The Cool Kids Table: Art Attack: June 2011's Coolest Covers

-My good friend Phil Jimenez is a supremely talented fellow who excels at drawing pretty much anything, but knowing him as I do, I know there are particular characters he has an attachment to and passion for, and it always shows through in his work. Obviously his favorite character is Wonder Woman and you can see that in the amount of elaborate effort he puts in when crafting art featuring her; ditto for the Teen Titans. However, more often than not, it's the more obscure New Mutants and Legion Academy trainees that really get Phil's juices flowing, and as is evidenced by his work on Alpha Flight #1, Canada's top super team fits the bill, which again, knowing him, makes total sense to me; they're just the sort of visually brilliant oddball gang he'd love.

-Both Avengers: The Children's Crusade and Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors show off an incredibly simple little tic that I nonetheless pop for every time I see it: coveying depth by shadowing a character's eyes. I can't help it, I love it.

-Thank you Captain America variant cover for my 2011 Halloween costume.

-I think Dave Johnson obviously read my proclamations of late that Dustin Nguyen has been becoming the best cover artist in the business, because his efforts on Deadpool and Flashpoint: Batman - Knight of Vengeance clearly shows he has stepped his game up in hopes of reclaiming the top spot. Well done, Mr. Johnson, and I'm glad that I could so clearly inspire you.

-Obviously the weirder and more stylized a Flashpoint cover, the more I like it, hence Deadman and the Flying Graysons and Secret Seven joining Batman here. Just showing a familiar character with a new look is one thing, but really having fun with it is another.

-You know which cover maybe has me most excited to see what's inside? Ruse.

-Derec Donovan's Static Shock cover is stark, simple and striking.

-The new Venom series has inspired great covers every month to date thus far. Artists clearly love drawing that character and the new costume.

-A truly underrated cover artist I should give kudos to more often: X-Factor's David Yardin.

ALPHA FLIGHT #1 by Phil Jimenez