The Mazzuchellization of mainstream titles?

So long as I'm talking about Tony Stark, I want to point out the Asterios Polyp-y greatness of the cover of the most recent edition of The Invincible Iron Man:

The color scheme alone would have been a dead giveaway, but the head of the suit seals it:

Or am I simply imagining a beneficent relation between one of the most important books published in the past decade and mainstream comics?

Comments

[Naadir Jeewa]

Not sure about that one. Seen this colour scheme used in the opening sequence of the recent Eden of the East animation series though.

[Ahistoricality]

I think you're imagining things, Scott. If anything, I think it may go the other way: the basic profile of Iron Man hasn't really changed much at all, and the modernism of the conceit should have invited more graphical modernism a long time ago.

[SEK]

Naadir,

I've got to admit, the use of pink in the East of Eden Eden of the East is compelling, but I'm not sure that's where Larroca's finding his inspiration. Given the pre-publication build-up for Asterios Polyp, it seems more likely that that's the source. I've got no proof, obviously, just a hunch that's tainted by the fact that I've been writing a book in which I use the Mazzucchelli as a foil for McCloud ...

... about which, have I mentioned how much this annoys me. He's not supposed to be doing for himself what I'm doing to him in my book, damn it.

Ahistoricality,

I think it may go the other way: the basic profile of Iron Man hasn't really changed much at all, and the modernism of the conceit should have invited more graphical modernism a long time ago.

I agree with the second half of that statement, absolutely ... however, I think you're wrong about the basic profile, as it used to be much more supra-jawed, i.e. more square, high-cheekboned, and gadget-intimating than we have with the Larroca cover. There's a cleanness to the lines that doesn't jibe one bit even with very recent covers like this one:

[SEK]

Alright, I really didn't mean to do that---that was meant to be centered and sized down---but you see what I'm getting at, I think: there's an almost abstract quality to that version of the suit that is, in fact, unlike what's come before. (Much of which has been prey to an over-busy and cluttered techno-fetishism. I appreciate and, hell, cheerlead anyone who wants to stylize funny books. There's a reason, after all, that despite my allergy to Grant Morrison I can still appreciate All Star Superman:

[Bob Reed]

I was always a fan of Neal Adams' Batman...

http://www.nealadams.com/Sketches/batman.html

I haven't yet read Asterios Polyp.

[Ahistoricality]

Actually, looking at the covers you linked to, the new one you featured in the post actually looks like a return to the classical bullet-head profile, and the one you blasted into comments looks like an aberration.

But you're right: there's nothing modernist (or remotely resembling subtle) about the covers.

[P.T. Smith]

SEK,

Any chance you're going to have that book finished, published, and in my hands by say...tomorrow? So that I can feel less pressure to be brilliant guest lecturing (first time...ever...) on Mazzucchelli's take on Auster's City of Glass in front of my old professor's classroom by stealing from you? That would be nice...

[Rob]

While the promise in the title of this post makes me reluctant to disagree, I think the inspiration for these covers is pretty easy to trace: http://jimjupp.blogspot.com/2009/11/marvel-of-ghost-box.html.

And then Ghost Box are themselves heavily indebted to the design schematics of old Penguin paperbacks. Here's a really nice collection: http://www.penguinsciencefiction.org/.