By Molly Jane Kremer, Arpad Okay, Brandy Dykhuizen, 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.
Dark Ark #1, by Juan Doe. (AfterShock Comics)
JJ: Rain falls in a torrent as the oceans rise. The sun has become black as sackcloth, and the moon has become as blood. The elements mock our senses. The world is at its end. Look there. Something lurks beneath the keel, ancient and silent. What souls remain on this accursed ark will die today. Put to a swift and violent end by a nameless titan they never knew. Perhaps it is worse than that; perhaps this many-tentacled leviathan has come screaming across all of eternity, just for their lives to end by calamitous coincidence. Nightmares of a darker nature than we’ve ever known are upon us. A tenebrous doom, unutterable and complete. Juan Doe’s gone Biblical. Cthulhan. Perfect.
Glitterbomb: The Fame Game #1, by Djibril Morissette-Phan. (Image Comics)
BD: Fame. Fortune. Failure. We’ve all encountered at least one-third of Glitterbomb’s unholy trifecta. Glitterbomb: The Fame Game shows us that, no matter how close you are to an epic crash and burn, you may very well shelve your reservations for a shot at your own 15 minutes. In Djibril Morissette-Phan’s cover, Kaydon appears as an upside down crucifix, blood pooling into a halo around her frozen face. Her eyes, skin and shirt reflect a vivid glow, contrasting sharply with the puddle of blood and braids around them. Her eyes are locked and her lips parted in shock: “This is it!” they seem to say. To hell with the carnage she just witnessed – the spotlight is now fixed on her.
BUG! The Adventures of Forager #4, by Mike & Laura Allred, Andrew MacLean & Jordie Bellaire. (DC Comics)
MJ: DC’s Young Animal imprint has some of the publisher’s best and most ambitious books under its umbrella, and has had some of the hottest indie artists working on their variant covers, as well as within the pages. Bug! The Adventures of Forager #4 has a variant cover by Head Lopper’s Andrew MacLean, and it’s just as astoundingly good as the main cover by Mike Allred and Laura Allred.
MacLean’s heavy-inked, kinetic style seems to automatically qualify him for cover duties on such a Kirby-centric comic. MacLean’s variant sports vibrant colors by Jordie Bellaire, who uses a palette reminiscent of Mark Englert’s striking, psychedelic colors on Kirby’s Lord of Light concept art. The red of Forager’s costume is lost in both purple shadows and blinding light, both disorienting and eye catching. Cooler indigos and pinks in the background contrast with the staring monster’s bright eyes, and with the green goo whirlpool Forager seems to be falling into.
Mike and Laura Allred’s main cover is more indicative of the issue’s contents, centered on Forager and his costar, Boston Brand himself — Deadman. (Though not a Kirby-created character like most of Bug!’s denizens, Deadman appeared in Kirby’s Forever People, and if you’ll remember, was previously drawn and colored by the Allreds in 2009’s Wednesday Comics.) The two are drawn as halves of a whole, while bursting from their center is the android body in which Deadman finds himself trapped.
Trinity #13, by Bill Sienkiewicz. (DC Comics)
AOK: The truth is that Bill Sienkiewicz’s art is the stuff of legend. His gift for impossible details and grand concepts always leaves me awed. The blurred spiral of Superman’s signature lock pitted against the sharp lines of his totally distorted face creates a duality, a swirling that looks like Xerox processing that’s drawn by hand. This could be a Sandman cover.
Superman is a translucent iridescent Shrinky Dink laid on top of a magnificent Zatanna portrait. The difficulty of the trick, making the Man of Steel disappear into a hat, legitimizes the pomposity of her costume. Zatanna is a no-shit magician.
Sienkiewicz is a giant of the industry and this cover is a crash course on why. His work is fresh, evocative, and always so. DC is really nailing it with their variants lately. This one is even going to look snappy with the trade dress added. #13 indeed.
America #7, by Joe Quinones. (Marvel Comics)
JJ: America #7 is Joe Quinones adapting a working-class lament into modern-day commentary. It turns a world-famous political Threnody into a cheeky piece of comic iconography. Think Rosie the Riveter 3.0. Don’t forget: America isn’t just not-from-around-here, she’s literally from a place where “here” is itself a foreign concept. The entire Marvel series is an affirming reminder that there was never one way to become an American. Just show up and try to make it a better place. Through Quinones’ craft, America becomes more than a hero. America Chavez has been immortalized as an icon. The Boss would be proud.
And that’s it! Don’t forget to share your favorite covers from this week in the comments section below.
