Comic book covers are often beautiful works of art. A good comic book cover should not only preview the contents of the story but should also look amazing at the same time. One of the great things about the comic book industry is that there are so many comic book covers for us, as designers to look at. Comic books are a limitless well of inspiration and today, we will be taking a look at some of our favorite comic book covers of all time and will be showcasing them for you all to see. Please take a look and let us know if there are any that we left off the list.
Catwoman #53 Adam Hughes
For our first feature we take a trip to the DC Universe to check out this stunning Cat Woman cover. Artist Adam Hughes used an incredible angle mixed with some great color
combination. The neon blue colors from the skyscrapers perfectly set the tone for this cover.
Detective Comics #626 Michael Golden
Another breathtaking angle is used for this Batman comic cover. Just the cityscape in the background mixed with the thought of The Batman leaping through the city of Gotham makes for an amazing cover. The illustration and art design used for this cover is top notch and therefore deserves to be on this list.
Watchmen #11 Dave Gibbons
Simplicity speaks volumes in this case. As one of the most iconic graphic novels ever published, The Watchmen has been praised for its amazing story as well as art direction. These 3 covers feature different scenes throughout the book which are pivotal moments in the story. Each has its own meaning and its more symbolic than anything, 3 amazing covers from an
influential comic.
Batman #1 Bob Kane
The debut of Batman is another iconic cover, in this very first issue we are
introduced to a very popular color scheme that was constantly used. On top of that we are given some in-action shots of the protagonist and his sidekick. No reason why this shouldn’t be featured, this influenced many covers that came after it.
The Walking Dead #48 Charlie Adlard
This symbolic and ominous cover really portrays the comics’ contents perfectly. A single character in a graveyard surrounded by nothing but darkness and despair. The artist took the premise of the comic of a zombie wasteland and turned it into a visually stimulating cover.
Astonishing X-Men #2 John Cassady
Most of us who aren’t familiar with the specific story this cover is trying to tell can still appreciate the wonderment of the incredible design for this comic. The single blue tone that envelopes the whole cover sets a very specific mood which is then added to by the characters. There is a whole other level of symbolism in this comic when you look at the positions of the characters and the beams of light breaking through the hands of the female character.
Batman #648 Jock
Angles seem to really work out when you are dealing with characters that effortlessly fly through the air. The specific way that this artist is trying to show Batman’s course of action is very interesting. On top of that we usually don’t see Batman while its bright out, which adds another level of awesome to this cover. The painting looks realistic enough to mimic an actual photograph, which is another great element to an awesome cover.
Y The Last Man #14 J.G. Jones
This is the first of a few Y The Last Man comics featured for their amazing art direction. A cover like this can tell the viewer a whole story itself without even opening the comic up first. The whole position of the featured character mixed with the visuals going on over his body make for a classic cover.
Catwoman #55 Adam Hughes
Without even heavily featuring the main character Cat Woman this cover simply takes over the viewer with the beautiful neon lighting and dark cityscape. The expression of the woman on the cover also paints its own story that leaves viewers anxious to know what this whole scene is about.
X-Men #44. Andy Kubert
This is another brilliant cover that features incredible design and detail while putting on some symbolism for the viewer. The sheer
destructive force seen in this cover by Cyclops even seems to disrupt the X-Men logo which is seen to be all crooked and disassembled. A lot of emotion is felt when looking at this cover making it one of the best ones featured in our list.
Meathaus S.O.S. Tomer Hanuka
This is not a traditional comic cover with characters that are easily recognizable but we don’t really care. This comic features an incredible illustration, which has a top half that features an almost whimsical childlike scene and then drops down to a dead body in between all of that. The simple painting style this artist took really brings out the purpose of the story this comic is telling.
The Amazing Spider-Man #633 Chris Bachalo
We don’t usually see covers with the main hero’s being crushed to death, but that is why we picked this one. It takes a much different approach in showing us what this comic is mainly about. The painting is flawless and instantly captivates the viewer with its dark presence.
Spider Girl #20 Ron Frenz
We are used to seeing Spider Man in his futuristic dark costume but this cover takes a little different approach. The artist figured not to include any cityscapes or soaring angles to enhance the scene that is to be set with a cover. All that we see is the daughter of Spiderman in the future wearing one of his many iconic costumes, enough said.
Y: The Last Man #60 Massimo Carnevale
Readers of this comic can instantly understand all of the messages this artist is trying to convey with the final issue of this graphic novel. But for those who are just appreciating the art there is still a lot to appreciate about this incredible cover. The artist painted this flawlessly, the gritty scenery and the rays of light that converge with the man in the straight jacket to form the letter “Y”. There is so much more here to look at in wonder,
truly a great cover.
Wolverine: Flies To A Spider Tim Bradstreet
The irony of having a huge light display of the words peace mixed in with a blood spatter and
Wolverine of all people in the center makes for another stunning comic display. The painting style used here almost looks like a photograph, but then elements are added like the grit of the background to make this a lot darker to fit into the theme of the comic. Great art direction taken on this one.
Thing #5 Andrea Di Vito
The colors of this dark damp city really bring out the focal point of this comic. The Thing, standing amongst the citizens of this poor looking setting. There is obviously a story to this that without reading we
wouldn’t know, but we can always look at and enjoy the stunning imagery and detail of this painting.
Black Panther #9 Trevor Hairsine
Another cover where we see the main character in a scene of peril and hopelessness. The Black Panther being attacked by Dr. Doom, the artist decided to go with a simple cover that conveys a lot of emotion which we can see in the eyes of Dr. Doom and the position of the Black
Panther.
Sweets #2 Kody Chamberlain
I wasn’t really sure what this comic was about when I saw it but that didn’t really matter to me when I added it to this list. The art direction is fantastic and once again we see a full shot of
what’s going on in this comic from an unusual angle. The coloring and gritty textured painting make this crime story almost come to life.
Popgun, Vol. 4 Ben Templesmith
The artist who created this unique cover used a fantastic painting style to illustrate this futuristic comic. There is no sense of realism here, it looks like a traditional painting but with very cool visuals. The digital dragon
tattoo is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in this whole list, and the way the robot is pictured here gives it a very calming soft mood.
The Marvelous Land of Oz #3 Skottie Young
This comic was made to look something along the lines of a revolutionary poster. The basic elements of a revolution are
definitely in this comic cover, the design style is simple yet rough and textured. This
vector zed comic cover just screams Revolt, and it definitely deserves to be on this list.
Joker Lee Bermejo
The instantly noticeable grin of this villain makes for a simply gruesome comic book cover that just screams awesome. There was
absolutely no need to sully this incredibly gritty painting with any typography
describing this comic because everyone already knows what it is going to be about. This painting perfectly depicts the Joker with the rough and dirty painting style. An amazing cover with some amazing color selection that
definitely tie into what the comic is all about.
Batman #682 Alex Ross
Right after we feature the Joker its only right to bring out the Batman. This cover has an unusual color scheme but we can’t be helped but to be amazed at how this was brilliantly painted. With a flurry of classic heroes and villains meshed in the back interacting with the bright and loud neon signs and Batman logo make for a pretty perfect cover that has everything one can ever want in an illustration about the Gotham Knight.
Marvel Zombies #9 George Roussos
This series of comics definitely feature some of the coolest illustrations out there. What would we do if our favorite heroes turned into insane flesh eating zombies? Yea, a
Captain America Zombie! Although this was a semi old cover it still featured some
gruesome half dead illustrations of our favorite heroes just undead.
Amazing Spider-man 592 Paolo Rivera
The last two covers featured are definitely some of the more original ones that we have in our roundup. Marvel and the artists took
Wolverine and then meshed him with many classical artists. Dali’s famous surrealism is up for display here with a little twist from the adamantium man. Anyone who loves art can appreciate the quality of this comic cover.
Uncanny X-Men 508 Laura Martin
Lastly the artist that created this cover decided to mimic the painting style Van Gogh while still keeping it badass as
Wolverine always has. Who doesn’t love that he has a person’s ear on his claws, this cover is just pure
genius on so many levels. Bravo to those at Marvel and the artist’s who came up with this idea. There are a lot more of these types of comic covers so follow the link to see the rest.
