Another Wednesday brings us another vast selection of great comic books to discover and, with it, a slew of fantastic comic book covers worth noting.  These were my favorites –

Black Panther #167 (cover art by Brian Stelfreeze)

The Klaw’s sonic emitter offers a simultaneous yet alternating glimpse at both the murderous master of sound and Black Panther, the Wakandan protector.  Gorgeous yet very clever in its efficiency, I love the in-your-face boldness of this cover.

Star Wars: Darth Vader #9 (cover art by Jim Cheung)

Another week, another Star Wars: Darth Vader cover, this one illustrated by Jim Cheung.  I’ll admit to a certain childhood affinity for the character and this cover, with its stirring blacks and reds illuminated by the blinding white heat of the light saber, reawakens the love I held for this franchise.

God Complex #2  (cover art by Hendry Prasetya)

There’s a slick, stylistic weirdness to Prasetya’s cover art, a surprisingly complimentary melding of disparate worlds: humanity and technology.  Gold and greys mark the sleek cybernetic marriage of realism and alien incongruity.

Gung Ho #1 (cover art by ?)

Representing the small press is this title from Red Fox Comics that offers up a delightful weird amalgamation of gorilla, grenades, and banana.  It all hints at a hyper-realistic over-the-top fun but I’ll be damned if that gorilla doesn’t look mighty peeved.

Heat Vision #1 (cover art by ?)

Echoes of the pulp SF magazines of the 50’s makes this yet another nostalgia-fueled pick.  It’s James Bonds meets Lovecraft by way of Fantastic Magazine.

 

Luke Cage #167 (cover art by Rahzza)

Check out this hypnotic cover by single-named artist, Rahzza, with its center shocks of vibrant colors against a double-hued purple backdrop.

Optimus Prime #13 (cover art by Kei Zama)

Full admission: I have never owned a Transformers toy, watched a Transformers movie, or read a Transformers book in my life, but I’ve got to give it up to artist Kei Zama’s bad-ass low angle shot of our towering heroes.  They are the good guys, right?

Star Wars #39 (cover art by David Marquez)

It’s hard not to see the beauty in this admittedly unnerving character design by David Marquez, another glorious confluence of man, machine, and unknown other.

Swordquest #5 (cover art by Goni Montes)

Love the way this one plays with light and shadow, the advancing primaries bathed in that background darkness.  The blue skin tone is a delightfully creepy touch.

The Beautiful Death #3 (cover art by Mathieu Bablet)

Strange as it sounds, there is a certain sense of comfort in the underlying herbaceousness to Mathieu Bablet’s post apocalyptic vision that contrasts the death of glass and steel with the rebirth of nature.  And, at the heart of it, two lonely figures gaze out on the seemingly empty world.

The Shadow #4 (cover art by Lee Weeks)

This one captures an infinitesimal instant of flow and fury, the train streaking out of the tunnel, The Shadow making the leap to board, guns in hand, his trailing crimson cape the single punctuation of colorful in a world of black and white.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War #4 (cover art by David Sondred)

Big-ass gun?  Check.  Big-ass battle suit?  Check.  Blood red foreground palette backed by the smoked-out greys of destruction?  Check-check.  I’m not exactly sold on that modesty curtain cover…what exactly?  His nuts and bolt?…but otherwise a very cool character design.