Judging (DC's March) Books By Their Covers

DC's March solicits have been up for quite awhile now, so let's make some prejudgments based just on the covers (as we all love to make prejudgments, don't we?).

Let's begin!

___________________________________________________

Nice pair of covers (Superman and Action Comics) from Eddy Barrows.

The combined piece is even cooler.

___________________________________________________

I dunno, I dig me some Ladrönn, but this cover for a Commissioner Gordon one-shot seems to be missing something - perhaps it is as simple as no bat in the Bat-Signal.

Hmmm...no, even then, the drawing would have an odd point of focus.

___________________________________________________

I dislike a lot of this Battle for the Cowl cover, but boy, Tony Daniel's Robin is awesome - just bursting with the sort of manic energy I think we will see from Damian as Robin.

Otherwise, a lot of awfully stilted poses, especially from Nightwing.

By the way, I love Wildcat being there. How hilarious would it be if Wildcat became the new Batman?

___________________________________________________

Strong Batman Confidential cover from Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, but I'm sure that comes as no surprise to anyone.

___________________________________________________

I like a lot of this Kelley Jones cover for Batman: Gotham After Midnight.

The weird anatomy almost works well here and I LOVE the touch with Croc's foot and hand marks on the chimney.

___________________________________________________

Bravo, Guillem March!

You have tapped into a new "sexify" market - Oracle!

You gotta love that outfit.

Otherwise, it's actually a good cover for her new mini-series, but boy, that's a silly design for Oracle. It's more like the cover for a Birds of Prey porno.

Birds of Lay, perhaps?

Someone come up with a funnier porno title for a Birds of Prey porno!

___________________________________________________

I am about 80% sure this is not the actual cover for Supergirl.

So, well, no comment then, since I don't think it is a cover.

___________________________________________________

Wow, Whilce Portacio being able to do Spawn AND Superman/Batman? Impressive!

The cover is not bad, I love the layout but the Superman figure seems a bit off.

___________________________________________________

I still think his figures are on the stiff side, but the design and layout of this World of New Krypton cover by Gary Frank is outstanding.

And the figure work is not bad, either.

___________________________________________________

This Black Lightning: Year One cover by Cully Hamner is quite oddly designed.

He has done some striking covers for the earlier parts of the story,

___________________________________________________

I like the new Katana costume, but I dunno if I am just reacting to the fact that the last costume was so goddawful.

Anyhow, decent cover by Lee Garbett. His Katana is great, I'm slightly put off, though, by the random Halo ass shot.

___________________________________________________

Dan Jurgens is good at these straightforward dramatic covers.

They tend not to be the most creative layouts in the world, but they still work pretty well just because he's so good with the dramatic shots.

___________________________________________________

Is that seriously George Pérez on this Legion of Three Worlds cover?

Wow, that's an interesting style.

___________________________________________________

It's weird, Ladrönn has been really looking like Scott Kolins a lot on these recent Black Canary/Green Arrow covers.

Anyhow, it's a pretty good cover. Some of the poses off a tad, though. Like the reactions of Dinah and Ollie.

___________________________________________________

As usual, I love Pat Gleason's energy, but I can't honestly say that I totally know what's going on on this Green Lantern Corps cover.

___________________________________________________

This Green Lantern cover - it is by Rodolfo Migliari, right?

I can't tell for sure.

In any event, I don't really dig it that much - the characters seem waaaay too smooth.

___________________________________________________

The solicitation copy does it again!

The way this Jonah Hex cover appears to be lit, it really looks like there is some sort of computer effect on it, but I know that David Allen Beck does not use computer effects, and I bet that the published cover will look much less

___________________________________________________

Honestly?

I'm just glad she appears to be wearing panties.

It IS a bit disappointing that Ordway is doing such an amazing job on the interiors of JSA.

___________________________________________________

Nice, classic Dave Johnson cover for The Mighty.

___________________________________________________

I like this Andy Clarke cover for R.E.B.E.L.S.

I think Clarke might soon be one of DC's bigger artists.

___________________________________________________

That's some prominent spittle right there!

Otherwise, that is a good Solomon Grundy cover by Scott Kolins.

___________________________________________________

While I have enjoyed most of them, it's interesting to note how many of Scott Hampton's Simon Dark covers seemed to have close-ups on the mask on them.

___________________________________________________

Brian Bolland looks like he's getting a real kick out of handling the cover duties for the Spirit!

___________________________________________________

Cute Secret Six cover by Nicola Scott.

___________________________________________________

Sort of a jumbled cover for the first issue of Jim Starlin's new book, Strange Adventures.

___________________________________________________

Not a bad Terror Titans cover by Joe Bennett, but not exactly a stand-out one, either.

Seems a BIT like a "panel" cover.

___________________________________________________

I think Howard Porter's concept for this Titans cover is strong, but the characters seem a tad off.

Good idea for a cover, though!

___________________________________________________

Good looking Teen Titans cover by Eddy Barrows.

___________________________________________________

Boy, Aaron Lopresti's beards are really, really odd, aren't they?

I presume this Wonder Woman cover will look differently when it is actually published.

___________________________________________________

Very cool Cartoon Network Action Pack cover by Min S. Ku.

Good enough that I wondered if I should have had it in the honorable mentiosn.

It's a real striking work and a great use of shadows.

___________________________________________________

Cute Robert Pope cover for Cartoon Network Block Party.

___________________________________________________

I'd have this cover of this JLU trade collection higher, except I find it hard to believe this is an original piece of artwork.

Anyone know for sure?

___________________________________________________

Another cute Tiny Titans cover by Art Baltazar.

___________________________________________________

Strong cover work for the Authority by Simon Coleby.

Nice use of the devastated Earth situation for the cover layout.

___________________________________________________

Straightforward but good cover work for this Ex Machina Special cover by Tony Harris.

___________________________________________________

Wow! That's Mike Huddleston?!? That's an impressive change of style by Huddleston for this Gen13 cover!

___________________________________________________

I know it's not cover artist Brandon Badeaux's fault, as this is how Gears of War looks, but man, is it ugly.

___________________________________________________

Niko Henrichon, similarly, is restrained a bit by the Mirror's Edge game, but it is still a good looking, simple cover.

___________________________________________________

Good, engaging cover for Mysterius by Tom Fowler.

Delfi's skin color seems a bit odd, though. There doesn't seem to be much of a difference, hue-wise, between her and Mysterius, and that's weird, as one is white and one is black.

___________________________________________________

Good Resistance cover by C.P. Smith.

Not much of a challenge for Smith, really.

___________________________________________________

So wait, who did this Resident Evil cover?

Is it just art from the comic or is it Brandon Badeaux? Doesn't look like him, but if that's video game art, they sure chose a cool pose from the game. Well done, art-pickers!

___________________________________________________

Good use of shadows by Leandro Fernández for this Stormwatch cover.

___________________________________________________

Not really much to this Top Ten cover by Gene Ha, is there?

Nicely drawn, I suppose.

___________________________________________________

Yep, that IS a drawing of Majestic.

I would have preferred something more striking for the cover of Wildcats by Neil Googe.

But I guess it is at least a nice drawing of Majestic!

___________________________________________________

This Jon Buran World of Warcraft almost seems unfinished, like the background is meant to have some sort of importance to the cover but there is nothing there.

Because otherwise, just the character drawings don't seem all that dramatic.

___________________________________________________

Decent Brian Denham cover for the X-Files, although the faces are a little on the subdued side.

___________________________________________________

Strong Bang Tango cover by Howard Chaykin.

This cover is like the epitome of Chaykin.

___________________________________________________

This John Paul Leon DMZ cover does an impressive job of telling a lot of information with a paucity of images.

___________________________________________________

Decent Lee Bermejo cover for Hellblazer, but not one of his more creative efforts.

___________________________________________________

See, this is the Shane Davis that I love a lot!

It's not over rendered and it has a real charm to it.

Good stuff for the last issue of Haunted Tank.

___________________________________________________

Funny Jack of Fables cover by Brian Bolland.

___________________________________________________

A well drawn Madame Xanadu cover by Amy Reeder Hadley, but I dunno if it is an engaging cover.

Amy Reeder Hadley is a good artist, though.

___________________________________________________

Igor Kordey continues some imposing Unknown Soldier covers!

I am not even sure if I like the art, but damned if it is not a bold cover!

___________________________________________________

Strong work from David Lapham on this Young Liars cover - clever layout and a good execution.

___________________________________________________

HONORABLE MENTIONS

___________________________________________________

The solicitations are correct, this Esao Andrews cover for House of Mystery IS evocative!

Good work.

What else has Andrews done?

___________________________________________________

Good cover design by Billy Tucci.

___________________________________________________

Guillem March is better when he isn't doing Barbie Oracle covers.

Dynamic Azrael cover, although I wonder why not just let the great Frazer Irving do the cover?

___________________________________________________

Ed Benes with the good cover!

He even managed to keep Wonder Woman's ass in shadows!

Odd back of Superman's head, though.

___________________________________________________

Extremely dynamic Vigilante cover by the legendary Walt Simonson!

___________________________________________________

Eric Jones does a cute cover here on the Supergirl book evoking classic covers of the past.

___________________________________________________

J. Bone keeps coming up with great cover themes for Super Friends (although this one is a little bit less interesting than some of his earlier covers).