Tuesday, December 8, 2015

A Simple Question About Comic Book Covers


Doug: You have to pick an overall preference: Clean, Worded Up, or Captions Only? The Silver and Bronze Ages are your parameters for reference.




 




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9 comments:

Redartz said...

In order of preference: clean, captions, captions and dialogue. Noted that there are many examples of great covers under all three categories, for instance the iconic dialogue balloons on the cover of Amazing Spiderman 122. My preference for 'clean' covers is a general thing. I just am turned off by covers with too much crowding, whether by design, word balloons or captions...

By the way, the cover you shared of Amazing Spiderman 67 is a classic Romita beauty!

December 8, 2015 at 7:08 AM
Anonymous said...

Preferably captions only - but some speech bubbles are necessary and effective like "No, it can't be you !!". But keep any dialogue on the cover to a minimum.

December 8, 2015 at 7:20 AM
david_b said...

I'm more austere than most perhaps when it comes to classic covers..

One depiction of action/anxiety/tension/standoff, no verbiage except perhaps a classic "Lo the End Arrives" or something at the bottom, and NO UPC symbols.

Simple, yet effective.

December 8, 2015 at 8:29 AM
Edo Bosnar said...

Honestly, I have no preferences. All of the covers you posted look fine to me, and I've liked covers of all three types.

December 8, 2015 at 9:13 AM
Garett said...

Of the covers here, I prefer the ones with word balloons. It creates more drama beyond the simple physical threat. If Two-face wasn't speaking on the Titans cover, it would be tense, but we wouldn't get the same tension from his inner personality in conflict. Same with Daredevil-- the words accentuate the threat of the darts, which aren't that impressive visually.

But of course it depends! The Spider-Man cover is pretty cool because it's spooky and mysterious. The Batman cover would be better with some words. Perhaps the spooky/moody covers can be better with no words-- Moon Knight by Sienkiewicz, Swamp Thing by Wrightson.

December 8, 2015 at 9:44 AM
Anonymous said...

I'd probably say: captions, clean, dialogue. I don't mind words on the cover, but dialogue-heavy covers can get cluttered very quickly.

Mike Wilson

December 8, 2015 at 12:38 PM
J.A. Morris said...

I generally prefer the covers that feature over-the-top melodramatic dialogue that usually had nothing to do with the story. Because that was the norm when I started reading comics in the Bronze Age.

Having said that, the Romita Mysterio cover is gorgeous and adding text of any kind would have hurt it.

December 8, 2015 at 3:19 PM
Anonymous said...

Hmm I don't really have a clear preference here between clean, captions or dialogue. Usually I just look at a cover as a whole and if it appeals to me visually then I'd probably buy it. Of course, covers drawn by my favourite artists like Kane, Buscema or Romita Sr almost always caught my eye! To me, a well drawn cover by a great artist is enough regardless of captions or dialogue.


- Mike 'insert speech bubble here' from Trinidad & Tobago.

December 8, 2015 at 8:44 PM
William said...

I've never really thought about it, but now that I have seen the question I can honestly say that I don't really have a preference. I like a nice striking image, but other than that I don't mind captions and dialogue if it's used for a good reason. Like to clarify something, or add to the dramatic tension.

December 9, 2015 at 8:11 AM

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