Posts tagged: cover

Creating a Cover: Young Justice #24

It’s time for another installment of my Creating a Cover series. As usual, this cover was being designed before I had seen the script for the issue in question, let alone had drawn it, so a suggestion from series writer Greg Weisman was key in figuring out a cover concept. Greg suggested Batgirl being grabbed by the throat by an arm belonging to the yet-to-be-revealed Match in his mutated “Bizarro” form. Behind them, would be Plastic Man, helpless to intervene behind the force-field barrier cutting off central Metropolis from the outside world.

Cover Sketch a

Cover Sketch a

Cover Sketch b

Cover Sketch b


We had wanted to hide Match’s identity/appearance on this cover, because while he was revealed in the previous issue, this cover would be made public as part of the solicitation for the issue before that had happened, so a shot from Match’s point of view seemed the most effective. My next priority was to get Plastic Man and Batgirl as large in the frame as possible, as we were more concerned with the characters and their expressions than the setting. The first sketch was well received, but Greg wanted Batgirl to look more aggressive and less victimized, so a second sketch with an angrier expression and a Batarang clutched in her hand as a weapon was added. I had to shrink the Batgirl figure down a bit to have room for her hand with the Batarang in the frame. I tweaked a few other things while I was redrawing, such as the pattern of lighting and shadows on Batgirl’s mask, and I realized that I hadn’t had Batgirl’s hair visible in the first version, so I rectified that as well.

Young Justice #24 cover pencils

Young Justice #24 cover pencils

Young Justice #24 cover inks

Young Justice #24 cover inks


The layout drawing was tight enough that progressing to pencils and then inks was pretty simple. It’s always nice when penciling to know you’ll be inking your own work. While my pencils are still pretty tight, I don’t have to much thought to line weight or texture at this stage, since I’ll be making those choices myself rather than having to indicated it for another artist in the pencils.

Young Justice #24 cover colors

Young Justice #24 cover colors

Young Justice #24 final cover

Young Justice #24 final cover


On the left is the first draft of color by Zac Atkinson. Zac did his usual great job, but we wanted Match’s arm to be a little more pale and chalky – not as completely bleached-white as a full-on Bizarro form, but far enough to be noticeably paler that Batgirl and to provide strong contrast with his original skin tone. On the right you can see the finished color as it appeared on the published cover, along with all the final logos and other trade dress.

You can find my previous Creating a Cover installments here.

Coming in December: Young Justice #23

Young Justice #23

Young Justice #23

YOUNG JUSTICE #23
Written by GREG WEISMAN
Art and cover by CHRISTOPHER JONES
Color by ZAC ATKINSON
On sale December 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED E

• Batgirl takes on Match — alone!
• Alpha Squad infiltrates Brainiac’s ship as it hovers above Metropolis!
• Superboy and the Justice League battle their captor, Kylstar!

That’s the info from the official DC solicitation. The action is getting pretty epic, I can assure you! I’m still having a great time drawing the new Season 2 Young Justice characters, plus all the amazing guest heroes and villains! This is the full reveal of the cover I was teasing a few weeks ago, showing the villain Kylstar. He’s an existing character – a lesser-known bad guy from Greg Weisman’s days on Captain Atom – but he’s been given a bit of a Young Justice makeover. And the Justice League are in trouble! The Invasion continues!

Young Justice #19 is still on the stands, and #20 will be out THIS WEDNESDAY! You can find Young Justice at your local comics shop or in digital form!

Coming to the pages of Young Justice…

Cold as Crystal, with eyes that BURN!

Cold as Crystal, with eyes that BURN!

He is coming…

I can’t show you the whole cover to Young Justice #23 yet, but when you see it in a month’s time, you’ll see one of my favorite covers I’ve drawn for the series so far, and one of my favorite character designs. The character in question appears before then, but here’s an even earlier peek, pencils and inks by me, colors by Zac Atkinson.

As always, you can find Young Justice at your local comics shop or in digital form!

The Gorillas are Revolting!

Young Justice #19

Young Justice #19

Coming in August:

YOUNG JUSTICE #19
Written by GREG WEISMAN
Art and cover by CHRISTOPHER JONES
On sale August 29 • $2.99 US • RATED E
• The Brain, Monsieur Mallah and The Ultra-Humanite have captured the team.
• What does Gorilla Grodd want with Miss Martian?

Will the rise of Gorilla City mean the fall of Young Justice?

Issues #1-15 are currently available and #16 is due out May 30! Pick an issue up in digital form or at your local comic shop!

The Gorillas are Coming!

Young Justice #18

Young Justice #18

When you see a solicitation for an upcoming issue of Young Justice, you’re getting a peek into my future.

The way the timing works out, the issue you see being advertised is either the issue I’m currently working on or about to start work on. So as you can see, I’m about to be drawing a lot of gorillas…

YOUNG JUSTICE #18
Written by GREG WEISMAN
Art and cover by CHRISTOPHER JONES
On sale JULY 18 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED E
• The team travels to GORILLA CITY!
• Someone is enhancing apes to create an army of warrior slaves!

Well, you might guess from the cover that the “someone” is The Brain and Monsieur Mallah. Oh, and that’s the Ultra-Humanite in there, too! Don’t miss the origin of Grodd, Solivar and Gorilla City!

Issues #1-14 are currently available and #15 is out later this month! Pick an issue up in digital form or at your local comic shop!