February 19

Big week of books this week. Lots of choices for the medals and it was a real tough decision. I had five books that I had narrowed the list down to and I considered doing a tie for both the bronze and silver medals. However, I made a final decision on the books and found my final three.

Ironically, a book that I saw on the newsstand at Comic World and grabbed because I loved the cover, did not make the cut. It was a beautiful foil cover of Ultimate Black Panther#13. There was also Amazing Spider-Man #68 which nearly made the medals.

So here are the three medalist this week.

Bronze Medalist

Shazam #20

Variant Cover D

Cover art by Mark Spears

I do not collect Shazam, but the opportunity to buy this book fell into my lap (thanks Todd) and I couldn’t pass it up. Mark Spears has been a star this year so far.

Silver Medalist

Mystique #5

Cover Art by Declan Shalvey

The Mystique series has had some extremely intriguing and attractive covers, including this issue. With the skull on Mystique’s body, and a mask in her hand, this gives us a insight into the concept of Raven. This is an amazing cover.

Gold Medalist

House of Slaughter #30

Cover art by Jorge Fornes and Werther Dell’edera

I love this one. The contrasts with the black and blues on the cover are awesome. This is such a interesting cover that it beat some really great ones. It is simply a standout.