From the blazing trails of Ghost Rider to symbiote savagery and X-Force's murderous mutants, Clayton Crain's iconic art style has brought drama and gravitas to every corner of the Marvel Universe over the years.
Now, to celebrate his impactful decades-spanning career, Marvel is spotlighting his artwork this January with special "Clayton Crain Variant Covers."
Throughout the month and into February, Crain will deliver stunning depictions of various Marvel heroes on over 20 covers on select titles, featuring many characters he had a significant hand in shaping, including Venom and Archangel. The covers will also be available as virgin variant covers.
"Each of the 20 covers are acrylic painted, which took a total time of around 150 hours to complete," Crain explained today. "Several of them, even after nearly 27 years in the industry, represent my first shot at a published piece of that character. This was a great time, and I am thankful for my editors for their confidence in completing such a marathon of covers."
Crain is an incredible artist whose credits include Ghost Rider: Trail of Tears, Ghost Rider: Road to Damnation, Venom vs. Carnage, X-Force, Carnage: Family Feud, and Carnage, U.S.A.
It's hard to pick a favourite while looking through these variants, but it would be great to see Marvel Comics do more of them, putting the spotlight on its biggest artists and characters in the process.
Check out the "Clayton Crain Variant Covers" below, and stay tuned for more as we have it.
On Sale 1/7
NOVA: CENTURION #3 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
VENOM #253 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
WOLVERINE #14 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
On Sale 1/14
BLACK CAT #6 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
DUNGEONS OF DOOM #1 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
KNULL #1 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
SPIRITS OF VIOLENCE #4 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
UNCANNY X-MEN #22 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
On Sale 1/21
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #20 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
BLACK PANTHER: INTERGALACTIC #2 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
DAREDEVIL/PUNISHER: THE DEVIL'S TRIGGER #3 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
INGLORIOUS X-FORCE #1 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
PLANET SHE-HULK #3 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
X-MEN #24 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
On Sale 1/28
INFERNAL HULK #3 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
IRON MAN #1 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
PUNISHER: RED BAND #5 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
On Sale 2/11
CYCLOPS #1 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER
WADE WILSON: DEADPOOL #1 CLAYTON CRAIN VIRGIN VARIANT COVER
On Sale 2/18
CAPTAIN AMERICA #7 CLAYTON CRAIN VARIANT COVER