There is a veritable cornucopia of new comics hitting stands each week. While readers often know exactly what it is they’re most interested in (those in the know have got their pull-list sitting in their comic shop’s ever-reliable hands), there is something to be said about going against that old truism and Judging a Book by its Cover.
Some truly astounding cover art hits each and every week, and these are the ones that caught Colin’s eye for the week of February 19th, 2025.
Batman / Superman: World’s Finest #36
Cover by Dan Mora
Dan Mora’s work on World’s Finest has been some of the best ongoing work at either of the Big Two in the last several years — indeed, the whole series is filled with a sort of clean, crisp celebratory feeling, leaning into a Bats and Supes who are just loving their time, and that comes from both writing and Mora’s artwork. It’s easy to see why Mora is getting so much play at DC these days — doing this, doing Justice League Unlimited, and doing some really great upcoming facsimile covers, etc.
With this issue’s cover, the Floronic Man is looking gnarly. Dan Mora puts the dude right up front, smothering him in viney detail, and that looming Swamp Thing face promises all the more leafy action. There’s a lot of horror to the image, something that hasn’t been prevalent in the series up to this point, and that novelty feels both gruesome and vibrant.
Batman and Robin: Year One #5
Cover by Chris Samnee
Speaking of horror, this Clayface cover is terrifying. It’s also jam-packed with action and information — Robin’s gloved hand reaching upwards toward the sewer grate, Batman reaching down and slowly being covered by Clayface’s ghoulish and goopy grin. Samnee has always had a certain timeless style, which has been perfect for this Year One series. It also gives this image a sort of prototypical quality, as if this encompasses all you need to know about Clayface, visually and atmospherically.
Catwoman #73
Cover by Sebastián Fiumara
The great thing about certain Bat- and Cat-themed characters is that their silhouettes are impossible to mistake (no matter how many cat-adjacent femme fatales there are). This Fiumara cover does so much with negative space — that classic whip-as-tail energy! — that the glinting eyes and belt feel almost magical in their glow. What’s that key for? We don’t know.
The cyber-punky neon behind her tells us clearly: that this isn’t a standard Gotham adventure. We are elsewhere, and Selina is likely on to a big score.
New Gods #3
Covers by Nimit Malavia and Mike Huddleston
New Gods #3 has not one, not two, but four incredible covers this week. The main cover, by Nimit Malavia, rocks an aesthetic aped from artist Alphonse Mucha. It’s so compelling to put such techy, sci-fi armor in those classic trappings — and to put a lot of Kirby Krackle where Mucha might have made an elaborate tesselation of flowers. It really sells us what this is: an adventure of cosmic nonsense.
I also wanted to spotlight Mike Huddleston’s fantastic Big Bertha cover, which lightly modernizes that classic Kirby costume. I love that costume: big, bold colors for a big, bold heroine. She feels larger-than-life, tearing up all those Parademons. Also: that Krackle. Gotta have it.
Penthouse Comics #1
Cover by Cameron Stewart
I was a bit worried about including this cover for the sheer spice, but then it occurred to me that our kinky central figure could very well be cosplaying Emma Frost at her most overblown. This could be an average night in the classic Hellfire club.
What’s amazing about this cover is Cameron Stewart’s uncanny ability to solidify a character’s personality well outside the fetish-y trappings of the image: this woman’s face is incredibly expressive, pushing her past her potentially flat pinup couture and into the realm of character. There’s a high fashion glamor of the piece, and it is made rich by a limited, chilly palette. This is a costume concept for an absolutely wild — and somehow ritzy — after-party.
Zatanna #1
Variant by Chris Bachalo
Chris Bachalo is incapable of producing artwork lacking style. His output is instantly identifiable as his, even when it’s as subdued and compact as this cover. Zatanna looks cool and at ease in such a simple and horrifying landscape of grasping hands. She looks rad, and she is in some sort of terrible hell. It sells the character as a force to be reckoned with without any action needed.
It’s a relief that Zatanna has another series; not only are we getting a new adventure, we’re also about to hit a full bounty of new, incredible variant covers.
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