The best comic book covers of the week – 03 September 2018

You know what’s the hardest thing to draw? The ordinary. True story: I wanted to be a comic book artist when I was growing up. That resulted in me spending scores of hours and reams of paper practising the craft, imitating my artistic heroes and attempting to put my own spin on famous characters. And after a while, I think I got sort of slightly less crap at drawing dynamic heroes and villains punching one another.

One thing I did learn however, once I managed to expand my reading and study, was that comic books are about more than just splash pages and pretty panels. There’s a subtle art to creating art, to translating words to visuals and making a script flow on a page. That requires a practical knowledge that can only be earned from countless hours of effort, even with today’s access to any reference material that an artist could possibly ever need.

It’s the artists who can take an ordinary scene of characters sitting in a diner or a villain plotting in the shadows, that I adore. The men and women who make the ordinary feel extraordinary and draw your eyes to follow the story without you even realising it. Now that’s what I call real talent! Just like the art below, from some of the finest artists in the industry:

Elric: The White Wolf #1 by Julian Telo

Green Arrow #44 by Kaare Andrews

Black Science #38 by Creature Box

Ghostbusters: Crossing Over #6 by Tim Lattie

Spawn #289 by Jason Shawn Alexander

Thanos Legacy #1 by Clayton Crain

Invader Zim #34 by Fred Stresing

The Dreaming #1 by Jae Lee

Quicksilver: No Surrender #5 by Martin Simmonds

Eclipse #10 by Giovanni Timpano

The Seeds #2 by David Aja

Leviathan #2 by Nick Pitarra

Vampironica #3 by Audrey Mok

The Dead Hand #6 by Stephen Mooney

Relay #3 by Andy Clarke

United States Vs. Murder, Inc. #1 by Michael Avon Oeming

Paradiso #7 by Mukesh Singh

Pestilence: A Story of Satan #4 by Tim Bradstreet

James Bond: Origin #1 by John Cassaday

Captain America #3 by Alex Ross