Here are the Marvel solicits for August, and here are my Top Ten covers for the month!

10. Dennis Calero delivers yet another dynamic Trojan War cover, this time with an extra little "oomph" courtesy of Zeus and his lightning bolt.



Great stuff from Calero, who is a marvelous cover artist.

9. Skottie Young can almost do no wrong with his covers!

A fun, cute and actually funny cover for Wolverine: First Class!



8. Francesco Mattina has been doing some really good Thunderbolts covers since he took on the cover assignment for the book.



What's really notable is how much personality he puts into the two cover figures. Very eye-catching.

7. What an effectively spooky cover from Jae Lee!



He even makes a random electrical cord seem ominous!

6. I am absolutely LOVING this little revival Tim Bradstreet has been having! He first rocked some Scalped covers, and now he is taking his talents where they most obviously fit - noir comics!



What an awesomely effective stylistic shot this Luke Cage: Noir cover is!

HALFWAY THROUGH! You know what that means! I can make fun of some covers!

First off, J. Scott Campbell and Adi Granov team up for some pretty weak Amazing Spider-Man covers.

I happen to think J. Scott Campbell is an extremely talented comic book artist - few current artists have the dynamism and fluidity that comes with his art. The only issue I ever have with him is his choices of material.

This month's Amazing Spider-Man cover is one such example of an instance where I just don't get what Campbell is thinking with, material-wise...



At least, as I said, Campbell has some fluidity and dynamism to his art, even if I think he's wasting it on a fairly creepy shot of Mary Jane "relaxing" at home (cuz, you know, that's how women roll - they sit around drinking coffee/cocoa while pushing their breasts both together and forward).

Adi Granov, though, I don't know what the heck he's thinking with his Amazing Spider-Man cover...



Campbell at least tried to give Mary Jane some personality and, oh, I dunno, draw a BACKGROUND!

Here we just get a stiff bizarre looking approach to Mary Jane. If this were not a Spider-Man comic, I would never ever guess that that was supposed to be Mary Jane. It's like Granov didn't even bother trying to give her anything distinctive at all, except weird looking long legs.

ONE LAST BIT!!

Okay, this New Avengers cover by Stuart Immonen is good, which makes sense, since this IS Stuart Immonen we're talking about.



That doesn't mean it's not hilarious when you look at the match-ups.

Spider-Man vs. Venom - natch

Wolverine vs. Daken - natch

Ms. Marvel vs. Moonstone - natch

Iron Patriot vs. Captain America - I'm with you

Ares vs. Mockingbird?!?!?

It's like It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and everyone else is looking at their treats, and Mockingbird, well, you know what she got.

5. A very funny homage cover by Karl Kerschl, who has been ROCKING these Pet Avengers covers!



It even ties into the plot of the comic!!

4. Tim Bradstreet doing a noir comic starring the Punisher.

I don't think there could possibly be a cover assignment more in Bradstreet's wheelhouse.



3. DC readers have recently become acquanted with the greatness that is Rafael Albuquerque, and now Marvel readers get the same experience!

Albuquerque comes up with not only a funny cover for Incredible Hercules, but one that is mysterious enough to make you curious about what is inside.



On top of all THAT, it's also a very striking image!

2. Perhaps a bit straightforward, but really, what more do you want from an anniversary issue than what Marko Djurdjevic delivers with this Daredevil gatefold cover?



1. Boy, do I love Skottie Young's covers.



He rocks negative space like the great ones - add in a dynamic odd cover design and you have a great, great cover.

That's my top ten! What's yours?