Although I really enjoyed Marcos Martin's cover work for
Batgirl: Year One,
Green Arrow and
Breach, his current stint on Marvel's
Runaways hasn't impressed me that much (except, possibly, for
Issue 13). In fairness, that may because I'm such a fan of
Jo Chen's covers for the series, and the two artists are polar opposites, stylistically.
But
yesterday, Marvel teased some of its July solicitations, including Martin's cover for
Runaways #18. And you know what? I like it --
a lot.
The off-kilter composition makes the image seem like a snapshot taken during a summer day at the park. It's definitely candid, with the characters swept up in the moment and each other instead of striking iconic poses. Here, they're not superheroes; they're just
kids.
But more importantly, they're
vulnerable, something underscored by the cover blurb, "One of these Runaways is about to die."
The bright, flat colors work well, too, I think, contrasting with the dark times that loom ahead (
and overhead).
There
is a problem with the cover, though it's not the art: I'd never paid much attention to the logo before, but here, against a clear blue sky, it's obvious that it's, well, not very good.
At all.