Ten Comic Book Covers I Just HATE!!

Fans of AT4w are probably well aware of the things Linkara has discussed regarding covers. A good comic book cover has to be interesting and good enough to get your attention while also giving you an idea of what the story is about. But as he has pointed out often in his show, many covers miss the mark.


Truth is I am no so fussy about covers. It has to be pretty bad for some reason for me to really hate it. But still, it got me thinking so today I wanted to go over some covers of comic books that I personally hate. I went thru a bunch of covers, and picked out the one’s I thought were awful. Just opinion of course, and some of these are not awful for obvious reasons like art work,  but here is what I came up with :

Batman #415
 
See this cover of Batman? There’s nothing wrong with it in terms of how it’s drawn. In fact it’s drawn very well by one of my favorites, Jim Aparo. What’s the problem? The scene doesn’t even remotely happen in the issue. At all. It truly feels like the artist either had no idea what the issue was about, or didn’t care since it was a tie-in and people would likely read it anyway. The cover has to give SOME idea of what is in the issue. It’s a pet peeve but it annoys me.










Blue Beetle #11

I always hated this one. This cover is just so…busy. It took me forever to figure out what was I was looking at. It shows Beetle fighting a villain group called The Hybrid while the Bug is below them carrying and ambulance..I think.









Adventures of Superman #514

Pretty iconic image. What’s wrong with it? Would you like to know how many covers have Superman standing over and/or holding Lois’s apparently dead body? It’s a shocking image but of course it’s total crap, so the effect is kind of muted. This kind of thing happens over and over, if the death the cover is showing really happens, fine. Otherwise it’s just a tease and when done all the time REALLY has no effect.  Don’t believe me this has been done a million times?


    







DC Comics Presents #32

I hate this issue, It’s like a holdover from the silver age, even though it was not done in the silver age. The cover is terrible because it is totally misrepresenting the situation. This doesn’t make me want to read it, it makes me want to move on to the next issue. I guess it’s drawn just fine it’s just I get sick of the “Superman and Wonder Woman” are supposed to be in love nonsense. Why would cover with them making me out want to pick it up?












Firestorm #61

    
Here’s a curious case. For some reason this comic was given two covers, and you can see a real difference. The first is really confusing, if Typhoon wasn’t named on the cover you’d have no idea what was going on. It just sucks. The second is much more clear and sets the tone for the issue. Yeah a background of some kind would have been nice.
















New Teen Titans #19

I just don’t like this cover. Kind of for the same reason as the Blue Beetle one, it’s just to busy. Yeah the Titans do fight the monsters but it’s drawn so badly. It took me forever to realize Cyborg is there since he blends in with the snow. I also love how Hawkman guest stars but is not on the cover, just his logo.  This issue really involves Dr.Light. I know that because I read the issue since it’s not clear on this badly drawn cover,
















Wonder Woman #18

What the heck happened here? Instead of the cool Wonder Woman logo we get “Wonder Woman” in standard font. The cover is so dark I have no idea what I am looking at. Yeah we see Wonder Woman cradling someone, but..so? This issue is the first post Crisis appearance of Circe…it sucks. It looks like a rejected Swamp Thing cover. And that bonus book the cover mentions? None in the issue.













Action Comics #546

I said once before that I was not a fan of Gil Kane’s art work and  this is a prime example. In this issue is a crossover between the JLA and The New Teen Titans, and the cover does nothing for me. Except for the fact that two team logo’s are on it, this cover is awful. The heroes are all drawn so poorly,  and the scene is just them all kind of….standing there. I guess ready to fight. I like this issue but for me this cover is an epic fail.












Justice League of America #193/DC Comics Presents #26
    
Hey here’s a great idea, let’s take the cover image and shrink it down. Then around we can put all kinds of empty space and an ad for a new book coming out! The scene of the JLA fighting the tornady is really good, but would have been so much better if it hadn’t been reduced down like that. The DC Comics Presents, famous for being the first time anyone saw The New Teen Titans, has the same issue but is a little better because the focus is a little tighter on Superman and Green Lantern.













Batman #497

Finally, we end with another Batman issue. And this issue is a real good example of the awful 90’s art which was around back then. I mean, what the heck is going on with the proportions of Bane? And I get he is braking Batman’s back but the way he is bending is a bit to much. The awful artwork made what should have been an iconic cover into something only Rob Liefeld would be proud of. I am not sure if Aparo did the cover or not (doesn’t look like his style I bet he did the story  but not the cover) but it’s a big fail.









Well, I think I will stop here. And there are plenty more out there, as you can tell most of these come from the 70’s and 80’s so I am sure if I dug around the 90’s and onward I could fill even more lists. Not to mention stuff from Marvel. Maybe I will be back with more, for now after all this crap I need some good covers to look at.