What makes the best comic book covers? It is a great topic for debate. For us, as individuals, there is no wrong answer, of course; it is purely subjective. But, with a little thought it’s possible to explain what it is about a particular image that grabs you. The best images are the ones that make you stop and check out something you weren’t previously planning to purchase – and in some cases, you even end up picking up a title you’ve never even heard of before.

Straight off his acclaimed work on DC Comics’ DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths with the late acclaimed illustrator George Pérez, celebrated comics scribe Marv Wolfman immediately began work on bringing together Eclipse Comics’ host of stellar independent comic book characters within the publisher’s first and only company crossover, Total Eclipse.

Featuring an iconic cover by multimedia artist Bill Sienkiewicz, the real treasure in this tome is now bestselling author Neil Gaiman’s first foray into longtime friend and comic book grandmaster Alan Moore’s Marvelman (later known as Miracleman for reasons too complicated to explain here) mythos with a must-read, 11-page back-up story between the covers of this prestige issue. Teaming Gaiman with what will become a longtime creative partner in fan-fave artist Mark Buckingham, the milestone issue – and the main story within – are reason enough to search for this hard-to-find book.

But you will find great joy in the search – believe me!

- Scott Braden