Dynamite Comics released two new comic book covers being released in November 2012, featuring two of our favorite cyborg subjects:  The Bionic Man and The Bionic Woman.  Alex Ross has been painting some superb covers for The Bionic Man that have blown me away, and now I am just as excited that Mike Mayhew is next up with two great pieces in the bionic line-up.

First up is his first The Bionic Man cover to issue #16.  Could Steve Austin possibly look more badass?

I love how Austin’s arms, legs and face appear so photo-real, the emotion in his terrorizing scream, his stance after delivering a blow to more than one giant robotic menace, and the trademark left eye reminding us this guy isn’t your garden variety tough guy–he’s a borg and taking care of business.

Next up is the cover to The Bionic Woman Issue #8, also being released in November:

I may even like this cover better than his Bionic Man cover.  You just know that Hummer has no chance catching up with Jaime Sommers.  She’s so fast she is literally busting out of her artificial skin, exposing some cool metallic bionics.  Yet her expression shows she’s uncertain she can outrun that truck.  And she looks like someone familiar, maybe Kristen Bell?  The twinkle in the eye, the slight shine of lip gloss, these little details bring this character to life.

Mike Mayhew is one of those artists that prompts you to stop what you’re doing and take notice.  He is one of the best comic book artists around and I first noticed his work on the interior art for Justice League: Rise and Fall and Green Arrow Issue #7 from December 2010, one of the best looking standalone Green Arrow issues in the past five years.

I thought his inked and colored pages looked good, but I tracked down his original pencil works and they were simply drop-dead stunning–as good as the final project looked, the final work masked the detail of the talent Mayhew displayed with his pencil work.  If you’re experiencing a bit of deja vu, it may be because I’ve raved about him before at borg.com here and here.

So I have been keeping my eye out for Mayhew and the publishers and titles he was working with.  Before the Green Arrow issue, Mayhew had worked the better part of two decades honing his craft with DC Comics and Vampirella interior work.  With Vampirella he began painted cover work and he moved to Marvel Comics where he had some standout covers featuring Mystique, Elektra, and She-Hulk.  He’s worked on several one-shots and his own creator-owned title, Savage.

This summer he seems to be producing more than ever, cranking out even more excellent cover work, including this cover to The Shadow, Issue #8:

If that rendering of The Shadow doesn’t stop you in your tracks, nothing will.  And hey, doesn’t he look quite a bit like Alec Baldwin (who played the lead in the movie adaptation years ago)?

This summer he’s enjoyed a cool cover run on the series Jennifer Blood: First Blood, including this nice work…

… while serving as story artist for Fear Itself: The Home Front:

With the new covers for The Bionic Man and The Bionic Woman, I hope Dynamite Comics taps Mike Mayhew for even more future covers!

More on artist Mike Mayhew, including a gallery of past work, can be found at his website.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com