Spider-Man 1602 #2

I've written a good deal at Robot 6 and elsewhere about comic-book cover art and design, but, unfortunately (for me at least), not so much in recent months. I hope "Comics, Covered" will remedy that, as each Saturday I select the six best covers -- the most striking, the most successfully executed, the most intriguing -- to grace the shelves that week.

This week's list is filled with three comics from Marvel, one from Image, one from DC's Wildstorm imprint and one that's technically not a comic at all.

To find out what made the cut, read on.

The Amazing Spider-Man #612, by Marko Djurdjevic

Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane aside, I'm not sure I could tell you when I last bought a Spider-Man comic, or even which one it was. But Marko Djurdjevic's stunning cover for The Amazing Spider-Man #612 would call to me from the store shelf; I'd be compelled to buy it. The close-up of Spider-Man's mask doubles as an ominous blood-red sky, disrupted by a lightning bolt striking the Empire State Building. Even without the logo in the upper-left corner or the reflection in the mask's eye we know the story involves the classic supervillain Electro, whom I presume has become more deadly since ditching the goofy mask.

Underground #3, by Steve Lieber

For the covers of Underground, the Image Comics miniseries set in and around a cave in Kentucky, artist Steve Lieber smartly has been toying with negative space. But it's not until this third issue that he's really nailed it, using a mass of flying bats to form a background against which he sets the silhouette of protagonist Wesley Fischer. I also like that not all of the bats are in black, providing another layer of detail.

Nomad: Girl Without a World, by Rafael Albuquerque

Artist Rafael Albuquerque set out limiting himself to the colors of the American flag for this unlikely miniseries about the female Bucky from Marvel's mid-'90s Heroes Reborn experiment. Like Steve Lieber with Underground, I think Albuquerque finally hits upon the right combination of composition, color and subject in the third issue: There's drama, white space, and a pop-art element that can be viewed as a reference both to Captain America's shield and to Jim Steranko's legendary cover for Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #4. (Oh, okay, the red circles could just be a simple target, or comic-book shorthand for a telepathic attack. But I like my idea better.)

The Fir-Tree, by Lilli Carre

I find it difficult not to smile whenever I see Lilli Carre's art, even when it's for an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's depressing Christmas-themed fairy tale The Fir-Tree. There's something about her illustrations that reminds me of children's books from the 1940s and '50s -- the ones my grandmother shared with me when I was young. I love Carre's use of elongated, rubbery arms and her choice of this delightfully macabre scene for the cover (Andersen's story is told from the perspective of the little fir-tree, so his felling signals the beginning of his slow demise).

Spider-Man 1602 #2, by Michael Golden

Michael Golden crams (by my count) 20 figures into this illustration, giving the cover a sense of excitement and urgency. The artist masterfully drives the reader's eye to the lower-right corner, where young Peter Parquagh, at the mercy of these ruthless pirates, dangles precariously close to the water. I also like how the logo blends the familiar Spider-Man font and the "1602" wax seal.

Victorian Undead #1, by Tony Moore

Say what you will about the popularity of zombie fiction and the recent spate of genre mash-ups, but you can't deny that Tony Moore can draw the heck out of the undead. What's more, he can convey the high concept: With the deerstalker, the cloak and the pipe, there's little doubt that we're looking at the cheerful corpse of Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately, however, someone at Wildstorm apparently wasn't content to allow the illustration to sell the first issue of Victorian Undead. So a Victorian-style font is paired with cliche horror scrawl and topped with blood splatter. And if that weren't enough, we're hit over the head with a B-movie poster burst shouting "Sherlock Holmes vs Zombies!"

It's a shame, too, because all of that clutter obscures the lovely period wallpaper and works against a wry and, despite all of the maggots and worms, understated illustration: Our decaying detective, seemingly oblivious to his state, could easily be sitting for a portrait. It might've been nice for the cover designer to have played it straight with the cover dress, avoiding the stereotypical horror trappings altogether. (In a case of perfect timing, Colleen AF Venable just addressed Victorian-inspired design on the First Second blog.)

The Meanest Man in Town by Milt Stein

Bio-Diversity by Christopher Niemann

Camel ads

Valley of the Dangerous Dreams by Alberto Giolitti

Der Grosse Mordillo

Little Dynamite by Jack Cole

Minimidget

Green Arrow: Year One

Internet | A website called the Home of the Green Arrow, which supports the far-right British National Party in its "fight to secure a future for the indigenous peoples of these islands in the North Atlantic which have been our homeland for millennia," has co-opted Jock's art from the DC Comics miniseries Green Arrow: Year One for its banner. "This is leaving a horrible taste in my mouth," the artist wrote this morning on Twitter. He has contacted DC's legal department. [Jock's Twitter feed]

Art | Frank Frazetta's original cover painting for the 1967 Lancer paperback edition of Conan the Conqueror sold at auction last week for a reported $1 million. That's nearly four times the previous record price for the artist's work -- $251,000 -- paid in 2008 for the cover to Edgar Rice Burroughs' Escape on Venus. [Spectrum Fantastic Art, via Sci Fi Wire]

The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told

Art | As of Thursday morning, bids on the 18 pieces of original art by Joe Kubert had reached $30,000. The auction, held by Heritage Auction Galleries, opens to the public today. [Daily Record]

Awards | Mike Keefe, editorial cartoonist for the Denver Post, has won the 2009 Berryman Award for Editorial Cartooning. [The Daily Cartoonist]

Publishing | Dark Horse Assistant Editor Brendan Wright discusses one of the perks of his job: seeing the doodles and character designs that Stan Sakai occasionally leaves on the back of his Usagi Yojimbo art boards. [The Wright Opinion]

Publishing | Lauren Davis takes a look at celebrities who dip their toes into the comic-book pool. [io9.com]

Retailing | "Superheroes saving comic book stores from recession." Yeah. [Daily Camera]

Creators | Phil Hester talks about his career and his new BOOM! Studios series The Anchor, and offers some advice to young writers and artists. [Surfing the Bleed]

From "Spandex" #1

Creators | Scott Thill interviews Martin Eden, creator of the gay-superteam comic Spandex, which earlier this week had been heralded as presenting "the first gay superheroes." “Let’s not kid ourselves,” Eden said. “Spandex aren’t the first-ever gay superheroes. At the moment, for instance, you’ve got a lesbian Batwoman, a lesbian Question, Rictor and Shatterstar in X-Factor, and there’s been Apollo and Midnighter in the Authority, who were gay versions of Superman and Batman. There are probably a few more, but not many. I mean, I was thinking of pitching a gay series to Marvel a while ago, but could barely think of any gay characters they had, which surprised me.”

Blogosphere | Tucker Stone delivers a special, positive edition of "Advanced Common Sense": "That's what being a hero is all about -- is that sometimes you have to take out a baby." [The Factual Opinion]

Grumpy Old Fan

February finds DC's superhero books gearing up for various endgames. The month begins with the end of the World Of New Krypton miniseries and ends with the final issue of Cry For Justice. Blackest Night and Superman: Secret Origin present their penultimate issues, Titans reaches a stopping point, and the revamped Batman line closes out its third quarter. Given the publisher's track record, I suppose that means a month or two of relative calm before the next round of character-specific events starts. (The 700th issues of Superman and Batman are right around the corner, relatively speaking.)

But that's still in the future, and just like a box of chocolates or a big pile of valentines, there's a lot right here....

NACKEST BLIGHT

I've just about concluded that there will be a big letdown after Blackest Night. There has to be, if these solicits are at all credible. I mean, over the past few years we've gone from a new Multiverse to the triumph of Ultimate Evil and now to the very limits of Death itself -- and what's left after that? Reunification with Vertigo? (Wouldn't it be great to see Death of the Endless put a big hurt on Nekron?)

The solicit for BN #7 does give me a nice thrill: the thought of Hal Jordan as the ultimate pioneer -- "star voyager," even -- out on the farthest frontier imaginable, with only his indomitable will standing between the universe and utter annihilation. Again, stuff like that is a big part of the reason I read superhero comics. You're on notice, issue #7 -- my expectations have been raised!

Speaking of Vertigo, though, did we ever get closure on Daniel/Sandman's advice to Kyle that because he "knows fear," he'll "surpass" Hal? Maybe the revived Kyle is the key to the whole thing, hmm?

Of course, the thing about those Black-Lantern-fied issues of Adventure Comics and Green Arrow is that they could both refer to alternate versions of Superboy (-Prime, perhaps? I read this week's Adventure…) and Green Arrow (Everyman?). In any case, I'm surprised Geoff Johns isn't writing the Adventure issue.

WORLD'S FINEST

I'm sure I'm not the first person to think that "Bruce Wayne lost in time" practically begs for a crossover between Red Robin and Booster Gold. It's one of those things which, on the surface, looks just that simple; but as a practical matter of course it won't be.

Case in point:  looks like February's Batman And Robin issues might involve that dessicated Batman corpse we saw in Final Crisis….

There's something to be said for the relative simplicity of the secondary Bat-books' solicits. Streets Of Gotham's storyline has been building since the first issue, but it's still straightforward superhero action. Same goes for Batgirl #7, which (appropriately) uses C- and D-list villains. Meanwhile, Azrael tries to broaden its horizons, spiritually speaking, with a Ragman guest appearance.

By the way, the "Batman Reborn" books (Batman And Robin, Streets, Red Robin, and Gotham City Sirens) are all set to hit issue #12 in May, which is perfect timing to set up June's aforementioned Batman #700. The Superman books don't have similar timing. DC's on pace for Superman #700 in May, but World Of New Krypton (the final issue of which might have made a good lead-in) ends right at the beginning of February.

You know, we hear so much about stereotypically intransigent fans making up the core of the Big Two's readership, it makes me wonder about how the solicit for Superman: Secret Origin #5 -- and really? Metallo is your penultimate-issue villain? -- will be received. John Byrne's revisions to Metallo's origin are pretty well-established by now, so you'd think a vocal contingent of readers would protest Geoff Johns' changes. On the other hand, it's just Metallo, right? Who would care that much?

Along the same lines, I'm surprised, but not unpleasantly so, by Helen Slater's involvement with Supergirl #50. Considering the reputation the (now twenty-five-year-old) Supergirl movie has, Ms. Slater sure has been a good sport about it, and seems genuinely to like the character.

AROUND TOWN

I expect the Peter Johnson/Chris Sprouse backup stories in the new Human Target miniseries will follow the format of the new TV show, which eschews the character's traditional disguises. However, by the same token, I'd hope the Len Wein-written lead would be about as traditional as you can get.

Two 48-page issues to wrap up four years' worth of the Milestone Universe? Heroes Reborn got a lot longer sendoff, and it was a lot shorter (and a lot less fondly remembered). At least the original creators are back together.

While I've been critical of J. Michael Straczynski's Brave and the Bold, I liked this week's Batman/Brother Power story and am looking forward to February's Aquaman/Etrigan combo.

Yay, Crazy Jane's back in Doom Patrol #7! I'm cautiously optimistic -- which, appropriately enough, seemed to be Jane's default attitude....

If REBELS #13 means what I think it does, I'm kinda glad Despero's dead. He was okay in Trinity, but he's become a sort of all-purpose unstoppable villain, and that's gotten old.

The cover of Justice League of America #42 reminds me that the Dr. Impossible action figures aren't exactly flying off the Target shelves. More to the point, though, "evil versions of good New Gods" is the kind of thing I'd expect to see in a Justice League book; so I'm really looking forward to this one.  Here's hoping Dr. I. justifies his toyetic status.

And not to be overly pessimistic, but Titans #22 strikes me as an excellent jumping-off point for longtime readers like myself. That said, though, I'm curious to see where the book goes from here. Clearly it won't become DC's loose-knit answer to Defenders, but I don't know who's left from that particular generation to join the new team. It's hard to explain, but I'm getting kind of a "Detroit League" vibe (no pun intended) off the whole transition.

COLLECTIONS

Between reprinting Batman In Barcelona and Batman: The Scottish Connection, the Batman International paperback looks pretty good. (The Legends Of The Dark Knight reprint is "Tao," by Alan Grant and Arthur Ranson, which involves -- get this! -- a flashback to his days training in China!)

Meanwhile, that new Brave and the Bold paperback includes the Batman/Hawk & Dove issue of the original series (#181), written by Alan "I Never Wrote A Bad Batman Story" Brennert, as well as a Flash/Captain Marvel story (set during 1995's Underworld Unleashed crossover) from Flash #107 and an Impulse/Zatanna story from Impulse #17. As for B&B's more recent reprints, the Superman/Catwoman story from issue #16 is especially good.

I notice that the third JLA Deluxe Edition doesn't include the DC One Million miniseries. That's unfortunate, since it was practically an extension of Morrison's JLA, and honestly, JLA #1,000,000 might not make much sense without it.

By contrast, the worst thing about the second JLA By George Pérez hardcover is that it won't be out by Christmas. This volume contains a pretty good Red Tornado story -- and no, that's not a backhanded compliment -- but I'll be getting it pretty much for the phenomenal JLA #200. Although Pérez penciled the main story, featuring the League fighting off a very familiar alien invasion, the other chapters were handled old-school Justice Society style, by artists synonymous with the characters. Gil Kane drew Green Lantern vs. the Atom, Joe Kubert drew Hawkman vs. Superman, Carmine Infantino drew the Flash vs. the Elongated Man, Dick Giordano drew Wonder Woman vs. Zatanna, and Brian Bolland drew Batman vs. Green Arrow and Black Canary. JLA #200 isn't just a landmark for the Justice League, it's one of the most beautiful superhero comics DC has ever published.

I am happy to be wrong about the Wednesday Comics hardcover. How wrong was I? Well, back in April, I supposed -- rather testily, I must admit -- that "[a] complete Wednesday Comics collection [probably] won't retail for less than $50.00 ($75.00 if it's still 14" x 20") and probably won't be out until next summer … that is, if it's collected at all."  In fact, it'll be out around Memorial Day (which might fit your definition of "summer," but is still, strictly speaking, spring) and it'll retail for $49.99 (oh! that cruel penny). It will be smaller than the original issues (11" x 17.5", not 14" x 20"), but bigger than either an Absolute book (8.5" x 12.8") or those oversized Paul Dini/Alex Ross specials from ten years ago (9.5" x 12.8").  In other words, I think I lost a bet to my LCS' owner.  And yes, I'll want one for my coffee table.

Glad to see the first Hardware collection on the schedule -- but finally there's a Wonder Woman Chronicles series! Now I can enjoy psychosexual superheroics on a budget!

Ironically (in light of the above), maybe inflation has gone to my head, but you know, $150.00 seems pretty reasonable for two volumes of Absolute Planetary. It'll probably be closer to $100.00 at a lot of places, so about $4.00 or $5.00 an issue.

Does it seem to anyone else like the Batman And Robin hardcover was produced rather quickly, while the Mysterius and Tor paperbacks took a long time coming out? Yeah, I know, priorities….

* * *

Anyway, that's what jumped out at me this month. What looks good to you?

Downloading Optimism by Lucy Kinsley

Antisocial Personality Disorder by Darryl Cunningham (while you're at it, go read the rest of Cunningham's Psychiatric Tales)

Mannikinland by Mark Fenderson

Marvelous Mike by Bob Kuwahara

Sausage Pilot! by Hank Chapman and Irv Novick

Andy Pandy by John Stanley

Jim Bowie

Remote Control Jimmy by Mike Fontanelli and John K. (possibly NSFW)

Submarine and The Invincible Enemy by Jack Kirby

Toni Gayle by L.B. Cole

Pim & Francie In Golden Days

• The Comics Comics crew are having another cage match, although this time they're calling it a round table, about Al Columbia's Pim & Francie book.

• Curt Purcell continues his examination of the Blackest Night event, this time looking at some of the tie-in books.

• Ng Suat Tong examines the pleasures of owning original art and how that can change our appreciation for a particular cartoonist.

• Also at HU, Noah Berlatsky looks at the psychosexual underpinnings of the superhero genre, and how it's shifted over time.

• NPR's Glen Weldon talks about why Neil Gaiman's Sandman series matters: "[It] remains one of the most literate, imaginative and intricately plotted accomplishments in long-form comics storytelling out there."

• Sandy Bilus recommends Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms: "The book never feels preachy, but it certainly forces the reader to focus on this issue and raises his or her level of understanding about what the people of Hiroshima have endured."

• Joe McCulloch compares/contrasts the new Astro Boy movie with the original Tezuka manga.

• Johanna Draper Carlson reviews the first volume of The Lizard Prince: "This manga, a romance in a magical fantasy setting, has enough humor to make it an enjoyable read for the young and young-thinking."

• Tangognat on Vol. 5 of 2oth Century Boys: "Everytime I pick this series up I’m reminded again how great it is."

The Kids of Widney High

The Kids of Widney High are a group of students with developmental and physical challenges from J. P. Widney High School, a special education center in Los Angeles, Calif., who write and perform original songs, appear in movies like The Ringer and, according to a press release I received today, also write comics.

Per the release, The Kids of Widney High: Beyond the Sky’s the Limit is written entirely by members of the band and illustrated by Chuck B.B., Jim Mahfood, Rafael Navarro, Rikki Niehaus, Neal Von Flue, Robbi Rodriguez and Chris Brandt.

“The comic book medium provided a new way for the members of the band to not only communicate some of their challenges and frustrations, but many of their triumphs and fantasies as well,” said editor/publisher Mike Wellman. “All of the dialogue spoken by the characters in the book was drawn directly from quotes recorded during story sessions and really captures the spirit of the band. It was a very unique way to tie a story together!”

The book's in the current issue of Diamond's Previews catalog and will be published by Atomic Basement Entertainment. Kids of Widney High member Tony Whitfield proudly says that the comic is “the music that will rock your eyes!”

On Tuesday the beleaguered website, which for the past six years had indexed torrents to facilitate often-illegal file-sharing, pulled the plug on its tracker -- something operators say is no longer needed because of advances in peer-to-peer technology.

However, Wired.com's Threat Level blog reports the Motion Picture Association, which lobbies for Hollywood overseas, claims The Pirate Bay tracker is simply operating under a new name: OpenBitTorrent, a site originally registered to Pirate Bay co-founder Fredrik Neij. (A commenter on Robot 6 pointed out the connection last month.)

For its part, OpenBitTorrent denies that it's The Pirate Bay tracker, with a message on the website chalking up the confusion, in part, to the two using the same hosting company at one point.

The MPA isn't buying that explanation, and has gone to court to force OpenBitTorrent's current Internet host to stop servicing the site.

Black Dossier

Libraries | The library board in Jessamine County, Kentucky, heard public comment last night about acquisition and borrowing policies and the recent firings of two employees who kept a copy of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier out of circulation. The hourlong meeting was marked by shouting, crying and the presentation of petitions, including one that called for the removal of two books and two DVDs -- Black Dossier among them -- from county library shelves. No action was taken by the board. [Lexington Herald-Leader]

Awards | A controversy emerged just a day before the National Book Awards ceremony as author/blogger Janice Harayda suggested that Kathi Appelt, a judge in the Young People''s category, should recuse herself because finalist David Small had illustrated her novel. In her response Appelt was cryptic, at best, saying that as committee deliberations are private, "I or any other judge might well have excused ourselves from voting on any particular book, if conflict of interest were an issue.” In the end, Small's celebrated graphic memoir Stiches didn't win last night; Phillip Hoose's Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice did. [ArtsBeat, Jacket Copy]

IDW storefront

Publishing | IDW Publishing has launched a digital-storefront application for iPhone and iPod that now features 10 free comics and more than 200 for purchase. Titles will be added regularly. [IDW Publishing]

Publishing | SLG Publishing is holding a "pre-holiday recession sale" through Monday, during which time all items online are offered at a 40-percent discount: "The economy tanking combined with some bits of bad luck has taken it's toll on our small company. We're finding ourselves in a bit of a jam due to some things that are beyond our control. ... Since we are not a bank or a car company we aren't going to get any bailout money from any source other than our loyal fans." Cartoonist Evan Dorkin has more. [SLG Publishing]

Publishing | Speaking of SLG, cartoonist Andy Ristaino writes that low pre-orders for Escape From Dullsville could mean the collection of his seven-issue Life of a Fetus won't see print. [Livejournal]

The Phoenix Requiem

Webcomics | Robot 6 contributor Brigid Alverson spotlights a selection of science fiction and fantasy titles for teens. [School Library Journal]

Manga | Kami no Shizuku ("Drops of God"): Savior of wineries the world over. [Kyodo News]

Comics | This article looks at how "recession-proof" comics -- POW! SPLAT! -- "seem to flower during periods of economic stress." Sigh. [DailyFinance]

Creators | Eddie Campbell chats briefly about Alec: The Years Have Pants, autobiographical comics and what recent releases have interested him. [Speakeasy]

Fables: The Deluxe Edition

Creators | Ron Hogan posts a three-part interview with Bill Willingham in which the writer discusses the popularity of the Fables franchise, the state of the industry, politics in comics, Justice Society of America and his fondness for the character Obsidian. It's a solid interview; go read it. [Graphic Novel Reporter]

Creators | Artist Danijel Zezelj talks about process, influences and working with writers like Brian Azzarello, Jason Aaron and Brian Wood: "Some scriptwriters use more descriptions, some less. For instance, Brian Azzarello, his scenarios are almost exclusively dialogues. ... He uses very little descriptions, more like description of the situation, where and what happens, but practically everything else is left to the drawer. But he can do this, because Brian Azzarello is a big master of dialogue. Basically, through dialogues the characters are being formed. I like the most those kinds of scenarios, because in such cases you have completely opened space for composing images and layouts. I have a lot more freedom within that form." [Personal Cyber Botanica]

Established in November 2003 in Sweden, The Pirate Bay tracked and indexed torrents, allowing users to search for and download comics, music, video games and movies uploaded (often illegally) by others. Within five years the site announced it had reached more than 25 million users.

But with new peer-to-peer technology like Distributed Hash Table (DHT) and Peer Exchange (PEX), users to longer need to access a central server to find the files they're looking for.

“Now that the decentralized system for finding peers is so well developed, TPB has decided that there is no need to run a tracker anymore, so it will remain down!” operators wrote Tuesday on The Pirate Bay's blog. “It’s the end of an era.”

However, it's hardly the end of The Pirate Bay story.

While the tracker is gone, the site will continue to index torrents. Then there's the matter of the four Pirate Bay founders, who still face a year in prison and a combined $4.4 million in damages to movie studios and record labels for facilitating copyright infringement.

And in a delightfully absurd aside, Wired.com's Threat Level blog reports that Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde has objected to a plan by a Swedish retailer to register the site's iconic sailing-ship logo -- it's been adrift in the public domain since its creation -- and use it to sell USB drives.

Yes, he intended to pirate the pirates. And the pirate didn't like it one bit.

After Sunde complained to Sweden’s Patent and Registration Office, the retailer withdrew his registration.