By Molly Jane Kremer and 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.
Detective Comics #43, by Francis Manapul. (DC Comics)
MJ: Though he’s no longer on the book’s interiors, Francis Manapul’s gorgeous art still graces the cover of this issue of Detective. He makes effective use of bold and soft complementary colors, and of the stark white negative space. It’s the same bright white as the intricately-detailed sugar skull masks surrounding Robo-Batman in a swirling mass of black hair. Manapul will be missed on this book.
Midnighter #3, by John Paul Leon. (DC Comics)
JJ: I don’t know what to make of the blood-red chaos that adorns the front of this John Paul Leon variant. All I know is I know what I like, and I like this. It helps to think of it as Leon’s interpretation of DC’s skittish approach to Midnighter’s world-famous bloodfrenzy. The publisher knows we demand a touch of the ultraviolence in our Midnighter yarns, so they meet the demand in the form of interpretive art. Classy.
Green Lantern #43, by Emanuela Luppachino and Tomeu Morey. (DC Comics)
MJ: DC is doing more Bombshell variants; you know, those awesomely retro, pin-up style depictions of all the DC ladies that graced the publisher’s covers a few months ago. This month though, in the interests of–ahem–equality, we’ve got some of DC’s male heroes getting the Bombshell treatment. In this case, the imagery is more WWII recruitment poster than anything else, with Hal dressed in his bomber jacket and flyboy jumpsuit, dashing, daring, and ready for action.
The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #3, by Sara Pichelli. (Marvel Comics)
JJ: You know the score. A long, arduous, trying day of angry faces, hard feelings, and aching feet. The only thing going through your mind is getting behind a closed door and shut windows. Let the world figure itself out for a while. And at the end of it, when your day is done, you finally collapse on the couch only to find the person you love ordered pizza, made you tea, and has plans to crawl on top of you for at least an hour. You settle in. Life is good. Nothing conveys that sentiment more than this lovely, serene cover by Sara Pichelli. Study the expressions she provides Mary Jane and Peter here, and you will know contentment. *sighs*
The Wicked + The Divine #13, by Tula Lotay. (Image Comics)
MJ: The Wicked + The Divine never hurts for gorgeous covers: between the striking regular fronts by series artists Jamie McKelvie and Matthew Wilson and the changing talent roster on variants, every issue of this comic stands out when on display. This month, Tula Lotay–also the interior artist–makes Tara (the issue’s focus) a broodingly mysterious creature, draped in shadow, removing her mask to meet the viewer’s eyes directly. It’s a fitting look for an oft-mentioned character introduced for the first time in these pages, and it’s haunting as hell. (Just like the issue itself.)
What are the covers that float your boat this week? We want to know! Tell us about them in the comments below, and the best response gets a DoomRocket sticker/button combo sent to their door. Get to it!
