By Jarrod Jones. Undercover is our opportunity to lovingly gaze upon gorgeous works from magnificent artists. Each week, we single out the most striking covers that grace comic book stands and gush all over them.
Robin: Son of Batman #1, by Robbi Rodriguez. (DC Comics)
If I had my way (and count your blessings that I don’t), there would be a mandate that every artist in the comics industry would have to draw Damian Wayne at some point, in some capacity. I’ll probably never get to enforce that, but seeing this killer piece by Spider-Gwen artist extraordinaire (and all around nice guy) Robbi Rodriguez shows that the universe is going out of its way to at least make me happy. Hey! Spider-Gwen/Damian Wayne mash-up! I know what I want for my commission piece, Robbi. Be in touch.
Black Canary #1, by Annie Wu. (DC Comics)
It’s high time DC got around to giving Dinah Lance her own damned title. But it’s probably for the best that it took Cameron Stewart, Brendan Fletcher, and Babs Tarr to grab their publisher by the scruff of its thick-ass neck and declare, “THIS IS WHAT COMICS SHOULD BE LIKE, YA DUMMY.” Now we have Black Canary, and from the looks of things, Annie Wu has this book on lock. Few covers made love to my eyes as thoroughly as Wu’s front to Black Canary #1 did this week. I need a print of this, like, yesterday.
Space Riders #3, by Alexis Ziritt. (Black Mask Studios)
Variant covers are cool and all, but more often the experience of reading a comic book can damn-near bring you to an altered state if the interior artist lays out an eye-popping image to lure you in. It doesn’t matter if he’s knocking out prime visuals in a sequential format, a cover, or a goddamned mural (that would ideally be on my living room wall), Alexis Ziritt is an artist who can make your eyeballs melt with a stroke of the pen. Exhibit A.
Archie Vs. Predator #3, by Kelley Jones. (Dark Horse Comics)
To think I’ve lived long enough to see Kelley Jones render a cover to an Archie comic. Yep, there’s Archibald Andrews traipsing about a spooky forest with Betty and Veronica in tow, looking for their friend, Jughead. Nothing too unusua–oh my god why. I guess it wouldn’t be a Kelley Jones cover without some horror, but why’d it have to be Jughead who had to go? I guess Predator would have had to scalp Reggie to get the point across. (Reggie, by the way, would have totally had it coming.) *sniff* Poor Jughead.
Wonder Woman #41, by Brian Bolland. (DC Comics)
We’re running through the gamut that is DC’s Joker Month, so it’s only fitting that the artist responsible for one of the most notorious odes to the Clown Prince of Crime would also get to render the superhero that made him just as famous. Brian Bolland’s marriage of the Joker and Wonder Woman is far from a match made in heaven, but in his capable hands the pair make oil and water look that much easier to swallow. (That look on Diana’s face. Priceless.)
