Without Fear

Owen Gieni is an art monster. And while pretty well everything he’s done for NEGATIVE SPACE has proven this fact, I want to take a moment to talk about the covers.

Y’know, these beasts right here.

That’s 1-4 right there and it’s insanely gorgeous. With #4 now in Previews, all our cover art is live in the world. It’s a cool thing to have, like we’ve reached a little milestone on our trek up the arduous and thorny mountain.

From weird, to sad, to hinting at redemption, to just a flat out END to it all. Tonally, these pieces tell the story in broad beats, they hint and entice and draw, but they also leave well enough off the table so there aren’t really any spoilers. There might appear to be some but I know the story, this isn’t really ruining anyone’s reading experience.

Looking over these, I like the colour variation, there is no real ‘theme’ on our covers. We go from hot pink to muted around orange to a weird sea of blue to this dead pink explosion that actually relies on a lot of negative space [truly only realised this on typing this up right now].

I think maybe our theme is portraits, because 3 of these covers are kinda waist up shots of people. An Evorah, Guy, and Rick, whereas 3 isn’t but it’s kinda a portrait of Kindred and their peeps. That’s actually pretty cool and it makes me happy.

That cover to 1 is so damn eye catching. But I spoke enough about that here [LINK]. As a lead for our series, it is everything.

2 is one of the first things we came up with for the book. Owen’s idea for the subliminal message was and remains genius. My only input was the name of the book shop. Because THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY absolutely floors me every time, so I couldn’t think of anything sadder to reference.

3 is wicked for all the little details. The nearly POV aspect of it with the gun up the front, the broken mask screens and brutal violence within it all, the circles around Guy hinting at…something. Hell, just his pose, I dig it. Owen brought that kinetic action with such a subdued palette that it makes me smile every time.

As for 4, yeah, this is nasty. Out of all the thumbs he sent in this was my beauty from the very first instant I laid eyes on it. I don’t even think I need to explain it, though I hope people have all looked closely to see those aren’t brains flying around, yeah? Good, there’ll be questions at the end of this tram ride, kids.

As a whole, it’s a glorious thing to see all the covers for this book come together. It’s an art alchemy the likes of which I’ll never understand. I am no good for cover ideas, I babble when I give notes on them. They are just these magic illos that make my life that little bit brighter.

I think covers are important to a book and having a tight cover gallery can go a long way to holding interest right up until the end. We only have 4 issues but it’s still a long period of time with scores of other comics lining those shelves so you do wanna stand out as best you can. I believe Owen has put the best NegSpace foot forward into the world we could hope for. This gallery excites me and amazes me and Owen deserves a victory lap atop the shoulders of giants as we all look up and sigh.

To Owen, mate, I love you, and thanks for providing my world with the 4 images above. Our book is rad because of you.

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To those who dug #1, thanks a trillion, and I hope you’ve all now got #2-4 on your standing order at your LCS. Drop them a line, confirm it, and enjoy the roll on into the pointy end of 2015.

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And finally, if you are suffering from depression, please hit THIS LINK to see the access you have to support. No one has to suffer alone. We are here to help you.