Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a new weekly meme here at Books by Proxy. Join me every Friday as I pit cover against cover, and publisher against publisher, to find the best artwork in our literary universe.
The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud
Welcome to this week’s Friday Face-Off update! Apologies for the late post, Amsterdam beckoned! Last Friday we were looking at covers which feature something relating to death… so there was one motif that had to crop up (time and again) – the skull!
Published by Doubleday in the UK and by Disney / Hyperion in the US, The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud – the second book in the Lockwood & Co. series – features two creepy covers to sink our teeth into. Scroll down to see which one won last Friday’s vote!
Doubleday – UK Cover
Artwork by Alessandro ‘Talexi’ Taini
Disney / Hyperion – US Cover
Artwork by Michael Heath
| The Friday Face-Off: Winner |
Well this Face-Off was something of a landslide. The UK cover really didn’t win me over and presents an almost amateur look – I’m not sure I would assume Stroud was an established author if I hadn’t read and enjoyed him previously. The skull is certainly creepy and draws the eye but looks oddly photoshopped into the sky, nor is the figure in the foreground interesting enough to lift the composition, and the typeface doesn’t do it any favours at all. Definitely a disappointing cover from this side of the pond.
The US cover however is wonderful! I love that creepy skull in the glass vial. I love that glowing, smoking green liquid and the chains, dirt and grime which surround it. This is definitely an interesting and eye-catching composition which benefits from a diverse range of lettering – and I certainly find my eyes drawn to the ‘Lockwood & Co.’ title. The US cover is the hands down winner for this Friday Face-Off!
Which cover wins your vote this week? Have a cover of your own? – Post the link below!
Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads
Tomorrow’s theme is: Like One, That on a Lonesome Road
A cover which features a road
Remember to check The Friday Face-Off Feature Page for upcoming themes
| Links |
DJ @ MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape – Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
Zezee @ Zezee With Books – The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
Drew @ TheTattooedBookGeek – The Shotgun Arcana by R.S. Belcher
Lynn @ Lynn’s Books – The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
S J Higbee @ Brainfluff – Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Nick V Reys @ The Paper Dragon – Mort by Terry Pratchett
Books by Proxy 
Yes, definitely agree with you there. The US cover is more interesting and creepy and I love the smoke coming off the jar.
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Me too! It has a great atmosphere!
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Totally agree. This week the U.S. cover is, surprisingly, the better one.
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I’m always surprised when they’re better… although doing this post always makes me realise I like a lot more US covers than I thought!
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Definitely agree, the US cover is far better. 🙂
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It has to be the US cover for me too. Sadly I don’t like the skull and figure configuration, or the font on the UK cover.
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Yes it just doesn’t really meet the standard I expect from covers these days
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