Best Comic Book Covers Ever (This Month): January 2014

Cover by Kris Anka and Jared K. Fletcher
Published by Marvel
Available: Comics shops (print) / Marvel (Apple + Android + Web)

All-New X-Factor's corporate theme requires a strong brand identity. It would be easy to take that too far. Anka and Fletcher have struck a great balance here, with a distinctive and versatile design that still leaves plenty of room for dynamic action. The figure work and the painterly motion splashes also deserve praise!

Cover by Rafael Albuquerque
Published by Dark Horse
Available: Comics shops (print) / Dark Horse (Apple + Android + Web)

There's something dependable about a B.P.R.D. cover. The aesthetic is well established by now -- thick Mignola shadows splashed with violence and horror. Every artist's challenge is to honor the look while bringing something of themself, and Abluquerque can be relied on to do exactly that. This cover feels both wholly Albuequerque and wholly B.P.R.D.

Cover by Gustavo Duarte
Published by Dark Horse
Available: Comics shops (print) / Amazon (print + Kindle) Dark Horse (Apple + Android + Web)

On the one hand, this is an image of a hideous giant monster eating a boat. On the other hand, it's charming and whimsical, and it's credit to the humor in Gustavo Duarte's heavy cartoon line that he can instil charm and whimsy into an image of a hideous giant monster eating a boat.

Cover by John Upchurch
Published by Image Comics
Available: Comics shops (print) / Image (DRM-free download) / ComiXology (Apple + Android + Web)

Upchurch chose an incredibly tricky -- and dynamic -  angle for this image of Rat Queens besieged on the ramparts. He gets it all in there: the vertiginous height, the action, and the  revealing body language of the characters. Challenging concept; superb execution.

Cover by Samuel Casal
Published by XEI Books
Available: Comics shops (print) / ComiXology (Apple + Android + Web)

Brazilian illustrator Samuel Casal brings sumptuous color and lavish design to this cover; it's a strong and memorable aesthetic. I recommend checking out Casal's blog for more of his work.

Cover by Chris Peterson
Published by Challenger Comics
Available: Challenger Comics (print + digital)

Boom! Didn't I promise an explosion? This is a beautifully textured image, overexposed in a way that captures the fleeting, liminal nature of the moment, and the figure is well placed to provide the appearance of movement.

Cover by Darwyn Cooke
Published by DC Comics
Available: Comics shops (print) / DC Entertainment (Apple + Android + Web)

Neither the color scheme nor the line of this cover could have told me that this is Darwyn Cooke -- in fact the cut-out approach to the architecture immediately evokes Dean Motter -- but I wasn't surprised to find Cooke's signature. Great cover artists stand out, even when they move beyond familiar styles.

Cover by Cliff Chiang
Published by DC Comics
Available: Comics shops (print) / DC Entertainment (Apple + Android + Web) 

A very effective juxtaposition of Wonder Woman's mythological roots and her current idiom. This cover creates an instantly memorable and resonant image.

Cover by Ryan Kelly and Jordie Bellaire
Published by Image Comics
Available: Comics shops (print) / Image (DRM-free download) / ComiXology (Apple + Android + Web)

The covers for Three have all been very striking, and impressive in their ability to evoke the style and colors of ancient Greek pottery while presenting a more visceral modern aesthetic.

Cover by Wes Craig
Published by Image Comics
Available: Comics shops (print) / Image (DRM-free download) / ComiXology (Apple + Android + Web)

I love a good "meet the cast" cover. It's a convention of team and ensemble books to establish and re-establish the cast on the cover every few issues, both to remind readers who's in the book and to provide an obvious cover choice for the eventual trade paperback. That means "meet the cast" covers can tend to be cliché, as there's only so many approaches an artist can take. Wes Craig has departed from all the obvious choices, and provided not just an overview of the cast, but a sense of their relationships. Oh, and there's a corpse. That always makes it interesting!