December 4th, 2013
________________________________________________________
Honorable Mention
Avengers Annual #1
Cover Artist: David Lafuente
________________________________________________________
Honorable Mention
TMNT Villain Micro-Series #8
Cover Artist: Tyler Walpole
________________________________________________________
Fifth Place
Young Avengers #13
Cover Artist: Jamie McKelvie
________________________________________________________
Fourth Place
Guardians of the Galaxy #9
Cover Artist: Francesco Francavilla
________________________________________________________
Third Place
Green Arrow #26
Cover Artist: Andrea Sorrentino
________________________________________________________
Second Place
Detective Comics #26
Cover Artist: Jason Fabok
________________________________________________________
First Place
Fearless Defenders #12
And here is the Cover of the Week by Mark Brooks who wins this distinction for the seventh time. This Week also marks the final issue of this series and sadly the last cover that Mark Brooks will ever make for it. Since Fearless Defenders’ inception he has astounded us every month and routinely found himself a prominent fixture on my Covers of the Week feature due to his creative and outside-the-box covers. His final cover is an homage to romance novel covers as we get the helpless, lovesick damsel represented by Valkyrie who is being held in the arms of her “suitor”, Annabelle Riggs. Their postures, facial emotions, and the way Valkyrie’s strap on her dress is sliding down her shoulder while Annabelle’s shirt is coming unbuttoned hits all the classic and clichéd story beats that is associated with the genre. Even the title itself has gotten in on the action with a more dramatic and classic font. Besides the two characters, the rest of the background provides the appropriate ambience including the bed of flowers that they are kneeling in, the warm and pleasant rays of the sun breaking through, and the way the trees are portrayed as yellow and orange silhouettes. For those that have been following this series they get the added benefit of knowing these two characters and can’t help but be amused at the role reversal as in actuality the warrior Valkyrie is the more “male” figure of their complicated relationship while Annabelle was for the majority of the series the lovesick damsel. This twist is nothing short of brilliance as it clearly gets across how much they have grown and changed over the course of the series and I can think of no finer an image to end with. I look forward to which series that Mark Brooks lends his talents to next after completely dominating this category for so long. With that said, Mark Brooks, I award you the first place crown this week. Congratulations!
________________________________________________________
The Speech Bubble 
Protector Inc # 2 is my Best Cover of the Month.
The first thing that caught my attention was the unusual perspective: we’re seeing the scene from on high, and the city depicted in this cover has been drawn so well and so meticulously that, if you look under the man who’s about to commit suicide, this cover makes you feel dizzy: it takes tons of talent to stir up such a vivid emotion.
Secondly, the colouring is simply perfect. I love the contrast between the gorgeous tones of blue used for the skyscrapers and the ominous tone of red used for the road.
Thirdly, the dramatic power of this image is huge. A man who’s about to commit suicide, a scene of the crime right behind him, the print of a bloody hand on the window of the apartment, a war poster (it makes us understand that a war is going on, so we have both a private and a collective drama), the aforementioned artistic choice of colouring the road with blood red… this image is so full of awesome details that, each time I look at it, I find something that had passed me by until then.
Special mention for Forever Evil Rogues Rebellion # 3, because it’s a classic action packed cover, with two characters fighting each other while they’re falling down from a broken window. Even in this case the colouring is jaw – dropping.
“Protector Inc # 2 is my Best Cover of the Month.”
Wow! A fantastic write-up for a cover that I very nearly didn’t get because it was the variant and my LCS only brought in one. She is a fantastic artist and I’d love to see more work from her.
“Special mention for Forever Evil Rogues Rebellion # 3”
This would be my runner-up for DC Cover of the Month. Mirror Master is a great villain who also makes for some visually stunning scenes such as this. Can’t wait to see how the Flash TV show will tackle him.
Thanks for sharing your Rankings and taking the time to write your thoughts. It is mighty appreciated. 🙂
“Wow! A fantastic write-up for a cover that I very nearly didn’t get because it was the variant and my LCS only brought in one.” Luckily things went otherwise. : )
“She is a fantastic artist and I’d love to see more work from her.” Me too!
“Thanks for sharing your Rankings and taking the time to write your thoughts. It is mighty appreciated.” Thank you as well for your compliments and for your reply! : )