COVER me, I'm going in...

A few blog entries below we were speaking of Michael Turner being perhaps popular but not necessarily the best choice for an Eisner award for Comic Book Cover Artist of 2004. So what makes a good cover? Is it a dramatic depiction of the interior of the comic? Is it an eye catching event that might be found inside the comic? Is it a posed image of a hero or villain? I think that cover succeeds whenever it compels me to buy it. So, a Neal Adams or Jack Kirby cover in the 1970s caught my eye, and if I had the money, I’d buy the comic. In the 80s it seemed to be Timothy Truman, or George Perez or Frank Miller who grabbed me by the comic reading cahones and forced me to buy the title. In the 90s and new century? Timothy Bradstreet, Simon Bisley and Chris Weston all created covers that truly suspended whatever resistance I had to the title, and urged my hand to dole out my dollars to buy the title. What comic cover specialist has created your favorite covers and why are they your favorites? Here are my choices.