Saturday, July 10, 2010

Same Story, Different Cover: I love the nightlife, I got to boogie on the disco 'round, oh yeah!

UXM #130/CXM #36

L: [Uncanny] X=Men #130 (February 1980), art by John Romita Jr. and Terry Austin
R: Classic X-Men #36 (August 1989), reprinting X-Men #130, art by Steve Lightle

(Click picture to Barry White-size)



1 comment:

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

Interesting choices, which makes this one such a difficult analysis. After all, which cover is better, one that looks cool, or one that tells the story?

The actual story inside is about Dazzler, which Uncanny X-Men #130 exploits, so much so that even the logo is lit up! (Even though it looks more like someone glued a bunch of superballs to the logo for some reason)

Ironically because of the character this cover has an abundance of light, while Classic X-Men #36 primarily uses shadow shapes.

Choosing between the two, I'd have to go with Classic X-Men #36 as the better of the two. #130 just has too much going on, with all the sparks and streaks and lighting effects and the ball bearing logo, its all a bit too much, especially for a character as gimmicky and dated as Dazzler.

Contrast (appropriate term) with Classic X-Men were we have some great uses of positive/negative space with striking solid red and gold. We see just enough of the team to know that they mean business, and I especially like Nightcrawler's grim visage.

Even though this cover feels more like it belongs on a Dark Phoenix Trade Paperback cover, and placed on an issue thats only one small piece of that big story, its just so different from your typical comic cover that I just can't look away from it.