Three covers. One artist. Eighteen months. The Tony Daniel Icons of Evil cover set is the kind of compact body of work that collectors organise an entire shelf around. Three character one-shots, each a focused painted study, published through MV Creations and distributed first through Image (Beast Man) then through CrossGen (Trap Jaw, Tri-Klops) before that publisher’s 2004 collapse.
Beast Man, issue one, shipped in late 2003. The cover composition centres the character at a tight three-quarters profile, lit from below with a dim red key light that throws every individual strand of fur into highlight. The background is a heavy painted gradient from deep umber at the base to a charcoal black at the top of the panel. The reader’s eye lands on the eyes first; Daniel paints the irises in a near-yellow that pops against the warm-brown fur. The Mattel design committee specifically requested that Beast Man’s look on the cover reference the MYP redesign rather than the 1982 toy, and Daniel pushed it further into a feral, almost werewolf direction.
Trap Jaw, issue two, shipped a few months later. The cover swaps the composition entirely: full figure, low angle, cybernetic arm extended at the reader with the laser-jaw partly open. The lighting is bone-white from above with a green spillover from the laser-jaw, which means the figure carries two distinct light temperatures, a difficult effect to balance in painted work. Daniel pulled it off using a layered glaze approach he has discussed in subsequent interviews.
Tri-Klops, issue three, closed the set in early 2004. This is the painted cover that established Daniel’s reputation in the editorial corridors at DC. The three lenses on Tri-Klops’s visor each catch a different highlight colour: blue for the standard lens, red for the infrared, green for the night-vision. Daniel painted each lens as a separate optical study and then composited the three together with the same atmospheric glaze technique. The cover sits perfectly between traditional Norem-style painted illustration and modern digital cover art.
For collectors, the three-issue set is the keystone of the MV Creations era. NM raw copies move at $15 to $25 each. The 1:25 ratio variant for Beast Man (Daniel B-side painting) tops $80. Original cover paintings have not surfaced publicly; Daniel is believed to still hold the boards.
Catalogue source: heman.fandom.com (CC BY-SA 3.0). Interview source: ComicBookResources Tony Daniel retrospective archive.
