One of my biggest confusions regarding the comic book industry is why the artists who draw the book cannot also do the cover. It seems simple to me actually.
As the new DC Rebirth series begins it remains interesting to see that Tyler Kirkham drew the art inside the book, but Clay Mann did the cover. Even more interesting is that the worth of the book rises and falls on who does the cover. Why can’t Tyler Kirkham draw the cover? He is doing all of the work to put the book together, he should be the one to have his picture on the cover. I read the books for the stories, some people read the books for the artwork–it seems to me that it is somewhat shady to display and market a cover, but then on the inside have something completely different.
The covers, I understand, are a big deal. There are variant covers of books that are more central to the storyline, each with a different artist. Each is designed to boost the price of the book. This importance placed on the cover of the book brings home the idea that it is critical for the inside artist to draw the outside cover. If DC trust the artist with the inside, they should trust them with the cover.
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This post is a fresh rewrite of a post titled “Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover” written in September 2006.
Photo of Action Comics #959 from MidtownComic.com Cover art by Clay Mann