I can tell you plenty of what I think makes for a great comic book cover, but nothing beats hearing from the best in the industry on how to really sell a comic book. Thanks to FanCon 2019 bringing in a who’s who of top comic book talent, I got the chance to do just that, as I hit artist’s alley and bugged some of the finest hands in the business for their thoughts while they desperately pressed the panic button beneath their table.
This week’s guest? None other than Jason Masters. Our finest export since the Yanks learnt of Amarula, Masters has been busy as of late. Wrapping up a hell of a run on James Bond with Warren Ellis over at Dynamite Entertainment, he’s currently hard at work on Caster, a comic book project that features none other than rap artist Common and a banging soundtrack to go with it.
So what makes for a great comic book cover according to Masters? “I don’t know if there’s one perfect way to do a cover, but you need to notice it off the shelf,” Masters explained.
Fortunately, that’s an ever-changing thing so if you’re doing a white cover and everything else is multiple coulours it’s easier to see. So I think what makes a dynamic cover is to stick out but unfortunately if you don’t know what’s happening that week, you might be the one guy doing a white cover in a series of comics that are all featuring snow for some reason..
A good cover, if it’s then not on the shelf, just to look at, I like that cover that gives you that cliffhanger, that story in one panel which is much harder to do than just a regular page because you have to do ‘this is what you might see in here’. I prefer the stories versus say the making a pretty image. Show your hero in peril or some sort of conflict that somebody has to then resolve. And obviously it has to be drawn very well.
And now, for the best comic book covers of the week!
The Flash #70 by Howard Porter
Wonder Woman #70 by Jenny Frison
The Batman Who Laughs #5 by Jock
Red Hood: Outlaw #34 by Yasmine Putri
Captain America #10 by Alex Ross
Shazam! #5 by Dale Eaglesham
Captain Marvel #5 by Amanda Connor
Batman And the Outsiders #1 by Stjepan Seijic
Curse Words #21 by Ryan Browne
Ice Cream Man #12 by Martin Morazzo
Wonder Twins #4 by Stephen Byrne
Star Wars: Age of Rebellion – Boba Fett #1 by Terry Dodson
Age of Conan: Bêlit #3 by Sana Takeda
Hit-Girl Season Two #4 by Amanda Connor
Murder Falcon #8 by Daniel Warren Johnson
Sabrina The Teenage Witch #2 by Veronica Fish
Ronin Island #3 by Giannis Milonogiannis
Aliens: Resistance #4 by Tristan Jones
James Bond: Origin #9 by Juan Gedeon
Eve Stranger #1 by Phillip Bond
Last Updated: May 6, 2019
Admiral Chief Flammenwerfer
May 7, 2019 at 08:50
What is Ice Cream Man about? Cool cover
The D
May 7, 2019 at 10:31
IT’S WEIRD! It’s like Outer Limits, but with a familiar jingle for frozen dairy products. Per the Amazon description:
ICE CREAM MAN is a genre-defying comic book series, featuring disparate “one-shot” tales of sorrow, wonder, and redemption. Each installment features its own cast of strange characters, dealing with their own special sundae of suffering. And on the periphery of all of them, like the twinkly music of his colorful truck, is the Ice Cream Man—a weaver of stories, a purveyor of sweet treats. Friend. Foe. God. Demon. The man who with a snap of his fingers—lickety split!—can change the course of your life forever.
Admiral Chief Flammenwerfer
May 7, 2019 at 12:26
Noice. The ship made me think of the Rocinante from The Expanse