Cover of the Week 16/12 – The Spire #5 by Jeff Stokely & Tamra Bonvillain

This cover is so breathtaking in its detail and wondrous colouring. The street Sha walks down is reminiscent of a scene from Star Wars or Doctor Who or any sci-fi adventure, where there are brightly coloured stalls and all kinds of alien creatures. There are cages, round and square buildings, balconies, shopfront signs and even a fishtank above ground level. A buzzing hive of activity for Sha to explore and venture towards. The detailing is immaculate as Stokely is expert at altering his level of attention from distances. He is very clever at depicting shade by having multiple parallel lines at the absence of light, a key example is the floor Sha stands upon. Combine this with the amazing work Tamra produces and you gain a true sense of depth. From whence Sha came is darker and the shading is indicative there there is little activity from where we are viewing.Even the foreground is very dark and details blurred in the centre. Our central character stands in the light and moves towards a vast array of colours and accompaniments to Stokely incredibly imaginative architecture. The composition is essential to the depiction of our protagonist heading towards another adventure, and both artist and colourist merge seamlessly in imagination and direction.