Battlestar Galactica #16. My all time favorite cover.
Walter Simonson was drawing the series at a time where I was just beginning to notice differentiation between artists. The cover, as well as the story, are always in the back of my head when I make comics. I want to make something as cool and resonant as this.
The cylon mark III is a kind of Red Baron robot that flies a classic Simonson jet fighter spaceship. Apollo fights it. The mark III becomes a one and done proto antagonist that survives and never returns.
This cover influenced my sense of design, creating a story in one image, the importance of dynamic posing, breaking rules by creating a character that makes no real sense, using interesting fonts, foreground/background color usage, and keeping away from a bullseye layout.
Is it great art? No. Is it silly? Yes. It is also creative and, to me, incredibly memorable.
When I had the opportunity to speak with Simonson, I asked about this story. He didn’t remember it. I showed him an image and he said it was just churning out stories to impress an editor into giving him better work. I wasn’t surprised which made him happy. We talked about his time in the industry which got him smiling, so it was still a good moment. He was appreciative that I love his work and that it continues to inspire.
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