Remember the cover that rendered me speechless? Oh, sure you do! This one:
Bereft of all words, I ran a competition in this thread, asking for reader response, and offering the gorgeous work of Alitha E. Martinez as a prize. I expect wonderful things from my readers, but the results were surpassingly excellent.
A couple of highlights, before I announce the winner.
Captain Oblivious provided a fantastic commentary on the events that led to the bizarre tableau:
J: Oh my god! This is an unprecedented occurrence at the Apokolips Games Tornado is hulaing so fast that his primary hoops have created a vortex that is sucking Hawkgirl in feet first! Look at her clawing at the ground trying to save herself!
P: Vixen’s gone white from shock! Somebody do something!
Inebriated went for fancy-pancy versifiying:
There is a woman,
In objectivity she shines,
To fulfil geek lust.
An artist draws for,
Corporate statistics say,
Good for business.
Company has lost soul,
Or has it ever really been,
About the stories told.
And an honourable mention of AWESOME goes to CEOIII, for that memorable moment when he, unfamiliar with the heroes in question, identified Vixen (who is a black African woman) as:
a white female superheroine I don’t recognize(some sort of jungle-themed heroine, going by the costume…….because, you know, drop a non-survival trained white person in the jungle and they’ll be ‘king’ in a few weeks……look at Tarzan….headdesk…
Oh yes. Oh yes. Someone who didn’t know who she was took one look at Vixen and went ‘That? Is a white woman.’
Possibly there is something to be learned from this.
But the winner hit me right out of the gate. Tanuki‘s full entry is here, but I started panting for air in the very first paragraph:
I, too, am nearly speechless with awe at how accurately and wonderfully the art conveys the content of the book. Well, I assume. I don’t actually read comic books, but even I can tell just what I would have seen in the comic if I had read it. And really, it makes me happy that Justice League of America is a successful mainstream comic book proudly displayed in bookstores and comic shops worldwide even though its plot revolves around massive superhero orgies.
Congratulations, Tanuki! I have for you two gorgeously illustrated comics that are sadly devoid of four-colour orgies. In consolation, I can offer only my sincerest admiration.
