Did he draw his cover on paper, put it on a paper towel, take a picture of the drawing he placed on a paper towel, and then upload it to use as a cover?
Every couple of covers there comes something that makes me say, “Now I’ve seen everything,” but you, Nathan, never fail to deliver something even more WTF-worthy. The barrel really has no bottom.
I think we can all agree this one’s the half-assed winner of the month, if not the year (I might be generous with half. Whole-assed?).
Catie
8 years ago
God help me, I had to:
Damien Specter a relentless cop in modern day Los Angeles. After a simple bust reveals more than meets the eye. In the shroud of Halloween night Damien risks life and badge to take down the man behind the mask. Discover the truth of the criminal network buried in the cultural of Dia De Los Muertos. Trust is more than a bond it’s a brotherhood…
The punctuation wasn’t that unexpected, considering the cover, but what made me do a double take was this:
About Dempsey Blackmon
Hello my name is Dempsey Blackmon. I’m a writer who loves comic books, television, and video games. My academic career has taken me to great lengths being Full Sail University. I study the fundamentals of writing for all genres and formats to sharpen my skills in the real world. My dream is to become a comic book writer and one day create the next big story to influence the world.
Dear Dempsey (most pretentious pen name ever), you will not learn the fundamentals of writing you are missing at the University. For those, please go back to elementary school.
And the red string … it appears to me now that it’s a stream of blood from that ¿bullet hole? in the skull … the paper towel question made me look at this cover in hi-res … sometimes I just move on, sometimes I stop to gawk at the crime scene … my bad this time
I don’t think that even Bounty is strong enough to clean up that mess.
Here’s the thing that I do NOT get. I understand, fully, completely, the need to NOT spend money. Hell, we all know and respect that, right? But, for the love of god, how hard is it to find a completely FREE stock photo that has equally FREE commercial usage rights? I have memberships at 14 different image/vector sites, and run a non-stop tab, but I also download free stuff like a bandit.
Here’s one: https://pixabay.com/en/skull-skull-and-crossbones-war-682973/ What the hell would have been wrong with THAT one? eh? (n.b.: yes, I’ve scored that for my stock of in-house, “gonna be a cover someday” pile, so if you like it, swipe it quickly and use it, boys and girls!!)
Here’s the thing. The artist obviously thinks the drawing is cool, which it is in a certain amateur-doodler way. I’ve met plenty of guys (mostly in high school) doodling decent skulls for fun, without any intention of becoming an actual artist, and from their point of view, it’s good, because it’s more than an average person not schooled as an artist can do. They actually believe it’s so good, that it won’t matter that the paper towel is showing, it’s ‘enough’ that it’s white (he still missed a bit at the bottom). It’s one of those naivety out-of-touch-with-reality covers where the author just doesn’t realize the level of quality he needs to reach. You can’t expect him to use stock photos when he believes this is good enough.
Naaman Brown
8 years ago
How could it happen? Some just don’t care enough.
Not only is the drawing offcenter and the paper towel backing catticornered, there’s another backing visible at the bottom below the paper towel. At least this could have been photographed/scanned backed by the same paperstock as the drawing or by contrasting construction paper, and not by paper towel with the tear seam showing. Or at least it could have been cropped to typical 6×9 softcover book proportions losing the extra 1.67 inches of nada at the bottom.
Covers like this convince me that my fondness for book covers of black Novelex cloth with title and author in gold leaf Garamond is not just misplaced nostalgia.
Did he draw his cover on paper, put it on a paper towel, take a picture of the drawing he placed on a paper towel, and then upload it to use as a cover?
Yes, Adrienne, he did. He did.
That’s an actual freaking paper towel.
Every couple of covers there comes something that makes me say, “Now I’ve seen everything,” but you, Nathan, never fail to deliver something even more WTF-worthy. The barrel really has no bottom.
I think we can all agree this one’s the half-assed winner of the month, if not the year (I might be generous with half. Whole-assed?).
God help me, I had to:
The punctuation wasn’t that unexpected, considering the cover, but what made me do a double take was this:
Dear Dempsey (most pretentious pen name ever), you will not learn the fundamentals of writing you are missing at the University. For those, please go back to elementary school.
Shit, now I realize that what I thought was a surfboard hanging from the skull by its safety leash is actually a badge.
And the red string … it appears to me now that it’s a stream of blood from that ¿bullet hole? in the skull … the paper towel question made me look at this cover in hi-res … sometimes I just move on, sometimes I stop to gawk at the crime scene … my bad this time
Oh! The Horror! The Humanity!!
Yes, that indeed is a stream of blood. Just don’t ask me how a skull can bleed.
Ah ha! I thought it was a squished brain that had inexplicably popped out through the bullet hole in his forehead.
Until I read your comment, I thought that thing was a butterfly chrysalis.
I hope he drew the text himself. It would be horrifying to contemplate an actual font like that.
Oh, he drew it himself. He coloured it in with a ballpoint pen himself too.
Wow, I think you can hang it up now – you’ve officially found the LOUSIEST book cover.
I don’t think that even Bounty is strong enough to clean up that mess.
Here’s the thing that I do NOT get. I understand, fully, completely, the need to NOT spend money. Hell, we all know and respect that, right? But, for the love of god, how hard is it to find a completely FREE stock photo that has equally FREE commercial usage rights? I have memberships at 14 different image/vector sites, and run a non-stop tab, but I also download free stuff like a bandit.
Here’s one: https://pixabay.com/en/skull-skull-and-crossbones-war-682973/ What the hell would have been wrong with THAT one? eh? (n.b.: yes, I’ve scored that for my stock of in-house, “gonna be a cover someday” pile, so if you like it, swipe it quickly and use it, boys and girls!!)
And this one?: https://pixabay.com/en/skull-hood-sword-face-skeleton-782385/ Ditto. Lovely atmosphere.
There. In 30 seconds, 2 possibles. How is THAT so hard???? EH?
Come on, kids…use a little damn initiative, wouldja?
(P.S.: at first, I thought that that was toilet paper, and was dismayed to find out that the obvious joke just could NOT be made, dammit. )
Here’s the thing. The artist obviously thinks the drawing is cool, which it is in a certain amateur-doodler way. I’ve met plenty of guys (mostly in high school) doodling decent skulls for fun, without any intention of becoming an actual artist, and from their point of view, it’s good, because it’s more than an average person not schooled as an artist can do. They actually believe it’s so good, that it won’t matter that the paper towel is showing, it’s ‘enough’ that it’s white (he still missed a bit at the bottom). It’s one of those naivety out-of-touch-with-reality covers where the author just doesn’t realize the level of quality he needs to reach. You can’t expect him to use stock photos when he believes this is good enough.
How could it happen? Some just don’t care enough.
Not only is the drawing offcenter and the paper towel backing catticornered, there’s another backing visible at the bottom below the paper towel. At least this could have been photographed/scanned backed by the same paperstock as the drawing or by contrasting construction paper, and not by paper towel with the tear seam showing. Or at least it could have been cropped to typical 6×9 softcover book proportions losing the extra 1.67 inches of nada at the bottom.
Covers like this convince me that my fondness for book covers of black Novelex cloth with title and author in gold leaf Garamond is not just misplaced nostalgia.
People just don’t buy scanners anymore :(.
You can scan it at a store for about 10 cents 🙁