Sorry, I'm late.

Been slacking with the postage.

Covers for Buffy #13

First one is by Foster, the second is by Jeanty. You probably already knew that though. If you didn't, get wittit!

Covers for Angel #5

First is by Rebecca Wringley, and it's her first cover. Second is by--of course--Franco Urru, AKA the MAN.

BLUBS FOR Buffy #13: Drew Goddard (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alias, Lost, and the writer of Cloverfield), continues his story arc "Wolves at the Gate," which has Buffy and the gang fighting a team of über vamps in Tokyo. In order to better understand their mysterious new foes, Xander must recruit an old ally to join in their cause to defeat this new danger.

BLURB FOR Angel #5: Everything he had was taken away from him. But now, in his darkest hour, Angel is taking it back. The battle lines are drawn, sides are chosen, and Angel takes a stand that will change everything and everyone close to him. Joss Whedon, Brian Lynch and Franco Urru bring you the official continuation of the Angel TV series! Rogue Angel cover artist Rebecca Wrigley supplies a variant cover.

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Alrighty. We've seen a lot of folks doing Buffyverse covers. From Jo Chen, to Georges Jeanty, to Paul Lee, Tony Harris, Andrew Robinson, Franco Urru, and now Rebecca Wringley. Jo Chen is pretty much unquestionably the best at covers, but--for now--she's gone. Luckily, going by what Joss said, she'll be back after "Wolves at the Gate." I liked Jon Foster's cover for #11 and loved his #12, but this #13... really fell flat. Kinda even pissed me off. That looks absolutely nothing like Xander. One of the most exciting things about these comics is waiting to see the new covers, and this #13 by Foster is the first "main" cover that I outright dislike.

Now... the Angel cover situation. Franco Urru went from 'variant' cover artist to main cover artist, because he's just that badass. His covers aren't painted, but they're just as attractive as if they were. But... After Harris left, the painted covers haven't been that high in quality. Robinson's first cover (his #3, featuring Illyria) is good. I put it as my desktop in anticipation for Wednesday, but... the fact that he had to paint Illyria's name into the cover STILL irks me. If it was an Illyria one-shot, by all means... But it's kinda like he's reminding us who she is. But, other than that tiny quibble, nothing annoyed me. Until his cover for #4. Nice use of colors, but... Huh? Really? I know it's dream-like, but Angel looks like he's wearing skiis. And why is Angel suddenly, you know, Ricky Martin? Don't get it. But we needn't fret, the painted cover for #5 was better. Wringley handled this one and as I said, it was better than #4, but *still* not what I'd expect from someone given the responsibility of creating a cover for such an epic series by Lynch and Urru. I don't know if it's the colors or the grittiness of the cover, but... Angel doesn't look like Angel and Spike looks like Eminem...

But I'm just bitching. What I am glad about is that each issue has at least one good cover. This Wednesday, Angel #3 has that badass Franco cover. The next two Franco covers are also amazing. For the upcoming Buffy #11, I'd say go with Jeanty's if you have to pick, but for #12 definitely get the Foster. Back to Jeanty for #13, though.

See ya'll on Wednesday.