Tag comic book covers

Epic Covers: Blood Stained Teeth #8 by Andrea Sorrentino

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Few creators do spooky quite like Andrea Sorrentino. The vampire grin he shows us on the cover of this week’s Blood Stained Teeth #8 is downright chilling. And when juxtaposed with the money it’s foreboding, yet it also invites intrigue.

Oddly enough the purple and green, along with the grin, are typically trademarks of the Joker. In another life, this concept might have made for a good Joker cover.

Blood Stained Teeth 8, variant cover, January 2023, Andrea Sorrentino

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Alex Ross Spotlight: Fantastic Four #3

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

What we have here is a variant cover for this week’s Fantastic Four #3. Ross also drew the main cover for the issue, but I like this one better for its use of grayscale. Not making the Thing his usual orange color allows you to appreciate the painstaking detail Ross puts into his rocky skin. Imagine having to do that every single time you draw a character…

I also love the sense of life that the eyes brings to the image. They bring a great sense of humanity to this otherworldly creature. For me personally, it’s about as close as you can come to making it believable that the Thing could exist in the real world.

Fantastic Four 3, variant cover, December 2022, Alex Ross, The Thing

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Epic Covers: Seinfeld, Superman, and Batman

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

For Christmas this year, Mrs. Primary Ignition gifted me a copy of The Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee Book, which of course is based on the web series starring Jerry Seinfeld. To my great surprise, one of the first images seen in the book is this variant cover to March’s Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #1.

Illustrated by Dan Mora, the cover shows us Seinfeld driving the classic 1966 Batmobile, with Superman in the passenger seat and Batman along for the ride as well. I’m a fan of everybody on this cover. So to see it come to fruition was a treat. I also love that Mora’s art is exposed to a whole new audience via the Comedians book. Everybody wins, including/especially the fans.

Batman:Superman World's Finest 1, Jerry Seinfeld, variant cover, 2022, Dan Mora

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Epic Covers: Spider-Man: The Lost Hunt #2 by Ryan Brown

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

True story: My father-in-law is a hunter and has a bunch of deer skulls mounted on his office wall. So this cover to Spider-Man: The Lost Hunt #2 by Ryan Brown hit close to home in that respect.

Skulls and skeletons are a near-universal symbol for death. So they’re usually a pretty safe bet in terms of grabbing attention. I like the added touch of the torn Spider-Man mask. Because let’s face it: If you’d killed Spider-Man and were mounting his head on your wall, you’d want the mask too.

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Epic Covers: The Invincible Iron Man #1 by Kael Ngu

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

It’s tough to go wrong with the classic red and gold Iron Man suit. It’s just that iconic, especially in the last 15 years with the advent of the MCU.

With that in mind, did Kael Ngu play it a bit safe with this simple straight-ahead shot of Iron Man mid-battle? Maybe. I’d counter that it’s simple, yet no less effective. There’s certainly nothing simple about the level of detail Ngu put into this cover. For my money, it’s very much worthy of the character and his rich legacy.

The Invincible Iron Man 1, cover, December 2022, Kael Ngu

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Epic Covers: The Avengers #63 by Tom Reilly

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Tom Reilly has proven (in this space as a matter of fact) that he’s good at keeping things simple. That’s exactly what he does here with this variant cover to this week’s The Avengers #63, and we all benefit from it. A simple yellow background, combined with what I would call a simply rendered image of Cap, and the reflection of other Avengers in the iconic shield. That’s a pretty tough formula to beat.

The Avengers 63, cover, December 2022, Tom Reilly

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Epic Covers: Justice Society of America #1 by Dan Hipp

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

The New Golden Age #1 had its ups and downs, which isn’t necessarily what you want to say about the lead-in to your new Justice Society of America series, which begins this week.

But nevertheless, the issue had a strong cover game, as evidenced by this really fun variant from Dan Hipp. Though I must confess, I’m a little confused as to what they’re supposed to be doing. It seems like it’s morning coffee/tea, as evidenced by the cups some of them are holding. Not to mention what appears to be the glow of a sunrise. But then you’ve got Hawkgirl who’s…eating oatmeal? If this cover had a title, it might be “Breakfast with the Justice Society.”

Justice Society of America, Dan Hipp

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Epic Covers: Gold (and Green) Goblin #1 by Marco Chechetto

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Norman Osborn may seemingly be turning over a new leaf this week in Gold Goblin #1. But let’s be honest: He’s the Green Goblin. And it’s only a matter of time before his true colors show themselves again. Sad? Yes. True? Also yes.

Marco Checchetto finds himself back in this space as he gives us two variant covers that put the duality of Norman Osborn on display. One features the gold version, the other the green one. The former in the pink glow of sunrise, the latter in the dark of night. And the two figures are posed identically. It’s beautiful work. Dare I say, good as gold.

Gold Goblin 1, variant cover, 2022, Marco Chechetto

Gold:Green Goblin 1, variant cover, 2022, Marco Chechetto

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Epic Covers: Fantastic Four #1 by Alex Ross

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

There’s an argument to be made that every cover Alex Ross does is epic just because he’s Alex Ross.

But what sticks out to me about the cover to today’s Fantastic Four #1, as opposed to the various other covers Ross has recently done for Marvel, is that it’s a blaze of color. The effect is borderline psychedelic. Thus, not only do we have Ross’ pitch perfect renderings of our four heroes, but he’s taken a step outside the box with them. The FF have, for my money, rarely looked this good.

Fantastic Four 1, cover, 2022, Alex Ross

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Epic Covers: The Riddler: Year One #1

Rob Siebert 2 Comments

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Time to get on my soapbox: The more time that goes by, the less impressed I am with The Batman. Was it a decent movie? Sure. But was it as great as everybody seems to think it is? Not for my money…

I wasn’t enthralled with the way the movie presented the Riddler. I’ve come to call this version “S&M Riddler,” because he looks to me like he’s wearing a raincoat with an S&M mask and glasses.

All that being said, I can give credit where credit is due. Last week’s The Riddler: Year One #1 knocked it out of the park with a great cover by Bill Sienkiewicz. It really captures the creepy, domestic terrorist, DIY supervillain vibe the movie went for with this version of the Riddler. The yellow markings almost look like they were done with a sharpie or a highlighter, and the greenish color scheme is consistent with the movie as well. And of course, you’ve got the creepy image of the Riddler in full costume in the background.

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