Covers
Ben Templesmith covers Warren Ellis’ ‘Dead Pig Collector’
Warren Ellis has a new ebook debuting June 15 called Dead Pig Collector, and Sunday, via his Machine Vision email list, he revealed the book’s cover, by his Fell collaborator Ben Templesmith.
Dead Pig Collector, Ellis says, is “a love story. It is also about killing people and effectively disposing of their bodies.” Check out the complete cover after the jump.
Boo Cook resets ’2000AD’ to 1979 with an inspired retro cover
There was a tantalizing, small, tightly cropped snippet of this image as a house ad in last week’s 2000AD, but here is the cover to Prog 1830 in all its insane glory. Available May 1, it’s a very retro effort by Elephantmen artist Boo Cook starring the cast of his new three-part miniseries “Gunheadz.” Tharg’s regular spokeshuman Michael Molcher explains:
Check out Chip Kidd’s ‘Before Watchmen’ deluxe edition covers
BuzzFeed has debuted the Chip Kidd-designed covers for DC Comics’ four Before Watchmen hardcover deluxe editions, which arrive this summer.
A renowned designer and art director, Kidd is widely known for creating the jackets for such books as Michael Chricton’s Jurassic Park and The Lost World, Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, David Sedaris’ Naked and Gerard Jones’ Men of Tomorrow. However, he’s also worked extensively in the comics arena, designing the covers for Frank Miller and Lynn Varley’s Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Vertical Inc.’s Osamu Tezuka line, and Dave Gibbons’ Watching the Watchmen (for which he also designed the interiors), as well as the logos and trade dress for All-Star Superman and All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder. Most recently, Kidd created a variant cover for Before Watchmen: Rorschach #3.
Before Watchmen: Minutemen/Silk Spectre and Before Watchmen: Ozymandias/Crimson Corsair arrive in comic stores June 26 and July 2 everywhere else; Before Watchmen: Nite Owl/Dr. Manhattan and Before Watchmen: Comedian/Rorschach go on sale July 10 in comic stores and July 16 everywhere else.
‘Avengers AI’ #1 gets awesome 8-bit variant cover
As with any series launch, the recently announced Avengers AI #1 by Sam Humphries and Andrew Lima Araujo already has a variant cover in the pipeline, but it’s definitely one with a retro twist. Revealed on the Marvel Tumblr, Matthew Waite’s variant for the first issue goes back to the 8-bit era of video games, giving a look at Hank Pym, the Vision, Victor Mancha, a Doombot, new character Alexis and 616 newcomer Monica Chang fighting a team of Ultron robots as if it were an old-school, 8-bit Nintendo game.
Check out Gerard Way’s variant cover for ‘Killjoys’ #1
While we eagerly await the preview of The True Lives of the Fabulous Kill Joys, the new series from Gerard Way, Shaun Simon and Becky Cloonan, as part of next month’s Free Comic Book Day offerings, Dark Horse further whets our appetite for the title’s June debut with a look at Way’s own variant cover for the first issue. That premiere issue also boasts covers from Cloonan and Way’s Umbrella Academy collaborator Gabriel Bá.
Here’s the official description: “Years ago, the Killjoys fought against the tyrannical megacorporation Better Living Industries, costing them their lives, save for one—the mysterious Girl. Today, the followers of the original Killjoys languish in the Desert while BLI systematically strips citizens of their individuality. As the fight for freedom fades, it’s left to the Girl to take up the mantle and bring down the fearsome BLI or else join the mindless ranks of Bat City!”
Way’s cover is a 1-in-50 variant. The True Lives of the Fabulous Kill Joys #1 goes on sale June 12.
Exclusive: Dave Johnson’s variant cover for ‘Jupiter’s Legacy’ #1
Image Comics has provided ROBOT 6 with an exclusive first look at Dave Johnson’s variant cover for the debut issue of Jupiter’s Legacy, the Wagnerian superhero saga from Mark Millar and Frank Quitely.
Announced in January 2012 as Jupiter’s Children, the 12-issue miniseries centers on the offspring of superheroes who have essentially squandered their inheritance, failing to live of to the example set by their parents, who gained their powers in the 1920s after discovering a mysterious island.
‘Batman and Robin’ #18: Now you see Damian, now you don’t
When Batman and Robin #18 arrives in stores Wednesday, you’ll notice the cover by Patrick Gleason and Mick Gray is decidedly different from the one solicited by DC Comics in December. Gone are the hopeful red hues of a Gotham City at sunset, replaced by the somber blue-gray tones of night.Gone, too, is what might be mistaken for a grin on Bruce Wayne’s face, now eclipsed by shadow.
And oh, yeah, it’s also missing a grinning Damian Wayne, soaring through the air at his father’s side, replaced by the darkness within the folds of Batman’s cape. Never has Gleason’s skull-shaped signature seemed more appropriate.
While the other Bat-Family titles receive completely new covers for the “Requieum” storyline, which deals with the aftermath of Damian’s death in Batman Incorporated #8, Batman and Robin #18 is the only one to boast a modified image — one made more eerie by the absence of Robin.
It’s an entirely silent issue,” writer Peter J. Tomasi told Comic Book Resources. “No text, no sound effects, storytelling at its purest form — show don’t tell — and, holy crap, does Patrick Gleason show why, in my humble opinion, he might be one of the best Batman artists ever. He knocks it out of the park.”
Vertigo debuts cover for ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire’
Hero Complex has unveiled Lee Bermejo’s cover for The Girl Who Played With Fire: Book One, the third installment in Vertigo’s adaptation of Stieg Larrson’s bestselling Millenium trilogy.
Written by Denise Mina and illustrated by Leonardo Manco and Andrea Mutti, the graphic novel features many of the character who appeared in Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragoon Tattoo, including Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. Vertigo’s planned six-volume adaptation devotes two books to each of the novels in the trilogy.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo: Book One, which was released in November, will be followed in May by Book Two. The Girl Who Played With Fire: Book One arrives Oct. 30.