There is a veritable cornucopia of new comic hitting stands each week, and 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 5th, 2025.
Batman #157
Variant cover by Tony Harris
Artist Tony Harris has been supplying some incredible villain spotlight covers on Batman since #153 – the beginning of the All-In initiative – and this week’s addition features everyone’s favorite scrawny fear boy, Scarecrow. Harris has the villain himself decked out in his most rustic, ragged and ropey duds, and Bats has got on his anti-fear gas mask. I love the detailing of all the potential phobias around the borders of the image – tentacles, snakes, and one very gnarly spider.
It seems this is the final of the series – the much-hyped Hush 2 begins next issue, which means many of the covers rotate around the imagery around that story’s legacy. It’s a shame; I’d love to see Harris’ spotlights on characters like Clayface and Solomon Grundy.
Cruel Kingdom #2
Main cover by Adam Pollina
The first issue of this EC Comics series also made this column last month, and it’s no wonder; artist Adam Pollina manages to spotlight each piece’s central novelty while also surrounding that figure with compelling context.
In this case, that massive skull castle – the sort of thing that any kid might draw on an imaginary treasure map – which rises threateningly on the horizon, with your knight errant in the foreground hinting at a grueling quest.
Pollina is providing covers for at least the first three issues of this series, each of which is amazing. That doesn’t mean you should stray away from the variant covers by artists like Cary Nord and Tom Fowler; all of them are great.
Moon Man #7
Variant cover by Federico Bertoni
I haven’t been reading Moon Man – I don’t know what Moon Man is about. But I know this variant cover by Federico Bertoni does a lot to sell me on the book by abstractly visualizing what I can only imagine to be the horrors of being adrift in the cosmos. This image has a lot of 2001: A Space Odyssey in it, and I’m 100% into that.
There also seems to be some cyclopean nightmare situation involved, which, again, I’m 100% into.
Phoenix #8
Variant by R.B. Silva
R.B. Silva has been doing a hell of a lot of good X-Men work these last few years, turning out some of the most iconic images of the Krakoa era. With this Phoenix cover, he captures our girl Jean in her classic yellow-and-blues with such sleek perfection that one can forgive the fact that she didn’t yet know she was telekinetic back when she was in that costume (the telekinesis here, of course, looks very, very cool).
This is part of a series of connecting covers in which Silva captures the Danger Room-braving original X-Team (subbing Beast for Prof X) in all their debut glory, with a cover each for X-Factor #7, Exceptional X-Men #6, X-Men #11, and Uncanny X-Men #10.
Connecting covers are always a great gimmick; it’s only better when done by an artist as skilled as R.B. Silva.
Poison Ivy #30
Variant by Jenny Frison
It’s hard to pass up a cover by the incredible Jenny Frison, whose pieces always feel like perfect, moody portraiture. There’s more than a touch of glamour to all of her beautiful cover, as if each character has been captured mid-high couture photoshoot.
This Poison Ivy cover has a delightful, singular palette of greens and that one striking dash of red to set the whole thing off; it celebrates the visual simplicity and iconic nature of the character’s undeniable design aesthetic. It’s lovely.
Scarlet Witch #9
Variant by David Baldeón
David Baldeón has an impeccable way with facial expressions – he’s able to deliver hyper-legible, caricature-ized emotions that tell stories all their own. In this Scarlet Witch variant, there’s a great deal going on with Black Cat’s look of shock – shock at getting caught, yes, but a bit of shame, a bit of distaste at being caught.
Wanda’s shop also gets a pretty fantastic amount of detailing, its shelves overloaded with magical knick-knacks and tomes, and that great cosmic safe the Cat is in the middle of cracking feels as if it has a story all its own.
Spirits of Vengeance #6
Cover by Rod Reis
Despite being incredibly rad, this volume’s Spirits of Vengeance covers have been writing some checks the issues haven’t been able to cash – hints of Spirits that don’t appear in the issue (as with Cosmic Ghost Rider on the cover of #3), or what seemed to be Ghost Rider 2099 on the cover of the last issue (mini-spoiler: it isn’t him).
Without getting into the narrative, I was worried that the woman on this moody Reis cover was meant to be the much more distinctively visualized Kushala (a spirit of vengeance herself). Thankfully, after a bit of catch-up, I realized that it is, in fact, the old-school character Linda Littletrees (or, sigh, Witch Woman, if you prefer).
Regardless, the cover is fantastic: Johnny Blaze’s ghoulishly half-transformed face, the bleeding of Linda’s red costume into the background, the whole painterly suggestive aesthetic. It’s a striking cover.
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