The Losers are the winners of a Retro Cover Classic, with a dynamic 2004 Jock masterpiece

The Losers #6, 2004, Vertigo Comics (DC imprint), Cover by Jock.

The POP Retro Cover Classic continues its examination and celebration of iconic comic covers from the 1960s through the 2000s, this week returning to the Aughts. when DC’s Vertigo Comics imprint was still creating imaginative titles like The Losers by Andy Diggle and Jock.

Each of Jock’s gritty covers for the 32-issue series were either a killer movie poster, or a freeze frame from a too-cool-for-words animated opening title sequence.

Each cover was a different graphic design approach, with the logo and trade dress (issue number, publisher, price, etc.) in a different place, and even including that pesky UPC code box as a design element, instead of as the usual distracting, out-of-place item or afterthought.

Picking one cover to represent Jock’s work on The Losers is an impossible task, so I picked the one that spoke to me the most as a graphic designer. The cover for issue #6 featured a design (and a Mustang muscle car) that felt like it was about to drive right off the cover. The Losers logo is distorted in dramatic forced perspective alongside the car, adding to the in-your-face feeling. The entire cover is tilted on an angle, including the beautifully compartmentalized trade dress, and even the UPC code. The color palette is limited to reds, tans, black, and white, on a mostly white background. The money bills fluttering by in a blur add to the feeling of speed and motion.

The result is a clean, uncluttered, energetic Retro Cover Classic!