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Top Ten Worst Covers of 2010

It was definitely a lot harder to find bad covers from 2010 then the best.  While last year had handfuls of bad comics, all the covers I could think of were either creative (which usually met the standards of my Top Ten Best Covers of 2010 list) or sported decent artwork.  But there are some that came pretty close to poor quality. 10. Phonogram: The Singles Club #7: This issue reminds me of something you’d see on the cover of a novel (which is supposed to interest you based more on the summary on the back of the book) and not a comic book (which can sometimes rely heavily on it’s cover as a key selling point). Phonogram: The Singles Club #7 9. Ultimate Spider-man Comics #4: Another uninspired cover, but one  that is not demonstrative of bad artwork… though you can’t really tell with such little detail.  Instead of Spider-man on this cover you get a guy in a red bath robe.  If he is trying to be a threatening villain, he needs a new costume with more detail.  A mask has the same effect as a hood and looks cooler.   Ultimate Comics Spider-man #4 8. The Green Hornet Strikes! #4: This would be your average, unoriginal Green Hornet cover, if you did not have the creepy old guy in the background drawn almost child-like. The Green Hornet Strikes! #47. Green Lantern #57: This cover is just… wrong.  At least for women.  After all, what man wouldn’t want to have there own sexy alien slave.  Us women… we would probably petition for the positions to be switched.  Green Lantern #57 6. Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #2: I would have put issue five of “Emerald Warriors” on this list but it’s from 2011 so I am afraid this will have to do, for similar but less apparent reasons.  The gratuitous use of blood can turn readers off and the characters look like claymation figures.  Great for people looking for some alien puking blood, but I think I prefer the more mundane covers that don’t try to cash in on blood that isn’t even as extremely present within the comic’s pages. Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #2 5. Batman and Robin #13 Frasier Irving Cover: Ironically another cover from this series got on my best covers list, but this cover art designed by Fraiser Irving seems lazy.  Robin’s face is scrunched up and Batman’s arms look erratically drawn.  This is mostly because Irving’s art turns me off but there are numerous people who are very happy with his work. Batman and Robin #13 Frank Quitely Cover 4. The Avengers #3: It is pretty much agreed among most comic readers that while the new “Avengers” series has a great story, the cover art is always poor.  It is not the worst display of artwork this year, however the covers often remain uninspired.  And this cover in particular is uninspired with characters passerby could care less about. The Avengers #3 3. Superman #702:  America’s greatest squinty-eyed hero holding an American flag in front of a black backdrop.  We know two things: Superman’s patriotic and the cover artist’s uninspired. Superman #702 2. Thor: The Mighty Avenger #5: This was a pretty easy choice.  The character’s have weird and awkward expressions on their faces and the colors are dull and un-interesting.      Thor: The Mighty Avenger #5 1. Black Widow #1: A great series, the first cover of Black Widow does a good job of hiding it.  Natasha’s lips look too pouty and her hair looks very plain-jane.  My biggest complaint is Wolverine.  His snarling chin looks wrinkly and his teeth should not be seen: it just looks fake and rather poorly drawn. Black Widow #1 Most of these covers are not really terrible, but they lack the creativity so many other artists are able to give us week after week, and that is why these are the worst covers of 2010.  So far for this new year I have seen a lot of bad covers that would be perfect for next years list... I just hope that means will have good comics to get the taste of bad cover art out of our mouths.

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About / Bio
An all-around nerdette, I’m a comic book connoisseur, horror aficionado, video game addict, anime enthusiast and an aspiring novelist/comic book writer. I am the head of the comic book department and the editor-in-chief of Entertainment Fuse. I also write and edit articles for Comic Frontline. I am also an intern at Action Lab Entertainment, a comic book publisher at which I edit comic book scripts, help work on images in solicitations and help with other comic book related project. My own personal website is comicmaven.com.

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