Art Attack: October 2013's Coolest Covers

-When I was a little kid, my family went to see "The Little Mermaid" in theaters, and I'll never ever forget my mother--an artist herself--leaning over to me during one of the underwater sequences and noting "An animator had to draw every one of those bubbles every time anything or anybody moved; that's incredible." Paul Pelletier's Aquaman cover reminds me of that story, but I also think his smooth style and use of shadows makes him a perfect match for this character. And who did those colors? Beautiful.

-Avengers #21 by Leinil Yu is my desktop background at work right now. Seriously, how long has Leinil been a top-level guy and yet he's still taking it to another level every month, particularly with these Infinity covers.

-Darwyn Cooke drawing Batwing is the LAST thing I expected to see, but hey, cool!

-Are those teeth coming out of Bloodhound's knuckles? Gross. Also, I never read Bloodhound the first time around, any recommendations for or against?

-If you haven't heard the awesome story behind the cover for Daredevil #32--which I got to hear twice at SDCC, both when Chris Samnee was on a panel with Mark Waid and again when he came on Marvel Live with us--here's the short version: editor Steve Wacker and Waid told Samnee to come up with a Halloween-themed cover planning to base the story around what he drew, Samnee drew DD with the Legion of Monsters, and now Waid has to come up with some sort of story guest-starring Werewolf by Night and the Living Mummy. I love that story, I love the Legion of Monsters, I love Chris Samnee and thus I really love this cover.

-Declan Shalvey's Deadpool cover is an example of how you can use simple shapes to make an impact. Also an example of why it's nice to have Jordie Bellaire coloring you.

-Great covers from Francesco Francavilla on Avengers Arena and Fantomex MAX this month, giving sci fi a pulp feel.

-That Fearless Defenders cover by Mark Brooks has been making me smile for weeks and I've never even seen Step Up.

-I said a couple months back that Indestructible Hulk cover artist Mukesh Singh is one to watch; I stand by that opinion.

-A book of faces, just faces, drawn by Frank Quitely would be gorgeous. Not that I don't mind when he draws other stuff mind you, but wow, look at those faces on Jupiter's Legacy.

-What's happening on that Prophet cover by Emma Rios? Intrigue smells comics.

-It took me a bit to figure out what Jim Lee cover Paulo Siqueira was paying homage to on Superior Foes of Spider-Man #4...and I'm still not sure. Shocker is Cyclops from some X-Men image, right? Gah. Help me.

100 BULLETS: BROTHER LONO #5 by Dave Johnson

ANIMAL MAN #24 by Rafael Albuquerque

AQUAMAN #24 by Paul Pelletier

AVENGERS #21 by Leinil Yu

AVENGERS ARENA #16 by Francesco Francavilla

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #24 by Alex Maleev

BATWING #24 by Darwyn Cooke

BATWOMAN #24 by J.H. Williams III

BLOODHOUND: CROWBAR MEDICINE #1 by Cully Hamner

CABLE & X-FORCE #15 by Salvador Larroca

DAMIAN: SON OF BATMAN #1 by Andy Kubert

DAREDEVIL #32 by Chris Samnee

DEADPOOL #18 by Declan Shalvey

FANTOMEX MAX #1 by Francesco Francavilla

FEARLESS DEFENDERS #10 by Mark Brooks

GREEN ARROW #24 by Andrea Sorrentino

INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #14 by Mukesh Singh

INFINITY #4 by Ryan Stegman

JUPITER'S LEGACY #4 by Frank Quitely

MARVEL NOW WHAT?! #1 by Skottie Young

NEW AVENGERS #11 by Mike Deodato

PROPHET #42 by Emma Rios

S.H.O.O.T. FIRST #1 by Nicolas Daniel Selma

SUPERGIRL #24 by Mahmud Asrar

SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN #4 by Paulo Siqueira

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #19 by Ryan Stegman

ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #32 by Gabriel Hardman

VELVET #1 by Steve Epting

X #6 by Eric Nguyen

X-MEN LEGACY #18 by Mike Del Mundo