Beginning n February, writer Stuart Moore and artist Gus Storms embark on a new five-issue EGOs arc, called "Crunched." As noted in Image Comics' solicitations, "The narcissistic super-team of the future returns to battle an invisible threat to the galactic economy." To whet folks appetite for the upcoming arc, Moore, Storms and designer Brett Evans detailed for ROBOT 6 the steps leading up to the final cover design.

Stuart Moore



The new EGOs storyline is a five-parter called "Crunched," and we wanted a new, unified look to the five covers. Gus and I talked about it, both in person and at the New York Comic Con, while we were sharing a table. "Crunched" features a lot of new characters — in a way it's a mystery, with an assortment of suspects floating in and out of the story. We decided it would be striking to feature one or two characters per cover against a blank background. I sent Gus this list of possible cover subjects, based on which characters were featured in the individual issues:

Issue 5: Prisoner Seven or The Commander

Issue 6: Frostline

Issue 7: Metal Man or Prisoner Seven

Issue 8: The Quantum Trust OR: [redacted]

Issue 9: The Commander OR the younger Commander, maybe, from the War

Gus chose Prisoner 7 for the first cover, and he took it from there.

Gus Storms

Step 1 -- Thumbnails and concept: This is where Stuart and I debate the subject of the cover, in this case the relatively simple decision of which character to feature. We went with Prisoner 7, a new addition to the comic, in the front facing pose [as shown in the the upper-left].



Step 2 -- Under drawing: Where the work is actually done. Figuring out pose, posture, foot position, etc., all to convey, in this case, the casual menace of the featured character.



Step 3 -- Line drawing: Refining the drawing. detailing to the cut of the clothes. Adding blood on the hands here as I'm already thinking about the coloring stage, realizing the image may be too chromatically static.



Step Four -- Flats: Getting the general palette, feeling it out.



Step 5 -- Coloring: Working in Photoshop, tweaking the coloring, shading and gradients this way and that. Repeat until satisfied. The most relaxing, zen step of the cover-making.



Brett Evans

When Stuart asked if I’d be a part of the second series of EGOs (5-plus), I was thrilled. After having so much fun on the first series and TPB I couldn’t pass it up. In our initial email exchange, Stuart expressed he would like a heavier design element to this series than the first four issues. After he explained each of the next covers would be character studies, I wasn’t so sure that was the way I would approach it. Gus’ art and color is so elegant I would hate to detract from that focus.

Keeping with that thinking, I was inclined to add a cover dress that was familiar to the first series but more subdued to allow the art to shine. The intent is always to incorporate the colors from the cover art into the title treatment and cover dress.

For the first comp [composition] presented, I thought it would be a good place to start with the original series’ logo and dress. However, duplicating it exactly would do a disservice to the new issues. So utilizing the same thought of circuitry and exact forms, I started by laying out a unique pattern to frame the cover art. Stuart wanted the name of each cover character to be displayed in some fashion, so I incorporated the name into the dress as a part of the circuitry which seemed to be a logical solve without disturbing the original art. From there, incorporating the color scheme from the artwork into the title treatment and design elements made the most sense to give the covers an all-around symmetry rather than to contrast and compete. [In fact, this was the cover that Moore and Storms picked for the final version.]

Moving on to the second comp, it seemed I should start pushing the envelope of what was familiar to the original issues and what could be an evolution of look and feel. Again, keeping the color feel of the original art was important to me. Here is where I began to play with tightening up and changing the form of the circuitry, but keeping the same theme for familiarity. Obscuring the character name behind the figure, was a gamble, not knowing how that might work with the rest of the series.



Keeping the same progression, in mind, I thought I would play with figure position and dress alignment. The final comp I settled on, wasn’t too far out of the realm of possibility. It could have gone much further and much more abstract, but pulling it away from the audience’s sensibility, so I toned it down. It was fun, however, to consider the infinite possibilities of layout and design, keeping some sense of familiarity to the original series’ covers so as to not jar the reader into thinking it is something completely new.



With all of that in consideration, I think the final decision was to take that next step in evolution, but in a smaller way, to not off-put those readers that appreciated the original series, not only from the cover, but its entire package.