What's in a Cover?

Let's break down the steps that went into creating the cover of Mantle #2.

Actually, there was never supposed to be a second Mantle cover! We originally planned to publish the entire project as a single graphic novel... then several wise individuals convinced me that we'd have more time to build our readership — and enjoy the journey of making comics — by releasing a series of four traditional comic books.

So, partway through Gian Fernando's work on Mantle #2, I reminded him that we'd need three more covers. He asked if I'd come up with ideas, so for the next cover I sent him the following:

Frisson vs. Mantle facing off in battle (a really cool action shot, like in <redacted>), while at bottom we see a medium shot of Vijay reading a photo album, his face in awe as he imagines the superhero battles playing out in his mind's eye.

The description was short and sweet, but I feel like I did all right for a single image on a cover. Of course, the artist's job is a whole other level of effort. As usual, Gian both delivered to my specifications and surpassed my expectations when he sent the work-in-progress below.

A short time later, he followed up with his finished linework.

"Wait," I replied. "What about all the crackling energy from the early version?" Gian said he worried that would make the cover too busy. I said we should do busy. Busy is good. I wanted this second cover to explode off the page and grab people's attention! And so...

Now it was Irma Kniivila's turn. As always, her instincts were terrific. I most remember that she had a specific idea about the colors of the energy blasts — which I can't explain here because it gives too much away — and ultimately turned in this:

I was so glad we added back the crackling energy!

Finally, I turned the color cover over to DC Hopkins at Andworld Design. He applied the logo and trade dress, including masking the logo so it would fall behind Frisson in the 3D space of the image. DC's end product was the final version of the cover that you'll all receive soon.

And that's how the cover to Mantle #2 was made.