Comic Cover Comparison: A Cover that tells a story

Today's Covers are cordially contributed by "Bully Says: Comics Should Be Fun!"

Uncanny X-Men #153 (January 1982)

art by Dave Cockrum and Joe Rubenstein

vs.

Classic X-Men #57 (March 1991)
 art by Mike Mignola and P. Craig Russell

First, a little background history as the story featured in these two comics is something of a popular story, in which Kitty tells young Illyana a bedtime story using characters and events from the X-Verse to inspire her own fantasy fan fiction. The story was loosely adapted to the X-Men Animated Series Episode "Jubilee's Fairy Tale Theater" and the notion of regular characters being cast into storybook kingdom type characters is so prevalent that it earned has its own TV Tropes entry. The story itself doesn't take it self very serious and functions as a break from the more serious status quo of the series.

While I think the Uncanny cover looks goofy, there is no mistaking its content. Kitty has popcorn and cola raised, comfortably leaning up against a wall with presents a poster showcasing us some swinging swashbuckling action with a big strapping hero and his lovely action girl sidekick. Villainous villainess heads float forebodingly above our heroes and the city, which presumably represents all civilization as we know it. Off to the side we have cartoonish comic relief versions of our otherwise darker and more hideous characters like Wolverine and Nightcrawler. Kitty's comment that this will be completely different is wholly accurate.

It reminds me a lot of Drew Struzan's comedy posters for something like Adventures in Babysitting were you have action in the foreground and funny background characters and events to lighten the mood.

This is a fairly good cover but its hampered by the big "Win a Ten Speed" ad that squashes the book's logo into the rest of the cover, contributing a claustrophobic constraint to an already crowded composition. 

By contrast we have the Classic cover, which has plenty of room to work, and doesn't do much with it. This reminds me more of a lobby sheet I'd see at the movie theaters today with a bunch of disconnected levitating torsos.

Storm (or is it Jean?) appears to be  squinting into the horizon and looks disinterested. The screaming skull looks off the side and is apparently watching something far more interesting. Story-Kitty is seen in a distinctly non-action pose, with long curly draping a bare shoulder while she looks down with closed "sad eyes" like some sort of stupid romance novel cover. Wolverine looks angry as per his element, but personally I think hes just ticked because his legs are invisible. There is nothing of substance, the characters are just abstract ideas against a blank background, with out any indication of story or context.

The Kitty in front of this poster is even worse. While I have no idea where Kitty in Uncanny is supposed to be in terms of setting, her pose and face at least tell me that this will be a "fun" story. Classic Kitty is posed like some sort of magazine model and is facing away from the elements of the story that she will be telling in this issue! Between Kitty, Storm and Skull it feels like even the character in this comic don't want to look at this cover because they are all looking away, drawing your attention to the far left rather than guide the reader to the right. The blacks in Kitty's hair and uniform run together in a sudden and inexplicable use of graphic design. Her bright eyes are now tiny dots and her mouth is an expression that I don't think even has a name. Honestly it looks the kind of face I would make on school picture day during that "I hate the world" phase of my teen years.

Ugh. I may love Mignola and Russell, but I despise this cover.

WINNER: Uncanny X-Men !