Cover Fire 9/6/2023

The Most Fire Cover From This Wednesday’s Releases
9/6/2023
NO INCENTIVE VARIANTS OR STORE EXCLUSIVE VARIANTS ARE COVERED IN THIS ARTICLE. THIS FEATURE IS ABOUT COVER AESTHETICS, ONLY, AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SPEC.
HOWEVER… For this week’s INCENTIVES and EXCLUSIVES needs, check out the weekly “COVER LOVERS” podcast with TEAM NERD HERD and me, RIGHT NOW!

Weekly Rundown…
Welcome back to yet another week of great (and cheap) covers! Here are a few notes:

DC eats this list this week.
So, ummm… Rose Besch is now doing Skottie Young-esque baby covers?!?! Sigh!
Kill Your Darlings??? Like Something is killing Your Darlings? Comic people will beat a horse to death and then beat it while it’s dead, and then bury it, and then dig it back up just to beat it again… every five years.
Not a fan of JTC’s Thanos negative Space cover this week.
TONS in the “Worth a 2nd Look” section. Be sure to check that out as many of your personal favorites for the week might be in that section.

Let’s get started…
And this week’s winner is…

Poison Ivy #14c
PUBLISHED: DC – 9/5/23
ARTIST: Otto Schmidt
All of the best parts of many of our favorite artists converge on this piece from Schmidt. Frison’s attention to beautiful line, Bartel’s colors, Lotay’s render style… etc., etc.! This is an absolutely stunning cover and is the clear winner for the week amidst MANY excellent pieces of art. I can’t imagine why this wasn’t an incentive.
*****
RUNNERS UP
*****

Sheena: Queen of the Jungle #1a
PUBLISHED: Dynamite – 9/6/23
ARTIST: Lucio Parrillo
Ahhhh… the world is right again… Parrillo is back with a beauty. His mastery with oils is miraculous. His backdrop in this case really sends it over the top. It always adds so much more depth when we get a lush environment along with a lush beauty.
 

Sheena: Queen of the Jungle #1c
PUBLISHED: Dynamite – 9/6/23
ARTIST: Arthur Suydam
I don’t care how he produces his art, this is gorgeous, class, Frazetta-esque stuff and he’s not trying to hide that. Clearly a Vampirella #1 homgae, as well.
 

Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #10b
PUBLISHED: DC – 9/5/23
ARTIST: Francesco Mattina
Now THIS is some dark $#!+ here. Yikes! Mattina is growing on me again. He spent some time on this one and it shows in the final creppy result.
*****
STIFF COMPETITION
*****

Immortal X-Men #15b
PUBLISHED: Marvel – 9/6/23
ARTIST: Phil Noto
Crisp, clean and beautiful and up the highest standard of Noto’s work. Bravo on this pretty thing. He has a couple of nice covers this week.
 

Birds of Prey #1b
PUBLISHED: DC – 9/5/23
ARTIST: Stanley “Artgerm” Lau
Lovely and with some great color. Not ‘Germ’s best and it’s that same stock pose from him that he uses so often, but it works.
 

Batman #137c
PUBLISHED: DC – 9/5/23
ARTIST: Gabriele Dell’Otto
Crazy to place a Dell’Otto this low on a list, I know, but remember that I hold great artists to their own established high standards, and by Dell’Otto standards, this is just good-not-great.
*****
WORTH A 2nd LOOK
*****

Masters of the Universe: Forge of Destiny #1a – Eddie Nunez – Dark Horse – 9/6/23

I like this mostly because of how great Skeletor looks. The cover is actually too busy for me, overall. MotU fans will likely go nuts for it, though.


Batman #137e – Pablo Villalobos – DC – 9/5/23

Not his best of these Hispanic Heritage covers, but close. Lobos is quickly developing is own style and distancing himself from the Adam Hughes look-alike criticisms.


Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #10c – Riccardo Federici – DC – 9/5/23

The shadow work on this alone are worth featuring. The only reason it’s this low on the list is because I thing that has to be a slightly re-touched photo, right?


Justice Society of America #6c – Pablo Villalobos – DC – 9/5/23

Same as above, not his best of these, but definitely sexy and one people will want (especially in the wake of his ridiculously awesome G’nort’s Swimsuit variant from last week).


Peacemaker Tries Hard #5a – Kris Anka – DC – 9/5/23

Stupid. Fun… perfect! I prefer the Kindergarten Cop version over the regular trade dress. It works better for the concept.


Poison Ivy #14b – David Nakayama – DC – 9/5/23

Well damn! If there weren’t so many amazing covers this week, this would be higher. It is standard Ivy fare done in DNA’s signature style. Thus, it may not seem special to many people out there.


Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons #3b – Tyler Kirkham – IDW – 9/6/23

Fantastic linework that we all know Kirkham is capable of even though he rarely gives it to us anymore with those head-on bust covers.


Amazing Spider-Man #33b – Giada Perissinotto – Marvel – 9/6/23

For the completionists. It’s cute, bu8t a far cry from the best of these Disney 100 variants.


Spider-Gwen Annual #1b – Jeehyung Lee – Marvel – 9/6/23

It is very lovely and classy, but it seems too smooth and digital for me. Also, I love him for his usual light source which seems to be missing on this one.


Star Wars: Dark Droids #2d – John  Tyler Christopher – Marvel – 9/6/23

I just love the use of the retro vintage Droids action figure cardbacks even though I’m WAYYYYY over the action figure variant thing.


Star Wars #38c – E.M. Gist – Marvel – 9/6/23

Still great, but Gist has spoiled me… this is not his best use of proportions (especially on the helmet elements). I’m being really nit-picky, here, I realize that.


X-Men #26b – ALex Ross – Marvel – 9/6/23

Nothing like a Ross Magneto cover. Enough said. For those that think his stuff looks too static normally, this one sure has a lot of dynamic action.


Firefly: The Fall Guys #1b – Justine Florentino – BOOM! – 9/6/23

An absolutely spot-on depiction of Zoe Washburne (Gina Torres). Otherwise, not too compelling, but I am a Browncoat, through-and-through. Thus, I’m biased.


Hard Case Crime: Heat Seeker (A Gun Honey Series) #1j (2nd Print) – Stanley “Artgerm” Lau – Titan – 9/6/23

I avoided 2nd prints this week, but this one is an entirely different treatment of the art. I like it when he utilizes this treatment.

*****
Phew, that was a lot! Some great stuff and a little something for everyone’s tastes, yet again! I hope you liked my choices. As usual, I left off quite a few “almost” covers, so drop in a comment and let me know what it is that I missed. Until next time, stay cool, be good to each other, thanks for reading and happy hunting.


*****
NOTE: All products, pictures, names, descriptions and logos are property of their respective copyright and trademark holders. No items are listed for sale. All information is for educational purposes, only.
*****
 
 

 
 
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