EMINENCE FRONT

Every once in a while, I participate in Tom Spurgeon's "Five for Fridays" over at The Comics Reporter. The basic concept is every Friday, Tom posts a new topic and you have to make a list of five things in relation to that topic. No cheating, either, none of this wishy-washy ties or alternates or any of the various pussy movies the internet generally allows for the people who just can't pick, wahhhhh. If you can't pick, sit down; I can't make a basket, but I don't go to the park and ask them to lower the hoop so I can get in a basketball game.

Anyway, I tend to send Tom a list when I read a topic and think, "Oh, yeah, I can handle that."

This week's list is called "Cover Me", "Name Five Specific Serial Comic Book Covers You Think Are Genuinely Pleasing To The Eye, No Matter What The Insides Are Like." Other respondents include Scott Dunbier, Douglas Wolk, Don MacPherson, Fred Hembeck, and Mark Coale. It's such a visual topic, I decided to post my choices here, as well.

I would have picked five of my own covers if I could have, but that would have been tacky. I also limited myself to just one book I edited. I considered putting up a Love Fights cover, but looking at them online, I was reminded that Andi almost always did one cover for solicitation and one for the final book, and I couldn't remember if the one I was looking at was the printed version or not.

The list is in order of literally the first things that came to mind, though the fifth cover actually bumped out the Mike Allred slot.

1. X-Factor (vol. 1) #13, cover by Walt Simonson

I had this one on my bedroom wall for quite a long time after it came out. One nice thing about comic book bags: instant frame. Funny looking at it now, in my memory there is only the Phoenix, no other Jean incarnations, no Cyclops. I suppose this was also advance preparation for collaborating on comics with one of the biggest Phoenix fans on the planet. Something inside of me knew it would be important.

2. Dark Horse Presents #130 by Patrick McEown

I'll talk more about this comic when I am blogging for Robot 6 next month. Its charms should be obvious.

3. Grendel #4 by Arnold & Jacob Pander, inked by Dave Stevens

My favorite comic from my teens, and the issue where my then favorite artist came in to ink over my then third-favorite artists (Arthur Adams was #2, back when it was important to make these distinctions). Not sure, maybe Matt Wagner even colored this. The actual cover is a wraparound but I could not find that online.

It's possible this may have my first letter to Grendel printed inside, not sure.

4. Shade the Changing Man #33 by Chris Bachalo

When I started flipping through Shade issues, I thought for sure I was going to pick one by Duncan Fegredo, but then I saw this one and it was an instant, "Oh, yeah, that's it." It made me wish I still had my Shade shirt from Graphitti Designs.

5. Phaze #1 by Bill Sienkiewicz

Does anybody even remember this book? I know I only remember it being about a guy who decides to drown himself and changes his mind halfway, and I only remember that because of this image. I bought the comic for the cover at the time, pure and simple. I am not even sure Eclipse ever published a second issue. Still, this image has always stayed with me.

Current Soundtrack: various Elbow tracks ("Fugitive Motel (September 70 remix)," "Beat for Two," "Black Magic Woman," and a couple of live tracks); Blur, Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur