Kevin Melrose, writing on the excellent comics blog Robot 6, part of the Comic Book Resources site, at the end of the year presents his list of the 50 best comic book covers of the year.
Comic book covers occupy a particularly fascinating niche in publishing, inheriting some of the lurid, lure you in with promised excitement approach from the old pulp detective and science fiction magazines of the mid-20th century, but moving into the 21st century with more sophisticated graphics and a wide range of design and illustration approaches.
Melrose’s list is always interesting, as is his commentary on the covers. The images in his column are linked to larger versions so you can get a good look at them.
For most, you can appreciate them simply for the illustration and/or design. For some, however, it helps to have a little background. In the case of Paolo Rivera’s wonderful cover for Daredevil #1 (images above, top) it helps to understand that Daredevil is a blind superhero who perceives the world through his other, heightened senses.
For more of my thoughts on the interesting role comic book covers have in modern illustration, see my post from last year on The 50 best comic covers of 2010 on Robot 6.
For artist credits on the other covers above, please see the original post on Robot 6.
