Cover Contest, 3/24/21 to 3/30/21: All About Allred!

[Tami]

Congrats Rob Allen, thought that cover gives me nightmares.

Thanks kjn for the vote, and CaptCleghorn for the honorable mention.

[nx01a]

Yay, Rob Allen! I'm not a fan of Allred's signature art style, so seeing a very early work was refreshing.
And thanks for the votes!

[Kirby101]

Congrats to Rob. But boy is that the wrong winner. It was one of his first professional jobs and clearly shows a not yet formed talent. It is cruder and not as well drawn as any other cover here. I could only see someone voting for that if they did not like Allred's mature work. It is quite generic. Allred has such a distinct style, which is evident in all the covers posted, except the winner. I see this win as a rejection of Allred as the unique pro artist he has become.

[Tami]

Congrats to Rob. But boy is that the wrong winner. It was one of his first professional jobs and clearly shows a not yet formed talent. It is cruder and not as well drawn as any other cover here. I could only see someone voting for that if they did not like Allred's mature work. It is quite generic. Allred has such a distinct style, which is evident in all the covers posted, except the winner. I see this win as a rejection of Allred as the unique pro artist he has become.

As a curiosity piece, it's interesting to see an artist's earlier work. As a way to see how their style evolved over time, but it wasn't a cover I even considered voting for. Still, a win is a win.

[K7P5V]

Congratulations to Rob Allen!

[Kirby101]

As a curiosity piece, it's interesting to see an artist's earlier work. As a way to see how their style evolved over time, but it wasn't a cover I even considered voting for. Still, a win is a win.

Yeah. I see it as a refutation of Allred's work by those voters. It would be like voting for Piranhas 2 as James Cameron's best movie.

I don't want this taken as a criticism of Rob, he found an early cover and thought it would be cool to use it. No problem with that. Voting for it is another thing.

[Nschornhorst]

I like Allred's refined work plenty. I voted Rob's cover for the reasons I'd stated earlier. I was surprised it was Mike Allred because it's so different from what I'm used to seeing from him I thought it was a different "M. Allred" and was shocked to find it wasn't.

[Kirby101]

I like Allred's refined work plenty. I voted Rob's cover for the reasons I'd stated earlier. I was surprised it was Mike Allred because it's so different from what I'm used to seeing from him I thought it was a different "M. Allred" and was shocked to find it wasn't.

So you voted for the one cover that looked nothing like Allred's work? Not the best cover, just an inferior piece because it was "different"?

[Riv86672]

Congratulations, Rob Allen!!!

And thank you, ChadH and Iron Maiden for the votes!

[seismic-2]

So you voted for the one cover that looked nothing like Allred's work? Not the best cover, just an inferior piece because it was "different"?

A question that leads to another: just what are these weekly contests supposed to be a contest of, anyway? Is it a contest of the "best" cover per se (whatever that means!) or of the cleverness and resourcefulness of the poster in choosing one that didn't occur to anyone else (or in discovering one that no one else knew existed)? In other words, do you vote for the cover that makes you say, "Wow, that's impressive," or for the one that makes you slap your head and say, "Wow, I wish I had thought of that!" (or in this case, "Wow, who knew?")?

[babyblob]

I missed the vote! Good job Rob Allen!!!

[babyblob]

A question that leads to another: just what are these weekly contests supposed to be a contest of, anyway? Is it a contest of the "best" cover per se (whatever that means!) or of the cleverness and resourcefulness of the poster in choosing one that didn't occur to anyone else (or in discovering one that no one else knew existed)? In other words, do you vote for the cover that makes you say, "Wow, that's impressive," or for the one that makes you slap your head and say, "Wow, I wish I had thought of that!" (or in this case, "Wow, who knew?")?

To be honest I have no requirments for who I vote for. I just vote for the cover that I like the best as long as it fit with the theme of that weeks contest.

[Kirby101]

A question that leads to another: just what are these weekly contests supposed to be a contest of, anyway? Is it a contest of the "best" cover per se (whatever that means!) or of the cleverness and resourcefulness of the poster in choosing one that didn't occur to anyone else (or in discovering one that no one else knew existed)? In other words, do you vote for the cover that makes you say, "Wow, that's impressive," or for the one that makes you slap your head and say, "Wow, I wish I had thought of that!" (or in this case, "Wow, who knew?")?

I think it's the one you like best, based on whatever criteria the voter uses. That often leads to interesting choices. At times a cover wins I didn't even consider. I find it interesting to see what others pick. But here, this is clearly a cover that is unlike any others because it is so early before Allred developed his style. It is clearly inferior to all the others. So I can only assume the voters did not like Allred's usual work and picked the one cover that doesn't fit with all the others. Did they say, "All these covers are great, I'll vote for the bad one"?

[Tami]

A question that leads to another: just what are these weekly contests supposed to be a contest of, anyway? Is it a contest of the "best" cover per se (whatever that means!) or of the cleverness and resourcefulness of the poster in choosing one that didn't occur to anyone else (or in discovering one that no one else knew existed)? In other words, do you vote for the cover that makes you say, "Wow, that's impressive," or for the one that makes you slap your head and say, "Wow, I wish I had thought of that!" (or in this case, "Wow, who knew?")?

My impression, you vote for the Best Cover, how you define Best is up to each voter and varies from person to person. Personally, I have no problem defining Best as a Cover no one else might have thought to post. From what I have seen of how others vote, Best can be a cover that invokes a fond memory, is the cover for a favorite issue, makes you laugh or cry, is weird, unusual, or unique. There are many reasons to vote for a cover, so this is one point I disagree with Kirby101 on.

[nx01a]

The violently visceral cover asked a tongue in cheek question, and the answer? Yes, it IS art! Add in the artsy farsty name of the book for another layer of intentional irony and I was sold.