Irene Gallo Discusses Mistborn Art *New MB paperback artwork*

[42]

I don't wish to say too much, but I'm not particularly caring for the new cover. I was content with the HB version, this version just seems to be trying too hard. It makes you notice the abilities of the artist first rather than making you notice the picture then discovering the skill of the artist. The design is simply not elegant.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

yeah, I can't tell what's really going on here. I'll just echo what everyone else has said about death. and why crows? also, I didn't like how everything appeared... distorted... to me. I don't have a problem with the wavy lines so much, though I think that wavy lines would, ultimately, be less useful as a power than a straight line. But I can't really tell what they are from first glance. To me, it looks like she's got a static buildup that's discharging to all the near objects.

[dreamking47]

It looks to me like they're trying to make the cover appeal to a younger audience -- the colors and composition are more Harry Potter-esque, the lightning says "magic" more obviously than the hardcover, and things like crows and the reaper dude are a more amorphous way of signaling threat and danger than the somewhat scary-looking face on the hardback.

The reasoning behind the change seems kind of sketchy -- surely they would have thought of this (edit: that the cloth cover wouldn't work well in paperback) when deciding on the original cover?  I wonder if instead they have demographic data that might indicate that Mistborn isn't doing as well among certain groups like younger readers as Elantris did (do you know?), or have gotten comments that the cover is scary, etc.  Or maybe it's just that paperbacks appeal to a broader  range of readers?

MattD

[CtrlZed]

I like the HB cover better, but I think the PB cover will have a wider appeal.  The HB cover screams scary, while the PB looks more like what Tor has done in the past for their YA books.  This new cover, however, displays Jon Foster's biggest weakness very prominently: his faces.  They don't look like any humans I've seen--and they're all androgenous and ugly.  One of the biggest strengths of the first cover was that Jon put Vin in a pose where he didn't have to paint her face.

Having said all that, I think Foster is a talented painter (besides his faces), and Gallo has admiration and respect for his work.  That EUOL is getting covers by him speaks well of how much Tor values the Mistborn books.

[Tink]

When I saw this I was wondering what the deal is with the crows. I don't recall there being crows in the novel. Am I wrong? Also, the grim reaper seems out of place. It looks like to me Vin is just traveling through the air using the lines to see what she can use to push and pull with. That doesn't seem like a very exciting scene. Her facial expression seems odd, like she's really having to strain to go through the air.

Also, I'm not sure if this would work as a paperback cover. The colors might look brighter in person, but on the screen, Vin is too dark and seems to kind of blend into the background.

I really don't like the blue lines.

[stacer]

Yeah, I'm not liking Vin's face, either. I think it would make an awesome cover without the crows or the grim reaper--just Vin and the buildings and the lightning. I like the motion, but I really do NOT like her face.

And the cover doesn't look YA. If they wanted it to look YA, they'd have done something photographic or iconic.

[Fellfrosch]

I agree with Dreamking on the Harry Potter thing--the unrealistic covers, the slightly distorted lines, and even the styles of the buildings all speak to the same design aesthetic we get on most of the Harry Potter covers. Even the little reaper dude in the background. It was the first thing I thought of when I saw the new cover.

That said, I remember that most of us hated the hardback cover when we saw it online, and it wasn't until seeing it person (and, specifically, seeing the way the colors popped out and blended) that most of us came around. I think this cover could be packaged well with the right kind of typeface and placement, and maybe even some foiling. Time will tell, and I don't want to hate it just because it's different.

In the end, though, even if they can make the cover scream "I'm an awesome book," it will probably also be screaming "I'm a kid's book." To me, at least, that Harry Potter connection is too strong.

[stacer]

I just really, really, really want to emphasize that this doesn't look AT ALL like a kids' book to me. At all.

[stacer]

Ha. Then I looked at it again and thought  of Chris Raschka and a couple other picture book artists. So I herewith contradict myself, and say okay. I can see it. But I still don't like Vin's face.

[Shrain]

Yikes! This cover is really... off. It's not just how very odd Vin's face looks but also her very awkward position--the way she's holding her neck out like an alarmed ostrich and the weird angle and placement of her arms, legs, her body bent in a strange way. I'm pretty disappointed, you know. The HB cover showed her in such a graceful, energetic pose. Vin looked empowered, nimble, and deadly. This rendering makes her look like a terribly unattractive boy with no coordination and little courage.

And I sure don't get the crows (except as a "Harry Potter" styling) or the reaper figure. Why in the world not depict an Inquisitor? Even though that could be gruesome, the figure would be small enough on a PB not to be too in-your-face. And it would be cool. Or maybe depict Kell, just so long as it's *someone* remotely involved in this novel. Seems to me like that Foster must've gotten Mistborn--which he "really loved"--confused with another one.

I had planned to buy a copy of the PB too, but honestly this cover really turns me off from that idea.

[Fellfrosch]

I actually really like the crows. Sure, they're not in the book, but they look need and add a much-needed sense of dread and danger to the piece.

[Gnarly]

Having, shamelessly, picked up Mistborn on cover alone (then snagging Elantris after) I can honestly say I wouldn't pick up the paperback with this cover.

While the art isn't bad perse, it conveys some other ideas on the baddies in the story as well as a less finished look.  The origional cover gave some amazing sense of movement and the face is terrifying.  You can look at it and simply get creeped out.  The use of the cloak in the cover for the origional is a bit more polished.

The second cover seems alot more rough and Vin is at a very awkward angle.  While I understand she may be shooting her body off at awkward angles, at SOME point she'd learn to angle properly.  Especially with (boogeymen... death? Yeesh) the Inquistors standing around.  The body position and presentation of the world just seem bent and off.

Plus I like the lighter tones in the origional cover.  It left the visuals of the world up to my own imagintion.

[Glacialis]

I followed Gnarly's tack. My wife picked up Elantris when I noticed the cover, I've not read it yet. But Mistborn? I snagged it right away due to the cover. Not so much with the liking of this one.

Pet peeve: Covers that don't match the book. If the reaper and the crows play no significant role, I don't think they should be there.

[Miriel]

If the reaper and the crows play no significant role, I don't think they should be there.

The crows and reaper don't play any role...they're not in the book at all.  At least, I don't remember any mention of crows, and obsidian sicles of that length simply aren't practicle.

[Parker]

As long as they were putting things not in the book onto the cover, I think it would have been dramatically helped if the Grim Reaper were attacking an Oompa Loompa dressed up to look like Harry Potter, with Sylvester Stallone fighting Chuck Norris on a rooftop in the background, too.

I mean, who *wouldn't* buy that?