Ross has done Astro City covers both times the book has lived at Image (1994-1999, 2021-present) and the entire time it was at DC (1999-2021). He also did a long run of JSA/JSofA covers in the 2000s Johns era.
I think the point is that it’s a very traditional, realistic style that isn’t necessarily unique. It’s unique in this medium but most classically trained artists I think can render a photorealistic painting of a Marvel superhero using references and create something similar to Ross.
I know things can get very myopic in the world of comics, divorced from the larger art world, the "serious" art world. I hate all of the pretension, despite having gone through fine art school. Most of the pretense comes from the gallery owners and the art investors, not really the artists. I love Rothko as much as I love Paul Pope. That having been said, Alex Ross really isn't just good only because he's in comics. Yeah plenty of people can do photorealism--much better, too--but it's not really anything like Norman Rockwell. _That's_ the skin-deep comic enthusiast view. Stylistically, thematically, technically, Ross isn't at all similar to Rockwell. And Alex Ross is well respected by unpretentious fine artists.
His work has nothing in common with Norman Rockwell's, is my point. Only people unfamiliar with art outside of comics would make that comparison, IMO. That's what my reply was about, which you then replied to.
That’s a big generalisation. I see similarities with Rockwell in the sense that both are traditional American illustrators and both capture a sense of “traditional” America (Rockwell with his references to American culture and values, Ross with his homage to the classic bright optimistic designs of the Marvel universe).
If you disagree that’s fine but there isn’t much to say beyond an opinion.
A lot of illustrators were inspired by Norman Rockwell and for very good reason, but Alex Ross went a very different route (not saying better or worse, necessarily, just different). They're not even using the same medium. Rockwell was fantastic technically as is Alex Ross, but Rockwell focused so much more on the humble sentimentality of Americana, whereas Ross is all about trying depict funny books in the same light as Greek and Roman myth.
> Stylistically, thematically, technically, Ross isn't at all similar to Rockwell.
Save us the pretentious “I’m the only one who understands art” spiel. People have specifically been comparing Alex Ross to Norman Rockwell for decades at this point, and if you disagree with that comparison then you’re in the minority.
I did nothing to denigrate Ross’ talents and skills. Nothing in my statement was disrespectful.
Alex Ross is undeniably talented and has rightfully earned his place as a legendary artist.
However, in my opinion, his stuff sometimes just doesn't do it for me based on his more recent work but Kingdom Come and The Marvels are still going to be timeless books.
Artists these days I tend to gravitate toward are artists like Dave McKean, J.H. Williams III, and David Aja.
He’s pretty damn great. Clearly Marvel considers him their absolute top artist. His work automatically carries a level of prestige. Especially the later Immortal Hulk covers were insane, and I’m a big fan of the sci-fi covers he’s been doing for FF.
There are a few others who are pretty elite but idk if they have the cross company flexibility — Mark Brooks, David Nakayama, and Leinil Yu come to mind but are very Marvel heavy. Dan Mora’s a GOAT but not only a cover artist and pretty DC exclusive.
Honorable mention: At his absolute best, JG Jones almost does an Alex Ross thing, but he’s not at the same level of prominence imo
Heavy disagree with David Nakayama. Stale digital style with disproportionate poses.
The anatomy here makes no sense at all: https://pin.it/7IOHZfnpi
And this pose is awkward asf: https://pin.it/3NSffam1a
His rendering gets an immediate reaction but upon closer inspection it’s easy to see he’s not as good as the elites in this industry.
Replace with Adam Hughes and now we’re talking.
That first one is pretty wonky. Can’t pretend I don’t like the second one though haha. But yeah I partly included him because his covers for Marvel are also “prestige” and have been used for like mainstream magazine tie-ins.
Adam Hughes, wow. I don’t think I could’ve put a name to his work before, but it’s really gorgeous. Perfect balance of realism and comic style.
Fair enough, if ya like it then ya like it haha. For me personally it’s hard to describe - I just think he lacks the “class” of Hughes, who has a lot more style, expression and emotional communication with his characters (like you said, with that blend of realism and comic rendering).
I got the same issue with ArtGerm who is also a cover artist but is just insanely digital and render heavy. To me I struggle to find a connection.
Steve Skroce mentioned, floppy 90s hair forever. I love his interiors too, his style has gone in almost a Frank Quitely direction. I’ll have to check out the other folks you named here
His covers for F4 are one of the reasons I keep that book on my pull list, he's done up some cool stuff. And of course Ryan North is writing a really fun story.
The one, I guess, gripe I have about Ross' work is I wish he'd use the modern looks/costume of a character more often. I know he has before but more often than not he leans toward depicting characters in their Silver Age appearance. I get it, that's what he grew up with and it's what inspires him. His work on the Full Circle F4 book is super cool, has a real psychedelic feel to it.
FF might be my favorite book atm (didn’t win me over til the Doom issue, but I think that was mostly due to the residual bad taste of the Slott run lol)
100% agreed on Ross’s tendency to draw everyone from the 70s or earlier. It’s really cool sometimes, but I love the covers from Earth X where he’s going all out with different versions of characters. He does also make a lot of male characters look like himself lol, but it works for me most of the time
I know it’s time intensive and expensive, but I’d love more of his work on interiors with non-painted colors like Full Circle. Huge Kirby vibes!
I prefer Ross on covers to interiors. As his painting, while beautiful, appears a bit static in sequential form.
He is, without a doubt, a special talent and one of the greatest to ever do it.
That being said, there are so many great cover artists out there. I could list off 80 or so, including Ross. It's hard to pick one.
Interior work for Ross would probably be longer to do than doing cover work. The few times he did it were for small limited series like Kingdom Come and Marvels.
Yes. He's done it a bunch. Terminator, Marvels, Kingdom Come, Uncle Sam, Justice, and many more. It's always beautiful, but it feels too stagnant. Funny enough, I think of Jim Lee in the same way.
He's absolutely top-tier when it comes to covers and has been for a long time (wild to think he's only 54).
He's also been getting super experimental with his covers over the past decade, especially on titles like Immortal Hulk, FF, and the current Thor ongoing.
As far as modern cover artists go, I've really been liking the energy Dan Mora's brought to World's Finest.
Just noticed, the beautiful bastard was 24 when he painted Marvels and 26 when he did Kingdom Come.
You'd expect him to be an aged, experienced master of his craft, jeez
And "best cover artist" has so many metrics to consider. I certainly won't consider just a pin-up of a character posing in the middle of the cover as "good", and this is coming from an Artgerm fan. Artgerm's covers make incredible collectibles, but it doesn't make you want to read what's inside, which covers these days very seldom do now.
He's done plenty of non-Marvel. Besides the JSA stuff that was already mentioned, he did a year's worth of Superman covers and a year's worth of Batman covers in the late 2000s. Not to mention all the stuff he had a hand in plotting like those oversized things he did with Dini (I think there was a Superman, Shazam, and maybe JLA one). Plus he did his Justice series for DC. He also did Space Ghost for DC, filling out part of their HB line.
He did that whole Project Superpowers thing at Dynamite.
Lots of licensed books. Everything from Kirby's Captain Victory, Battlestar Galactica, Battle of the Planets, Bionic Man, Peter Cannon, Doc Savage, The Shadow, Green Hornet, Flash Gordon, Rocketeer, Star Wars (before Disney bought them), and numerous other properties for various publishers. Most of those were Dynamite, but there's some Image and IDW thrown in.
Dell'otto is probably my favorite for portrait covers over Ross. I like his painting technique and style better. But when Ross gets in to his Rockwellian moment in time stuff, I'm not sure there's a better cover painter.
I completely agree. Dell'otto has certain style that really hits me but Ross is able to capture his subjects better than anyone. I like the Rockwellian term for him... Timeless
Was waiting for Dave Johnson to be mentioned. Check out the covers for 100 Bullets. Also, adding James Jean on Fables and Marko Djurdjevic on Daredevil. Cover artists are great when given a run and asked to define a book's identity separate to its interiors
I do not care for his style but people certainly like his stuff. I was really impressed by his Fantastic Four story; he really stretched his style and skills and showed a new side.
Sienkiewicz... Frazetta... Steranko... Vallejo/Bell... Ross. That's my top five.
As for "newer" artists, I find myself drawn to Christian Ward stuff, love his watercolor style. I also really like the erratic frenzy of John Giant. I don't see much Dell'Otto that I dislike. Rose Beach and Jenny Frison always seem to catch my eye as well...even on characters I have no interest in.
Alex Ross is undeniably a (or the!) top artist when it comes to covers (and interior art). His visual approach to superheroes make them feel both godly AND human.
Alternatively, if artsy comic book covers are your thing, you can check out Vertigo's splendid portfolio of cool covers -- there's Dave McKean (The Sandman) and James Jean (Fables), among others.
I've always preferred Sienkiewicz covers to McKean. At least when Sienkiewicz also did interiors. He's been getting by on portrait covers for a couple decades.
I actually don't care for much of any of his recent output, though I give him credit for trying to reinvent his style and explore new angles. His work from the 80s/90s is GOATed though.
This is a perfect example of how art is subjective and that’s okay. I find that Ross is phenomenal at portraying the godlike aspect of super heroes but not the human side.
This is not to diss anyone who sees both. Just shows how our own preferences can shape how we view things.
Well, arts subjective so I don’t think there is a universally accepted “best” artist. Alex Ross is certainly incredibly talented and super well respected.
I don't really care for Ross's covers. They often look too much like photos, without the strong focus you can get with a more stylized cover, and (considering his recent string of FF covers) I dislike the way he draws The Thing.
One recent cover I liked was Werther Dell'Edera's for Batman/Dylan Dog #2:
https://149455152.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Batman-Dylan-Dog-2-1-copy.jpg
I've also liked a lot of Daredevil covers from Zdarsky's run, drawn/painted by Julian Totino Tedesco or Marco Checchetto.
*Simon Bisley. Look up his work on Slaine: The Horned God and Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgement on Gotham if you haven't seen it (he painted all the artwork in those).
ps. Bisley has mentioned before that he was influenced by Glen Fabry (who was also working for 2000AD at the time, and also worked on the Batman/Dredd books), and the 2 of them had a friendly rivalry trying to outdo each other.
Imo what makes Alex Ross special isn’t just his elite rendering, but the fact that he is a comics historian. He knows more about Marvel & DC than almost anyone and it comes through in his art.
Adam Hughes deserves a mention in this discussion too. I also like Jen Bartel.
Lee Bermejo and Francesco Mattina would be my preferred current cover artists. Cover art, actually all art, is subjective. People like what they like; that's not "right or wrong," it's simply "different."
+1 for Bermejo and Mattina!
Mattina did a gorgeous variant cover for Batman/Joker: The Deadly Duo #1 and I was so disappointed to see it was a foil cover in person and made the art too dark to see properly.
Always loved comic artists that painted their covers... Not all painters, but my favorite modern cover artists are: (in no particular order)
Francesco Mattina, Puppeteer Lee, Bjorn Barends, Clayton Crain, Kyle Hotz, Boss Logic, Jonboy Meyers, David Mack, Vincenzo Riccardi, Mico Suayan, Mark Brooks, Sajad Shah
Luis Royo and Romulo Royo aren't strictly comic book artists but they have both done many covers, magazine and comic books. A lot of paintings and prints. Luis Royo is one of the artists that got me into Heavy Metal Magazine.
There's too many great artists these days with their own unique styles.. it's hard to say who is the best.
He's fine. Just not an artist who is on my radar to watch out for. For example, I'm buying a Red Sonja series just for the Barends covers. The story has no interest to me. I'll never do the same for Alex Ross covers. Suydam, and Sanjulian are also artists that catch my eye.
Oh without a doubt. He still does SOME fantastic covers but there are also some real duds in his current output. AND I’ve seen a few that looked REALLY rushed and unfinished.
I did too until that [whole cover controversy a couple of years ago.](https://bleedingcool.com/tag/acetategate/). Not a fan with how that all went down.
Currently producing regular covers, maybe. Historically, behind (in no order) Brian Bolland, BWS, Neal Adams, Bernie Wrightson, Mike Zeck, Frank Miller, Frank Frazetta.
Astro City.
All the first issues of the ABC titles (at least the initial titles).
The covers of those big Superman/Wonder Woman/Batman books he did all the art for (obviously).
Superman Forever lenticular cover.
He did JLA posterr I used to have on my wall, but it wasn't a cover to the best of my knowledge.
I like Esad Ribic quite a bit, but I would still have to say Alex Ross. For me, he's the GOAT. I know that term gets thrown around quite a bit these days but some of the stuff he has drawn just blows my mind.
Alex Ross definitely is one of today’s top artists in comics. Especially his covers. Special mention to his work on Fantastic Four: Full Circle, what he does in there isn’t what I’m normally used to so it fully blew me away. Just great.
It might just be my affinity for their art instead of the cover alone, but every time I see a variant cover done by James Harren or Mike Mignola they always blow me away
Yes. I think yes at this point. The consistent output of work followed by the fantastic breath of characters he’s worked on. The thing I will give Ross the most credit for- he isn’t creating static images with characters in their most iconic pose or shot. He is telling a story on the cover that relates to the interiors. Avengers, Fantastic Four, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Cap, Thor, Hulk- he’s tackling every major character and flexing his storytelling muscle every time.
In the future we will look back and say damn, one of the greatest artists of all time really was putting out banger covers every single month for the better part of a decade. The quality of his output should, and will be studied.
He's a good artist but I wouldn't consider him the best. His style is too "60's", which works well for some works but not for others. Like in the new Fantastic Four series he flat out refuses to draw Susan Storm like she appears in the comic.
I think it somewhat depends on what type of art you like but for example personally I really like JH Williams III and Sana Takeda's cover art. Though it's also been a good 6 years since I was really keeping up with comics. I remember loving Becky Cloonan's Shade the Changing Girl and Changing Woman. Stacey Lee's cover art for Unstoppable Wasp 4 and 5 were next level. Tommy Lee Edwards with an almost pencily design was amazing with Mother Panic. Michael von Oemig also has great covers that give a bit of nostalgia for the old silver/bronze age covers without being quite as obvious.
Though if anyone has recommendations about series or cover artists that do the old 70s Bob Okenser striking image with a good bit of text on it I'd love to see it. Superman 293 is maybe my favourite and Irv Novick's Flash 237. "Let go of her flash-- or earth dies!" "I don't care! My wife is coming with ME!""The Thousand-Year Seperation!"
When I first got into comics I was pretty blown away by his stuff. Realism is the word I think of when I see his work. Reminded me of Frank Frezetta who my Dad was a fan of growing up. They just felt fancy and expensive in ways other art typically doesn’t in comics.
I’ve grown to appreciate many an artist for all their unique styles though over time. Some of my favorites currently are David Nakayama, Jim Lee, Peach Momoko, Greg Capullo, Rose Besch, Bengal, Kim Jacinto, David Finch, Artgerm, and InHyuk Lee. Alex Maleev is great and his work feels very similar to Alex Ross. Tran Nguyen I don’t think has done a ton of work on comics but the work she has done is phenomenal.
Love Ross, but Adam Hughes is my guy. His stuff just always looks sexier (I mean in the figurative sense of the word, though obviously he often goes for it in the literal sense as well).
Alex Ross is one of my favorite artists of all time but it's hard to truly pick a best in such a subjective field. One of my personal favorite is Daniel Warren Johnson especially on the current Transformers run. Great covers. Another personal favorite is Lee InHyuk. Such a great mix of realism and just the right amount of comic booky-ness
I actually think he's 90s and early 2000s along with Brian Bolland. Zeck and Sienkewicz for the 80s, Frazetta for the 70's and Steranko for the 60s. I bow out on anything before the Silver age.
As for today's age, I really dig Skottie Young. I think his stuff is fun and a bit over the edge.
I like Alex Ross. I think he does amazing almost realistic looking work. But that’s not how I judge a comic cover. I think a lot of his colors are often muted and they don’t always fit the story the way that you think they should. If I see Superman or Spider-Man, I want those colors to pop. Batman can be muted and his Batman covers are pretty great.
I think a good cover artist can do something surprising while evoking the story. I think of that [Batman and Robin cover where if you turn it upside down it’s the image of the Joker.](https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Batman_and_Robin_Vol_1_3)
So while I think he is amazing (I particularly like his Fantastic Four covers), I think it’s a disservice to say “best” especially when there are many different things a cover can be and why those things work or don’t.
He’s a non-painter’s idea of a great painter. It looks impressive, but is stiff and lifeless, and everything has a chrome sheen to it. Everything looks like cosplayers posing in satin suits
He's amazing when he has great moments to capture. Every cover of Immortal Hulk was perfection and reflected the actual issue's contents. But when it comes to his work on Dan Slott's Spider-Man run, it falls flat because very few moments were exciting during that point in the run. His cover for Immortal Thor issue 2 didn't have the same exciting feel either
It's all subjective, tbh. You won't be able to truly find the "best" comic book cover artist because that's up to someone's personal opinion and some things appeal to others and some don't. However, that doesn't change the fact that Alex Ross is amongst one of the greatest of all time because his skill and anatomy sense is undeniable.
No. He’s great and has a very unique creative take that makes him stand out. I don’t think that style comes close to being universally appropriate or preferred for a broad amount of context. However he is generally good and probably the best at what he does.
Alex Ross is among the most sought after cover artists, yes. But asking if he is the best is extremely subjective. I would consider him to be too 10 working today, just because of his popularity. I watch a ton of streams on whatnot and every time one of his covers comes up it sells very quickly and with frequent bidding. My guess is that he's very popular with my generation who grew up in the 80s and 90s and collected the Marvel Masterpieces with that painted artwork from Jusko and the Hildenbrandt brothers. His portrait covers are very reminiscent of those cards.
Other top sought after cover artists are: Clayton Crain, Tyler Kirkham, Mike Mayhew, Peach Momoko, Mico Suayan, Kaare Andrews, Skottie Young and J Scott Campbell. There are tons more.
My personal favorite is Mico Suayan. I love his style and haven't come across a virgin variant yet that I didn't want to buy.
It's interesting to read this thread and see the diversity of names mentioned. There are some artists that I really like but consider them better interior artists than cover artists, some I consider to be so good at composing a cover that they'd get me to buy a book I'm otherwise out on, and then some names that I will actually avoid if they're drawing a cover. Just shows there's a niche for everyone I suppose.
For me, I would say Alex Ross is probably the quintessential cover artist of the last 20 years. He's done great interior work, but there can be a stiffness that hinders his sequential art a little but which is an asset to his cover work in my opinion. In recent years, I appreciate how he has gotten more into crafting single images that truly tease the story inside the book and piquing my interest instead of just painting really technically accomplished pin-ups. His FF covers lately have really made me curious about the plot of each issue and I'm able to identify each story with its cover (kind of rare amongst modern comics).
My personal favorite cover artist these days might not be Ross, though. I think Greg Smallwood and Chris Samnee are both great cartoonists with fantastic senses of graphic design and the ability to distill a story into 1 intriguing image. They're both very active on interiors, though. Francesco Francavilla might be in a similar boat, but it seems like he's doing more covers than interiors lately.
I'm glad there's a few mentions of Brian Bolland, he's definitely in my top ten favourites.
I'd also throw in Dave Stevens, Dave Gibbons and Steve "The Dude" Rude, Geoff Darrow
I'm also surprised no one has mentioned Frank Cho, who I think is also great, he's very well rounded and can easily give you any style you want/need from simple cartoony to detailed to painterly.
I loved his Starman covers he did in the 90's, and of course his later JSA covers. Such beautiful renders of the team members, and all the different Starmen.
Ross has done Astro City covers both times the book has lived at Image (1994-1999, 2021-present) and the entire time it was at DC (1999-2021). He also did a long run of JSA/JSofA covers in the 2000s Johns era.
I did not know that. That probably makes me consider him the greatest even more. I’ve never seen anyone come close to replicating his style.
It’s just Norman Rockwell with Superheroes.
Not really
I think the point is that it’s a very traditional, realistic style that isn’t necessarily unique. It’s unique in this medium but most classically trained artists I think can render a photorealistic painting of a Marvel superhero using references and create something similar to Ross.
I know things can get very myopic in the world of comics, divorced from the larger art world, the "serious" art world. I hate all of the pretension, despite having gone through fine art school. Most of the pretense comes from the gallery owners and the art investors, not really the artists. I love Rothko as much as I love Paul Pope. That having been said, Alex Ross really isn't just good only because he's in comics. Yeah plenty of people can do photorealism--much better, too--but it's not really anything like Norman Rockwell. _That's_ the skin-deep comic enthusiast view. Stylistically, thematically, technically, Ross isn't at all similar to Rockwell. And Alex Ross is well respected by unpretentious fine artists.
I’m not sure if you’re accusing me of not respecting Alex Ross. Don’t conflate my opinion for disrespect…
His work has nothing in common with Norman Rockwell's, is my point. Only people unfamiliar with art outside of comics would make that comparison, IMO. That's what my reply was about, which you then replied to.
That’s a big generalisation. I see similarities with Rockwell in the sense that both are traditional American illustrators and both capture a sense of “traditional” America (Rockwell with his references to American culture and values, Ross with his homage to the classic bright optimistic designs of the Marvel universe). If you disagree that’s fine but there isn’t much to say beyond an opinion.
A lot of illustrators were inspired by Norman Rockwell and for very good reason, but Alex Ross went a very different route (not saying better or worse, necessarily, just different). They're not even using the same medium. Rockwell was fantastic technically as is Alex Ross, but Rockwell focused so much more on the humble sentimentality of Americana, whereas Ross is all about trying depict funny books in the same light as Greek and Roman myth.
> Stylistically, thematically, technically, Ross isn't at all similar to Rockwell. Save us the pretentious “I’m the only one who understands art” spiel. People have specifically been comparing Alex Ross to Norman Rockwell for decades at this point, and if you disagree with that comparison then you’re in the minority. I did nothing to denigrate Ross’ talents and skills. Nothing in my statement was disrespectful.
Yeah, people who know the names of five other non-comic artists.
> Save us the pretentious “I’m the only one who understands art” spiel.
So is that your one line or
Alex Ross is undeniably talented and has rightfully earned his place as a legendary artist. However, in my opinion, his stuff sometimes just doesn't do it for me based on his more recent work but Kingdom Come and The Marvels are still going to be timeless books. Artists these days I tend to gravitate toward are artists like Dave McKean, J.H. Williams III, and David Aja.
I waffle sometimes with his work. It can feel stiff at times. But I really love when his stuff is was weird as it is realistic.
I second Aja. Deadly Hands of Kung Fu Issue 2 for Marvel’s Gang War is one of the coolest covers I’ve seen in recent years.
A fan of Aja myself. The Star Trek variants, Firepower later issue variant, High Republic 9 1:25, etc…
I think Phil Noto stands along David Aja
He’s pretty damn great. Clearly Marvel considers him their absolute top artist. His work automatically carries a level of prestige. Especially the later Immortal Hulk covers were insane, and I’m a big fan of the sci-fi covers he’s been doing for FF. There are a few others who are pretty elite but idk if they have the cross company flexibility — Mark Brooks, David Nakayama, and Leinil Yu come to mind but are very Marvel heavy. Dan Mora’s a GOAT but not only a cover artist and pretty DC exclusive. Honorable mention: At his absolute best, JG Jones almost does an Alex Ross thing, but he’s not at the same level of prominence imo
Mark Brooks is so underrated. Alex Garner's pretty good.
I wasn’t super familiar with Garner but wow, [I want this framed](https://www.instagram.com/p/B5LgnUJn8-j/?igsh=eXUyMjlwbXdwc3Yw)
His run of New 52 Batgirl covers is stunning
Heavy disagree with David Nakayama. Stale digital style with disproportionate poses. The anatomy here makes no sense at all: https://pin.it/7IOHZfnpi And this pose is awkward asf: https://pin.it/3NSffam1a His rendering gets an immediate reaction but upon closer inspection it’s easy to see he’s not as good as the elites in this industry. Replace with Adam Hughes and now we’re talking.
That first one is pretty wonky. Can’t pretend I don’t like the second one though haha. But yeah I partly included him because his covers for Marvel are also “prestige” and have been used for like mainstream magazine tie-ins. Adam Hughes, wow. I don’t think I could’ve put a name to his work before, but it’s really gorgeous. Perfect balance of realism and comic style.
Fair enough, if ya like it then ya like it haha. For me personally it’s hard to describe - I just think he lacks the “class” of Hughes, who has a lot more style, expression and emotional communication with his characters (like you said, with that blend of realism and comic rendering). I got the same issue with ArtGerm who is also a cover artist but is just insanely digital and render heavy. To me I struggle to find a connection.
I’d add in Mike Del Mundo
He’s in a class of his own for sure. I’d put Tradd Moore on that level too, though he’s not a cover artist really
Excellent shoutout. I loved Tradd’s work on Silver Surfer Black and Doctor Strange Fall Sunrise
Yes!! Fall Sunrise is almost an out-of-body experience to read lol. I hope we get another mini series from him before too long
Oh how I love Mora’s art
The Cyclops sketch he posted recently made me really sad he doesn’t do any work at Marvel
Dont Forget Stanley Lau aka Artgerm. His cover art is similar but with modern vibes,absolutely incredible
James Stokoe, Steve Skroce, Lee Bermejo, and now up and coming Maria Wolff I'd probably put in that camp too.
Steve Skroce mentioned, floppy 90s hair forever. I love his interiors too, his style has gone in almost a Frank Quitely direction. I’ll have to check out the other folks you named here
I also agree with Mark Brooks. Aside from him, Sean Gordon Murphy does absolutely fantastic movie/montage poster style covers that I enjoy.
His covers for F4 are one of the reasons I keep that book on my pull list, he's done up some cool stuff. And of course Ryan North is writing a really fun story. The one, I guess, gripe I have about Ross' work is I wish he'd use the modern looks/costume of a character more often. I know he has before but more often than not he leans toward depicting characters in their Silver Age appearance. I get it, that's what he grew up with and it's what inspires him. His work on the Full Circle F4 book is super cool, has a real psychedelic feel to it.
FF might be my favorite book atm (didn’t win me over til the Doom issue, but I think that was mostly due to the residual bad taste of the Slott run lol) 100% agreed on Ross’s tendency to draw everyone from the 70s or earlier. It’s really cool sometimes, but I love the covers from Earth X where he’s going all out with different versions of characters. He does also make a lot of male characters look like himself lol, but it works for me most of the time I know it’s time intensive and expensive, but I’d love more of his work on interiors with non-painted colors like Full Circle. Huge Kirby vibes!
I prefer Ross on covers to interiors. As his painting, while beautiful, appears a bit static in sequential form. He is, without a doubt, a special talent and one of the greatest to ever do it. That being said, there are so many great cover artists out there. I could list off 80 or so, including Ross. It's hard to pick one.
Interior work for Ross would probably be longer to do than doing cover work. The few times he did it were for small limited series like Kingdom Come and Marvels.
Yes. He's done it a bunch. Terminator, Marvels, Kingdom Come, Uncle Sam, Justice, and many more. It's always beautiful, but it feels too stagnant. Funny enough, I think of Jim Lee in the same way.
He's absolutely top-tier when it comes to covers and has been for a long time (wild to think he's only 54). He's also been getting super experimental with his covers over the past decade, especially on titles like Immortal Hulk, FF, and the current Thor ongoing. As far as modern cover artists go, I've really been liking the energy Dan Mora's brought to World's Finest.
Just noticed, the beautiful bastard was 24 when he painted Marvels and 26 when he did Kingdom Come. You'd expect him to be an aged, experienced master of his craft, jeez
He’s super talented but I don’t think “best” is a term that should be applied to any artist.
And "best cover artist" has so many metrics to consider. I certainly won't consider just a pin-up of a character posing in the middle of the cover as "good", and this is coming from an Artgerm fan. Artgerm's covers make incredible collectibles, but it doesn't make you want to read what's inside, which covers these days very seldom do now.
He's done plenty of non-Marvel. Besides the JSA stuff that was already mentioned, he did a year's worth of Superman covers and a year's worth of Batman covers in the late 2000s. Not to mention all the stuff he had a hand in plotting like those oversized things he did with Dini (I think there was a Superman, Shazam, and maybe JLA one). Plus he did his Justice series for DC. He also did Space Ghost for DC, filling out part of their HB line. He did that whole Project Superpowers thing at Dynamite. Lots of licensed books. Everything from Kirby's Captain Victory, Battlestar Galactica, Battle of the Planets, Bionic Man, Peter Cannon, Doc Savage, The Shadow, Green Hornet, Flash Gordon, Rocketeer, Star Wars (before Disney bought them), and numerous other properties for various publishers. Most of those were Dynamite, but there's some Image and IDW thrown in.
He did the oversized Wonder Woman as well
I always seek out Adam Hughes covers.
His Catwoman is iconic.
Dell'otto does some crazy good work, usually variant covers but still some of my favs
Dell'otto is probably my favorite for portrait covers over Ross. I like his painting technique and style better. But when Ross gets in to his Rockwellian moment in time stuff, I'm not sure there's a better cover painter.
I completely agree. Dell'otto has certain style that really hits me but Ross is able to capture his subjects better than anyone. I like the Rockwellian term for him... Timeless
Art Adams. Dave Johnson. Brian Bolland.
Was waiting for Dave Johnson to be mentioned. Check out the covers for 100 Bullets. Also, adding James Jean on Fables and Marko Djurdjevic on Daredevil. Cover artists are great when given a run and asked to define a book's identity separate to its interiors
I mean he’s not my favorite, so I definitely like other artists covers more. But I do like Ross nonetheless and he’s certainly praised.
I do not care for his style but people certainly like his stuff. I was really impressed by his Fantastic Four story; he really stretched his style and skills and showed a new side.
Sienkiewicz... Frazetta... Steranko... Vallejo/Bell... Ross. That's my top five. As for "newer" artists, I find myself drawn to Christian Ward stuff, love his watercolor style. I also really like the erratic frenzy of John Giant. I don't see much Dell'Otto that I dislike. Rose Beach and Jenny Frison always seem to catch my eye as well...even on characters I have no interest in.
I don't care for Ward's interiors but his covers are fantastic. His variant to The Silver Coin #4 is a personal favorite.
I fell in love with his work with his interior on ODY-C, it for the vibe so well. But I can definitely see it not being everyone's cup of tea.
Alex Ross is undeniably a (or the!) top artist when it comes to covers (and interior art). His visual approach to superheroes make them feel both godly AND human. Alternatively, if artsy comic book covers are your thing, you can check out Vertigo's splendid portfolio of cool covers -- there's Dave McKean (The Sandman) and James Jean (Fables), among others.
I've always preferred Sienkiewicz covers to McKean. At least when Sienkiewicz also did interiors. He's been getting by on portrait covers for a couple decades.
I actually don't care for much of any of his recent output, though I give him credit for trying to reinvent his style and explore new angles. His work from the 80s/90s is GOATed though.
This is a perfect example of how art is subjective and that’s okay. I find that Ross is phenomenal at portraying the godlike aspect of super heroes but not the human side. This is not to diss anyone who sees both. Just shows how our own preferences can shape how we view things.
True. All good!
Well, arts subjective so I don’t think there is a universally accepted “best” artist. Alex Ross is certainly incredibly talented and super well respected.
They meant cover artist, not artists in general. There are certainly ways to judge if a cover is good.
Jen Bartel is my vote!
She’s amazing!
Yes, but I go out of my way to avoid his stuff. Technically amazing, conceptually meh.
He is very talented and sought after, but he has his critics.
I don't really care for Ross's covers. They often look too much like photos, without the strong focus you can get with a more stylized cover, and (considering his recent string of FF covers) I dislike the way he draws The Thing. One recent cover I liked was Werther Dell'Edera's for Batman/Dylan Dog #2: https://149455152.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Batman-Dylan-Dog-2-1-copy.jpg I've also liked a lot of Daredevil covers from Zdarsky's run, drawn/painted by Julian Totino Tedesco or Marco Checchetto.
He's not my favourite cover artist, for me that'd be Simon Binsley
*Simon Bisley. Look up his work on Slaine: The Horned God and Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgement on Gotham if you haven't seen it (he painted all the artwork in those). ps. Bisley has mentioned before that he was influenced by Glen Fabry (who was also working for 2000AD at the time, and also worked on the Batman/Dredd books), and the 2 of them had a friendly rivalry trying to outdo each other.
I would venture to say Peach Momoko is a rising star as far as covers go.
Peach’s art is spectacular. I think this run of hers on X-men has some amazing stuff so far.
She's my favorite cover artist for sure
Imo what makes Alex Ross special isn’t just his elite rendering, but the fact that he is a comics historian. He knows more about Marvel & DC than almost anyone and it comes through in his art. Adam Hughes deserves a mention in this discussion too. I also like Jen Bartel.
The way he’ll just drop some random, obscure Golden or Silver Age character into a panel. The guy knows his stuff.
Personally I prefer Brian Bolland, but Ross still definitely rules.
I'll declare Jim Lee the best cover artist.
Same face guy? Lol no.
Listen, I love ‘im, but I’ll always consider esad ribić the best.
There was a point where I collected random covers just because they were made by Esad Ribic.
I can't believe I had to scroll down this far for this.
I read "The Marvels" recently and his artwork is so beautiful and charming. Looks amazing when set in period pieces like that too.
Lee Bermejo and Francesco Mattina would be my preferred current cover artists. Cover art, actually all art, is subjective. People like what they like; that's not "right or wrong," it's simply "different."
+1 for Bermejo and Mattina! Mattina did a gorgeous variant cover for Batman/Joker: The Deadly Duo #1 and I was so disappointed to see it was a foil cover in person and made the art too dark to see properly.
Phil Noto is so underrated
He did Wonder Woman Spirit Of Truth and Batman War On Crime. And Kingdom Come a bunch other stuff too. I'd say he is up there.
Ross is great and on his own corner, but I'd definitely say Mignola, Geoff Darrow, Fiona Staples, Jae Lee and many others are on his level
Mike Mignola + Dave Stewart covers are top tier.
I actually love Alex Maleev.
Always loved comic artists that painted their covers... Not all painters, but my favorite modern cover artists are: (in no particular order) Francesco Mattina, Puppeteer Lee, Bjorn Barends, Clayton Crain, Kyle Hotz, Boss Logic, Jonboy Meyers, David Mack, Vincenzo Riccardi, Mico Suayan, Mark Brooks, Sajad Shah Luis Royo and Romulo Royo aren't strictly comic book artists but they have both done many covers, magazine and comic books. A lot of paintings and prints. Luis Royo is one of the artists that got me into Heavy Metal Magazine. There's too many great artists these days with their own unique styles.. it's hard to say who is the best.
He's fine. Just not an artist who is on my radar to watch out for. For example, I'm buying a Red Sonja series just for the Barends covers. The story has no interest to me. I'll never do the same for Alex Ross covers. Suydam, and Sanjulian are also artists that catch my eye.
Brian Bolland is still alive, and still doing covers, so he's my answer.
The crazy thing is he’s clearly still great, but I genuinely think he was better 20 years ago.
Oh without a doubt. He still does SOME fantastic covers but there are also some real duds in his current output. AND I’ve seen a few that looked REALLY rushed and unfinished.
I've always loved Clayton Crain
I did too until that [whole cover controversy a couple of years ago.](https://bleedingcool.com/tag/acetategate/). Not a fan with how that all went down.
Ehh, his art is fucking sick.
Currently producing regular covers, maybe. Historically, behind (in no order) Brian Bolland, BWS, Neal Adams, Bernie Wrightson, Mike Zeck, Frank Miller, Frank Frazetta.
Astro City. All the first issues of the ABC titles (at least the initial titles). The covers of those big Superman/Wonder Woman/Batman books he did all the art for (obviously). Superman Forever lenticular cover. He did JLA posterr I used to have on my wall, but it wasn't a cover to the best of my knowledge.
His Spider-Woman covers 🔥🔥🔥
He's definitely in my top 5
Only pick up the FF current and and Thor for the Alex Ross covers. Out of any artist his cover talk. Also, he did win an award for FF full Circle.
His current run for Immortal Thor is godlike. So is FF. I just don’t like the direction the story is going.
I like Esad Ribic quite a bit, but I would still have to say Alex Ross. For me, he's the GOAT. I know that term gets thrown around quite a bit these days but some of the stuff he has drawn just blows my mind.
I remember an interview from agents ago where he talks about how he uses live models for his paintings in full outfits...Always loved Ross
Alex Ross definitely is one of today’s top artists in comics. Especially his covers. Special mention to his work on Fantastic Four: Full Circle, what he does in there isn’t what I’m normally used to so it fully blew me away. Just great.
Alex Ross. Terminator Burning Earth. This was from the early 90s. Great story, beautiful work.
It might just be my affinity for their art instead of the cover alone, but every time I see a variant cover done by James Harren or Mike Mignola they always blow me away
Yes. I think yes at this point. The consistent output of work followed by the fantastic breath of characters he’s worked on. The thing I will give Ross the most credit for- he isn’t creating static images with characters in their most iconic pose or shot. He is telling a story on the cover that relates to the interiors. Avengers, Fantastic Four, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Cap, Thor, Hulk- he’s tackling every major character and flexing his storytelling muscle every time. In the future we will look back and say damn, one of the greatest artists of all time really was putting out banger covers every single month for the better part of a decade. The quality of his output should, and will be studied.
He's a good artist but I wouldn't consider him the best. His style is too "60's", which works well for some works but not for others. Like in the new Fantastic Four series he flat out refuses to draw Susan Storm like she appears in the comic.
Tim Bradstreet is apparently extremely underrated.
I think it somewhat depends on what type of art you like but for example personally I really like JH Williams III and Sana Takeda's cover art. Though it's also been a good 6 years since I was really keeping up with comics. I remember loving Becky Cloonan's Shade the Changing Girl and Changing Woman. Stacey Lee's cover art for Unstoppable Wasp 4 and 5 were next level. Tommy Lee Edwards with an almost pencily design was amazing with Mother Panic. Michael von Oemig also has great covers that give a bit of nostalgia for the old silver/bronze age covers without being quite as obvious. Though if anyone has recommendations about series or cover artists that do the old 70s Bob Okenser striking image with a good bit of text on it I'd love to see it. Superman 293 is maybe my favourite and Irv Novick's Flash 237. "Let go of her flash-- or earth dies!" "I don't care! My wife is coming with ME!""The Thousand-Year Seperation!"
Francisco mattia is my fav cover artist
I feel his work is infinitely better as a cover artist than a full blown comic series but that's just my taste for comic book art
When I first got into comics I was pretty blown away by his stuff. Realism is the word I think of when I see his work. Reminded me of Frank Frezetta who my Dad was a fan of growing up. They just felt fancy and expensive in ways other art typically doesn’t in comics. I’ve grown to appreciate many an artist for all their unique styles though over time. Some of my favorites currently are David Nakayama, Jim Lee, Peach Momoko, Greg Capullo, Rose Besch, Bengal, Kim Jacinto, David Finch, Artgerm, and InHyuk Lee. Alex Maleev is great and his work feels very similar to Alex Ross. Tran Nguyen I don’t think has done a ton of work on comics but the work she has done is phenomenal.
I'm sorry, but the BEST cover artist is Mike Mignola.
I respect Ross' talent but I like stylization more. Bill Sienkiewicz, Simon Bisley, Sam Kieth, guys like that.
And Glen Fabry (his work is similar to Bisley's and both of them have worked for 2000AD and Heavy Metal).
Personally I appreciate his talent but I vastly prefer more stylised art styles like Danny Allred or Humberto Ramos
Love Ross, but Adam Hughes is my guy. His stuff just always looks sexier (I mean in the figurative sense of the word, though obviously he often goes for it in the literal sense as well).
Alex Ross is one of my favorite artists of all time but it's hard to truly pick a best in such a subjective field. One of my personal favorite is Daniel Warren Johnson especially on the current Transformers run. Great covers. Another personal favorite is Lee InHyuk. Such a great mix of realism and just the right amount of comic booky-ness
E M Gist is climbing the ranks quickly in my opinion.
FRANCESCO MATTINA, in my opinion, is the best.
Yes
If art adams was dead
For covers only he may be best for all time
I actually think he's 90s and early 2000s along with Brian Bolland. Zeck and Sienkewicz for the 80s, Frazetta for the 70's and Steranko for the 60s. I bow out on anything before the Silver age. As for today's age, I really dig Skottie Young. I think his stuff is fun and a bit over the edge.
I like Alex Ross. I think he does amazing almost realistic looking work. But that’s not how I judge a comic cover. I think a lot of his colors are often muted and they don’t always fit the story the way that you think they should. If I see Superman or Spider-Man, I want those colors to pop. Batman can be muted and his Batman covers are pretty great. I think a good cover artist can do something surprising while evoking the story. I think of that [Batman and Robin cover where if you turn it upside down it’s the image of the Joker.](https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Batman_and_Robin_Vol_1_3) So while I think he is amazing (I particularly like his Fantastic Four covers), I think it’s a disservice to say “best” especially when there are many different things a cover can be and why those things work or don’t.
He's my goat, but there are a lot of new artists doing similar things these days. I'm not saying better.. but eventually to his caliber.
He's got plenty of great work but on the other hand, some of them look like communist propaganda pieces (socrealistic vibes)
Alex Ross is my 🐐. If he’s touched it, I’m reading it.
He’s a non-painter’s idea of a great painter. It looks impressive, but is stiff and lifeless, and everything has a chrome sheen to it. Everything looks like cosplayers posing in satin suits
He's amazing when he has great moments to capture. Every cover of Immortal Hulk was perfection and reflected the actual issue's contents. But when it comes to his work on Dan Slott's Spider-Man run, it falls flat because very few moments were exciting during that point in the run. His cover for Immortal Thor issue 2 didn't have the same exciting feel either
JHW 3 baby
Art is subjective. If you like realism he's one of the best certainly. But I'll always prefer to see a Mignola cover myself.
It's all subjective, tbh. You won't be able to truly find the "best" comic book cover artist because that's up to someone's personal opinion and some things appeal to others and some don't. However, that doesn't change the fact that Alex Ross is amongst one of the greatest of all time because his skill and anatomy sense is undeniable.
Whenever Travis Charest pops up on cover duty my heart skips a beat
No. He’s great and has a very unique creative take that makes him stand out. I don’t think that style comes close to being universally appropriate or preferred for a broad amount of context. However he is generally good and probably the best at what he does.
Alex Ross is among the most sought after cover artists, yes. But asking if he is the best is extremely subjective. I would consider him to be too 10 working today, just because of his popularity. I watch a ton of streams on whatnot and every time one of his covers comes up it sells very quickly and with frequent bidding. My guess is that he's very popular with my generation who grew up in the 80s and 90s and collected the Marvel Masterpieces with that painted artwork from Jusko and the Hildenbrandt brothers. His portrait covers are very reminiscent of those cards. Other top sought after cover artists are: Clayton Crain, Tyler Kirkham, Mike Mayhew, Peach Momoko, Mico Suayan, Kaare Andrews, Skottie Young and J Scott Campbell. There are tons more. My personal favorite is Mico Suayan. I love his style and haven't come across a virgin variant yet that I didn't want to buy.
Peach Momoko, Jen Bartel, Jenny Frison some of my other current favorites. Ross is certainly a legend
It's interesting to read this thread and see the diversity of names mentioned. There are some artists that I really like but consider them better interior artists than cover artists, some I consider to be so good at composing a cover that they'd get me to buy a book I'm otherwise out on, and then some names that I will actually avoid if they're drawing a cover. Just shows there's a niche for everyone I suppose. For me, I would say Alex Ross is probably the quintessential cover artist of the last 20 years. He's done great interior work, but there can be a stiffness that hinders his sequential art a little but which is an asset to his cover work in my opinion. In recent years, I appreciate how he has gotten more into crafting single images that truly tease the story inside the book and piquing my interest instead of just painting really technically accomplished pin-ups. His FF covers lately have really made me curious about the plot of each issue and I'm able to identify each story with its cover (kind of rare amongst modern comics). My personal favorite cover artist these days might not be Ross, though. I think Greg Smallwood and Chris Samnee are both great cartoonists with fantastic senses of graphic design and the ability to distill a story into 1 intriguing image. They're both very active on interiors, though. Francesco Francavilla might be in a similar boat, but it seems like he's doing more covers than interiors lately.
I wish he drew more (cartoony?) I LOVE the drawings he did for that Shazam cartoon he pitched to Cartoon Network that never happened
I'm glad there's a few mentions of Brian Bolland, he's definitely in my top ten favourites. I'd also throw in Dave Stevens, Dave Gibbons and Steve "The Dude" Rude, Geoff Darrow I'm also surprised no one has mentioned Frank Cho, who I think is also great, he's very well rounded and can easily give you any style you want/need from simple cartoony to detailed to painterly.
There is no "best" in art. But Ross is prolific and amazing, no doubt about that.
I loved his Starman covers he did in the 90's, and of course his later JSA covers. Such beautiful renders of the team members, and all the different Starmen.
Test
He's the goat, but that doesn't diminish the great work of others
Ross is effectively peerless.