11/20 Addenda: Vampirella

With this four covers for VAMPIRELLA #5, we end this update of the books issued this past November the 20th. Four extremely sexy covers, featuring one extremely sexy character, by the usual roster of artists from Dynamite. And so, what initially seemed like a very very weak week, ended up by delivering upward of 37 sexy covers (including, obviously, the abundant variant covers issued for several of the books).

Covers by: Terry & Rachel Dodson; Guillem March; Fay Dalton; and Ergun Gunduz.

Red Sonja and Vampirella meet Betty and Veronica: the Fay Dalton covers

Fay Dalton is my favourite illustrator, bar none. Her work for Dynamite in this past year has been nothing short of outstanding, and I hope she will be among the roster of artists providing covers for Dynamite's coming DEJAH THORIS book. Absolutely talented and looking like someone who could perfectly be the subject of one of her own sensuous covers, Ms. Dalton has me salivating over each and every of her comic book and literary illustration work. In fact, she is that rare artist who can make me buy anything for the simple gorgeousness of her illustrations, with its combination of modern and traditional painting techniques, that contaminates the subject matter of each cover proper. Her work is infused with a painterly beauty that makes it truly timeless, and the unaware reader unexpectedly confronted with one of her covers surely strains his wits as to place it properly in a given epoch. It has that magic attribute that makes us doubt that it is in fact something new: she could illustrate today's news and make us doubt if we hadn't seen such an illustration in the portfolio of past giants like Norman Rockwell or Norman Saunders. She could have painted for the great pulps of yore, as well as she paints for today's comic books. That's how good she is. And I referring to her as painting, instead of illustrating, is no typo: for that's what she truly does. She is a great painter, and I hope someday to have a book collecting her covers next to my volumes on Edward Hopper or Andrew Wyeth.

Ms. Dalton's most recent work for Dynamite comprises not only the currently ongoing VAMPIRELLA titles, but also variant covers for each and every one of the recently concluded run of RED SONJA AND VAMPIRELLA MEET BETTY AND VERONICA. Six absolutely lovely covers that bring to life four classic comic book characters, infusing them with stunning girl-next-door immediacy. So please, enjoy these wonderful covers, and don't forget to visit Ms. Dalton's site, where you can find more out-of-this-world magnificent covers (I never before did, and probably won't do it again, endorsing in this blog commercial sites, but this is, to my view, a unique artist, fully deserving any amount of praise).

Covers by: Fay Dalton 

Update: Red Sonja & Vampirella meet Betty and Veronica

As a late addition to this week's cover selection comes two covers from Dynamite and Archie Comics's RED SONJA AND VAMPIRELLA MEET BETTY AND VERONICA #6. As is usual with Dynamite, this issue comes out with nine variant covers (although five of them are mere color variants), so two out of four ain't bad. And the top one, at least to this scribe, comes once more from the amazing Fay Dalton that mixes perfect colouring with even more perfect anatomy, in a wonderfully spooky context, all of it slithering mists and chiaroscuro background (never mind the obvious vampire looming large). Fay Dalton's Betty is so sexy (as has been the case in all previous covers by Ms. (?) Dalton for this series) that one is led to forget that both Sonja and Vampirella are in the cover as well. And then we have the marvellous sunny cover by Laura Braga, with its evocation of a balmy mission-acomplished summer afternoon. Enjoy.

Covers by: Fay Dalton, and Laura Braga

10/16 - Dynamite Addenda

Well, my evaluation of this week's sexyness was completely overruled by Dynamite's covers for their titles, with no less than 4 gorgeous covers for VAMPIRELLA #4, a deserved homage in this anniversary year (Vampirella turned 50 this past September), and two more for BETTIE PAGE UNBOUND #5. Another sexy cover, and another "wall of hands" comes from the One-Shot SAVAGE TALES: HALLOWEEN SPECIAL, featuring an unarmed Red Sonja fighting an army of ghouls plus tentacles! It cannot get more sexy than this. Finally, Catherine Nodet's cover for CHASTITY #2 is anything but chaste, portraying a very defiant and sexy anti-heroine with torn fishnet top and spiked choker. And that look, oh, that look!

Covers for: Vampirella by Artgerm, Guillem March, Fay Dalton and Ergün Gündüz; Bettie Page by John Royle & Mohan, and Vincenzo Federici; Savage Tales by Erica d'Urso; and Chastity by Catherine Nodet.