Comic Pants Podcast #11 (12-01-06)
Episode number eleven of the Comic Pants podcast is now live. This week, Randy Lander, David Martindale, Dave Farabee and Nick Budd are discussing covers. Favorite covers and cover artists, variant and gimmick covers, types of covers and more.
As always, commentary is welcomed and encouraged. Let us know what you thought of the podcast, list some of your favorite covers or even better, provide image links, and if you’ve got suggestions for future podcast topics, leave us a comment! And listeners who write in could win cool comics every week! Please drop us a line at comicpantsfeedback@gmail.com to give us some questions or comments for the next show.
Since comic covers is such a visual discussion, we’ve added a slideshow of some of the covers discussed, which you can view right here:
Use the podcast feed buttons on the sidebar to subscribe, listen via the flash player below, or directly download the MP3 here:
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Episode #10 or #11?
01 Dec 2006 at 8:32 am
QuoteI was trying to listen to the cast on the site but it ended after at the 5:34 mark, good topic though.
01 Dec 2006 at 9:23 am
Quote#11. Ten in the paragraph was a typo, which I fixed. Thanks for catching it!
Ray, I think the podcast is working OK… not sure why it cut out early on you.
01 Dec 2006 at 10:32 am
QuoteProbably my favorite topic yet, guys. I’ll apologize up front for the cut-and-paste links. I’m useless without a control panel.
A quick note. The Mignola X-Factor cover was to issue 70.
http://www.uncannyxmen.net/covers/x-factor/x-factor70.jpg
For my own favorites, I’ll show my support for the Jock Losers and Kelly Local covers, excellent stuff there. I also love Quitely’s stuff. Somebody should have mentioned his Bite Club covers!
http://www.brokenfrontier.com/img/2005/jan/DC/BiteClubTP.jpg
http://www.comictreadmill.com/images/biteclub02-thumb.jpg
For horror comics (or rather, human drama with a horror backdrop comics!), my favorite cover was Tony Moore’s for Walking Dead 6. Great iconography, and a truly beautiful and creepy coloring job.
http://www.imagecomics.com/schedule/images/040421/walkingdead6.jpg
Brian Wood’s work on Global Frequency earned him an Eisner nomination, and he deserved it. Some incredible work!
http://www.thefourthrail.com/images/reviews/042103/globalfrequency7.jpg
http://www.backissuecomics.co.uk/store/images/Wildstorm/DC288M-I-9
http://www.incognitocomics.co.uk/cache%5CSFULLS_1714001.jpg
Dustin Nguyen did some great work on Wildcats 3.0. Those books used to be some of the prettiest things on the stands.
http://www.backissuecomics.co.uk/store/images/Wildstorm/DC800A-I-21
http://www.sferazero.com/wp-content/wildcats3.jpg
http://www.thexaxis.com/misc/wildcats1.jpg
My favorite cover of all time, however, I’m almost ashamed to admit. Yes, it’s a 90’s X-Men cover. Yes, it’s pretty gimmicky. It reminds me of when I first started reading comics, though, and I think as far as icon covers go, it’s a pretty good one.
Ladies and gentlemen, X-Men 275…
http://www.uncannyxmen.net/covers/uncanny/uncanny275.jpg
01 Dec 2006 at 10:46 am
QuoteI’ve tried leaving a list of my favorite covers twice already, and both times it hasn’t gone through. I’m sending this as a test. If it works, I’ll try again.
That is all.
01 Dec 2006 at 10:51 am
QuoteDammit! For some reason it craps out whenever I try to post links. Sorry guys, you get no links! You’ll just have to google everything.
Just wanted to say I loved this one, guys! Favorite topic yet. The Mignola X-Factor cover was issue 70.
About a year prior to that one, one of my favorite covers of all time appeared on X-Men 275. Sure, it’s gimmacky. Sure, it’s got an extra fold. I get a kick out of the rather kinetic icon shot, though. I loved the X-Men’s costumes at the time, as well.
Totally agree on the Jock and Kelly stuff. Local 3 is an incredible cover! Quitely is, of course, incredible, but I would have loved some mention of his Bite Club covers. Fun stuff on those!
Brian Wood’s work on Global Frequency earned him a well-deserved Eisner nomination. Issue 7, 9, and 10 are stand outs.
Dustin Nguyen’s covers for Wildcats 3.0 were incredible. Fun and iconic, everything from pop art to corporate symbolism. Issues 18, 21, and most of the first year were excellent. The first trade cover stands out, as well.
And Tony Moore’s cover for Walking Dead 6. Rich with the shovel over a grave sillhouetted against a setting sun. Beautiful, creepy, and a whole bunch of other great words!
01 Dec 2006 at 11:07 am
QuoteNate, for some reason it was holding your links comments in the “moderate” section, probably because the site crapped out on you while trying to post. So I approved it, so you now have the linked and un-linked versions up. I was gonna delete one and leave the other, but there are slightly different comments in each one.
I really enjoyed that X-Men #275 at the time as well. It’s faded for me in time, but the whole new team in the updated old school uniforms, the space setting… it was kinda cool.
I’d forgotten Quitely’s work on Bite Club. Best part about those miniseries, from what I read. Actually, didn’t David Hahn do the interior art on one or both of them? That was nice too… just the writing that left me cold.
I should have mentioned Wildcats, I blanked on those. The Wildcats covers were some of my favorites in recent years, fantastic art and great design by Rian Hughes.
01 Dec 2006 at 11:11 am
QuoteYeah, feel free to delete the others. No big.
I think Hahn did do the interiors. I never even finished the original Bite Club series. It read like Melrose Place with vampires, which I’m pretty sure is a crap idea.
01 Dec 2006 at 11:22 am
QuoteAlso mentioned in the podcast already but I absolutely loved the covers of Jock for The Losers. Especially this one: http://www.thefourthrail.com/images/reviews/062104/losers13.jpg
It really grabs the attention of the reader by showing of what a cool book The Losers is/was. It also has a kinda Reservoir Dogs vibe which is a good thing for me
I also liked all the covers of the Decalogue arc of Daredevil:
http://silverbulletcomics.com/~jonencar/Bendis/DD71.jpg
Their just different and really jump forward if you’re looking at them.
Think these two are the best examples for me of a cover that added something to the comic from the last few years.
01 Dec 2006 at 11:52 am
QuoteGreat topic, folks. The comicpants podcasts got me through a rather lengthy Thanksgiving drive.
Some Spidey from my youth, right around the time I branched out from GI Joe. Heheh…
http://samruby.com/WebA/Large/Web032.JPG
http://samruby.com/AmazingSpider-ManK/Large/AmazingSpider-Man251.jpg
And of course, this one:
http://www.hulklibrary.com/hulk/images/covers/tih2/tih2-340-s.jpg
Since it’s a trade, it’s kind of a cheat, but:
http://www.hillcity-comics.com/graphic_novels/new_graphic_novel771.jpg
01 Dec 2006 at 11:53 am
QuoteTried it again and it worked not sure what went wrong.
Great podcast as to the different types of covers, design, pose and story, I can’t say that I have a favorite as there are stands outs from each category that I have enjoyed, though if pressed I might lean towards the design type.
As to favorite covers kinda blanking out at the moment but a couple old school ones from Steranko jump to mind, one being the quintessential sixties Nick Fury with mod designs in the background.
http://www.samcci.comics.org/nickfury/nfs04.jpg
The other one I remember from when I was very young, a Captain America issue with the Hulk on the cover, I remember that the Hulk looked very menacing and it both scared me and fascinated me as a child.
http://www.steranko.comics.org/comics/marvel/cap110.jpg
Looking at it now even today it’s got a simple power.
01 Dec 2006 at 11:57 am
QuoteHmm, think my reply with links also got stuk in the “moderate” section, hope you can approve it and it isn’t lost.
Gives me the opportunity to thank you guys for another fine podcast! Thought of an idea for a new one when listening to this so you guys can expect an email from me in the next few days
01 Dec 2006 at 11:58 am
QuoteI wouldn’t mind having someone discussing how often comic cover artists pay homage to the world of classical art. How many times has The Last Supper or some of the paintings of Norman Rockwell been homaged?
Here’s some examples from the Valiant Fans website:
http://www.valiantcomics.com/valiant/issue.asp?cn=22
http://www.valiantcomics.com/valiant/issue.asp?cn=264
And while I’m talking about Valiant, what about Rai #0 as far as a design cover. Where ever I see that one displayed, it just pops off the rack. And the Valiant “black cover” for Solar was story related. Solar lost control of his powers, created a black hole on earth, and destroyed everything.
And changing the subject completely, you didn’t mention Amazing Fantasy #15 and Amazing Spiderman #50. They’re homaged quite a bit. I liked those.
01 Dec 2006 at 12:08 pm
QuoteJofo, it’s not showing up in our moderate section yet, but I’ll keep an eye out.
Great cover links, folks. I’d not seen that Captain America/Hulk cover before and it’s a good one. Dig those Spidey covers, too, Jason. And Rob, I’d forgotten that Valiant had a fair number of good covers, beyond just the ones I’d mentioned in the podcast for Unity.
01 Dec 2006 at 12:30 pm
QuoteWhile I was looking up pictures of the covers you guys were talking about… It looks like the Superman holding the dead Supergirl from “Crisis on Infinite Earths” That cover was George Perez I think, and was actually cribbed from John Byrnes X-men #136
01 Dec 2006 at 1:25 pm
QuoteI really dig that Captain America/Hulk cover. First time I’ve seen it, too.
01 Dec 2006 at 1:34 pm
QuoteThe site software was set to hold all comments with 2 or more links for moderation. This was to avoid spam. It is now set to 20 or more links.
01 Dec 2006 at 4:18 pm
QuoteYeah, this is about the fifth time I have received this complaint. Unfortunately, our hosting company hasn’t been able to find any problem on their end, so I have no idea what the problem is.
Fortunately, trying again in a few minutes seems to work pretty well for people.
01 Dec 2006 at 4:26 pm
QuoteRandy: In the time I was posting the second reply the first got posted. Must try not to be that impatient the next time
01 Dec 2006 at 7:22 pm
QuoteThe on-going Greg Horn She-Hulk covers deserve a mention. The earlier ones tend to be standard poster-style covers, but they’ve really come into their own since around #8, with innovative concepts and designs.
02 Dec 2006 at 1:36 pm
QuoteThis Ladronn Cable cover has always been a favorite of mine: http://www.comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/81/10348_20060604224129_large.jpg
Great podcast, guys! Last week’s was way too short.
02 Dec 2006 at 2:48 pm
QuoteI loved the topic. There are so many cool comic book covers out there. One thing that wasn’t mentioned is how covers can detract people from a good book. For example the covers for the Emma Frost series. I took one look at those covers of Emma as a pin up girl and walked right by. Only until a friend of mine lent me the digests did I realize what a great series it was, but the covers were completely inapropriate for the content.
Anyway, Here are my favourite covers:
Action Comics 590, this is the cover that got me into comics as a kid. I don’t know what it is about it that grabbed my attention but I just love it.
http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=43038&zoom=4
Justice League 1 was a great cover like you mentioned, but I thought 5 was better.
http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=43372&zoom=4
I saw the cover for NYX #1 on the shelf and I had to pick it up. I have been a Middleton fan ever since.
http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=246687&zoom=4
I love all the covers for Ex Machina. 15 is my fave though.
http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=289507&zoom=4
I thought all the covers for the 7 Soldiers mini series were great, but Ryan Sooke’s Zatanna covers blew me away.
http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=262948&zoom=4
Now here are my favourite homage covers:
Ambush Bug 1, this is also one of all time faves.
http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=40049&zoom=4
X-Statix 1, classic.
http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=97717&zoom=4
Firestorm 21. What I love about this is in the background all the different Firestorms. There’s a Superman one and a Batman one too.
http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=265770&zoom=4
And lastly, Mage 13.
http://www.higherlove.com/mage/cov13.html
Anyways those are just a few. I never really stopped to think how much covers really do effect what I buy and my impessions of the book after. Thanks a lot!
03 Dec 2006 at 12:33 pm
QuoteI’ve always thought the covers Michael Wm. Kaluta did for Lucifer and Books of Magic were pretty striking.
Lucifer:
http://www.kaluta.com/pages/comics/lucifer/
BoM:
http://www.kaluta.com/pages/comics/bom/bom.html
I don’t know if its my favorite of all time, but the cover to Uncanny X-men 142 was one of the first ones that made me want to get a comic just because of the cover.
03 Dec 2006 at 4:32 pm
QuoteJust a quick correction. I believe the two She-Hulk covers mentioned were Mike Mayhew, not Greg Horn.
03 Dec 2006 at 9:20 pm
QuoteI think recently the Planet Hulk covers were great. I had not really followed the hulk title in a while, but I’ve been reading that arc.
I don’t like all of the variant covers, unless it is like what you guys talked about, differnt prints. Gimic covers are even worse.
03 Dec 2006 at 10:32 pm
QuoteAs for great covers, one recent on that sticks out in my mind was Astonishing X-Men #6. (as long as one keeps their mind out of the gutter…)
http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/news_images/6783_18185_1.jpg
Also this may be a fairly typical 90s shock cover, but it blew my mind when I saw it as a kid: Wolverine #79
http://www.waringsportscards.com/images/misc/WOLVERINE79T.jpg
And just to complete the X-Men trifecta, here’s one that told you nothing about the story, but it’s a great stand-alone image: Wolverine #2
http://www.comicon.com/pulse/images/wolverine_2.jpg
03 Dec 2006 at 10:40 pm
QuoteKevin McGuire’s L.E.G.I.O.N. covers were pretty good. I particularly lliked the one for #4
http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=46271&zoom=4
Glenn Fabry’s Preacher covers almost always kicked ass
http://www.glennfabry.co.uk/gallery.htm
03 Dec 2006 at 11:22 pm
QuoteGreat podcast as always. Here is my favorite:
http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/89606948996.45.GIF
It just sums up perfectly the spirit of transmetropolitan. There has been lots of other great covers for this comic.
And for the crappy gimmick: “Glow in the dark cover”. I don’t have any example in mind, but I always found it absolutly stupid.
04 Dec 2006 at 9:25 am
QuoteI was on the computer looking through my 40 Years of Avengers last night and found another old school “story” cover that caught my eye. This is not one I remember from way back, only just discovered it but I thought it was very dynamic looking.
http://users.pandora.be/chromium/pics/avengers/avengers20.jpg
Not sure who the artist is, as the cover boasts, the interior art was Don Heck inked by Wally Wood, but not sure if they did the cover as well.
04 Dec 2006 at 11:24 am
QuoteConsidering how iconic that Mark Bright cover was for Transformers, that Nightbeat one-shot he drew was a huuuuuuge disappointment.
04 Dec 2006 at 11:41 am
QuoteSome of my favourites:
Jack Kirby’s a much better cover artist than a lot of people would give him credit for - try these out…
These Daredevil covers still stand up today:
As do these Spider-Man covers:
And another favourite:
More recently, Daredevil has had some really great covers. Tommy Lee Edwards’ cover for #82 really kicked off the new era with a bang:
And of course, Michael Lark’s one for #87 (I wish interior artists could provide covers more often):
Steve Epting is probably the best cover artist in the biz - two favourites from his CAP run:
And Greg Horn’s She-Hulk is a lot better than people give him credit for, and nowhere near as cheesecakey:
Whew, long post.
04 Dec 2006 at 12:50 pm
QuoteMarshall said:
One thing that wasn’t mentioned is how covers can detract people from a good book. For example the covers for the Emma Frost series. I took one look at those covers of Emma as a pin up girl and walked right by.
You’re right, both in general and about Emma Frost. The overly cheesecakey covers for something that is supposed to be aimed at a female audience is, unfortunately, one of those constant banes of our industry.
I saw the cover for NYX #1 on the shelf and I had to pick it up. I have been a Middleton fan ever since.
Middleton is one of those guys who I think should probably only do covers. His cover work is amazing, and his American Virgin covers have been great. his interiors also look terrific, but they take forever and I don’t think he’s ever worked on a book that hasn’t been late or just vanished into the ether (Sky Between Branches).
Nice homage covers, too. I had Mage 13, and remember loving the cover, but I had forgotten that it was an homage!
Greg said:
Just a quick correction. I believe the two She-Hulk covers mentioned were Mike Mayhew, not Greg Horn.
You are correct, and we are wrong. Greg Horn is the current She-Hulk artist, and he has been getting better with his last few. Mike Mayhew did the first series, and in general I liked almost all of those covers.
Skiski, the glow in the dark cover *can* have it’s place, though. It was the *perfect* gimmick for the Spectre, which did three glow in the dark covers over the course of its 75-issue run.
Thanks, everyone, for the links! Some cool covers, many of which I hadn’t seen before!
04 Dec 2006 at 2:04 pm
QuoteOh, I LOVED those Tommy Lee Edwards covers. Please, please, please, PLEASE, Marvel, get him to do some interior DD work after Bullet Points and 1985. I will be forever grateful.
Is it just me, or is Brubaker’s cape work at the House of Ideas markedly improved over the cape work at DC?
04 Dec 2006 at 6:11 pm
QuoteYou all selected some of the best covers the industry has published, but I have to say that this is my least favourite Comic Pants Podcast to date.
I prefer listening to your first comic reading experiences, top five of the month, all time favourites and topics like that that delve into experiences and the stories of and in the comics themselves.
That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy Podcast #11, but it was a topic that wasn’t on the same level as the others, in my opinion.
05 Dec 2006 at 7:21 am
QuoteDan Coyle said:
Oh, I LOVED those Tommy Lee Edwards covers. Please, please, please, PLEASE, Marvel, get him to do some interior DD work after Bullet Points and 1985. I will be forever grateful.
Actually, Edwards is one of those guys I’d put in the “better on covers” category. I just haven’t enjoyed his interior work that much, but his covers are sharp.
Is it just me, or is Brubaker’s cape work at the House of Ideas markedly improved over the cape work at DC?
I don’t think it’s a fair comparison. I mean, how much work did he really do at DC? Batman and Gotham Central? Both of which are probably the equal of his Daredevil/Cap work, and well above his Uncanny work, at least for me. And if you count in Sleeper, which I like better than everything he’s done at Marvel besides Criminal, then I think his cape work at DC was as good or maybe slightly stronger.
But really, part of the thing is, *all* of his work at Marvel is cape work, because that’s all Marvel has. Thank God for the Icon imprint and Criminal, because Marvel and DC have already taken too many of the best crime writers of our generation and put them on superhero books instead.
Medard, sorry you didn’t dig this one as much as the others! Several folks wrote in to say it’s their favorite yet, which just goes to show you can’t please all the people all the time.
We’ll no doubt be varying between the various types of podcasts, just to keep things interesting.
05 Dec 2006 at 2:01 pm
QuoteWhile most of my favorites have been mentioned, no one mentioned John Cassaday specifically.
http://www.dynamicforces.com/images/LoneRanger2Cover.jpg
http://imagesource.allposters.com/images/153/916833.jpg (A variant, I know)
http://www.thefourthrail.com/images/reviews/012405/planetary22.jpg
Also the cover the Planetary #26, which I couldn’t find a picture of. I enjoy almost all his covers.
05 Dec 2006 at 7:31 pm
QuoteEd Brubaker did CATWOMAN at DC! That is gorram amazing!!!
07 Dec 2006 at 3:06 pm
QuoteOh yeah! Brubaker’s CATWOMAN is phenomenal, and easily the equal of his Marvel cape work.
07 Dec 2006 at 10:34 pm
QuoteOkay, okay, Dark End of the Street and Wild Ride are equal to The Devil, Inside and Out and Red Menace.
I also thought Brubaker’s Detective Comics run was underrated.
09 Dec 2006 at 2:58 pm
QuoteSpeaking of Red Menace, I just read the second volume today and it kicked major ass.
11 Dec 2006 at 5:53 pm
Quote