With the sun retiring earlier each passing day, the best comic covers of September reflect the neutral, autumnal hues approaching the Fall equinox on the 22nd. Prolific cover artist David Mack employs a desaturated, canvas-like texture for the backgrounds on his variant covers for both American Gods: Shadows and Ninjak; Riley Rossmo uses a similar mellow negative space for his Batman/The Shadow eye candy. But to further the above metaphor, the artists mainly use an off-white texture to contrast ribbons of crimson and orange to startling effect. Look at the vivid, marquee shape of The Shadow’s face, formed from the billow of Batman’s cape, or the faint accent of the hand prints in Mack’s Gods design. Likewise, Paolo Rivera uses that approach organically in Hellboy and the B.P.R.D., placing the titular character’s surreal palette against a beige and blue backdrop for a striking relief. Matt Kindt (Grass Kings), Tyler Crook (Harrow County) and Lars Fiske (Grosz) also make excellent use of red accents this month—not to mention Noah Van Sciver’s use of apples juxtaposed against verdant greens in Johnny Appleseed. Check out the rest of Paste’s favorite covers in the gallery above.
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American Gods: Shadows #7 Cover Art by David Mack
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Batgirl #15 Cover Art by Dan Mora
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Batman/The Shadow #6 Cover Art by Riley Rossmo
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Black Bolt #5 Cover Art by Christian Ward
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Black Science #31 Cover Art by Matteo Scalera
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Dark Knights: Metal #2 Cover Art by Greg Capullo
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First Strike #3 Cover Art by Alex Ronald
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Grass Kings #7 Cover Art by Matt Kindt
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Grosz Cover Art by Lars Fiske
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Harrow County #25 Cover Art by Tyler Crook