Cover Watch 8.24.11
This probably won’t become a “Thing” but I always wanted to examine this concept. They always say don’t judge a book by its cover, but a comic book’s cover is designed to sell a book to the general audience. So I just wanted to take a look at how the covers of weekly books actually match up to the content provided in them! This week is a light week for me, but here you go.
Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost 3-
What is Shows: The cover shows Kid Flash falling onto a crowd of on-lookers (how evil are they that they simply point, and none seem to be offering any assistance), and it seems to be set in a modern-ish era. At least what the technology shows.
What we actually get: Inside is a tale of Kid Flash being shuffled through time to various speedsters including Max Mercury and Wally West, finally he finds his uncle Barry in the Flashpoint alternate universe.
Do they match? Somewhat. The cover does a decent job of showcasing the fact that Kid Flash is being taken on this adventure by another force, and has no real control of it. And while the setting is more modern, he does hit up modern day Flashpoint-verse.
Batman: Arkham City 5
What the Cover Shows: It is actually a fairly basic cover. It has Batman leaping into action on the backdrop of the newly formed Arkham City.
What We Get: A story that actually doesn’t have Batman in Arkham City for the most part. It is actually a public game of chess between Hugo Strange and Bruce Wayne.
Do They Match? Not Really. I understand that it would be weird NOT to have Batman on the cover, but that persona actually doesn’t play much into this story as it deals more with Strange and Wayne in a way. Also this story features the least amount of Arkham City action of the series.
Batman, Inc 8
What it Shows: A Tron-inspired Batman inside of some cyber world. The light-trace colors and circuity are an awesome background by the by.
What we Get: A story of Batman/Bruce Wayne and Oracle trapped inside of a Waynetech computer program with several other high ranking CEOs. The entire issue takes place in this virtual world.
Do They Match?: For the most part. The idea is pretty much the same, Batman inside of a computer though the book’s virtual world looks nothing like the one presented on the cover (and if you read our review, probably would have preferred the cover art!)
I quite like this feature. It’s rare for covers to accurately show what goes on in a book since they’re solicited well before the issue is drawn or even written. In the old days they wrote the issue based on whatever the artist came up with for the cover. I was really looking forward to that Batman Inc issue based on the cover…but yeah…we know how that turned out.