The list overall is very X-Book centered, I can easily think of covers that should be there and are not. Even so, some weird choices IMHO for the Whedonesque related covers. Have to agree with the cover for The Chain though, that one is haunting. It definitely does not include my favorite AXM cover, which was I believe from #6.

The blog does make me consider making a list of my own, but wouldn't be that much better, as I'd be also heavily biased in other directions.

Numfar PTB | August 11, 16:49 CET

Nick Fury Agent of Shield

LEADING COMICS #2

Uncanny X-Men 137 (death of Jean)

Had to include at least one Frazetta book, Famous Funnies 211 Pure Awesome.

These were a few that came to mind off the top of my head--I think it might be fun to give this a bit more thought. Every month in Wizard and Comic Buyers Guide they ask an industry pro to pick their top 10 covers and I always wonder what I would have chosen. I guess this is a start.

What about you guys?

alexreager | August 11, 16:50 CET

Probably all of John Cassaday's covers for Astonishing X-Men. I was reading the second hardcover last night and his cover art is utterly amazing.

Simon | August 11, 17:07 CET

Well, for my part, there's a definite surfeit of X covers, and most of the ones on his list don't strike me as particularly list-worthy. Of course, neither do most of the Catwoman covers he lists there. I'd add at least one other Vampirella cover (the Aslan special), probably a couple of Frazettas from Eerie or Creepy, one of the Alex Ross Kingdom Come covers, and there are at least a couple of the Jo Chen Buffy covers that I'd swap in place of the Centaur Dawn (not that I hate it, just that the others are better, IMO). Okay, we could take all day on this...

Rowan Hawthorn | August 11, 17:11 CET

Jo's cover for #5 is one of my favorites from s8 so far but I definitely wouldn't pick #18...

[ edited by wonderflonium on 2009-08-11 17:24 ]

wonderflonium | August 11, 17:19 CET

I loved the 90's and so my favorite covers are still Superman #75 - the death of Superman, followed by the cover of him floating to heaven a few issues later (my first foray into Superman comics actually....) and Steel #52 - oh his hammer and the end of a really great run of comics - and Supergirl...I forget the issue, but the one with the Linda Danvers/Matrix era, and the cover shot harking back to issue one's first page, only instead of blood it's her purple gooeyness.

:)

didifallasleep | August 11, 17:27 CET

I'd probably include some covers from 52 they were really good. I'd also include something from Alex Ross, and it wouldn't be me if there wasn't anything from George Perez.

Maybe I'll attempt at least a Top 10 or Top 20 when I get home.

Numfar PTB | August 11, 17:36 CET

Cool to see that Buffy made the list...twice. :)

Jossfan_21 | August 11, 17:47 CET

A couple more of those books that are seriously top 10 (or at least top 20):

Corben Heavy Metal I know Heavy Metal isnt really a comic per se but I had to get a Ricard Corben cover on the list

Silver Surfer #4

alexreager | August 11, 18:03 CET

And if I was just keeping to the Jossverse, all of the covers for the first Serenity mini-series, and there's a couple of ones Nick Runge did for After The Fall which are exceptional.

Oh and this Spike Vs Dracula cover art which is just awesome.

Simon | August 11, 18:37 CET

Yeah, Richard Corben's stuff is great, alexreager.

There've been some exceptional "After the Fall" covers. I would love if some of the "After the Fall" cover artists could have done iconic images for the season and complete series sets of Angel on DVD (and Jo Chen or Paul Lee--from the non-canon Dark Horse series, pre-Season 8--for Buffy DVD sets). I'm way more a fan of devoid-of-cast covers (like the Firefly blu-ray cover with just the ship, as opposed to the iffy cast shot for the DVD set), when we're usually left with less-than-great shots of the lead or cast for most DVD covers, which I felt was how a lot of the Buffy and Angel sets ended up unfortunately (at least the series sets are an improvement, Angel's much moreso than Buffy's blood and white). In lieu of non-actor-featuring covers, I'll take quality/interesting drawings of the cast over oft-noticeably-photoshopped glamour shots.

Maybe when they get around to putting the shows out on blu-ray, they can issue them right off the bat with art covers, or do some special edition exclusive-types.

Too much X-Men on that list (hey I have some nostalgia for the team too, but not that much), but it's very clearly a personal list, not one done by a group of writers trying to, as objectively as possible, come up with a list of "bests", and that's cool.

Kris | August 11, 19:23 CET

Hello all. I guess I won't try to defend my list, since everyone is being pretty nice and 'to each his own-y', but I did want to jump in and say I'm definitely NOT a dude.

Thanks for reading! I hope some you will come back :)

Kelly

1979semifinalist | August 11, 20:10 CET

ETA: *Notes not-a-dudeness* I actually checked the bio before posting and the photo is pretty conclusive proof i'd say ;). /ETA

Some nice choices in the linked article(s) but yep, clearly a personal, subjective choice (but that's fine, it's not really pretending to be anything else). And she's absolutely right about 'Dark Knight Returns', why they ever released later editions without that amazing and truly iconic cover i'll never know (my own TPB with that cover is literally falling apart but i'm getting rid of it precisely never).

Big fan of Jock (his stuff in 'The Losers' is great) so any props to him are well deserved IMO (both the Batman and Nightwing issues included are great choices, the Nightwing particularly is iconic and powerful and, like the article's author, I don't even read it) though of Jo Chen's amazing work on Buffy i'd probably pick different covers (maybe issues 4 and was it 10 ? The Peter Pan one with Willow and Buffy) but you can't go far wrong with any of them, her stuff is so expressive and detailed it's like Alex Ross but, dare I say it (and much as I dig his stuff hugely) without the slightly static, self-consciously mythical quality that some of his images have.

I love Cassaday's panels but for some reason (probably me being utterly wrong ;) his covers never really worked all that well for me, one or two exceptions aside.

On my list, hmm... probably one or more of Simone Bianchi's 'Detective Comics' covers and i'd have to have one or two 'Hellblazer' covers in there (maybe one from the very early David Lloyd/Dave McKean covers and one of the more recent Tim Bradstreet covers too. This one maybe).

And it's high time I had a look at 'Fables'. Better put Operation Win the Lottery into action ;).

[ edited by Saje on 2009-08-11 20:15 ]

Saje | August 11, 20:12 CET

Saje:

Thanks for *not-a-dudeness* confirmation! :)

Also, while as a blogger I'll take any hits I can get - be they scrolling and hating my choices, or actually reading the accompanying text - I have to say I prefer the latter - so thanks for reading - and for the feedback.

You know who I think is missing from my own list? Skottie Young. What the hell was I thinking? He's got some really awesome covers. Also missing...Tim Bradstreet, Sam Keith, ah hell, if I keep up this way I'll have to start a whole new list from scratch!

Thanks for reading.

1979semifinalist | August 11, 20:23 CET

1979semifinalist welcome to the black. We like creative types!

Saje, I agree with your thoughts on Jo Chen vs Alex Ross. When he painted his iconic series featuring all of the DC superheroes, he hit it right on the nose; from the perspective (the viewer is always looking up at the hero) to those great iconic poses, to the mostly common everyday backgrounds (i.e. to juxtaposition someone like Wonder Woman in front of a street scene in Brooklyn), not to mention those great big manly superhero jaws. They almost scream iconic super hero. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a big fan.

But now that you mention it, its been a really long time since I've seen something from him that wasn't super iconic superheroish ...scanning some pages from Justice shows the same thing, even on a normal exposition page. I guess for a book like Superman Peace on Earth or Batman War on Crime its almost a requirement to convey that sense of awe but it would be nice to see him use his talents to express warmth or sadness or really any of the other story telling emotions.

alexreager | August 11, 21:20 CET

Yeah, exactly alexreager. I mean, I realise that's kind of his "thing" and he's bloody good at it but (since you bring it up) I felt the whole of "Justice" was pretty much "Din Din Dinnnn ! Behold mortals, in our midst a hero treads !" i.e. maybe a little bit over-earnest and too far away from us.

On the flip-side, sometimes I really appreciate that more straightforward, mythical take on super-heroes, it can be a nice change from the constant po-mo self-reflection, subversion and examination we see from other creators (which I also like, just not all the time).

... so thanks for reading - and for the feedback.

No worries 1979semifinalist, you spent some time writing it, seems the least I could do ;).

Couldn't bring to mind any Sam Keith covers but it turns out he did a few nice Batman/Detective covers back in the day, like this one (simple but pretty characterful, which you don't always get with that sort of "gonzo" style).

He also did a couple for the 'Eclipso' crossover which reminded me of the 'Armageddon 2001' crossover (it was a time of many, many crossovers ;) and this cover by Tom Grindberg. I've seen other covers by him and been unimpressed but that one hits the button dead on IMO, really evocative, you can almost hear the rain fizz as the sign flickers.

Skottie Young I had to google (not a huge Marvel reader) but some of his stuff I like, puts me in mind slightly of Ben Templesmith. Which reminds me BTW, Ben Templesmith (I can see how this could take on a life of its own ;).

Saje | August 11, 21:41 CET

Saje:

That Sam Keith Batman is good. I was also thinking maybe one of his wolverine covers. He did such a great wolverine - short and wide - as it should be.

You're TOTALLY right about Ben Templesmith - I'm smacking my forehead right now. See how quickly it gets out of control?

I was thinking since the list has been getting so much traffic about doing a "the ten covers I wish I'd included"...maybe I will - thanks for the inspiration :)

1979semifinalist | August 11, 23:09 CET

@1979semifinalist - I had an absolute blast reading/looking at your list. I HAVE that X-Men comic with Rogue & Gambit embracing on the cover. It was one of the first comics I ever bought, my then-girlfriend actually getting me into comics and giving me a bunch, including the first, Milestone X-Men issue you mentioned with Scott and Logan on the cover.

Those Cat Woman covers are rather striking. The one with "Holly" stepping off that ledge makes me giggle. I especially like the electric glow of the city below. It reminds me of something out of Blade Runner, or the 80s' cinematography of Adam Greenberg, when he worked with James Cameron, specifically.

I, too am a huge fan of characters against solid white backgrounds. It ties back into my love affair with certain movie posters that were simply full body shots of actors against white (Empire Records, Comic Book Villains, the cleaner re-issue of The Breakfast Club, etc.). I could go on and on, but hell, I think I'll just email you with more of my thoughts about comics and such later.

Thanks again for the great read. -John

kungfubear | August 12, 01:19 CET

Perfect.

archon | August 12, 02:36 CET

That is my favorite Buffy cover hands down. Goody! I was a bit surprised to see David Mack MIA from the list. :(

Charmuse | August 12, 17:41 CET

ooohhh, that's a good one Charmuse. I forgot about Mr. Mack. But I wouldn't suggest one of his Kabuki covers, I really LOVE his covers for Alias. (One of the best comic series in the history of the medium, IMHO)

alexreager | August 12, 18:45 CET

Thanks for all the comments guys - I have to say you're one of the nicer boards that picked up my post - which pretty much confirms what I've always felt about us Buffy/Whedon fans.

And John - I'm really glad you enjoyed reading - where's my email!? :)

Thanks again for reading everyone.

Best,
Kelly

1979semifinalist | August 17, 04:58 CET