COVER SHOOT: Top 5 Comic Book Covers For July 10th, 2013

Cover Shoot

By: Chris “DOC” Bushley

This weekly feature will take a look at the most visually compelling covers on the market today. Whether they be variant editions or standard ones, these are the top 5 covers that stand out amongst the bevy of books that are released each week. They say, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” these covers are worth more than that! No matter the storylines found behind them, these covers draw you to at least check them out, which can be worth exponentially more than just words to the companies that publish them! Enjoy!

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1. X-O Manowar #15 – Variant Edition – (Valiant): Kekai Kotaki gives a gloriously rendered cover that explodes off the racks and exudes pure energy! From background to foreground, every inch of this cover is exquisite! His sense of action and power is heightened by the choice of an angled perspective making the cover seem fluid throughout. Highly detailed and electric, nothing shows as much force as this cover this week!

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2. Batgirl #22 (DC): Beautiful and haunting, this cover by Alex Garner tells a complete tale in a single image. You can feel the anguish and pain pouring out from every brush stroke, compelling the curious buyer to grab it off the racks and learn more. The use of shadow and the vibrant contrast between Batgirl and the Bat symbol, relate to the idea that the person behind the mask matters less than the overall iconic status portrayed by the symbol itself. Garner has created something pure and engaging and quite symbolic in his own right.

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3. Ultimate Comics Ultimates #27 (Marvel): Michael Komarck creates a stunning digital image that is sure to get heads turning in shops all week. From the read-out screens hovering in the background to the creepy “mad scientist” image in the foreground, everything screams classic “Sci-fi” in this cover! The use of a greenish hue behind the central figure gives an overtly eerie feel to the cover, one heightened by the image of an incapacitated Tony Stark. Awesome!

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4. Quantum and Woody #1 – Variant Edition – (Valiant): To begin, this is a beautiful painting of a goat by Tom Fowler! The juxtaposition between the royal blue background and the stark white of the goat makes the image stand out amongst all other comics. But, it’s not the image so much as the sheer brilliance in technology that lands it a spot on COVER SHOOT this week! This cover is also enhanced with a QR code that is found over the goat’s mouth. When using your Smartphone or Android device to activate the code you will hear the goat “speak” to you! Now, Valiant has done this before with Harbinger #1, but how cool is it to have a goat baying to you and utter “Quantum and Woody?” Cool enough for me!

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5. The Lone Ranger #16 (Dynamite): This cover is simplistic yet, perfect! Francesco Francavilla does an astonishing job of breaking down a cover to the core of what it should be — eye-catching! The magnificent contrast between the overwhelming blue and the brilliance of the “glowing” moon is breathtaking, creating a total image that transcends everything else between the covers. It exudes a relentlessness, a determination that will defy all odds, and overall, it tells the tale of a lost soul seeking vengeance with only one beautiful image.