's your chance to rip me a new one.

2011-12-31T12:41:00.000-08:00

Well, last week I wanted to show that I'm not above criticism, and boy did you let me have it; from insightful comments, down to the really nit-picky. And to be honest, I couldn't argue with most of them. Like I've said many times, I'm not a perfect artist. The logo treatment on the Punisher cover was my fault. I got fixated on the idea without thinking about where the logo was going to land. Also, Electra's anatomy was a bit off. However, the good thing about comic book covers is you always have a chance to get it right the next month. Speaking of which, here's the only one that's out this week from yours truly, but before anyone lays into me about how Mars isn't interacting with the ground or Spaceman, I didn't want it to. It's more of a graphic element. That's why there's no shadow. I was going more for 60's weirdness (like Richard Powers) than illustration reality. Most, if not all the Spaceman covers will be a bit off in this way. It's a unique book after all, and I just want something that jumps off the stands.

Cover "Fails" from 12/31/11

2011-12-31T12:39:00.001-08:00

This really isn't a bad cover except for the "dreary" sky, which feels too over saturated and makes it hard to read the shadowed figure. My main beef is with the logo. It's just awful. It's got this torn-paper look that all the Image artists were using behind their signatures in the 90's, which would be okay if they hadn't raised it and made it look all metallic. Also, the type itself is just lousy.

Here's how I imagine the discussion for this cover going....

Editor: Ok, we need a new Red Sonja cover, what ideas do we have people?

Artist: Umm, how about Red Sonja just showing us her ass while holding a sword?

Editor: GREAT CEASAR'S GHOST! That's BRILLIANT! How about she's surrounded by some evil vikings too?

Artist: How about instead, we put the moon behind her. But we make sure the light from it doesn't affect her what so ever?

Editor: Well, I guess. As long as we see her ass really well.

Artist: I'm on it chief.

And speaking of moons, here's another one where the obvious light source is completely ignored. Think about how dramatic this cover could have been if the artist was brave enough to add some shadow to the main figure. Instead, we get an awkward and stiff pose.

Once again, not a bad cover. So why is it on here? Well, it's the gun's bi-pod. One, it's attached to the scope, which is probably the worst place to attach one. Second, because of that, it only clears the bottom of the stock by a few inches. Seriously people, Google is AMAZING!!! It's got all the information you need on just about any subject you can think of.

This is here because the ground does not match up with the background. Not only that, but if your style is even slightly cartoony, maybe a photo background is NOT the best course of action. I mean, it's not like there is that much background to put in any way. Hell, by being lazy, you just made the cover worse.

I get it. The artist loves the Pulp Fiction poster. We all do. But there are two things that make this cover come up on my radar. One, the background. It feels like she's just floating on a concrete slab in a tranquil blue/green neutral zone. And two, she's laying on a bunch of blank pieces of paper. Did the artist run out of time? Shouldn't there be something on them? Like photos of potential victims? Or documents? Hell, anything at all would do. But no, we just get blank sheets of paper.

*EDIT* Well, let it never be said I'm not above admitting I made a mistake. Here's the actual printed cover with pictures in place of blank pieces of paper. To be fair, they didn't post that the cover posted for Previews was not the final cover. Well, it happens. My apologies to the artist.

Okay, here we get another pin-up cover, *sigh*. Besides the girl in the front, whom I'm assuming is Power Girl of the Fairy Realm because of those costume colors and giant balloon titties, the main reason for calling out this cover is the chick behind her. Now let me get this straight. She has fabric that hangs BELOW her ass? Maybe in this fantasy world, the middle part of the back of one's legs is what really drives men mad with lust, and she being a modest girl likes to keep that shit locked up tight, as to not be considered a whore. Got it. Also, once again, a poor use of a photo background for the lazy artist.

And finally, I'm just going to leave this here. Enjoy.

Cover "wins" from 12/31/11

2011-12-31T12:39:00.000-08:00

I talked about this cover before on twitter, but thought I'd make it official on this blog to show my appreciation of a job well done. It's just a fine illustration, with depth, mood, and atmosphere. Sometimes I squint my eyes to see if I can still make out shapes in an illustration. This one still reads, even with my eyes almost closed.

Montage covers are tough. All these separate elements fighting for your attention. Also, choosing which elements will be small, medium, and large, and in what layered order, so as to be less confusing to the eye. Really, the last thing you want is for the viewer to think one of the characters is a giant. This artist was pretty successful. The way the art is colored also helps set the priorities for what order the elements are stacked. My only beef is the arrow placement and the fact that the big-headed girl seems to be looking right at it. It's a bit distracting.

I really like this for many reasons. It's got great graphic design. It's tell's a story. The color is brilliant in the way it shifts. Also, the fact that it's still readable even with everything that's going on. Finally, playing with the Flash logo works well with the design.

Man, Ryan Sook is an amazing artist. Anybody who can ape guys like Adam Hughes so well it's sometimes hard to tell the difference has my begrudging respect. But lately, he's been kinda doing his own thing, and I for one, am digging the hell out of the results. This cover... the red out of the green just pops against the white background.

Speaking of guys who started out aping other artists...Landronn started out as a Kirby mimic, then a Moebius mimic (actually, he still is, but he's doing such a great job at it on those new Incal books it's hard to complain), but lately on the covers he's been doing for DC, his style is really starting to come out. I mean, this cover is just so well done. There's so much to look at, but it never loses focus on what's important, that being Jonah Hex.

And finally, I gotta give some love to my old studio mate, Tony Harris. Simple, easily readable silhouette, interesting graphic element behind him, and action inside. I also dig the color choices and how they shift. Overall, simple, but effective.

New feature!!!

2011-12-24T12:06:00.000-08:00

Well, let it be said that I'm not free from criticism. But it feels weird critiquing my own work. So from now on, I'll post here any of my covers that are out that week and I'll leave it up to any of you arm chair critics out there to rip me a new one.

Is her neck too long? Is she not pretty enough? Let me know in comments.

So there it is for another week. Happy Holidays everybody.

Cover "Fails" from 12/24/11

2011-12-24T11:53:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm catching some flak on the inter-tubes for my demeanor in my critiques of these covers. I guess they are butt hurt that I'm not super sweet in my delivery of bad news. Well, get over it. Let me tell you story: I was 14 and just done a three page penciling sample that I was going to send to Marvel. But first, I had the chance to go to my first comic-book convention. Dick Giordano was a guest. Now, I hated DC comics at the time (I was a Marvel zombie then) but I figured I'd give this old man a thrill to behold my awesome talent. And when he would ultimately offer me a job on the spot (I was a bit idiotic back then/now) I would politely turn him down because Marvel was surely gonna hire me. Well, guess what, Dick ripped me a new asshole. He didn't spare any of my 14 year old feelings. And for a 2 weeks after, I couldn't walk right. But guess what? After that, everything he said made perfect sense and I forgot the harsh nature of the delivery. In other words, I got over it. And it made me a better artist.

That said, I will try to hold my sarcastic nature back as much as I can for all you sensitive types. But I'm sure you'll find something to bitch about regardless.

We start this week off with this one. The artist at least does things right by having the foreground characters in shadow to give it depth, but the coloring utterly destroys this cover. And all those special effects makes it almost unreadable. Its kind of a mess.

Let's see here. The colorist put the sun behind the characters, and shades them like it's not. Except for the red sky, all the color is kind of bland.

I'm only gonna talk about a few things that are structural in nature on this cover. One, the guy on the left looks like he's missing an arm. Two, the highlight on the dude's leg just right of the main guy reads as a space between his legs because it's almost the same color as the BG. So it makes one leg look like it's half the size of the other. Third, the main dudes cod piece looks like a limp dick. Or maybe it's erect. Depending on how you see things I guess (maybe I have the problem in the first place). Fourth, the girl is holding the gun so weird. It's so easy to go out, buy a toy gun, hold it in your hand for ref while drawing this kind of stuff. And finally, I say it all the time, but form follows function. If you're gonna have a strap (or 4 on one leg) on a costume, have it strapping something down. Also, does it make sense to have a traditional ammo clip on a laser? These are just pet peeves of mine.

Cover "wins" from 12/24/11

2011-12-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

We start this off with this Batman cover. I remember walking into a store this week and no matter where I was in the store, this cover kept jumping out at me. That green just popped! Which ultimately is what a good cover is supposed to do. My only thought would have been to make one of the robots bigger in the foreground at the bottom to give it more depth. Bottom line. Great job.

This just feels like a serious book cover. I like how the gun/logo cuts the design in half. My only suggestion would picked a different hue for the map at the bottom so it reads a little better as a separate element. But that's just nit picking it.

Whats not to like about this cover? Its fun, graphic and well done. The only thing I would have added would be a kid in the window with a shocked look on his face. Or a nude woman, haha. But then, as some of you guys out there already know, I'm an idiot.

This technically isn't a comic book cover, but it showed up in the listing website I look at to see all these covers. So it's in here because Jusko rocked this illustration. I really love the subtle use of colors. And the design a zig zag pattern to move your from the woods to the tiger, to her arm, down her leg then over to the cub reaching down and over to the title is really nice.

Reflections are really hard to pull off correctly. Especially when you have equally important elements under the glass. Massimo Carnevale is just the kind of bad ass artist who can pull this off with ease.

I almost didn't put this here. It's the kind of cover I like. But I was sure it was ripped off from Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira. But after looking through the books, I realized I was mistaken. So my apologies for thinking there was something wrong with this nice cover.

Cover "Fails" from 12/17/11

2011-12-17T13:38:00.000-08:00

I start this off this week with this one because I actually like it. Except for one thing, the artist (I assume) knows NOTHING about how to use a bow and arrow.

And speaking of archery. Here's another example of how NOT to pull a bow back. I dare anybody to try it at home. But let move on to the real problem with this cover. It's so bland. Everything is the same value. And the design lacks drama. I did what I could to add a little bit by enlarging the foreground figure and adding dramatic lighting. It took all of 2 minutes. Shame the colorist couldn't be bothered to do the same.

Tangents and piss poor coloring rules this cover. I dare anyone to find me a light source on this one. It's all over the place. But what is certain, the colorlist LOVES the airbrush fade paint bucket in PS. At least the artist didn't go for the gratuitous crotch shot. Not sure why the artist included a big pole behind her to create that tangent with her leg and then drawing her arm at a 90 degree angle. Strange.

Another tangent. I get the artist did it to show that she's not a giant flying over the main character. But there are other ways to show that she's closer to us than the purple guy. How about some other details like wrecked cars and debris that her legs can overlap? You don't have to go crazy with it, just around the small figure. But still keeping the main design clean so she still pops.

So much wrong with this cover, Bad coloring, yet ANOTHER bad archery example, the foreground guy looks like he's eating the horse's head, and his arm. Ohhhh, the arm. Milton Caniff would ALWAYS draw beyond the panel to make sure what IS in the panel makes sense. Listen to Milt kids. He was a genius.

This is one here because of the horrible logo treatment. The Air Vixens logo cuts the illustration in half at a bad spot that makes it look like the knocked out characters are in another panel. But I guess if they had moved it up then it would have covered over some boobies. And as we all know, boobies sells covers.

I guess we're supposed to know who the character is. Also, I think there's a face in the BG but can't be sure. But I'm sure the logo with take care of it. So it was pointless to add the face in the first place.

And finally, another example of everything element fight for my attention at equal measure. Feels like an interior panel, not a cover.
*note* this isn't the final shipping cover. The black blob wasn't the artist's doing. Here's the final.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/assets/images/preview/ed1b918i10716/prv10716_cov.jpg

Well, that's another week down. If I hurt someone's feeling. Get over it. The great thing about comics is you get a chance to do it better next month.

Cover "wins" from 12/17/11

2011-12-17T12:42:00.000-08:00

Love the design, love the colors. Hell, what's not to love?

A sweet example of an "X" design. I've said it before, Mignola has this shit down to a sweet science.

This is here mainly to appreciate the fine painting skills of this artist. Great color work. Subtle.

Speaking of subtle. Another great job. Nailed it. I wish I was better at the Art Nouveau but then I'd be in competition with Adam Hughes. And I'm crazy, not stupid. But this artist does a great job.

J.H. Williams is the master of having a ton of shit going on in covers but yet he knows how to make each element readable. And the logo stands out yet is integrated into the art nicely.

Hey, let's just have the character standing in the rain. And if you're Mr. Howard, you pick a great angle, you add a graphic BG element that could be building reflections or not. Either way, the sky reflection anchors the design. And the colorist does a great job with those sky color. I really FEEL the fatigue of the character after what I'm assuming was a hellacious night of ass kicking. But that's over now because the sun is coming up.

Text with an illustration? Yes please. And I love how the yellow lettering divides the scenes and works as a bridge between red and green.

Speaking of yellow. Love the brightness of this Coker cover. It's got great drama.

Cover motifs that should be retired.

2011-12-10T13:19:00.000-08:00

This will be a new section. Cover designs or motifs that are so over used that they should be retired or used sparingly. And every time one comes up I'll be talking about it here. This weeks entry: Hero on the corner of building shot. Bonus points if you include a gargoyle. I mean, if you're going to do this, be creative. Put a unique spin on a tired concept. Do it for the people!!! They deserve better.

Hell, I'm guilty of this too. Here's a cover I did back in the day. The editor was insistent on doing this motif. I argued but he won the battle. So in defiance, I had the character place his boot on the companies logo with the big thumbs down. Haha, the editor missed the subtext and he loved it.

Here's a more recent example of heroes on building with gargoyle. So once again, I'm not immune to this motif but I at least tried to change it up a bit.

Cover "Fails" from 12/10/11

2011-12-10T12:51:00.000-08:00

OK, this just screams to me that it belongs on this list. It's this style of artwork that is the worst thing to happen to comics, ever! It's so incestuous that it reminds me of a royal family from the 17th century. And what kills me is that it still has fans. There is so much great stuff out there and I imaging this artist and fans of this work turning their collective noses up at the works of Moebius, Toth, Toppi, Bernet or Kirby because their work isn't filled money shots every page. It makes me sad.

This is on here because the execution of the idea that Batman is a string puppet fails. One reason, the hand shadow behind him will be obliterated by the logo, OOPS! Not to mention the shadow of the strings don't match the strings themselves. It feels like the artist had the idea of Batman as a puppet but realized the only way to pull it off was to have Batman small on the cover. And that would not do because the artist really wanted to draw Batman's very intense crotch! I mean, I love how his face is in shadow but his crotch has it's own light source. With all those lines converging to it, I'd say that ol' Bats is having quite a "pucker factor" moment going on down there.

Beyond the horrible type treatment on the side, the over all composition of this is kind of "blah". But really kills me is the color. It's so milk toast! Light browns and baby blues, with some sedate purples just screams BORING!

Speaking of color. I'm so confused by what the colorist was going for on this cover. Maybe I just don't get it. If somebody knows, feel free to tell me.

And here's a case of tonal problems. The ax murder's (I assume he's a murder. Maybe he just hates this guy's strawberry jam collection) legs get lost against the background. Also, just a thought, having the wood floor slats going in perspective towards our hero is just one of those design things that are subtile but works.

This cover is a case for a bit less is more. Just too much detail going on here. Compounded by the fact that the coloring is so dark. It starts to turn to mush. Not giving the reader's eye a starting place, or a break from everything going on here. All those clouds in the BG aren't THAT important. Take a page from Toth/Mignola and simplify some stuff in order to make other elements stand out.

One of the main beefs I have with DC comics is color palettes some of their colorists insist on using. Weird blue-greens, purples, boring skin tones just don't seem real to me. I sometimes wonder if there is some kind of medical condition, like being color blind that effects some of these colorists that tricks them into thinking this style of coloring is great. It's one of the main reasons I taught myself to color my own stuff.

Wow! My brain just exploded!!!! If the title "Things to come" is telling me anything, it's that the interior pages that are to come will be awful. And filled with a guy rocking a sweet Ape-drape!

If I talked about your cover in this section and you're really angry about what I said. Just know it wasn't personal. I'm sure you're a fine person unlike myself. A sad, sad little man with a tiny dick.

Cover "wins" from 12/10/11

2011-12-10T11:27:00.000-08:00

I really like the stylistically graphic nature of this cover. Garney does a great job with this. And I love the color choices. The only thing I would change would be to darken the dragon's body a bit to make the head pop more. Maybe use a shadow of the head on the body. But otherwise, fun cover.

Beyond the subtle color chosen, which I'm really digging, What made me notice this cover was how the use of the apple with the bite out of it told me instantaneously that the characters were from Snow White. The logo is nice also.

Not much to say about this other than I just think it's works. Using shadows to bring out the eyes and focus your attention is a classic device. It works.

I guess this is here because even though it's one of those "I'm gonna stand here and look like a badass" covers, it's at least done well. It also reminds me a little of the Modern Warfare X-Box game cover in the sense that they both use a glowing red element to set it apart from just a dude standing there.

Same with this fine cover. The thing that keeps this design from just being a run of the mill badasses with knives coming at you is execution. A less is more approach and digitally painted beautifully. And adding the military ranking graphic also is a nice touch. Victor Kalvachev is scary talented and will be soaking up Eisner Awards soon enough.

This Bradstreet cover is simple but effective. With a nod to the humorous notion that being Pinhead has it's drawbacks.

Hmmm, I'll let you decide.

2011-12-05T09:28:00.000-08:00

My 100 Bullets editor Will Dennis made me aware of this. Is it a swipe? Maybe. I wasn't there when the artist did it. Maybe it's just a coincidence. Either way, I had a good laugh. What do you think?

Kyle Baker sez:

2011-12-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

"You are the Simon Cowell of graphics". Well, I'm not a flat topped british prick.... wait, maybe I am a prick. Damn it. haha

Cover "Fails from 12/3/11

2011-12-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

This cover is part of a tryptic so I'll refrain from talking about the design, but what bugs me is the cape. I have to blame McFarlane for this trend. Ever since Spawn, it's just gotten ridiculous. My favoring cover was when he drew Spawn crouching on his own cape. Assuring once Spawn tried to stand up, he's choke himself out. Just google Spawn #8. Anyway, back to this cover. Maybe his character is all about bloody vengeance and providing a never ending supply of fabric to wayward clothing designers.

Hey, look at that. This character and the Cape guy above are almost in the same position. But I digress. There is so many things wrong with this cover. First off, the pose. It's that standard "Image Comics from the 90's, look at me, I'm a bad ass" kind of thing that has been done sooooo many times if I didn't know any better I'd swear this is a parody of those covers. Then there is the design. Why is it off-set? If you're going to do a boring straight on cover with matching elements on each side, at least have them balanced. I don't have OCD, but if I did, this cover would drive me crazy. And now onto color. Besides the airbrush nature of it (which I'm not a fan of, but I'm trying to stay away from those kind of comments. Some people dig this style of art. I get it.) is the green highlights that seem to appear in some places but not others. And the fact that her cloak on her head completely disappears into the BG. And one last note on the design side of things. Her costume is horrible. Throwing a bunch of random elements on a figure is not good design. Maybe the artist should start watching "Project Runway".

This is another cover with that airbrushy with crazy highlights flavor to it. Once again, not my cup of tea, but what I will talk about the terrible color choices. It offends my eyes. The purples, the pinks, with gold and silver and blues oh my! All together they make this look like mud. Design wise, well, there really isn't any. Once again, it feels like an interior panel. I'm not even sure who the main character is? I think this artist needs a good solid dose of "How to draw comics the Marvel way". John Buscema shows you how to do "2 characters fighting" covers the right way.

And finally we come to this cover depicting the worst jail in the Star Wars universe. That chick is probably yelling, "Damn you for locking me up in this prison cell with only two bars. If only I could figure out how to walk around them!" Also, I'm not really sure what's going on with her dress. It's like two different artists did this piece. One who wants to be a painter and the other who had a bunch of old zip-a-tone laying around.

Cover "Wins" of 12/3/11

2011-12-03T09:57:00.000-08:00

Starting off this week is this gem. Simple, direct. Your eyes goes right to Red Skull's face because red is the only other main color besides black and the off white. And this cover really sells the "old poster" feel along with the used and dirty nature of the art. All in all, just a great example of propaganda art done right.

I like how the title relates to the art, which is painted very well. And that's why it's in "cover wins". But that said, the cropping on the big dude is a bit off. Maybe if every element were shifted to the left so we could see a little more of him and the space between his legs. But, It might be part of a diptych. Also, I would have liked to see a hint of the gallows. But then, it's "Fables" so maybe it's a magic hangman's rope that travels the countryside looking for work yelling "GET YER HANGIN' HERE!"

Speaking of gallows. If this cover is supposed to give me the creeps, it's done it in spades. Love the design. It's got a lot going on but every element has it's place. You discover things naturally. Like the guy with the scarf. You almost don't notice him at first, but then when you do, you can't take your eyes off of him.

I guess this is on here because, like I said in another post, I'm a sucker for comic book covers that feel like paperback novel covers. And this does that. I'm not really sure what the book is about but the weird skulls that don't look human make me at least want to crack open the book to find out.

This is one here because of two things. The unusual color palette and the overall creepy nature of the illustration. Both are well done.

And speaking of color. BAM! This just really jumped off the screen at me. Why? Because of the brightest color of all. WHITE! Without it, that red and blue just wouldn't have had the same impact. I remember many times in my career having to argue this fact to editors.

Cover "fails from 11/26/11

2011-11-26T12:44:00.000-08:00

This is just a boring cover. It just doesn't feel designed at all, beyond, the artist just fulfilling the act of telling you the girl likes her cocaine. I mean, that should be obvious, because cocaine is awesome. (That's a joke kids, cocaine is *sniffffff* bad for you)
It lacks drama just from the flat layout. This is what I call an "Interior panel" cover. Which in my book is always a big no-no.

Also, the girls reflection is way off. The angle is wrong and she looks like she's in another room altogether. Or maybe she has a twin sister beside her about five feet back who also loves that sweet, sweet cocai...... sorry.

Ok, beyond the continuing mystery of who buys these celebrity comics (I'm assuming somebody does because they keep making them) is the issue of landing that likeness. Which, I have to confess I'm terrible at doing. So if you're going to be doing a cover based on a famous person, you better bring your A-game. If the publisher was smart, he'd go down to the park and hire one of those street caricature artists to do one. Plus they work really cheap. Seriously, some of those artists kick ass.

The design of this cover isn't the issue. It's Ok. But the thing that jumped out at me was her leg (I circled it like Perez Hilton, minus the cum drops he seems to love drawing on celebrities) it's super bendy looking. Very strange.

And lastly, we have Alex Ross's The Last Phantom cover. My main problem isn't Alex's fault, it's the logo. It's doesn't stand out at all. And to make matters worse, making "The" white really doesn't help the problem.

Well, that's it for another week. If I talked about your work, and I've hurt your feelings, I'm sorry. It's just my opinion. Karma will probably be kicking me in the ass soon enough.

Cover "wins" of 11/26/11

2011-11-26T12:12:00.000-08:00

Simple, elegant, powerful. A perfect case of less is more. Anybody who knows my work, knows I'm a sucker for two tone color. This cover lets you know this book is more than just an average comic book. The type also helps a lot in that regard.

What I like about this cover besides the nice job on the rendering is that if you squint your eyes it still reads as a bold, readable design. And as I've talked about before, it does a great job of having depth. Foreground, middle ground and background. Plus it sets a great overall mood. Somebody is gonna get fucked up at the business end of that sword. No wonder nobody is on the street, he's a scary dude.

And finally, this one. It conveys a great sense of motion. And it's a super nice drawing. Design wise I might have made the hands darker and lightened up the BG. Or the opposite, darken up that area to make the hands pop more. As is, I feel like they compete a bit too much. But I still like the cover.

So apparently I'm now labelled a "homophobe"

2011-11-24T09:53:00.000-08:00

It all stems from a comment I made about this Batman & Robin cover where I said "OMG! Is this a parody of something? Way to keep those gay rumors at bay. Crotch shots are GO!" Well, if you assume I'm a homophobe, then just go ahead and assume that I think you're an idiot. Do you really know what that word means? I don't think you do. Maybe you should look it up. I neither fear gay people or have distain for them. That said, the main reason I talked about this cover being a "miss" for me beyond the "Ambiguously Gay Duo" vibe it's sending off it that the overall design is flat. It really doesn't look like any thought was put into the over all design. Just two characters jumping around.
Now I've heard someone say that it's a homage from something else, like a Street Fighter cover or something. I've got two problems with this. First, if it is, maybe a credit should have been included. And two, why would you re-do something that was lame to begin with? Unless of course this book is supposed to be a big joke.
Bottom line, I'm not a homophobe, and these are just opinions. If you're offended, guess what? Nobody ever died from being offended.

p.s. Just wanted to make it official on this blog. Frank Quitely is a fine artist. Those Bite Club covers he did back in the day are fantastic along with other newer work. And I'm sure he's a hell of guy. But as stated on Twitter, a lot of those Batman & Robin covers left me cold in a design sense. Like I said before, it's just my opinion.

Some cover "Wins" from the week of 11/20/11

2011-11-21T12:58:00.001-08:00

First off, this is a fun cover from Cory Walker. There's a lot going one but it's got great depth and priorities. The main characters stand out against the background, allowing you to discover the detail in the background as a secondary note. The way it should be. The atmospheric perspective helps out by lightening the BG as the elements gets farther away. It's the way to do it people, take note.
Massimo Carnevale is so good it makes my teeth hurt. It's a simple design, main character standing front and center. But if drawn/painted well, like this one, it can be quite fantastic. Win!
Another example of this. Why do I like it? The color. Green against red is a personal favorite. Maybe because I was always told NOT to do that in art school. What do they know? Most teach because they can't get work as an artist.
I guess I'm on a green and red roll. This design is simple yet effective. I bet it jumped off the stands next to some of those rainbow covers that seem to overwhelm the racks. And it's well drawn. Mr Chiang knows his shit.
And finally, this one. I'm a sucker for comic book cover design that feels like a regular book design. Great job.

A few more cover misses from the week of 11/20/11

2011-11-21T12:27:00.000-08:00

My main problem with this is lack of credit to the original artist Frank miller. People, without a credit note to the original source of your design I'm just going to assume you're a plagiarist. You're better than that.
Ok, my issue with this cover isn't so much that it's a bad design, but the fact that all the Lady Death covers are basically the SAME FUCKING COVER!!! Usually a traced Victoria's Secret photo with some random elements tossed in. Never anything about a story, although that might be on purpose. I can't imagine that it would be that great of a read to begin with, but maybe I'm just immune to ways of Lady Death. For all I know, it could be the Watchmen of soft core titillation super hero books. If you're a huge fan of the book and you think I'm wrong about it, let me know. But regardless, the cover designs of this title leaves me limp.
And finally, this one. I'm really confused by what the artist is trying to convey here. He obviously loves drawing hands. Glowing hands and zombie hands. But the over all design just doesn't make a whole lotta sense. Are the 2 glowing hand guys friends and are facing off against a zombie hoard? Or are they about to fight it out with wizard powers for the entertainment of the zombies? As we now know from watching The Walking Dead, zombies love flairs. But would a zombie buy this book? I'm not so sure.

Another one from yesterday

2011-11-20T11:48:00.000-08:00

Here's another one I talked about yesterday. Like I said then, team book covers are a bitch. Too much to focus on if you don't work on it. Here's a possible solution to help create levels.
I made the characters in front a bit larger and put them in shadow. I would maybe do more with the layout, but I'm too lazy to do it here.

2011-11-20T11:44:00.000-08:00

Talked about this cover on Twitter yesterday. But wanted to show a possible solution to why I didn't feel the over all design left me cold. It's hard to do too much since I don't have the actual file to work with but you get the idea.
I still feel it doesn't pop as much as I'd like, but it's not like I'm getting paid to it, so it is what it is.

NOTE* Now if you're going to do a bloody mouth coming out of torn paper, I guess you could use this one as an example of how to do it right. Or maybe the other artist WAS using it as example of how to do a cover. Oops.