Cammy’s Favorite Covers for 9/12/12

Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens #3 (Cover C) by Yuko Ota

When I was going through my ‘punk rock’ phase in early high school (Oi! Oi! Oi!), I was hanging out at venues and clubs on the weekends supporting my friend’s bands. Plastered all over the walls and every nearby telephone pole were hundreds upon thousands of flyers highlighting upcoming shows, and usually only on one color paper. The better-known bands who could afford the multicolored flyers were obviously doing well, and those flyers in particular would usually stand out more when stapled amongst the others. With this cover, I feel Yuko Ota did a superb job of capturing that simplicity of a music flyer, and with the addition of the aesthetically pleasing negative colors, I could definitely see this plastered on the wall at CBGB. And I would take notice, jot down the date, and definitely attend with my lighter at the ready. I don’t smoke, so I’ll just have to download that one App ahead of time.

The Shade #12 by Tony Harris

This cover is very Lovecraftian, and Harris does a fantastic job of really creeping me out because of it. Not only is the outfit from the right era (then again, Shade always was a dapper individual), but to include the tentacles, and then color the whole thing a horrific shade of crimson?! Shit is about to go down, and I do not want to be there when it happens. I almost feel that as soon as I flip to the first page, a tentacle is going to shoot out from the comic, wrap around my face, and suck me in to my death. WARNING! DO NOT BUY THIS COMIC: YOU COULD POSSIBLY BE KIDNAPPED INTO ANOTHER DIMENSION! Personally? I blame Harris for this dabbling in the dark forces.

Captain America & Black Widow #636 by Francesco Francavilla

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I was momentarily confused this week when I saw this comic, then Winter Soldier. Sometimes with all these Captain America and Winter Soldier comics coming out (in the same week, no less) and using the same characters, it almost feels a little incestuous at times. However, that does not distract from the fact that Francavilla continues to kill it with these covers. The sexy redhead, the bloodied shield, the worried Captain; all mashed together beautifully with excellent use of coloring and shadowing. And while it may not be Francavilla’s doing, I do enjoy that black widow spider crawling across the shield in the logo. If I only had enough for one Captain America comic that came out this week, I would pick this one up because of the cover alone.

American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares #4 by Dustin Nguyen

This is my favorite cover of the week, hands down. There will be blood! This incredibly eerie cover could be used for a publication like Creepy, had the title at the top been omitted. It’s so terrifying, that even if you’re not following this miniseries, your gut is screaming at you that nothing good is going to come of this. The undead hordes descending upon Felicia and Hobbes, as they smell the fresh blood oozing from his body. Nguyen has always been a brilliant artist when it comes to watercolors, and this cover is one of my favorites he’s done in a while. Just look at those darkened skies, the glowing red eyes, and let yourself become overwhelmed with fear while looking at this cover. Death has arrived.

Before Watchmen: Comedian #3 (Variant) by John Paul Leon

When Jim Lee was doing the variants for every first issue of the Before Watchmen titles, I just thought that some characters felt a little too crisp. With the Comedian in particular, there’s nothing clean about the guy. He’s a no-nonsense killing machine; proudly wearing the gore like a soldier would a medal. What John Paul Leon achieves in this cover is capturing that grittiness the Comedian possesses. The illustration is raw, and real; no Golden Age Hero pose, no propaganda poster here. The man just finished gunning down a lot of people with a rather large gun. Your life is nothing more than a joke to him, as he mows you down with the metal punch lines. The cherry on top? A yellow button in a sea of red. Maniacally beautiful, wouldn’t you say?

Doctor Who Special 2012 by Mark Buckingham

Warhols are cool.

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