Each week we scour the list of latest releases and choose what we believe to be the best looking comic book covers of the week; and the results are below. Here are some of our favorites and a list of reasons why. What are some of yours?
FABLES
The latest Mark Buckingham cover to the new edition of the FABLES trade which was released this week really stood out above the rest of the new releases. Buckingham's cover is great not only because it's gorgeous, but because it marries simplicity with complexity; showcasing the personalities and unique traits of the various characters in Buckingham's FABLES series. It captures the sheer essence of Buckingham's imaginary, fairy-tale world and combines it with the city-scape setting of his stories. It's a beautiful image to a gorgeous series.
AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #4
Although we love Jim Cheung's A VS X #4 cover this week, we have to say that Jerome Opena and Dean White really blew us away. During the A VS X series, the awesome power of the Phoenix has sometimes been overshadowed. On the variant cover to this week's issue we thought that Opena and White did a phenomenal job capturing the awesome power that is the Phoenix by relating to the force's strength in sheer size. We also get a glimpse at just how brave Marvel's "God of Thunder" really is. It's a fantastic image, and probably the best thing about the issue.
CONAN #4
Dark Horse's CONAN THE BARBARIAN #4 makes the list not only because of the beauty of the cover's pencils and colors, but because of the portrayal of the heralded hero. We're all used to seeing our heroes grace comic covers in all their glory; rarely do we ever see the hero of his own seld-titled series look downtrodden and defeated; and when we do, it's rarely seen as believable. Except in the case of CONAN THE BARBARIAN #4 by Massimo Carnevale. Here is Conan clutching his stomach, looking up at his aggressors with an expression of exhaustion on his face. It's kind of brilliant because Conan is rarely portrayed in this manner, making this scene captured by Carnevale seem all that much more powerful.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: ENDS OF THE EARTH #1
We thought the cover to the first issue of this Marvel series was cool for several reasons; first, it's really, really pretty. Artist Sebastian Fiumara executes Spidey, Union Jack and the Big Hero 6 really beautifully, capturing expression and personality of these characters on a single page. Expression can be kind of hard to capture in a character like Spider-Man -- particularly when he's wearing his mask, but Fiumara really does a stellar job here. Not only is this cover a pretty picture, it also manages to incorporate a lot of different elements (and characters) that appear in the issue without making it look cramped or muddled. Fiumara executes the characters' individual characteristics and personalities well without making things look messy. It can't be easy fitting so many characters on a single page.
Did we miss a cover this week? If so, post it below!