Marvel Flipside

What The--?! Marvel Cover: July

Here we go! I'm sensing a pattern of What The--?! covers in the past months-- they all involve animals of some sort. (Another case in point is this month's Skrull Kill Krew variant, this time with a cow taking the place of Doctor Octopus, which actually works "better" that the previous stuff, which includes some questionable anatomical displays.)

This time, it's AGENTS OF ATLAS #7 70S DECADE VARIANT(on sale July 1st, cover uncredited at Marvel.com.) As the saying goes, slap a gorilla on the cover for guaranteed sales, and it in this case, make that gorilla dance! Ken Hale, Gorilla Man, doomed by an ancient African curse, at least seems able to still get his groove on.

Groovy, Gorilla, groovy.

Worst Marvel Cover: July

Just like the BEST cover has the same candidates month in and out, the WORST seems to have the same people/comic titles showing up again and again (ahem... EXILES, I'm talking to you.) Rather than go over all that again, let's look at a new breakout title for WORST this month...

 

Here's CABLE #16, cover by Dave Wilkins, on sale July 1st. First of all, it's always very funny to see comic book artists try to draw kids. For some reason, 50% of them can draw fantastic adults, but that then becomes ALL they can draw, and all their kids end up looking like adults, too. Only, you know, smaller. The other 50% of them can draw kids that end up looking like dolls. That's the problem here. (I don't know my math too well, but I should have left a few percentage points in there for those who actually CAN draw kids well.) The focal point for the Hope character means that the focal point is on a badly proportioned adult-like kid. The proportions for Cable is (surprisingly) a bit better, although I'm not sure what level he's standing on in relation to Hope in front of him. The artist has to screw things around a little bit (and hide the rest with mist) in order to make it work. Sigh.

Coming up: the WHAT THE cover!

Best Marvel Cover: July

It's just a week into my Masters program, and it's been write, write, write. The last thing I want to do is to have to write for FUN, but hey, here I am. There's something to be said for discipline, right? I aim to share with you the Best Marvel Cover of the Month, and how could I skip July?

It's another tough decision, if for nothing else but the sheer number of covers out there. As always, the "fringe" titles invariably have the most artistic covers-- the covers that really push design elements and artistic style. Take a look at the Noir line, Iron Fist stuff, and the Max imprint in particular. Here's Dave Johnson's cover for PUNISHER: FRANK CASTLE #72 (on sale July 8th):

  

But, come on. I can't give Dave Johnson the BEST award every month, can I? Instead, let's take a look more mainstream. In this case, DARK REIGN: ZODIAC #2 (cover by Nathan Fox, on sale July 22nd.)
I have to admit to a bit of Dark Reign burnout, especially with its presence in virtually every mainstream title. But that doesn't stop the professional artists from being as professional as possible. What makes this my BEST choice this month is the way the cover invites you to spend time looking at it. Sure, things seem obvious at first glance, and there's even a bit of humor and whimsy in there, which I'm a sucker for. But there are just so many elements happening, that you really need a second, and longer, look. In particular, the scribblings on the 'wall' and the Mousetrap-like board game. Notice the Galactus helmet as the final Mousetrap cage? Nicely done!

Still, I think there's a missed opportunity to play with contrasts-- some darker, more expressive mood lighting for the figure might highlight the juxtaposition of supervillain and simple children's game. Also, the pose is a bit awkward in terms of the gesture with the dice. It's a bit confusing on what's happening, exactly, and the amount of black and grays in the costume for Zodiac might require some exagerrated posing to make him 'read' better.

Friday Nights Hiatus!

Instead of the regular Friday Night Fights-fest, I'll have to take a bit of a breather. I will be going to Europe for some schoolin' this summer, which means I'll be away from most of my "regular" material. Now, I may be around to post my ideas on a few things in a more writer-ly way (as opposed to the sketches, etc.) but it may take up to a week for me to get back on track. If anything, I'll be posting the "Real World Coverage" of Marvel-July's Best, Worst, and What The?! comic book covers, so look for that on July 1st!

Hey, if the worst you could do is enjoy the Fights at Spacebooger.com and all the other favorite 'net hang-outs you might have, life's pretty good, then.