Judging by the Cover

Jul 15, 2023

Chris shares his favorite covers from this week’s new comics.

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Most comic book fans have a solid idea about what they’re going to buy every week as they descend upon their local comic shop. With that said, there’s still a lot of fun to be had just glancing at the week’s new releases and taking a chance on a book that looks promising, funny, scary, etc. That’s where covers come in. A fantastic image can make the difference between trying something new or saying, “Nah, not this week.”

In that spirit, here are the covers that captured our attention this week, with entries from comics editor Chris Coplan. This is Judging by the Cover.

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Cover by Ryan Stegman, J. P. Mayer, and Marte Gracia

As of late, there’s been plenty of talk in this here column about the Wolverine vs. Beast battle royale that’s taken place across the former’s solo title. But as it turns out, Logan’s a bit of a multi-tasker, and he’s been equally busy battling it out with Ghost Rider. Issue #36, then, sees a “serious” turn for their confrontation as the solicitations promise the emergence of The Hellverine. I’ll leave it to you to uncover how we get this Dragon Ball Z-style fusion from Hell, but there’s no denying the glory of this new and menacing creature. Would I love to see a little more Ghost Rider influence? Sure, but I beat there’s some ’90s comic with Wolverine in a leather jacket, and that’s mostly good enough. But what we get is nonetheless a profound melding of the unbridled fury of the two, which comes together to feel almost elegant and poignant (if it wasn’t a demon-man hybrid wielding flaming metal claws, of course). And I think that notion — of squeezing beauty out of carnage — speaks to the core of these two, and why we may be surprised how this all plays out in the end. For now, enjoy the sheer madness of this all, and hope that we can get more sick hybrids down the line even if they’re even a fraction of The Mighty Hellverine.

Cover by Björn Barends

And speaking of gnarly creatures transcending amid hellfire, we come to the Doomsday Special. If you got a little lost or turned around during both Dark Crisis and Lazarus Planet, Doomsday is the new king of Hell, and when he’s not brooding heavily on a literal throne of skulls, he’s trying to make it back to Earth proper. Much like the Hellverine-starring cover, this one sort of pokes you in that spot in the brain where all your nerdiest, ’90s-adjacent fantasies live, which causes a kind of shocked nostalgia that’s wildly compelling. At the same time, though, this cover feels special — having done great work for Spawn and Ghost Rider alike, it’s amazing to see artist Björn Barends get a chance to cover the brutality that is Doomsday. I can practically feel the cracked spikes adorning King Doomsday, and there’s a certain sheen of animalistic rage alongside a quiet dignity. Together, it spins Doomsday in a new light, and not only is he as terrifying as ever but I generally feel a small smidgen of regret even for the denizens of Hell. Lord help the DCU if he makes it back to the living, cause he’s likely going to just remake his throne skull with our beloved heroes.

Cover by Dan Panosian

If you didn’t read my review of Alice Never After #1, for shame. But here’s a quick TL;DR for ya: it’s quite good. More specifically, creators Dan Panosian and Giorgio Spalletta have already forged a rather compelling remake of this beloved story, infusing it with more mystery and slightly menacing vibes that play nicely with the surrealist bent of it all. It would seem we’re going to get even more of the same if we can believe Panosian’s own cover to issue #2. Sure, there’s plenty more psychedelic weirdness, including a frog in a snazzy tuxedo and biscuits that somehow beg to be eaten. But I also love the other touches — the slightly annoyed spin of Alice, the vibes and influences of Madonna’s “Material Girl” video — that really enhance this piece, and drive it expertly toward the slightly ironic realm of The Invincibles or some similarly weird ’90s book of the same ilk. Those very tomes that seem to contain a slate of layers for readers to explore, and they invite in new energies and ideas to play with our sensibilities as they bash around our favorite pop culture tropes. There’s bound to be more madness and intrigue in the story proper, but this cover more than primes the mind with pure psychedelic magic.

Cover by Malachi Ward

I get the sense that, from solicitations, this isn’t exactly the end for the Black Hammer universe. Which is mostly a giant relief, as creator Jeff Lemire should be contractually obligated to revisit this massive universe once every couple of years until he’s dead and buried. (And then maybe afterward, depending on how far along our technology has developed.) But it seems this end may refer to a kind of potentially world-smashing crisis for this universe, a kind of Crisis on Infinite Earths, if you will. At least that’s the kind of overly dramatic, super compelling energy I get from this cover by series artist Malachi Ward. We get to see Lucy Weber (aka the current Black Hammer) go through a Kirby-esque version of This Is Your Life, which feels both slightly nostalgic as we revisit the many greater BH characters and also not unlike some unending nightmare for our hammer-wielding hero. Maybe the universe itself isn’t on the verge of destruction (but god I hope it is!) and the real threat is just how it might “end” the already-precarious sanities and sensibilities of our favorite characters. Either/or at this point, and it’s going to be a powerful and nerve-wracking chapter to this dynamic universe. Just don’t let it end end!

Variant cover by Junko Mizuno

It feels like it’s been ages since the super conglomeration of comics creators joined forces to form the publishing outfit DSTLRY. But the world at-large will finally get its first taste of the kinds of stories they’ll be telling (albeit not till in full until later this year and into early 2024) with the story sampler called The Devil’s Cut. As someone who has sat with these stories for some time, I can tell you all of these entries are as compelling as they are markedly different from one another. I wish, though, that the same could be said with the covers/variant covers for this issue, each of which are mostly variations of the DSTLRY “D” logo. The one that stood out the most, however, belongs to artist Junko Mizuno, who decided to add all sorts of magical animals and strange deities while also infusing the “D” with heaps more cutesy vibes. The end result is something that manages to mirror and even play with the many tones and themes at the heart of this sampler. It’s joyous and scary, fun but also foreboding — the perfect mix of sentiments that reflect but mostly enhance this book and the storytelling promise it holds. Forget the “D” — this is some solid A-level work.

Cover by Dave Acosta

I’m a little conflicted about Elvira. She’s been a vital part of horror culture forever, and yet she’s never really been someone that I’ve turned to for my cheesy entertainment needs. (Shoutout to the true horror host head honcho, The Crypt-Keeper.) That said, I find myself really compelled by this ongoing Elvira in Monsterland series, in which (as the name might already have clued you in) sees the Mistress of the Dark battling some of the biggest and nastiest monsters on the planet. This time around, we traipse into the realm of Kaiju monsters, and the very real possibility of an appearance by the Terror of Mecha-Elvira. The name alone is chef’s kiss-levels of perfection, but as we see in this Dave Acosta-penned cover, it’s an even more glorious and delightfully kitschy sight to behold. It’s hard to decide what I love the most about this cover: the fact that we get a giant crab monster; that really sweet minimalist/brutalist architecture (that really adds a lot to the sense of grit of this image); and/or the fact that Elvira’s hair looks like it could also function as a replacement for the Chernobyl New Safe Confinement. Either way, I think this cover proves that the series is both horrific and humorous, and maybe the reason why a new generation falls for Elvira’s ghoulish ways.

Variant cover by Otto Schmidt

Love hurts, but there’s nothing quite like superhero love that can devastate whole cities. That seems to be the central premise at the heart of Batman / Catwoman: The Gotham War – Battle Lines, in which after a year of brewing tension, one-time lovers Batman and Catwoman will come face-to-face in a confrontation that will “fracture the Bat-Family as war erupts.” And there’s a damn fine reason why I chose this cover — heck, there’s several damn fine reasons, in fact. For one, I just love the way this plays with the angles, and how I think that’s sort of the perfect metaphor/analogy for Catwoman. I also love that I’m not exactly sure what she’s writing in glass (correct me if you do!), and that also adds a little tension and mystery to this affair. But more than anything, I just love how this shows how Catwoman will always be her unwavering self, and that feels vitally important as we prepare for the biggest battle of wits (and perhaps more) in a Bat book in quite some time. It’s going to be one heck of an event or whatever, and I can’t think of a more quiet moment packed with endless context to truly mark these battle lines.

Cover by Sara Pichelli

A lot has been said (especially on this site) regarding the new fate of Ms. Marvel. That, after some rather robust mistreatment of the young hero, it’s hard to feel like Marvel can move forward in a meaningful way when it comes to this character’s depiction. But none of that changes the fact that everything does still march on, and the new era of Kamala Khan officially begins with this new title. And while some of that “animosity” might still linger, there’s some signs that maybe, just maybe this book can make something good out of a moment that left a bad taste in the mouths of many comics fans. Aside from the fact that it’s co-written by Iman Vellani (the actual Ms. Marvel from the Disney show), there’s this debut cover from Sara Pichelli. It feels a little sitcom-y the way she’s bursting out of the scene, and that, ironically enough, makes me think of Kamala’s early stories and their emphasis on family and community. And speaking of community, I love the X-Men stuff here that screams (oh-so slightly) some real high school-y vibes, and that also helps put some of the more playful sheen on this “drama” and keep it decidedly accessible. I get that this is a big change, but it’s small decisions like these that make me think we’ve weathered the storm and can have the character exist in a way that feels more aligned to her values and thus is decidedly more meaningful. I mean, things can’t get worse, right?

Cover by Christian Wildgoose

I want you to look at this cover for a few minutes. (If it helps, hum a few bars from “Danger Zone” to better track your efforts.) Do you think this looks a lot like some other beloved fantasy tales? That’s because it most certainly is — and yet this story, from G. Willow Wilson and Christian Wildgoose, is anything but that. From a storyline perspective, it takes a core fantasy tentpole (the relationship between Orcs and Humans) and plays with it in some compelling and thoughtful ways — ways that feel familiar but still add a new sheen of drama and intensity. The same mostly goes for a lot of Wildgoose’s own work, including this very cover. It’s about the understated sheen of romanticism across the faces of both human and arc alike; the way that wintery scene/setting still feels novel as it adds a kind of quiet dignity to the events here; the slight air of ’80s-style fantasy movie charm (it’s featuring both a giant wolf and a man with a giant sword); and even the way the action interacts with the white backdrop. All of it together shows that doing something new often has little to do with big gestures but quietly nailing that which is most essential to these tales. That, and more characters with dual-wielding axes, please.

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