COVER OF THE WEEK: 2/16/2008 |
| The comic art that stands apart from the rest |
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| By Steve Blackwell |
| Posted 2/16/2008 |
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[EDITOR’S NOTE:]When the new crop of weekly comics arrives at Wizard HQ, Wizard Creative Director and head designer Steve Blackwell reviews the most compelling covers of the bunch.
Everything old is new again. This week provided the opportunity to review covers that reflect the appearance of past iconic eras in comic history. Typically this is done to alert the reader that elements of the content will reflect some of the approach from the era it’s being influenced by. In order by era they are drawing inspiration from, here are three examples that are available this week.
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Fantastic Comics #24
Cover by Erik Larsen
Image
“Image has put together this anthology book that is a nod to the 1940s approach to comics. The cover featured, arguably, the biggest star. These books commonly had at least six to eight stories featuring various artists and characters, each not being longer than eight pages or so per issue. This book follows that model in many ways. Each story is unique from the others and many genres are covered, from superhero to sci-fi, to war and historical fiction. Image went to great lengths to strengthen the illusion of this being a comic out of time right down to the old style ads strewn throughout the book. That’s a commitment to the concept.”
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 Dead of Night #1
Cover by Kaare Andrews
Marvel/Max
“E.C. horror comics are legendary. Some of the credit for the crackdown on comics back in the ‘50s and the establishment of the comic code goes to them for the high levels of sex and violence found within. This cover is designed to mimic the typical E.C. cover trade dress. It has even been made to look old to further establish the connection. As a Marvel Max title featuring the Man-Thing, it seems natural that Andrews would seek to establish the type of content within by drawing upon the E.C. archetype.”
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 Amazing Spider-Man #550
Cover by Salvador Larocca
Marvel
“This cover is probably a little less obvious as being derivative. This approach ties into the ‘Brand New Day’ concept of resetting Spider-Man by drawing upon the classic 1970s approach to cover design. The elements like the arrow with type in it and the inset of the mysterious bad guy are vintage ‘70s tools. They elevate the cover from a simple pinup with no text to actually teasing the reader with plot elements that they can only find the answers to by reading the book. This approach can be very effective. It worked on me as a kid.”
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