COVER GALLERY: 2008

Here it is! To wrap up the year in style, I'm going to review the covers Alex did on this year that's now going on the OUT pile. First of all, a clarification, I will not talk about or post covers from Project Superpowers, Justice Society of America or Avengers/Invaders, those belong in their respective posts, which will be updated by the time you read this, so just click on the links.

ASTRO CITY SPECIAL - BEAUTIE: This is a pretty nifty cover due to the fact that the character is an action figure come to life, so seeing it on a shelf breaking through the package is pretty effective, the angle makes it more believable, too.
ASTRO CITY - THE DARK AGE HC Vol.1: Nice cover which uses the darkness to silhouette a woman and a cape and the heroes going towards it. This cover is a mixed bag; style is great, but some parts are too crowded versus the all black parts which seem too empty and quiet. This hardcover compiles both "Dark Age" volumes plus the prelude, a sketchbook and a cover gallery.


ASTONISHING X-MEN #25 (Dynamic Forces Sketch cover): Alex's return to Marvel wasn't only about Avengers/Invaders, he did other stuff like this special sketch edition of "Astonishing" for Dynamic Forces that features a very angry Wolverine, a character that Alex is not very fond of but, I think he's coming around in the end because it certainly looks cool!
UNCANNY X-MEN #500:. Opposite to the simplicity of the previous cover, this one is chockfull of characters from different eras of the X-Men including heroes and villains. This cover is so massive that wraps around the issue. The art is gorgeous yet my complaint is, as usual, the odd coloring Alex chooses for the mutants, this time is a reddish/magenta palette that fits Magneto but not everyone there.



CAPTAIN AMERICA #34 (Regular version and Dynamic Forces limited edition): With the death of the original Captain America, Steve Rogers, a replacement appeared with a redesigned suit (courtesy of Alex) and a gun-toting attitude. The regular cover is patriotic and captures the new character and his agenda in a very in-your-face attitude. The limited cover is just a headshot but you've got to admire the level of detail Alex puts into the shiny cowl of the new Cap, in which you can see the old cap reflected there. Wicked!



SECRET WARS OMNIBUS HC: This massive edition collects the acclaimed series which birthed the comic crossover as we know it. Alex decided to pay homage to the original Mike Zeck cover by not changing much but instead, putting the Marvel heroes in broad daylight so they look as real as Alex can make them.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #568: There's not much I can say about this cool cover of ASM. The Green Goblin just oozes evil and is a million times scarier than the movie Goblin. This art also resembles a life-size bust Alex did of this character, both rock!
EARTH X TRILOGY COMPANION: This one came out of left field. Not having seen any new art for Earth X in years, this book's cover art was a welcomed surprise. The art is so experimental and DaVinci-esque that immediately grabbed my attention due to its complexity.
MARVELS PREMIERE HC: A very simple cover for this so-called Premiere book, right? I'm not complaining about the art, which looks fine, although Alex has done a similar one for Batman and Superman, with the spotlight and all. My complaint is why use it on a book which is about the Marvel Universe and focus (the art) on just one hero?


SUPERMAN #675 TO 681 & BATMAN #676 TO 681: One of the coolest things this year, is Alex Ross being the permanent cover artist on the Superman and Batman ongoing titles. Look at those covers! First of all, the initial covers (Supes 675 and Bats 676) are a perfect ying and yang of the characters one is light the other is dark, the alien looks very human and the human looks like a, well, bat. I love it! Besides those 2, I like these covers in general, special mention goes to Batman 681 with The Dark Knight between those gargoyles and Superman as Atlas (in #677). Krypto in #680 is an odd choice because Alex doesn't like drawing animals but the result is a heroic AND cute cover, nonetheless.

KINGDOM COME TPB: This softcover re-edition of the classic tale by Alex and Mark Waid does what the Marvels Premiere didn't, to feature a truly astounding foldout cover with new art by Alex Ross, that features the good guys around a table in Green Lantern's satellite and on the table's reflection we can see the bad guys. Gorgeous art! NOTE: This foldout cover ONLY comes with the first edition of this book, subsequent printings will NOT have it.

A TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL TURNER: On June 27th, 2008, Michael Turner, one of the great comic book artists of this time, passed away after battling for years with Cancer. His company, Aspen MLT, released this tribute book with art from a lot of the industry's best and whose profits will benefit a Cancer charity. The cover was originally pencilled by Turner and Alex added his paints. The end result is a gorgeous rendering of Michael Turner's characters from his series (Fathom and Soulfire) but instead of being digitally colored as usual, Alex is able to achieve and even surpass the digital tools with his watercolors and airbrush magic and finally blend it all in an image that looks very little like his art but that is undoubtedly and unmistakably Michael's art as well.


This was a busy year for Alex as you can tell. There were other works by him, which were reprinted from previously published art or that is already in other sections of this blog. Back Issue #30 and Age of TV Heroes HC book can be seen in our Twomorrows Publishing section. Black Adam: Dark Age TPB reprints the 2007 cover seen here. Red Sonja #30 reprints the cover to the 2007 SDCC sketchbook you can see in our sketchbook section. And finally the DC Comics Encyclopedia got a new cover which I wrote about here.