The Eisner Awards 2022 – Best Cover Artist
The Eisner Awards nominees for 2022 were announced this week, and after the initial flurry of activity online we thought we would take you through some of the possible award winners in the run up to San Diego Comic Con 2022, the biggest convention in the world, and where the Eisners are held. We’ll be putting out a few articles on this one, as there are so many categories to get through, so be sure to keep an eye on the website and our Twitter feed to keep up to date.
We are opening with best cover artist, as it seems only right to start with the art that draws in the readers when books are on the racks…
The Eisner Awards 2022 – Best Cover Artist
Jen Bartel
Famed for her own unique style, Bartel has been name-checked in the official noms post for her work on various Wonder Woman titles. Her version of Diana is bold, strong, and stunning, but then those adages can also be applied to most of her cover work. Her covers for the current She Hulk appear have had a big influence on sales, and there are many people who collect books just for the Bartel covers. Even if you do not like her art style, it is impossible to deny that Bartel draws beautiful people, steering away from background details to give the figures that full glory.
David Mack
Chiefly nominated for the Norse Mythology covers, Mack has a distinct art style that is loose and often features visible pencil lines and watercolours. Suited to the theme of the Neil Gaiman helmed book, Macks’ work is always a joy to look at, albeit complex! His covers tend to lean towards the busy end of the spectrum, with rainbow palettes and huge amounts of details to the figures. There is very little plain space and often times there are several layers of art, with figures in the fore-, middle- and background.
Bruno Redondo
Given the nod here for his work on Nightwing, Redondo has been doing sterling work with the urban legend of the Bat-family, often setting the titular hero against sky-scrapers or using them as part of his costume. His covers are dynamic and bold, often leaning into a bisexual colour palette to deliver eye-catching covers that stand out on the shelves.
Alex Ross
Another artist who’s work can be spotted at a distance, Ross produces huge numbers of variant covers for Marvel, often highlighting a single figure as headshot, with a plain white background. These Ross “Timeless” variants are also collectors items, and are a fairly sharp contrast to the Immortal Hulk covers that he is also nominated for, which feature heavily detailed backgrounds and wonderful character pieces. A particular standout is Immortal Hulk #41, which features Hulk and Thing in a diner, and is a joy to behold.
Julian Totino Tedesco
This is the third time on the nominations list for Tedesco in the “Best Cover Artist” category, which means he must being doing something right! This year his name checks come for Action Comics, Dune: House Atreides and The Walking Dead Deluxe. But it is his work for DC that really strikes me as his best. He shows a strong, calm version of Superman that we don’t always see across the diverse range of titles, harking back to the Golden Age with his pastel-infused palettes.
Yoshi Yoshitani
As with Bartel, Yoshitani has a bold and bright approach to artwork, and their covers for Witchblood from Vault in particular show an artist who is confident in their own skills, and knows how good their work is. The interlocking covers for this title in particular stand out to me as a great example of the craft of cover work, calling to mind an old fashioned story-telling triptych, and looking resplendent when viewed together.
Truth be told this is a tough one for me, I own art / prints by several of these artists and wouldn’t want to be the one that has to make the decision. Good luck to the judges on this front!
