dmstarz's top 25 2000AD covers no1!
Okay, I'm kind of hoping that this isn't anti-climactic as I appreciate that this cover probably doesn't 'grab' the reader's attention in the same way that some others of the list blatantly do. That said, it is, trust me, utterly brilliant, primarily due to its subtlety. The artist is David Roach, who drew the Nemesis the Warlock strip from which the characters on this cover come from (after Kevin O'Neill, that is). Roach's style was very different to O'Neill's, his characters seemed more fully bodied and compassionately drawn. And I think it's that sense of compassion and vulnerability that really draws me to the above image. In the foreground we have Purity Brown, ally of Nemesis. Behind her is Torquemada, Nemesis's, er, nemesis. He being with her is Not Good. Nemesis was written by Pat Mills, a writer who liked to turn things on their head - the name Purity Brown is a kind of contradiction and echoes the fact that the bad guy, Torquemada, represents organised religion and Nemesis? Well, let's just say there are rumours that his character was based on a guy who's usually depicted in red and with horns.
Purity appears to be naked, bar the footwear, possibly in the bad guy's bedchamber and there is certainly a wistfulness to her appearance. I remember buying this issue and staring at the cover in my bedroom for ages, I was just floored by it, by the simplicity and beauty of the central image. It's probably the kind of thing that artists do on Day One of their Life Class, but I don't care. It still works. Just a word about the pun at the bottom of the page too. Normally, Torquemada is known for his bleakly comic punning catchphrase "Be pure, be vigilant, behave" and the play on this here will bring a smile to any fan of Nemesis.
So that's it, my favourite ever 2000AD cover. Hope you enjoyed the run down.