Judging (DC's April) Books By Their Covers

DC's April Solicitations are up, so now is as good a time as any for us to make prejudgements based just on the covers (as we all love to make prejudgements, don't we? And DC's covers are at least detailed enough that we CAN make prejudgements based on them!).

Let's begin!
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I get the appeal, but I am soooooo tired of covers that use Two-Face's duality in them.



Still, Simone Bianchi does a marvelous job of depicting it, even though I disagree with the cover idea in the first place.
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See!!!

People ARE just like ants to Batman!!


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Neat cover idea.

Reminds me of 'Ringo's run on the title.

That was a good run.



Wonder if it will suffer any dropoff in appearance once covered.
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This one of the few super-rendered computer images that I have no problem with, from the style perspective.



However, it's not that great of an idea FOR a cover.
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Nightwing has been so lame recently that he even makes Jock covers seem kinda lame.



NAH!!!

I still love Jock.
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When he gets away from the cheesecake, it never ceases to amaze me of how talented of an artist Adam Hughes can be.



I love the teeth.
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BIG dropoff from #1's stunning cover.



Still, not that bad.
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Good job by Pat Lee.



Feels weird saying that.
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Cool cover idea.



Like something that would be used as a "challenge cover."

I'd love to see a story written around THIS cover.
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This cover, though...



...not so much.
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Man...I miss this Robin costume.

And the new costume hasn't even technically APPEARED yet!!



Odd cover for Superman/Batman, unless this is a variant?
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I hate the promos for these covers...



because there's undoutably going to be a lot of images added in later, so why bother commenting?
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You know what this Villains United Special reminds me of?



One of those 1970's DC oversized comics.

Those were awesome.
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This is an odd style for Jesus Saiz.



It looks a LOT like the interior artist, Javier Pina.

I do not know why that is.
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Ahhhh.....comics sure have come far, haven't they?



Artists had to defend severed head covers in front of Congress. But now they've finally returned!!!

(Cool points for those who can remember WHICH artist drew the infamous severed head cover that was brought in front of Congress back in the 50s)
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Yet another Perez cover that, while not stunning, gets the job done.



I wonder how this JSA arc will be, with Levitz writing again.
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You know who's good?



Jose Garcia-Lopez.

Just in case you forgot.

This JLA Classified arc should be fun.
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This promotional tie-in demonstrates why I think Manhke was a poor choice for JLA.



It is not a bad drawing, but also not very traditionally appealing.
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I thought of the following scenario...



"Oh crap! I cannot believe I let my cat ruin Alex's piece! Wait a sec...let's work with it! Work with me, here!!"
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Now THAT is a "draw you in" kind of cover!!!



What's he looking at?! Why is this little kid a ghost?

All sorts of questions I would be asking if I saw this cover and had not read the book before.
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Did Chaykin give Hawkgirl a boob job?



Other than that, strong cover.
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I will tell you this...



...I sure hope that this costume comes with matching coverings for his eyes whenever he nears reflective surfaces.
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You folks know I loves me some Bianchi...



...but this cover just seems a tad too stiff for my tastes.
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Did Scott McDaniel's future self come visit him to teach him how to come up with appealing cover designs?



Because this is the second cover in a row that McDaniel has had a coherent, appealing cover layout, after months of avoiding this type of layout for the covers of Robin, Richard Dragon and Superman (note that I am not begrudgin McDaniel's art, just his cover layouts).
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This is a nice enough cover design by Brian Stelfreeze...



...but not all that inspired, either, is it?
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I think we have seen variations of this cover design MANY times. Still, he drew it well.

I have been loving Daniel Acuna's covers.



This, however, is just tooooooo dorky looking
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This cover for Checkmate #1 ALMOST made it to my top five.



By the by, I would have preferred if Lee Bermejo had tried to draw Fire as though she was on fire, rather than drawing a normal woman with fire behind here.
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This cover is different, but not very engaging.



And I dislike the new costume.
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Strong drawing by Byrne.



But I wonder if the image is captivating enough.
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This is a perfect example of how cool computers can be. Imagine this cover withOUT computers!!!



By the way, I am pleased that Gypsy is apparently on the Birds of Prey now.
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I bet Amy Grant has her lawyers on speed dial whenever a new Butch Guice cover comes out.



The drawing of the new Aquaman on this cover reminds me a bit of Phil Hester.

Not bad at all.
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What issue of Teen Titans did this cover come from?



Cardy ruled all.
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Crap.



Grace is still on the team.

I hope that missle kills her.

That would be a great tagline, "Buy this comic and we will let the missle kill her"

I bet sales would go up.
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A Damion Scott Solo.

Wow.



Just.

Wow.

Way to totally degrade the line in one fell swoop, DC.

It'd be like having a "Great Authors" series, and having Hemingway, Hawthorne, Fitzgerald, Wharton, Melville and the guy who writes the Bazooka Joe comic strips.

Not only does it not FIT, but it is almost comical in the absoluteness of the mismatch.

HOWEVER, in defense of Mark Chiarello, I DO understand why one MIGHT be interested in somone like Damion Scott, in that Scott at least is willing to try new styles. The styles are all generally poor, but at least he's TRYING!!
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Kitson seems to be pinning all of our hopes on Supergirl holding our attention.


I think he pulls it off, but it is close.

By the way, I am LOVING the muted colors used for these covers!
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A very nice cover.



But for the last issue of Seven Soldiers, I expected a bit more.
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How weird is this?

Isn't the Teen Titans cartoon show ENDING?



A bit late to be trying to tie the comic to the show.
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Good picture of a character's head?

Duh, it's Joe Kubert, so yes.



Good COVER?

I say no.
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This is the least dynamic "people being chased by a dinosaur" cover that I can recall.



Still, I'm liking the style Bart Sears is using for Warlord.
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Very strong visual.



I like it.

Maybe they can fight some new female super villains while they're at it...hehe.
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Wooooah!



What a trippy Sean Galloway cover for this Teen Titans Go! I like it!
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This could just be me, so feel free to ignore it...



but are Tony Harris' covers for this book starting to look like Colorforms?

You know, just attach one cut-out to a colorful background, and ta da!!

The cut-outs are nicely drawn, though!!
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I will give Keown this much credit.

And only this much credit.



This Captain Atom cover IS dynamic.
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Gotta give Del'Otto credit, his Red Sonja really looks like a painted Buscema drawing. Well done!



The Claw?

Let's move on to the next cover.
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This cover is all sorts of wrong.



And that's withOUT counting the fact that it features Nemesis on the cover.

Grrr....hate Nemesis.

Except the DC Nemesis.

He ruled.
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Ouch.



The first bad Team Zero cover.

Ah well...I guess all good runs come to an end.
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The winner of the new costume contest for April....



....1992.
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I do not know if this would get a new reader to give 100 Bullets a look see...



...but damn, this would make a helluva movie poster, no?
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I love the idea. I really do.



But I think, as a cover, it requires too much effort on the part of the viewer to really get the visceral appeal of the image. A good cover cannot ask the reader to first closely look at the cover before they can appreciate it. It has to draw them in right away. The size of the picture really hurts in this regard, as the logo overshadows the rest of the drawing.

Still, strong image.
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Phillip Bond makes everything creepy, yet engaging.



Sorta like Exterminators the comic!!
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I enjoy that Jean is going back to his diverse cover designs...



I just do not think that he hit on a winner here. But I would like to see him keep trying this tact!!
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This is the second month in a row that Fruson has knocked a Loveless cover out of the park.



Simple, yet soooo powerful of an image. Great cover.
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Month three of Greg Lauren's seminar on "Illegible Hellblazer covers."



I'd love to see his signature. It must make doctors everywhere green with envy.
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Well, I will give Swamp Thing THIS much credit...



this month's issue has interior art by Jock, so maybe the interiors can, for once, be worthy of the amazing Eric Powell covers.
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I have not seen a comic try this, that I can recall, and I think it is a pretty neat idea.



Incorporating all the previous covers of the comic into the latest cover (well, except for anniversary editions, and the like).
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This is a fairly strong cover, and I am impressed at how Massimo Carnevale continues to give the Y covers set in Japan a real sense of geographic belonging.



Good stuff.
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TOP FIVE COVERS OF THE MONTH!!
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5. Really strong Bianchi cover image.



Points taken off for it looing too photoreaistic.
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4. Very clever, sexy cover by Quitely.



I just wonder how they will write a series with the remaining non-killed character.
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3. I have yet to see Mike Huddleston draw a bad comic.



He does not start now.
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2. Woah! Talk about a creative layout!!



That's one crazyass stampede.
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1. Matt Wagner finishes this mini-series with a very strong cover.



The basic Batman drawing is excellent.

The background ties into the storyline perfectly.

And the cover scheme was brilliant, causing the Bat-figure at the forefront to practically explode off the page, sort of like 3-D!!!
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Okay, that's it for me, folks!

Feel free to share YOUR prejudices (and YOUR top five)!!

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