Adam Hughes has revealed his cover for the third issue of Fairest, Vertigo’s upcoming Fables spinoff series that will spotlight such female characters as Thumbelina, Rapunzel, Snow White and Rose Red. While the six-issue initial arc, by Fables creator Bill Willingham and artists Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning, centers on Briar Rose, Hughes puts Lumi, the Snow Queen (previously seen in the background of his cover for Fairest #1) front and center.

Check out the full image below. Fairest debuts from Vertigo in March; the third issue arrives in May.

Okay, almost seven, as USA Today has only offered a detail of one of Lee Bermejo’s covers for Rorschach (at right), his four-issue miniseries with Luthor and Joker collaborator Brian Azzarello. To make up for it, though, there’s a cover by original Watchmen colorist John Higgins for a Crimson Corsair story by he and original Watchmen editor Len Wein.

We also have a Dr. Manhattan cover by Adam Hughes (courtesy of CBR), Minutemen by Darwyn Cooke (Hero Complex), Nite Owl by Andy Kubert and Joe Kubert (Heat Vision), Ozymandias by Jae Lee (Underwire), and Silk Spectre by Amanda Conner (Entertainment Weekly). UPDATE: Now, thanks to The New York Times, we also have one of J.G. Jones’ Comedian covers.

Check out the covers below. We’ll update if more, and in some cases larger, images become available.

UPDATE: DC Comics has released hi-res versions of each of the covers, which we’ve added below.

On the Dark Horse blog, editor Dave Marshall shares the cover process for Avatar: The Last Airbender — The Promise Part 1, from writer Gene Luen Yang’s rough ideas to art duo Gurihiru’s cover sketches to Avatar co-creator Bryan Konietzko’s notes to the final product.

The 80-page graphic novel, the first in a series of digests continuing the adventures of Aang and his friends, arrives Jan. 25.

Returning creators like Jo Chen, Dave Johnson, Paolo Rivera and J.H. Williams III are joined on the list by such “newcomers” as Francesco Francavilla, Viktor Kalvachev, Tradd Moore and Steve Morris.

As with previous installments, I’ve attempted to explain the appeal of each entry; some covers get just a sentence, while others receive entire paragraphs. That doesn’t reflect the quality of the image, but merely what I have to say about it.

For those interested in the lists from previous years, they can be found here: the best covers of 2010; the best covers of 2009; and the best covers of 2008.

With that out of the way, I present, in alphabetical order, the 50 best covers of 2011:

Abe Sapien: The Devil Does Not Jest #1, by Francesco Francavilla
Perhaps best known for his recent work on Detective Comics and Black Panther, Francesco Francavilla has a pulp-influenced style that lends itself well to the world of Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. Reminiscent of some of the old Gold Key comics, this cover wonderfully relates what’s in store for Abe Sapien as he investigates the “deep, dark family secret” buried in the basement of a demonologist’s home.

Action Comics #2, by Rags Morales
While Rags Morales’ style is contemporary, the concept is a throwback to the heyday of the newsstand or maybe the movie serial: It’s a classic cliffhanger image, leading the reader to wonder how Superman ended up in this predicament — the shadowy yet easily identifiable face of Lex Luthor provides a clue — and how he might escape.

Angel & Faith #4, by Steve Morris
Using a limited color palette and symbols of death and immortality (the skeletons and the peacock), Steve Morris creates an image that’s eerie, beautiful and sinister. I love how the haunting “eyes” of the feathers are echoed in those of the people, and on the woman’s bracelet, and how the two figures are themselves sinewy and skeletal.

The Amazing Spider-Man #665, by Paolo Rivera
I’m a sucker for logos that interact with the cover illustration, rather than simply rest on top of it. So I have to give Paolo Rivera and his editors credit for not only swapping the trademark Amazing Spider-Man font for marquee letters — and then dropping four of those letters as the wall-crawler takes a spill. It’s a nice touch, too, that the M, A and N stick to Spidey’s feet and hand.

The Amazing Spider-Man #666, by Mike Del Mundo
For the start of the “Spider-Island” storyline, in which hundreds of New Yorkers manifest spider-powers, Mike Del Mundo could’ve opted for another landmark — I don’t know, maybe a web-encased Brooklyn Bridge or Chrysler Building — or gone in another direction completely. Instead, he chose the Statue of Liberty, adding a “human” if slightly alien element, and he absolutely nailed it (so well that the webbed skyline isn’t even necessary to convey the Spider-Island idea).

Baltimore: The Curse Bells #5, by Mike Mignola
Mike Mignola is a master at relating mood — eldritch, haunting mood — using a heavy dose of black and minimal detail. Here that ability shines with the blood-dripping bells, the creepy trio of undead nuns and flaming cross.

Batman Beyond #6, by Dustin Nguyen
DC Comics and Warner Bros. did the August-dated covers no favor by slapping a banner for the Green Lantern movie across the top. Still, Dustin Nguyen manages to stand out with his nearly DayGlo image of the irradiated Blight’s translucent hand crushing a batarang in front of a radiation sign.

Batwoman #1, by J.H. Williams III
For Kate Kane’s solo series, J.H. Williams has replaced the Art Deco touches of the acclaimed Detective Comics arc with water and death elements for the “Hydrology” story arc, which sends Batwoman up against the Weeping Woman.

Blue Estate #1, by Viktor Kalvachev
For an Elmore Leonard-style crime story, I can think of few better covers than this: whiskey poured from a gun barrel into a glass containing the ghostly, caramel-colored image of a woman. The comic’s logo is even modeled after the label of a whiskey bottle.

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Russia #2, by Dave Johnson
For the latest B.P.R.D. series, which sends Kate and Johann across the Atlantic to meet their Russian counterparts, Dave Johnson turns to the bold graphic imagery of classic Soviet posters for inspiration.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 9 #1, by Jo Chen
With the world cut off from all supernatural influences, Buffy Summers makes a fresh start in a new city, San Francisco — beautifully established by Jo Chen with this cover for the first issue of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 9. I like, too, how the title of the story arc, “Freefall,” seems to in with Buffy’s dizzying perch atop the Golden Gate Bridge.

Butcher Baker the Righteous Maker #4, by Mike Huddleston
Mike Huddleston’s smoking star-spangled semi roars through the air like an impossible stunt from a cocaine- and diesel-fueled 1970s road movie. You can almost smell the fumes.

Casanova: Avaritia #2, by Gabriel Bá
Honestly, how can you not love this beautifully illustrated and colored Kung Fu Panda-inspired image that pits Casanova Quinn against two Ailuropoda melanoleuca?

Clive Barker’s Hellraiser #8, by Timothy Bradstreet
Humor isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the Hellraiser franchise, but Timothy Bradstreet delivers the subtle laughs as Pinhead falls victim to his own pins.

Criminal: The Last of the Innocent #1, by Sean Phillips
Sean Phillips so wonderfully captures That Moment, fleeting as it often is, at a party or a club where someone (in this case a young woman) loses herself in the music, seemingly oblivious to everyone else — making it virtually impossible to take your eyes off of her.

Daredevil #1, by Paolo Rivera
Setting the tone for the relaunch, Paolo Rivera depicts a smiling Matt Murdock against an imaginative cityscape that offers a glimpse of how Daredevil perceives the world around him — already a visual hallmark of the new series. (You can see a time-lapse video of the cover’s creation here.)

Daredevil #4, by Marcos Martin
Gargantuan gun barrels stand in for skyscrapers in this Marcos Martin image, in which smoke rises from the two gun muzzles like steam from exhaust vents.

Daredevil #7, by Paolo Rivera
Last year The Amazing Spider-Man landed three covers on the list, and this year it’s Daredevil, a testament perhaps to how well the team of Mark Waid, Marcos Martin and Paolo Rivera, under the editorial guidance of Stephen Wacker, gels (Comic Book Resources chose Daredevil as the top comic of the year). Rivera’s depiction of Matt Murdock, who hasn’t had a reason to be cheery in years, grinning as he makes a snow angel atop a water tower is surprising and heartwarming. If this cover doesn’t bring a little smile to your face, I don’t know what will.

Daredevil Reborn #1, by Jock
Of course the Man Without Fear wasn’t all about wide grins and snow angels last year. Before the relaunch there was Daredevil Reborn, which debuted with this arresting image by Jock of the cable of Murdock’s broken batons stretched into an enormous body outline across what I presume is Marvel’s gritty, time-trapped version of Hell’s Kitchen.

Detective Comics #880, by Jock
Jock’s stint on the pre-launch Detective Comics produced some of the strongest work of his career, and this cover is undoubtedly the best of that run. This image of the Clown Prince of Crime is so frenetic, his rapturous gaze unnerving by even Joker standards as his broad smile reveals cracking teeth. That the upper part of his head is composed of countless bats taking flight, as if spooked, gives a sense of schizophrenia, as if the Joker is about to break away from this reality.

DMZ #61, by John Paul Leon
The massive amount of white space and the muted palette — I love the single punch of color with the flag — combine to give this J.P. Leon cover a sense of solemnity as DMZ enters its final year. I also like that series protagonist Matty Roth is made insignificant, dwarfed by the sky and nearly lost amid the clutter outside the Holland Tunnel.

DMZ, Vol. 10, by Brian Wood
I rarely select trade paperbacks as, more often than not, the covers are merely recycled from issues published the previously year. But for the 10th volume of DMZ, “Collective Punishment,” writer Brian Wood brings his bold sense of graphic design to blend photography and illustration to convey the brutal “shock and awe” bombing of Manhattan that marks this storyline.

Drums #2, by Raul Allen
The 2010 list featured two chickens — both from Chew — so it’s only fitting that this year’s installment has at least one, right? I’ve not read this Image Comics horror series, about an FBI agent assigned to investigate sudden, unexplained deaths during a Santeria ceremony, but Raul Allen’s brutal and beautiful cover makes me want to give it a try.

Fables #106, Joao Ruas
For the penultimate issue of the “Super Team” arc, Joao Ruas seems to give a nod to John Romita Sr.’s classic “Spider-Man No More” page as Ozma and Pinocchio casually walk away from what’s presumably a battlefield.

Fear Agent #31, by Tony Moore
Virtually everything about this cover — the colors, the scale, the hovercraft-riding creatures with their leaf-like tentacles — is so perfectly over the top and … well, alien.

Feeding Ground #4, by Michael Lapinski
One of my favorite cover artists to emerge in the past couple of years, Michael Lapinski has a distinctive style that, for Feeding Ground, manifests itself in bright colors — purple, magenta, orange — and woodcut-like lines. I love when humor meets horror, such as in this image, which at first glance appears to be merely the head of a rabbit piñata. But when you notice that the paper “entrails” of the bunny are being swarmed by flies, a much darker element surfaces.

Flashpoint: Deadman and the Flying Graysons #1, by Cliff Chiang and Jared K. Fletcher
That Green Lantern banner rears its ugly head again, distracting from the otherwise terrific take on a classic circus poster by artist Cliff Chiang and letterer Jared K. Fletcher.

The Goon, Vol. 5 (second edition), by Eric Powell
To be honest, I’m not sure what I can say about Eric Powell’s new cover for the second edition of The Goon: Wicked Inclinations. It’s just beautiful.

Green Wake #7, by Riley Rossmo
I find myself drawn into this haunting Riley Rossmo cover for Green Wake, the supernatural murder mystery from Image’s Shadowline imprint. The white silhouettes give the children a ghostly appearance, marred by the blood dripping from their mouths — or where there mouths would be — and down their shirts. Are they all being led to the gallows, or are they executing their sibling or classmate? And what about the man with the creepy white spectacles and impossibly long scarf? There are just so many questions …

Heart #1, by Kevin Mellon
For the first issue of a miniseries set in the world of Mixed Martial Arts, Kevin Mellon zeroes in on the perfect detail, capturing the bloody hand, the “Unbroken” wrist tattoo, the hurricane fence and the flash of lights from the arena crowd.

House of Mystery #38, by Esao Andrews
If the dripping (oozing?) blood that forms the conveniently placed image of rooftops and windows weren’t creepy enough, there’s the orchid in the woman’s hair, with a child-like sleeping skull at its center.

Iron Man Legacy #10, by Juan Doe
Last seen on the 2009 list, Juan Doe returns with this well-designed cover that places Iron Man at the center of the clock. I particularly like the retro-style dot pattern applied to Tony’s head.

iZombie #20, by Michael Allred
With all of its type and floating heads, this cover would be a disaster in the hands of a lesser artist. But Mike Allred pulls it off, delivering a terrific ode to old-school teen magazines.

Morning Glories #15, by Rodin Esquejo
As I noted last year, early into the series, Rodin Esquejo has found a way to perfectly translate to the covers the feelings of paranoia and claustrophobia the permeate Morning Glories. Here the branches and shadows are perfectly placed, drawing us to the watchful, and slightly menacing, eyes at the heart of the image.

Northlanders #45, by Massimo Carnevale
Ah, how I’ll miss Massimo Carnevale’s beautifully painted covers for Brian Wood’s Viking-era epic. For the cover of Part 4 of “The Icelandic Trilogy,” subtitled “Conversion,” Carnevale cleverly contrasts the cross in the Norseman’s hand with the symbol of the old religion on his helmet.

Ozma of Oz #5, by Skottie Young
There’s an almost-infectious sense of whimsy to Skottie Young’s Oz work, perhaps no more so than in this illustration of pint-sized blue gnomes climbing the book’s logo for the cover of Ozma of Oz #5.

Power Girl #26, by Sami Basri
I couldn’t help but chuckle when I saw this cover, which depicts Kara trying to push her way through a throng of cosplayers at the first Power Girl Convention. It’s one of those rare times we get to see “superheroines” of varying shapes and sizes.

PunisherMAX #12, by Dave Johnson
For my money, Dave Johnson’s covers for PunisherMAX have been every bit as good as his epic, celebrated run on Vertigo’s 100 Bullets. With this cover, everything works — the white space, the shadows, the dripping blood, the skeleton key (har!).

Red Skull: Incarnate #2, by David Aja
A talented artist with an eye for design, David Aja stretched his muscles with this miniseries, approaching the five covers as if they were Nazi newspapers and propaganda posters of the pre-war era. His research paid off, resulting in slick, eye-catching images that look as if they could be found in the dusty archives of a library (at least if you ignore the guy with the rather obvious red skull).

Robert Bloch’s That Hellbound Train #1, by Dave Wachter
For the adaptation of the 1958 deal-with-the-Devil short story, Dave Wachter goes with a looming sinister locomotive — it’s black in the original version but red here — billowing otherwordly steam that takes the form of an ominous skull (unfortunately mostly obscured by the logo).

Rocketeer Adventures #1, by Alex Ross
If you’re looking to have your hero portrayed, well, heroically, you really can’t do much better than Alex Ross. That combination of photorealism, noble pose and Hollywood lighting pushes all the right nostalgia buttons, making him ideal to tackle Dave Stevens’ beloved homage to classic matinee heroes.

Secret Avengers #18, by David Aja
David Aja delivers an atypical cover that displays a surprising feeling of motion as the dual image and purposely out-of-register color evokes an old film reel. We’re seeing a moment in time, rather than a posed snapshot, as Shang Chi’s blurred fist seemingly disappears into his opponent’s face,  like two frames from a Bruce Lee movie.

Spaceman #3, by Dave Johnson
Dave Johnson is nothing if not versatile, recalling 1950s science fiction novels in his covers for Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso’s series about a hulking man genetically engineered by NASA to live and work on Mars.

Spider-Island: I Love New York City #1, by Mike Del Mundo
While Mike Del Mundo’s cover for The Amazing Spider-Man #666, the start of the “Spider-Island” storyline, was much more somber, for this tie-in he plays up the lighthearted aspect, with New Yorkers enjoying their new-found spider-powers. A cat even gets in on the act.

The Strange Talent of Luther Strode #2, by Tradd Moore
There’s just enough humor in the faces of the onlookers to diffuse the horror of the students’ see-through skins, exposing the musculature beneath. But the neatest aspect of the cover may be in the coloring: amid all the reds, Luther, basked in cool blue, remains the center of attention.

The Unwritten #29, by Yuko Shimizu
Yuko Shimizu’s entire run on Vertigo’s The Unwritten has been stellar; I can’t think of a single one of her covers that didn’t fire on all cylinders. For the third part of the “On to Genesis” storyline, which takes Tom Taylor to the 1930s, Shimizu channels the pulps of the era. The cover blurbs really clinch the deal.

Walt Disney’s Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes, by Carl Barks and Jacob Covey
Fantagraphics Books’ lead designer Jacob Covey carries over the color palette from the interior pages — lots of cyans and yellows in those old strips, recolored for the collection by Rich Tommaso — for this sophisticated but playful cover to a volume that includes Carl Barks’ favorite Donald Duck story.

Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse, Vol. 2: Trapped on Treasure Island, by Floyd Gottfredson and Jacob Covey
I could’ve just as easily used the cover of Vol. 1, “Race to Death Valley,” to represent designer Jacob Covey’s refreshing and modern-yet-somehow-still-classic packaging for Floyd Gottfredson’s nearly 80-year-old comic strips, but an elated Horace Horsecollar trumps an anguished Mickey Mouse any day.

Wonder Woman #3, by Cliff Chiang
For the issue that demolishes Diana’s decades-old origin — the one in which she was molded from clay by her mother Hippolyta and given life by the gods — Cliff Chiang shatters a statue of the Amazonian princess.

Zatanna #13, by Adam Hughes
Adam Hughes had done his homework, transforming the imagery of early 20th-century magic posters — the Devil, laughing skeleton, numbers, child-like demons — into something thoroughly modern and, given Zatanna’s stage career, apropos.

Legion of Monsters

Cornered, the blog where artists “recreate the spot character illustrations which appeared in the upper left-hand corners of so many classic comics,” is celebrating Halloween by featuring various horror-related comics. For instance, above Brendan Tobin redraws the corner box for Marvel’s classic horror comic Legion of Monsters, and today they’ve also featured Where Monsters Dwell and Storm and Dracula, from Uncanny X-Men #159, among others. Go check’em out.

My, but this has some oomph, doesn’t it? That clean block lettering (Helvetica? font geeks, help me out here), all that black…I know I’m excited. The latest installment in Huizenga’s oversized solo anthology series is due in August from Fantagraphics.

Dark Horse Presents cover by Paul Pope

Dark Horse catches a tiger by the tail with a “special ultra-rare” variant cover by Paul Pope for the upcoming Dark Horse Presents reboot. Retailers will receive one copy with the variant cover for every 20 copies they order, which no doubt means they’ll be fetching a high price from your local retailer. Personally I’d love to see it released as a print.

Lois as you have never seen her before

Dean Haspiel posts his favorite DC Comics cover of all time, a crack-tastic Lois Lane comic from 1970 (with echoes not only of Black Like Me but also I Am Curious (Yellow)). Bonus: If the cover has you curious, you can read a detailed summary of the entire story arc, starting here, at Comic Books Revisited.

Abe Sapien: The Abyssal Plain #1, by Dave Johnson

One of the pleasant surprises this week in Dark Horse’s solicitations for June was a listing for Abe Sapien: The Abyssal Plain #1, which features a cover by Dave Johnson.

An Abe solo adventure that sends our amphibian hero on the hunt of an ancient relic aboard a sunken Soviet submarine is reason enough to take notice, to be sure. But when you add the Eisner Award-winning artist to the equation, there’s cause for celebration — particularly when the cover he creates is such a departure from what we’re accustomed to seeing on the Hellboy and B.P.R.D. books.

Johnson, known for his bold sense of design on such titles as 100 Bullets, Detective Comics, Superman: Red Son and Punisher, spoke briefly with Robot 6 about his striking cover for The Abyssal Plain #1, and shared art from the production process.

Abe Sapien: The Abyssal Plain #1 is due in stores in June.

While the color palette signals that the comic is in the Hellboy/B.P.R.D. line, the other elements are vastly different — the massive amount of white space instead of encroaching shadows, the repetition of the hammer and sickle in the bubbles (distinctly you). Was it a conscious effort to go in such a vastly different direction?

Actually, I have to disagree with you on the color palette. It’s hardly the Hellboy norm. And that was the point. [Mike] Mignola had said that he wanted me because I was doing something different than himself on other stuff. So I really wanted to set myself apart. Which is a lot harder than you think because his style is so ingrained into the Hellboy universe. And because I’m a huge fan, it still feels like I’m pissing on perfection. But that’s the job, I guess. Haha. So, I wanted more color than black to dominate the over all feel. Also, I love negative space in design. Too many artists act like they’re getting paid by the line and how much crap they can unload on a cover. I’ll take a well-designed, simple cover over a hyper-rendered fanboy jerk-fest any day of the week.

Cover sketch by Dave Johnson

The cover evokes the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea movie poster. Did you turn to ’50s and ’60s sci-fi for inspiration, or am I being led astray by the submarine and type treatment?

It didn’t start out that way. But after I did the type, it took on that direction. I’m always filling up my brain with design books from all genres. That sometimes creates these happy accidents, where everything just comes together on its own.

What kind of direction were you given by Mignola? Did you work from the script, or did you work from a plot synopsis?

Haha. Well, like most of the covers I do, they have to be done so far in advance that usually there’s not much source material to pull from. But what I had, I threw it all in there. Which ended up being a problem for the second cover. I had nothing left, haha. Which ended being a hell of a lot more simple of a cover design. And as far as direction Mignola gave me on this cover, I’d say it was for me to be myself and not do what he’s done.

What other projects are you working on?

Well, mostly covers at this point. Punisher, Unknown Soldier, a Hitman Monkey three-issue series, and some continuity work based on a dumb character I came up with as a joke called Flatulene (YouTube it) that will be published in a book called Titmouse. It’s the animation studio I work for from time to time. They’re the same guys that do Metalocalypse on Adult Swim. The hope is to eventually do some animation with the character. Fingers crossed. And I almost forgot, a new Drink and Draw Social Club book will be coming out for San Diego Comic-Con. All the art from the industry’s top talent, done while drinking in a bar, that you could ever want in one book. It’s a recipe for awesome. And all for a low, low price.

Line art by Dave Johnson

The Covered Art Show at Secret Headquarters

Founded by cartoonist Robert Goodin, Covered is one of the all-time great comic-art blog concepts: Get artists to draw “cover versions” of their favorite comics covers. And if you’ve been following blogs like Robot 6, you’ve probably gathered from the amount of linklove Covered has gotten that the execution has been just as awesome as the idea.

Now Covered is moving beyond the electronic walls of the Internet to the gallery walls of L.A. retailer Secret Headquarters, which is holding an Covered art show that opens March 6 at 8pm. The show will feature mostly all-new art in the mighty Covered manner from Goodin, Jeffrey Brown, Coop, Lisa Hanawalt, Dustin Harbin, Sammy Harkham, Sam Henderson, Tom Neely, Laura Park, Brian Ralph, Aaron Renier, Johnny Ryan, Richard Sala, Jeremy Tinder, Mark Todd, Jon Vermilyea, Steve Weissman, and many more. You’ll be able to buy art there or via Secret Headquarters’ Flickr page. Save those pennies, Los Angelenos!

(Via Shaggy Erwin)

Detail from Jeffrey Brown's Secret Wars II #8 cover

Just in case you have some sort of crippling emotional block that prevents you from checking Robert Goodin’s wonderful Covered blog every day — since that’s the only reason I can think of why you wouldn’t — I just wanted to bring Jeffrey Brown’s cover version of Al Milgrom & Steve Leialoha’s cover for Secret Wars II #8 to your attention. (Actually, it’s sort of an X-Men-centric remix of the original.) Above is a small portion–believe me, you wanna click through and see the whole thing, if only to marvel that yes, the major antagonist for a line-dominating crossover event once dressed in an all-white version of Eddie Murphy’s leather jumpsuit from Delirious.

Uncanny X-Men #518 Cover Art

Artist Terry Dodson shares two “work in progress” covers over on his blog. First, the above cover for Uncanny X-Men #518, and second, the pencils for an upcoming issue of What If? about Spider-Man.

Captain America No. 2 by Danny Hellman

One of my favorite comics art blogs, Covered, received a nice write-up this week on Wired’s Underwire blog. If you haven’t seen it before, Covered features new takes on old comics covers by a variety of artists.

In addition to showcasing some of blogger/artist Robert Goodin’s favorite submissions, Underwire also featured commentary from Goodin on each of his favorites (including Danny Hellman’s Captain America cover, above.)

Via The Beat

Uncanny X-Men #141 & Chikara DVD cover

Chikara is a Lucha Libre-style wrestling promotion based in Pennsylvania that uses a lot of comic book imagery in their promotion. Case in point, check out these covers to some of their DVDs, which feature homages to classic comic covers by Marco D’Alfonso, or check out their roster page to see their talent turned into comic book heroes and villains.

Via Nerd Dads

• Let’s start with Jeffrey Brown, who has been posting up a storm of process goodness on his blog. Brown’s new book, Funny Misshapen Body, was just released; here are some early cover “brainstorming” sketches:

Cover process for 'Funny Misshapen Body'

Here’s some of the initial brainstorming for the ‘Funny Misshapen Body’ cover. There were about a dozen more ideas, but these were the strongest ones. All the ideas were passed along to the editors at Touchstone, who then looked at them and decided which parts and aspects of the concepts they liked most.

In another post, he develops the concept further, and then later shares the final art before it went to the designer. He also shares a flow chart he used to put together the story.

• Next, Joshua Middleton covers Supergirl #45 …

Joshua Middleton inks Supergirl

Once again, I inked this with markers. As you can see, I started with the outer contour line, which I inked slightly heavier to help the figure pop off the background (well, the eventual background in PS). I don’t always start on the outside of the figure, I just really wanted to clean up her hair.

• At Comicmonster.com, Rob Guillory walks through his process of creating a page of artwork for his upcoming Image book with John Layman, Chew:

Technical Fun Fact: I pencil using a technical pen filled with red graphite. A lot of artists use Blueline pencils, but I find them waxy, hard to ink on top of and a bit hard to see (which is the point, I know). Red graphite serves the same purpose, is invisible to scanners and easier to see.

from Chew

(Plus, it kind of looks like blood, which goes with the theme of the book, no?)

• Paolo Rivera talks about creating his cover for Wolverine Art Appreciation Month:

Wolverine by Paolo Rivera

This is the monochromatic underpainting stage — nothing but watered-down sepia gouache on bristol. The face is the only real clue that’s it’s based on Wyeth. But even the classic Wyeth uni-brow probably isn’t enough to reveal the source of inspiration.

• Todd Klein praises Doug Braithwaite, Bill Reinhold and Art Lyon for thier work on Brave and the Bold:

When computer coloring took over from hand-colored guides and hand-separations in the 1990s, and paper quality improved greatly, gray tones began to appear everywhere. Sometimes they enhanced the storytelling and art, but often they just added murk, in my opinion, and encouraged the modern tendency toward too-dark coloring overall. So, the gray wash inking on these books, especially when artfully colored by Art Lyon on issues 20 and 21, was a refreshing surprise. Doug Braithwaite is a fine penciller. He drew the JUSTICE 12-issue series for DC, where his pencils were painted over by Alex Ross. Alex begins his painting process with gray washes to establish values, then adds painted color over that for a very effective and realistic look. Worked great over Braithwaite there. Bill Reinhold’s washes and Lyons’ colors are nearly as good here. I contacted Bill, and he was kind enough to share these process images:

Brave and the Bold #20

• And finally, moving from art to the written word, Robot 6′s Tim O’Shea interviews novelist and comics writer Cecil Castellucci on her creative process, among many other topics.

Invincible Iron Man #14 cover, by Marc Silvestri

Thanks to our pals at Marvel Comics, we are pleased to present the exclusive debut of the Invincible Iron Man #14 variant cover by none other than Marc Silvestri!

Continuing the next chapter in Matt Fractions “World’s Most Wanted” storyline, this issue features Tony Stark on the run from his rogues gallery — and the big bad guy in the Marvel Universe, Norman Osborn! Invincible Iron Man #14 hits stores this June.

Be sure to catch this issue in its glorious variant cover by the Top Cow himself, Marc Silvestri.

Click on the image at the right to see it full size.

The Unknown

During their panel at WonderCon today (or yesterday, I guess, as it is now past midnight — crap, I need to go to bed) BOOM!revealed one of the covers for The Unknown … this one by Paul Pope. Watch for my full panel report soon on the main CBR site. And by soon I mean most likely in the morning, as I’m sure all the sane people who work for CBR are asleep, while I’m still up and about.

Sleep awaits …

The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard

As difficult and time-consuming, yet thoroughly enjoyable, as it was to narrow down my 25 favorite covers of the year, it was a task made much tougher by one thing: the holiday calendar.

Despite what the DC Comics website led me to believe, this week’s releases came out today (2009) and not Wednesday (2008), which meant a couple of early entries had to be bumped off the list late in the game. I’m a stickler, at least when it comes to that. Maybe those covers will make the next edition.

I’ve tried to explain, to the best of my ability, what makes the covers so successful, at least in my eyes. In some cases I’ve probably gone overboard, while in others I’ve failed to put a finger on that indefinable quality that makes an image stand out. That’s the nature of art, I suppose.

So now, without further delay or caveat, here is my list of the 25 best comic-book covers of the year (in alphabetical order):

100 Bullets #92

100 Bullets #92, by Dave Johnson

For the past nine-plus years, Dave Johnson has created a jaw-dropping look for the covers of the Vertigo crime series that blends elements of ’50s pulp novels, classic Blue Note album jackets, the works of Saul Bass, and Soviet propaganda posters with a modern, and bold, design sensibility. The result is often sexy and savage (occasionally at the same time), but seldom, if ever, boring.

As Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso’s byzantine saga winds down — 100 Bullets ends with February’s Issue 100 — Johnson is producing some of his strongest work on the title. Chief among them is this cover to August’s Issue 92: An execution occurs beneath the looming, moon-like symbol of The Trust and a leafless tree whose bloody roots entangle in skulls (graves, perhaps). It’s stark and stunning.

The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard

The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard, by Eddie Campbell and Charlie Orr

It’s not often the word “whimsical” is used to describe a comic-book cover, but in the case of The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard, it definitely applies. Whimsical and clever. It’s exactly what’s called for by an offbeat graphic novel about a young man trying to live up to the legacy of his uncle, the famed circus performer of the title.

Jacket designer Charlie Orr, who worked with Eddie Campbell previously on the covers to The Fate of the Artist and The Black Diamond Detective Agency, lets his imagination run wild with type, twisting more than a dozen adjectives into a bird’s nest of hair, and transforming the book’s title into eyebrows and lips to accent the expressive watercolor eyes and mustache. To complete the picture, a subtitle becomes the chin, and the creators’ names turn into the perfect bow tie.

The Amazing Spider-Man #575

The Amazing Spider-Man #576

The Amazing Spider-Man #575 and #576, by Chris Bachalo

It may seem like a bit of a cheat to include two issues in one entry, but to fully appreciate either of Chris Bachalo’s covers you really need to view them in context. That’s not to say each doesn’t stand on its own. It’s rare that a superhero-super villain brawl is depicted on a cover in such close-up fashion; typically, we’re removed from the action, in part so we have a clear view of the title character(s).

Here, however, we have a front-row seat to the brutality: On the cover to Issue 575, you can count the cracks and creases on Hammerhead’s massive fist as it connects with Spider-Man’s face, the impact creating a crater in the fabric of the mask. With the addition of Issue 576, the covers become sequential art as Spider-Man strikes back, sending his opponent’s sunglasses, and teeth, flying amid a shower of blood.

An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons and True Stories, Vol. 2

An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons and True Stories, Vol. 2, by Daniel Clowes

Daniel Clowes’ cover to the second volume of An Anthology of Graphic Fiction is delightfully understated in its execution: A woman talks, with the globe of a hanging light conveniently providing the word balloon, while a row of street lamps lead up to a low cloud, creating the man’s thought balloon. Ah, the symbolic language of comics, reinforced by the framed print on the wall.

I feel as if I should say more, but the image is so wonderfully, and perhaps deceptively, simple that it probably speaks for itself.

Batman #682

Batman #682, by Alex Ross

Alex Ross’ raucous ode to the 1960s Batman television series is too busy, too loud, too garish. In short, it’s perfect for a nod to the William Dozier show, which was all of those things and more.

Batman and a smiling Robin are framed by their opponents, The Penguin, The Riddler, Catwoman, Two-Face, Mr. Freeze and The Joker. In the background, Batgirl rides in to provide backup while Bat-Mite (!) watches from atop one of the neon signs that double as the show’s trademark sound effects (“Pow,” “Biff,” “Bam”). As if all that, plus trade dress and credits, weren’t enough, Ross squeezes in the Bat-Signal — it’s mostly covered up by the title and the “Last Rites” banner in the final cover — and a modern Dark Knight superimposed over the action. It’s almost too much to take in. Almost.

The Boy Who Made Silence #6

The Boy Who Made Silence #6, by Joshua Hagler

Joshua Hagler’s covers to his Xeric Grant-winning series don’t bring to mind comic books as much as they do prose memoirs. It’s not difficult to envision the surreal images wrapped around a somewhat tragic autobiography in the “New Arrivals” section of Borders. And maybe that’s in part why the covers, and the cryptic title, initially stand out.

Hagler toys from cover to cover with logo placement and size, and with two images versus one. With Issue 6, the experimentation succeeds as the title’s wave effect — a consistent element — appears to interact with the water. The cheery colors of the logo and the soothing blue tones of the main image stand in stark contrast to the cold, even bleak, feel of the secondary image. It’s an interesting juxtaposition of moods.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #14

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #14, by Jon Foster

All five of Jon Foster’s covers for Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight are wonderful, but the one for Issue 14 — the third part of the “Wolves at the Gate” story arc — really stands out. To get the humor of the image, all you have to know is that the storyline takes place in Tokyo, and Buffy’s sister Dawn has been transformed into a giant by a curse. Of course, a passing familiarity with Godzilla or the kaiju genre may be helpful.

I appreciate, too, that the comic’s title has been incorporated into the illustration, on a sign, rather than plopped down on top of it.

Captain America #39

Captain America #39, by Steve Epting

Once upon a time, when comics were sold primarily on spinner racks, covers were designed to catch the eye of a passing kid. There might only be a few seconds to grab his attention, so the image had to work quickly. Never mind that it might have had little, if anything, to do with the story inside; its job was to make the kid pick up the comic and march with it to the counter.

I’m not overly nostalgic for the days of the newsstand. Distribution often was spotty. Comics were battered. And the move away from the spinner racks has permitted more experimentation with cover design.

But Steve Epting’s cover for Captain America #39 is one of those old-school covers — the kind that makes you want to pick up the comic to find out immediately what’s going on. Has Steve Rogers returned from the grave? Is it the time-displaced Captain from that Avengers/Invaders miniseries? We have to know!

Casanova #14

Casanova #14, by Gabriel Ba

One of the hallmarks of Casanova, the trippy spy-fi series by Matt Fraction, Fabio Moon and, later, Gabriel Ba, has been its bold and imaginative covers with their shifting color palettes (the first seven employ oranges and purples, the second seven oranges, yellows and greens).

The final four covers, by Ba, are perhaps the strongest, with Issue 14 the best of the bunch. Ba makes liberal use of white space, which is disrupted by the wing and head of a couple of abstract crows — but not before that negative space transforms into the face of … well, I’m not sure which character it is. No matter, though. It’s a striking effect.

Criminal 2 #2

Criminal 2 #2, by Sean Phillips

Sean Phillips’ wraparound covers for his and Ed Brubaker’s Criminal are lush and atmospheric and sexy — and all the other things jackets for a good noir story should be. But this is the only one to date that’s felt … I don’t know, dangerous.

Teegar, with his bloody and broken nose, seems real: You might’ve sat beside him at a corner bar so seedy that you realize, a little too late, that you probably should’ve passed it by. His face and his pose tell a story — that’s a recurring theme in some of my favorite covers — and not a particularly happy one. You just know that as bad as Teegar looks, the other guy is in worse shape. You also know that he wants nothing more in this world, at this moment, than to enjoy that cigarette. So you’re better off not asking him about the fight.

DMZ #34

DMZ #34, by Brian Wood

For the covers of “Blood in the Game,” DMZ‘s recent election storyline, Brian Wood played with the repetition of familiar campaign visuals such as stars and political buttons, sometimes pairing them with more militant imagery, such as guns, masked operatives and a raised-fist salute.

He brings many of those elements together, and then distills them, for this, the concluding issue. The stars are still there, though here they’re much larger and fewer in number. Gone are the guns, and the city skylines, and the disguised figures. And here the clenched fist of solidarity, or defiance, is replaced by a finger dipped in blood and signaling “No. 1.”

Fables #76

Fables #76, by James Jean

In composition and in style, James Jean’s cover to Fables #76, “Around the Town,” probably has more in common with his advertising work than with most of the pieces he’s done for the Vertigo series. Jean typically has reserved a more cartoonish approach for those covers spotlighting Snow White and Bigby’s children. Here he uses that not-quite-real look to great effect on Pinocchio as he gives a certain guest a tour of Fabletown.

My favorite parts of the cover are the stickers and the graffiti, many of which give nods to previous Fables storylines. A sticker at the bottom of the signpost even clues readers into the identity of Pinocchio’s mystery guest.

Joker

Joker, by Lee Bermejo

If there was one noticeable trend in cover art last year, it was the rise of the close-up (there are a half-dozen on this list). And you can’t get much closer than in Lee Bermejo’s beautifully grotesque cover to the Joker orginal graphic novel.

The yellowed, jagged teeth, the smeared lipstick and the razor nicks, or pimples, on The Joker’s neck — viewed at close proximity — combine to make the Clown Prince of Crime seem very real. And that’s more than a little disconcerting.

Justice League: The New Frontier Special

Justice League: The New Frontier Special, by Darwyn Cooke

The word “iconic” gets tossed around a lot, particularly when discussing the art of superhero comics. A certain pose is iconic. Or a costume. Or the emblem on a character’s chest. But it wasn’t until I saw Darwyn Cooke’s sketchy cover for this New Frontier one-shot that I gave much thought to how even the hands and forearms of certain characters have become instantly recognizable.

Using sparse, and choppy, lines, Cooke demonstrates what few clues we need to identify the icons of DC Comics: the jagged edge of Batman’s glove (closed in a fist, naturally), the blue of Superman’s costume and his hand posed as if in flight, Wonder Woman’s bracelet, Green Lantern’s ring, The Flash’s lightning-bolt trim, Adam Strange’s ray gun. And so on. The only place the iconography falters is with the inclusion of the little-known John Henry, created for the original miniseries, and in the use of the completely alien form of Martian Manhunter (versus his more familiar humanoid form).

Kramers Ergot 7

Kramers Ergot 7, by Sammy Harkham

The more I look at the cover to the much-discussed Kramers Ergot 7, the deeper it draws me in. I honestly have no idea what’s going on in the image, but I desperately want to find out. Sammy Harkham’s detailed illustration reminds me, of all things, of the post-apocalyptic setting for the early-’80s cartoon Thundarr the Barbarian. The ruins of once-great cities now reclaimed by nature? Never mind.

I can only speculate what event led to this street being overtaken by vegetation, naked hippies and wildlife. I can only wonder what happened to the more guy in the yellow car (maybe he was killed because he was wearing clothes). Or what the couple on the left, and those ducks, are doing. Or what’s going on with the sky. Or … well, every time I look at the illustration, I come up with another question. Not too many covers can do that.

Meathouse S.O.S.

Meathaus S.O.S., by Tomer Hanuka

When I came across this Tomer Hanuka cover while compiling candidates for this list, I wrote in my notepad, “Like something from a David Lynch movie.” It brings to mind the opening moments of Blue Velvet, sure. But it runs deeper than that: It’s the idyllic scene corrupted, or destroyed, by something tragic. It’s the meeting of the playful and the ghastly, the natural and the unnatural. (I don’t just mean the body in the otherwise lush and tranquil setting; note the smoke stack in the background.)

The white, featureless butterflies and the dancing, worm-like letters lend an otherworldly, dreamy quality to a scene that, at least for the boy running away, is all too real. This cover tells a story, too — or at least encourages the reader to begin crafting one. Did something happen while the two boys were playing? Did one boy find the other? Does the smoke stack have anything to do with it? It’s engaging.

Power Pack: Day One #3

Power Pack: Day One #3, by Gurihiru

The art duo known as Gurihiru — Sasaki on pencils and inks, and Kawano on colors — has consistently created solid covers for Marvel’s all-ages Power Pack books. But it’s with the two most recent miniseries, Power Pack: Day One and Skrulls vs. Power Pack, that Gurihiru has hit upon an approach that really conveys the humor of the title.

The Skrulls vs. Power Pack covers that cast the Power children as street thugs, complete with tattoos and “Pack Life” brass knuckles, were funny, but the one for the third issue of Power Pack: Day One is what won me over. The look on Katie’s face as she frantically, and futilely, tries to feed dozens of hungry baby “Snarks” — yes, that’s what they’re called — is near perfect.

From a technical standpoint, I have to praise Gurihiru for either drawing dozens of little aliens or disguising all the copy-and-pasting by making changes to each of the clones.

Savage #1

Savage #1, by Mike Mayhew

There’s something almost magical about the union of the right art with the right title. Here it happens: Savage. That’s the word that comes to mind when you see that open maw, those enormous incisors dripping with saliva. (Or is that blood?)

I’m not crazy about the distressed logo, but that image sent me looking for more information about the comic.

Scalped #15

Scalped #15, by Jock

One of the things I’ve enjoyed about Jock’s work on Scalped, and The Losers before that, is his willingness to move and manipulate the logo to serve the artwork. Sometimes it’s a matter of shrinking the title or pushing it to the side to give the illustration more room. Other times, such as with May’s Scalped #15, it’s turning the logo into an art element. Here, the blood-like ink spills out of the letters as it’s washed away in the aftermath of … something. Something gruesome.

Stickleback: England's Glory

Stickleback: England’s Glory, by D’Israeli

I have a feeling the cover to this collection of Ian Eddington and D’Israeli’s Stickleback comics from 2000 AD is even more impressive in its physical form. But until I get a copy, I’ll have to be satisfied with the digital image with its nearly Day-glo blue and green, and its woodcut-like lines. I like how the stooped posture of the title character in the background is reflected by that of the figure in the globe, and repeated, more whimsically, in the first letter of “Stickleback.”

Superman #680

Superman #680, by Alex Ross

Despite a legion of fans, Alex Ross receives a fair amount of criticism for his brand of superhero adoration. Now, I’m not a Ross devotee, but I’m willing to give credit where credit is due: There aren’t many artists who could take an inherently goofy Silver Age concept — a super-powered alien dog in a cape — and make it look believable. Heck, Ross makes Krypto appear downright noble.

After seeing the cover to Superman #680, you will believe a dog can fly — or at least look good trying.

The Transformers: All Hail Megatron #4

The Transformers: All Hail Megatron #4, by Trevor Hutchison

With a title like All Hail Megatron and a plot that involves conquest by the evil Decepticons, it’s not surprising that Trevor Hutchison referenced Soviet propaganda posters for his alternate covers. However, he only uses that classic imagery as a starting point for an exploration of white space, limited color palettes (just one or two colors per cover) and typography.

His most successful cover of the series to date is for Issue 4, which features the white silhouette of an Autobot, small against a field of blue, as it bows in submission to the comic’s title. The words “All Hail Megatron” serve as a stand-in for the character of Megatron and, at the same time, evoke a monolith. I hesitate to say it’s brilliant, but it’s pretty darned clever.

Vagabond, Vol. 1 (VizBig Edition)

Vagabond, Vol. 1 (VizBig Edition), by Takehiko Inoue and Yukiko Whitley

Although Takehko Inoue has utilized a couple of extreme close-ups for the covers of his popular samurai epic, he more often uses full-body shots surrounded by plenty of white space. Similarly, while he sometimes employs intense reds and deep blues, he’s more likely to use muted colors or pastels.

So it’s a little surprising, but in a good way, that for its first VizBig Edition of Vagabond — it contains the first three volumes in a larger format — Viz Media goes in tight on Miyamoto Musashi’s face, obliterating the usual white space. Gone, too, are the pastels, replaced here by Viz’s in-house designer Yukiko Whitley with gold, a field of deep red, and the splotchy blacks of Inoue’s brush.

Wolverine: Flies To A Spider

Wolverine: Flies To A Spider, by Tim Bradstreet

Tim Bradstreet’s cover for the apparently Christmas-themed one-shot was done a serious disservice by whomever stacked the oversize title atop the ironic “Peace” lights. Had the production artist only shrunk the words a little, readers would’ve gotten a better look of Bradstreet’s image in all its wry glory: the juxtaposition of “Peace” and the dove with Wolverine’s claws, the splatter of blood that may or may not morph into Christmas-tree lights, and Wolverine’s belt buckle.

Yes, Logan’s apparently a Scorpio.

Y: The Last Man #60

Y: The Last Man #60, by Massimo Carnevale

Massimo Carnevale gives the well-regarded Y: The Last Man a fitting send-off with this appropriately complex and eerie cover that conveys both hope and hopelessness.

If the straightjacket doesn’t signal to longtime readers who the old, bent man in the cell is, the shafts of light that, with his chair and body, form a “Y” certainly do. The wisps of white hair make it clear the story has moved further into the future, so we have just a moment to brace ourselves for what the cute little stuffed monkey represents: Ampersand is no more. (Sorry.) But — but! — the presence of the little boy makes it clear there’s still hope, even in a world in which almost every male mammal has died.