And on the final day of Comic-Con, here are the top 25 Comic Covers.

For Part I, Part II, or Part III click the links.

025.

X-Men #190.  Chris Bachalo. There’s something about this cover that I just can’t get out of my mind…but I have trouble putting my finger on what exactly it is that speaks to me.  I mean I love all the white (as mentioned previously) and I obviously adore the integration of the title into the illustration so we’ve got less crap covering it all up, and it’s a great concept, but I don’t know, there’s just something sweet about it.  That kiss, which maybe is supposed to look passionate…to me looks…compassionate.  It’s Bachalo’s best cover to date if you ask me.  And I’m a fan.

024.

Fables #18.  James Jean. This one never fails to move me.  The vibrant luscious colors, the subtle but definite dark outline.  The composition.  The desire to get lost in whatever world that Jean creates.  This was the first of Jean’s covers I ever saw, and I think the first of his work I ever saw, and it shocked me with its stunning beauty on the stand.  If I recall correctly I said, “OH.” and dropped everything else I had to pick it up.  And such began a fervent love affair with James Jean’s work.

023.

Astonishing X-Men #2.  John Cassady. More monochromatic blues…YUM.  The dichotomy of the simplicity and complexity blended together here is what really does it for me I think though.  You’ve got the blank background, barely a different color than Emma, and with the title open and see through to that background.  The intensity of Emma’s eyes, commanding the reader’s attention.  The power of her over Cyclops optic beams, and the power of her over Scott himself.  It’s all rather brilliant while beautiful and because of how this story arc of Whedon’s plays out, it’s a great tease to the readers of all the complexities that are to come.

022.

The Walking Dead #48,  Charlie Adlard. All of Aldard’s work is pretty wonderful, but I picked this one, because to me (and Mr. Adlard and I have of course had no actual conversations about this – so maybe I’m way off the mark) but to me, he’s placed the horizon line so high on the page because our characters become more and more enveloped by the dead around them with every issue.  As if they’re trapped in a room with a rising tide, and we just know that eventually, they will drown.  Our main character Rick is seen here, already missing a hand, burying the dead, and almost pushed off the page because the dead fill it.  It’s such a simple little thing, but is really an inspired and brilliant choice.

021.

Batman #1.  Bob Kane. This iconic cover, portraying my favorite comic book hero Batman in his own comic’s first issue, is instantly recognizable.  And though the color scheme has changed much over the years (yellow and red in today’s Gotham?  Never!) the swinging into action position of Batman (and Robin) is dead on.  This issue is also notable for being the first appearance of Catwoman/Selina Kyle then known as The Cat in 1940.  Very cool stuff.

020.

Action Comics #2.  Leo E. O’Mealia. It blows my mind how fantastic this cover is, and how overlooked is often is, simply because Action Comics #1 was the first appearance of Superman.  But really look at this cover – the movement, the composition, the positive and negative space, the color scheme, and really just the quality of the illustration work – it’s all quite stunning – and it was done in 1938…Amazing.

Although, it is worth noting that I also found this scan (see below) of Action Comics #2, with a decidedly different feel in the color work – no bad or worse than the one above, but decidedly different and since I’ve never seen an original I can’t say which is more accurate to the original color – anyone else know?  I personally prefer the first one, but both are nice and deserving of their place.

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And on we go…

For Part I and Part II click the links!

050.

Catwoman #55.  Adam Hughes.  So I think we should all just take a moment to appreciate the beauty of this illustration.  The detail of the signage painted on the glass, the neon light, the amazing colors, it’s all fantastic.  But the real beauty of ths is in the iconic Catwoman figure in silhouette acrobating across Gotham.  It’s a singular immediately identifiable figure and its powerful heroic (or anti-hero in this case) shape speaks volumes about superhero icons.

049.

Fables #14.  James Jean. I wish I could explain to people (not you of course dear reader) but people that don’t understand misogyny in comics why this is NOT misogynistic, despite being a woman in basically underwear drawn from behind.  Because this is not exploitative.  But I’m not sure how to explain why not to people that don’t immediately see the difference.

I suppose the first thing you can say is that if you look at the body (no pun) of Jean’s work you’ll find very little to no unnecessary exploitation of the female figure…so he immediately gets the benefit of the doubt.  Secondly, the figure is not coyly looking over her shoulder with a “sexy face” smile…she’s also not arching her back provocatively…or jutting out all her “sexy’ “naughty” parts.  She’s just a figure drawn from behind.  She’s stylized and slightly idealized, but not drawn as a parody of a woman in underwear…or a young man’s wet dream of what a woman might look like in her underwear.  She’s also casually holding a badass weapon as if she absolutely knows how to use it.  And lastly, none of the characters on the cover with her are objectifying her either.

For all these reasons, this is the way a cover with a woman in underwear could/should be drawn.  Learn from this cover, artists…please.  It’s not that you can’t draw women in their underwear, but it’s HOW you draw a woman in her underwear.

Thank you.  *Steps off soapbox*

048.

X-Men #1.  Jack Kirby. You knew this one was coming.  And it deserves to be here.  And if Jean Grey wasn’t standing around like a moron in the background while the “men folk” fight the Master of Magnetism then perhaps I would have bumped it up several notches.  I’m willing to concede that her power is difficult to draw and Kirby may have just been at a loss here, but still, it pisses me off a little.

047.

Uncanny X-Men #168.  Paul Smith. A totally iconic Uncanny X-Men cover.  You know I was never a big Kitty Pryde fan (sometimes bordering on hate) though there were times I enjoyed her in Excalibur and Joss Whedon’s run on Astonishing X-Men showed me a whole new side to her that I appreciated.  But regardless of how I feel about Kitty this cover is great – the expression and positioning – up against a wall in a Danger Room – totally makes me want to read the story.

046.

New X-Men #116.  Frank Quitely. Again we have Mr. Quitely, and again, people love it or hate it in my experience.  As my brother said “It looks like she’s smelling something nasty”…and he’s right, but y’know, that SHOULD be Emma Frost’s expression.  She’s pretty much a bitch, so I think that expression is just about dead on.  I love this cover because it just owns everything.  Emma’s skin is just alive on the page – it looks fleshy and real and spongy and not plastic and over processed and that is a rare rare thing in comics.  Also, the hot pink background is totally inspired.  I know Josh hates the crotch of her shorts, but honestly – that shit looks real too – if you put on some crazy costume like this, I guarantee you’d get some weird bunching…in strange places.  I much prefer the reality of the folds and imperfections in a costume than the usual which is supposed to be spandex, but just looks like colored body paint.  It just makes the cover all the more real for me.

Also, I suppose I should address the “is this exploitative” issue.  To me, no.  Largely because THIS is Emma Frost.  She’s like this.  She would TOTALLY wear this, and she would have that expression while you stared her down in this outfit trying to find your voice.  So for me, the character justifies the artwork here.

045.

Fantastic Four #1.  Jack Kirby.  This absolutely belongs on the list as one of the iconic superhero covers of our time.  It’s great – I just love that monster with the giant gaping mouth.  Though Kirby’s work is really beautiful I tend not to love Fantastic Four covers because they’re always covered with text balloons and I’m not a fan of that so much, but this is a benchmark cover and it deserves a spot in the top 100.  I suppose, much like with the X-Men #1 cover, I would give it a little more credit if Sue Storm didn’t seem so much like a worthless damsel in distress and more like the superhero that she is.

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And here we continue our list…!

Click here for Part I

075.

Fables #25.  James Jean. Oh James Jean, how I love you.  Look at the use of color, the use of text as a design element.  The title and issue number all beautifully incorporated into the image flawlessly, rather than just being splashed across artwork without concern for what’s being destroyed.  He even manages to work in the creator names so it not only looks like part of the original illustration, but IS a part of it.  Fantastic.  If you don’t like James Jean you’re gonna hate this list – because his work appears many more times before we get to #1.

074.

Vampirella #4.  Jeff Jones/Vaughn Bode. How can you not love this?  I mean, okay, she’s naked and straddling some kind of land monster, but she’s carrying a spear and looks like she would just as soon pierce you through the heart with that spear as look at you.

073.

Buffy Season Eight #18.  Jo Chen. Another beautiful cover for Buffy by Chen.  Dawn as a horse?  Illustrated beautifully?  Well, you had me at hello.

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So in honor of the San Diego Comic Con which I am not attending (boo!) I took a little trip down memory lane, searching out all my favorite comic book covers over the years.  And since I’ve got this blog and it needs content I thought I’d regale you all with my “100 Favorite Comic Book Covers Of All Time!”

A few things you should know:

1. I limited this list to US saddle stitched issues – so you won’t find any graphic novel, anthology, or non-US covers here.

2. A few of these covers are more about the sweet sweet memories of a more innocent (and awesome) time in my life when a great comic book could make my whole week.  When thinking about a comic that was coming out made me so excited I’d get chills. When hunting down a back issue to catch up on something new I was discovering was literally the most important thing going on with me (sad, but true).  And so a few of these covers are more about what they mean to me and less about how beautiful they look to the world at large.

3. As X-Men were my introduction to comics there is definitely a disproportionately high number of X-Men covers.

4. There’s also a high number of badass chick covers, as I, am a badass chick. 

Annnnnd, we’re off…

100.

Supreme Power #1.  Gary Frank. This is a good looking cover, but it’s at the bottom of the list because to truly appreciate what’s going on, you have to know that Supreme Power is basically about Superman, if he had been found by the government instead of Ma & Pa Kent.  And then the government makes up a fake Ma & Pa Kent and raises him in a false environment designed to make him feel devoted to “American values” but it’s all a sham so that they can better hope to control him as a weapon.  Yeah, before Supreme Power jumped the rails and became lame, it was AWESOME.  Supreme Power was like Superman meets The Truman Show meets The X-Files and it was badass.  Too bad they couldn’t maintain it.

099.

Ultimate X-Men #69.  Ben Oliver. Surely many people would argue with me for putting this cover in a best of list, because frankly, there are far better covers out there. However, it’s the subtext that I love here.  I’ve never been a big fan of Jean Grey, but she’s got a look on her face here that makes me finally ‘get’ her a little bit.  She’s so nonplussed by these two superhero jackasses fighting over her, their hands literally on her and claiming her, meanwhile on a good day (or bad depending on how you look at it) she could sear the flesh off their bones without a thought.  It made me think about that love triangle a little differently than I ever had before (which is saying something considering how long the shit has been going on).  What each of the players want, and also what is really wrong with them inside on some level to want it.  It’s an impressive cover that can do all that with a character’s expression.  Also of note is that Jean, though drawn beautifully,  is not looking weak and waif-y, but strong shoulder and wide-hipped, and just, well, powerful.  Like a superhero should.

098.

The Amazing Spider-Man #29.  John Romita Jr. I think this cover is beautiful.  The way the ‘spotlight effect’ falls on the wood and the floor is all really fantastic, and the almost entirely monochromatic look is great as well.  Also, while I’ve never been a big fan of Mary Jane myself, this cover speaks volumes about what it might feel like to be the girlfriend (or boyfriend) of a superhero.  Cowering and bathed in the oppressive light of their stardom, of the very largeness of their life…it’s interesting.

097.

Buffy Season Eight #5.  Jo Chen. Jo Chen does amazing cover work, and the beauty of this cover here is both Chen’s ability to make an illustration look so like Sarah Michelle Gellar and to also retain its own voice.  This cover is made extra creepy by the aspect of Buffy tearing off her face, which I believe pertained to some ongoing aspect of this arc, but even if it didn’t, the concept would fit well into the Buffyverse.  Buffy is always wearing masks and as such the cover really resonates.

096.

X-Men #24.  Andy Kubert. Alright, you caught me.  There is really nothing great about this cover.  Nothing great except for how it tugs at my 16 year-old heart strings!  Sixteen year old Kelly liked nothing better than some Rogue and Gambit action (there’s no accounting for taste I suppose).  There are many visual problems with this cover, not the least of which is the absolute eyesore of a giant white artist signature box. However, despite this cover’s obvious flaws, the characters are still well drawn and the moment Kubert captured had fans everywhere on the edge of their romantic seats.  Honestly, my 16 year old self is still happy whenever it sees this cover…so long as I can block out everything that writers (and artists) since have done to the characters.  I was excited about Chris Claremont’s new run on X-Men Forever, hoping he could rekindle my love for this botched comic book romance, but so far Forever is a big dud.  <Sigh>.

095.

Kick-Ass #2.  John Romita Jr. I’m a huge NON-fan of John Romita Jr.  Whenever he draws those three lines on a woman’s cheek, I guess to define her cheekbones (?) I just want to gag.  Who taught him that trick?  I hate it!  However, this cover (perhaps because there are no cheekbones present?) is pretty awesome. The colors are great and the drawing is nice.  It’s a bit off the beaten path for a superhero cover, and since it’s Kick-Ass that’s no real surprise, but it’s nice to get something simple and unique.  It looks straightforward and honest, like the book itself.

094.

Powers #10.  Michael Avon Oeming. I am always intrigued when I see this cover.  The fact that Oeming has conveyed so much in a few black and white lines always blows me away.  I find the positive and negative space here to be gorgeous, and most importantly I want to know what Deena is seeing…I want to know what the story is…which at the end of the day is what comic covers are all about.

093.

Wolverine #17.  John Byrne. Oh, Wolverine, how medium I feel about you.  Listen, I used to love you, just like everyone else, I mean you’re a complete badass.  And a great complicated character to boot.  However, you’re EVERYWHERE.  And I defy others not to admit that they too are a little sick of you.  You’re the guest star in every issue of everything, you were an Avenger for a while (and that is SO not a fit), you’re the star in the X-Men films (and cartoon) and then you get your own movie (and cartoon).  I mean ENOUGH.  You have over-saturated the market to the point where I almost hate you!  Stop it! I want to love you again…stop making it so hard!

Ahem.  Anyway, this is John Byrne, drawing what has become one of the quintessential ‘Wolverine poses’.

092.

Spider-Man: Blue #3.  Tim Sale.  It’s a credit to this cover that though I never actually read Loeb’s Spider-Man: Blue, I never forgot this cover…and always wished I owned it.  I like the graphic elements that come together here  – the nice cartoon-y shape of the Mary Jane figure in the background – the all white positive/negative of her body, combined with the definition and expression in her face – and that awesome hair – very cool.  It skirts the line, with the posing and juxtaposition of figures as seeming a little sexual, but it doesn’t quite go over the line (at least not intentionally).

091.

The Spirit #22.  Will Eisner. Ah, the birth of the femme fatale.  I guess I don’t know who REALLY invented femme fatales, but it’s safe to say that no one did them better in comics than Will Eisner.  That man loves him some femme fatales. That said, I’m not a big fan.  In general, it’s a pigeon-hole that female characters get trapped in.  The trap that says you are insignificant unless you are beautiful and sexy.  But, this is our history, and as such, to move beyond it, I guess we’ve got to embrace where we started.  Though the stereotypes are in full effect here (blonde bombshell?  check.  clingy red dress?  check.  thigh high stockings?  check.  knife in those stockings?  check!) I can still appreciate the beauty of the drawing, and the powerful simplicity of just a beautiful woman on the cover of a comic book…she owns that comic book cover if nothing else.

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