Front of the Book, Back of the Line

Eisner time is here and everyone has their own opinions on who should or should not have been nominated in each particular category. The talent in comics is certainly diverse and while the Eisners do have a history of favorites and long time streaks, the most interesting contest this year in my opinion is for Best Cover Artist.
With James Jean stepping down from Fables, his six year lock on the award has come to a close and the pool of nominees has never run deeper. With the vacuum caused by Jean's absence, the field has opened up considerably with nominees coming from almost every publisher and genre. While Salvador Larocca continued his tenure as the artist for Iron Man, JHW3 took superhero comics to yet another level with his work on Detective Comics. Sean Phillips continued to produce outstanding painted work for Incognito and Criminal with Ed Brubaker and handling cover duties for some of the 28 Days Later issues. Meanwhile the ever powerful Alex Ross and John Cassady likewise went outside of the Big 2, producing quality covers for budding publishers Boom and Dynamite. But while these five are some of the most talented men doing covers in the industry, I can't help but feel like the biggest snub for a nomination this year was Marvel artist Marko Djurdjevic.



Chances are high that if you purchased a Marvel comic last year, Marko either did the cover or a variant cover for the issue. Looking at the numbers, Djurdjevic did roughly fifty different covers for Marvel in 2009, including a stint on Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark's celebrated Daredevil run, the wrap-around covers for both Daredevil #500 and Thor #600, and a collection of variant covers for Marvel's 75th anniversary. A number of his covers were also recycled to serve as covers for various trades and collections put together and released throughout the year.

While not a medium changer like JHW3 and lacking some of the ability to generate a truly iconic cover like Cassady, Marko brings a flexibility and talent to his covers that sometimes outshine even the interior artists within. Working on over fifteen different books across the year, Djurdjevic brought his paints and skill to team books like Mighty Avengers, to Asgardian Space Horse Beta Ray Bill, to even the Amazing Spider-Man, providing the first three covers for the well received "The Gauntlet" storyline that is still on-going.



With covers ranging from simple to packed full of life, (anywhere from 2 to 30 characters on them at any one time) Marko remains the most prolific and consistent cover artist in the business. With his mastery of color and ability to convey both action and emotion, it is no surprise that he has quickly become Marvel's go to artist for their big name projects, already providing all five covers for the collection of Siege One-Shots that are filling the Siege skip month, a gorgeous wrap around cover for Marvel's high profile Secret Avengers, and an absolutely stunning collection of 6 interlocking variant covers that will cover the Avengers family of books in the coming months.

Having been left out of the nominations this year, I am confident that it is only a matter of time until the awards spotlight begins to shine on his work in a serious fashion.