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 the week of April 9th, 2025.
Adventure Time #1
Variant by David Nakayama
Ah, it’s good to see the whole gang together again. The intermittent absence of Adventure Time after its ostensible conclusion in 2018 is a void I feel deep in my chest — even with the various specials and miniseries that have come to streaming. I’m excited for a new comic series to keep the loving spirit alive, and this knockout Nakayama variant catches each character with just the right amount of joyful attention as desired (yes, including that damn snail).
Amazing Spider-Man #1
Variant by InHyuk Lee
There are roughly six hundred variant covers for the first issue of the new Amazing Spider-Man (note: there are actually thirty-one of them). All of them are interesting or intriguing, but what makes this Black Cat variant by InHyuk Lee so compelling are the fun little lacy details given to her costume. For an outfit that began as (and has mostly remained) a black outline, this take adds a bit of utility (the buckles and bindings) and a lot of character. I love that she’s got that teeny-tiny little bow at the edge of her collar.
Fire and Ice: When Hell Freezes Over #1
Variant by Jeff Dekal
Dekal’s Fire and Ice cover is all mood, as if these two will not tolerate a single ounce of your nonsense. Beautiful blocks of color counterbalance clever negative space; the image feels as if it could have come out of a fashion designer’s lightly-markered sketchbook, with varying degrees of detail given to each costume.
The Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt #1
Cover by Max Sarin
There are few catoonists out there producing as consistently delightful characters as Max Sarin, and few who could so perfectly fit the joyfully glib world of John Allison’s Bobbins-verse. On this cover we see this book’s protagonist (and Scary Go Round regular) Shauna Wickles grinning a terrified grin as she goes down with a ship; the patchwork background hooks us into the quilting aspect of the book in such a pleasant way — even as she worryingly sinks to her watery doom, we’re wrapped in a cozy blanket.
Green Lantern Corps #3
Variant by Nathan Szerdy
This Szerdy cover answers the question of what sort of hijinks one might get up to with a power ring if one also happens to be an eleven-year-old. I don’t know how the Guardians would take this sort of abuse of power, but that’s neither here nor there.
Incredible Hulk #24
Variant by Doaly
It’s Hulks all the way down. Doaly’s image is both cleanly aesthetic and conceptually dreadful — so much rage swalled down, all of it threatening to get out.
Phantom Road #11
Variant by Teddy Kristiansen
What a perfectly desolate image for a series that excels in desolation and dread. The featureless figures atop all those ghouls feel so tiny compared to the grueling truth of their spectral world. The red highlights attempt to give life to a vacuum of grays. This cover sells a very strange, compelling book.
Uncanny X-Men #13
Variant by David Mack
I’ll take literally any scribble from David Mack; that this Gambit highlight also rules is a gift. After his turn producing Muse art for Disney+’s Daredevil: Born Again, it’s a joy to see him return to watercolors and floating text here.
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