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.
Wonder Woman ’77 Special #1, by Nicola Scott. (DC Comics)
I don’t mind saying that Nicola Scott is one of the most underrated artists working in mainstream comics today. Her work on Earth 2 was some of the strongest the New52 ever offered (buy the trades, kids; they are so very worth your time), and now we have this. Powerful, majestic, and more than a little Quitely-esque, this cover to Wonder Woman ’77 is a killer kick-off to what ought to be a great series. (And Scott’s likeness of Lynda Carter is, um. Wow. Stunning.)
Ant-Man #5, by Mark Brooks. (Marvel Comics)
Mark Brooks kills me. The way he draws Scott Lang is beyond hilarious: Lang’s often daft facial expressions, only slightly obscured by a laughably oversized helmet, make me chortle out loud with every successive cover, and they perfectly convey the irreverence and earnestness that’s contained in every issue of Nick Spencer and Ramon Rosanas’ fantastic series. And this sucker right here, where Scott seems to be participating in a perilous, intravenous log ride, provides yet another sterling example as to why Ant-Man is one of Marvel’s finest comics.
Arcadia #1, by W. Scott Forbes. (BOOM! Studios)
Where in the hell has W. Scott Forbes been hiding? Maybe I’m just getting old, out of touch, stodgy… whatever. (And this energetic, perilous, and effervescent front ain’t making me feel any younger.) Forbes snuck into my periphery with his, erm, arresting cover to Tim Seeley and Marley Zarcone’s Effigy #1, but this variant to Alex Paknadel and Eric Scott Pfeifer’s Arcadia is some next level stuff. Wherever he heads to next (maybe a more permanent stay over at DC Comics?), you can bet I’ll be paying fast attention.
Afterlife With Archie#8, by Francesco Francavilla. (Archie Comics)
It screams anxiety, desolation, and uncertainty. It recalls the mounting, frenzied terror held by James Stewart in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. And it makes me think that Halloween ought to be every month. Of course it’s a Francesco Francavilla. Here’s yet another exemplar of the artist’s incredibly nuanced and striking work for Archie Comics, and it’s a spine-tingling doozy.
