It is time for the best covers from the week that was. A quick reminder: only comics that I personally have purchased qualify for this piece. If a title contains more than one cover, only the one I own is taken into consideration. Now without further ado:
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Honorable Mention
Deadpool #19
Cover Artist: Declan Shalvey
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Fifth Place
Rocket Girl #1
Cover Artist: Amy Reeder
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Fourth Place 
Fearless Defenders #11
Cover Artist: Mark Brooks
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Third Place 
Batgirl #25
Alex Garner certainly delivered one dramatic cover this week to take the third place spot. “Zero Year” is upon us and so is a much younger Barbara Gordon from her pre-Batgirl days. She stands heroically atop a familiar fixture of Gotham City architecture, a gargoyle, while being highlighted beautifully by the various searchlights coming from the numerous overhead blimps flying in the sky. Swirling around her is a group of bats which are a nice nod to her future life and the way the light plays off of them produces some really stunning results. Among the various buildings looming in the background you can make out the Wayne Enterprises logo which is yet another nice shout-out to the man who is about to influence her life immensely. Last but not least is the masterful rendition of the rain pouring down from the heavens which combined with the expression on Barbara’s face equals one purely awesome visual delight.
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Second Place 
Avengers Arena #17
Francesco Francavilla is the runner-up this week with this cover featuring some of our young heroes. The name of the game is targets on this latest cover which is appropriate considering all of the “contestants” are merely targets for Arcade’s sick and twisted game. Portrayed on the cover as full-size, two-dimensional cardboard targets are Darkhawk, Anachronism, Nico, Hazmat and X-23. These faceless representations are met with a hail of shurikens, knives. bullets, and even an axe which helps sell the utterly violent and dangerous scenario that they find themselves in. Even the title gets in on the action as its familiar circular design acts as the centre for one giant bullseye complete with matching bullet holes. Finally, the hot pink background really catches your eye as well as making the white bullseye and the unified coloured targets leap off the page.
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First Place
All-New X-Men #18
And here is the Cover of the Week by Brandon Peterson who wins this distinction for the very first time. The entire cover is a highly emotional and moving image that is drenched in sadness and regret. Kitty Pryde kneels in the centre, surrounded by the various empty costumes of the time-displaced younger X-Men of whom she was supposed to be looking out for. The black background is ominous and could signify that death has claimed her charges and the red spotlight makes the scene even more impactful. Kitty looks like she is about to breakdown as she grasps onto one of the outfits, various feathers from Angel’s wings floating around to further help sell the idea that something awful has occurred. The title itself even seems to be mourning what has transpired as instead of its usual white or yellow colouring it is drenched in black. What has happened? Did the Original 5 really perish? How could that be? And what does it mean for the future? It compels you to open the book up for answers and like I always say…that is what truly makes a great cover. With that said, Brandon Peterson, I award you the first place crown this week. Congratulations!
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So those are my favourites and it’s a victory for Marvel with a three-to-one-to-one showing against DC and the Independents. What’s your personal favourite covers from the week that was? Comment below!
The Speech Bubble 
Also really cool: Superior Foes.
Yes. This week was a real hard choice for me to narrow down to five let alone six. The Superior Foes of Spider-Man (besides being just a plainly awesome series) had a real stellar cover. I loved the way the boomerangs framed everyone. If it had come out any other week then this one, it would have made my Top 5 for sure.
In my opinion both Batgirl # 25 and Rocket Girl # 1 would deserve the gold medal, because of their detailed background and their amazing light effects.
P.S.: http://thelazygeeks.com/2013/11/18/murphy-shares-first-african-american-robin-for-detective-comics-27/ What do you think about it?
“In my opinion both Batgirl # 25 and Rocket Girl # 1 would deserve the gold medal, because of their detailed background and their amazing light effects.”
Every cover this week was stellar and really gave me fits of which position each one should get. I kept flip-flopping until I said enough is enough and I have to make a decision or I’ll never get this done. I think this was my hardest COTW article ever as usually I struggle with the Top 3 but not the entire Top 5!
“What do you think about it?”
It doesn’t matter to me about the colour of his skin but rather if he is an engaging and interest character. Sounds like the only way we’ll see him again is by fan demand and even then some fan demand falls on death ears… And you? What do you think?
I hate racism, so I will be enthusiast if Bruce decides to hire and African American sidekick. Anyway, I think that DC should have waited a bit longer, because Damian has just been buried. And I also think that, even if Carrie Kelley is not the next Robin, she must have a consistent role in the Bat – titles. My heart lightens each time I see her because of her presence in The Dark Knight Returns, and I’m sure that a lot of other Bat – fans have the same reaction. Thank you for your reply! : )
Ah but this isn’t a permanent replacement. As he said, its his version of Batman 100. It’s a one time appearance. Damian shall return one of these days!
“And I also think that, even if Carrie Kelley is not the next Robin, she must have a consistent role in the Bat – titles.”
Well she has been appearing pretty regularly in Batman & _____. This week is going to shed some more light on her and Two-Face’s mysterious connection. Or so they say in the solicitation.
Great choice of cover for the week, All New XMen #18 by Brandon Peterson. I thought this was a great cover, with Kitty kneeling and surrounded by the original X-Men costumes. Its a dark, ominous scene. I also really liked the cover of Batgirl #25 by Alex Garner this was a stunning cover as well. Must have been a tough choice to decide between these two.
This was one of my toughest weeks ever. All 5 of these covers could have captured the crown on any given week. I went back and forth too many times to count!
Yes, I agree, some brilliant covers this week, it would have taken me ages to make up my mind, all those covers were so good!