Dynamite is prepping to release a set of special variant covers in April as a tribute to influential artist Todd McFarlane. Adam Gorham (New Mutants, The Violent) along with colorist Michael Garland will be tackling six covers using Dynamite characters in an homage to classics from McFarlane’s career. The covers will be for Dejah Thoris #5, Red Sonja #15, Vampirella #10, Vampirella/Red Sonja #8, Death to the Army of Darkness #3, and Killing Red Sonja #2. The covers are a throwback to Amazing Spider-Man #328, Spider-Man #1, 7, 12, 16, and Spawn/Batman, respectively. The Spidey-inspired covers even have a corner box sketch, which was something MacFarlane innovated.
“Growing up in Canada in the ‘90s, comics were huge and Todd McFarlane was a Canadian icon of the medium. His work was some of the first comic art I was exposed to. I’m thinking of his Amazing Spider-Man anti-drug special covers. They were practically government issued to Canadian children,” said Gorham.
Garland added, “Todd McFarlane broke my brain at a very early age. To return to that work—and the work of some legendary colorists like Steve Oliff—and build off of it was a childhood dream come true. I tried to incorporate the spirit of the original color palettes and compositions into my reinterpretation wherever I could.”
“It was a really fun series of covers to draw, and challenging! Todd’s style and compositions are so bold and energetic. His Spider-Man stuff has its own visual language. The poses and anatomy really only make sense for that character, so making different characters fit those cover compositions and giving them a new context on top of having some connect was no easy feat,” continued Gorham.
Fans are encouraged to preorder the Todd McFarlane-inspired covers in February at their local comic shop. The variants go on sale in April.
