Dark Horse Covers That Talk to the Reader

Speech balloons and thought bubbles are more readily found on comic covers from the early 1950s through the early 1960s and the 1970s through the early 1980s.  Surprisingly, for a majority of comic books, these unique expressions of the medium are not found on covers.  Today, there are many fans of the hobby who buy books for just the cover artwork and not the content.  Several hot artists make a living producing these sought after pieces, so it is understandable both the fans and the artists would prefer not to see these covers obscured by speech balloons.  An exception to this through all the eras are titles aimed at children, where the art tends to be less detailed and the dialogue is used to convey humor.  If you look at the original Star Wars title which came out during one of these periods when speech balloons were found on covers, out of 107 issues, only 21 sport speech balloons and 12 of these covers appear by issue #23.

From May 2007 to February 2008, two of Dark Horse's four ongoing Star Wars titles had a series of covers featuring speech balloons.  Over a span of ten glorious months, Dark Horse bucked modern sensibilities and treated Star Wars comic fans to 14 covers that pay homage to a bygone era.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #16 - 24 are 9 of these issues.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #16a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (May 2007)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #17a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (May 2007)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #18a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (July 2007)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #19a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (August 2007)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #20a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (September 2007)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #21a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (October 2007)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #22a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (November 2007)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #23a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (November 2007)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #24a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (December 2007)

The final 5 issues are Star Wars: Rebellion #6 and 8 - 11.

Star Wars: Rebellion #6a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (May 2007)

Star Wars: Rebellion #8a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (July 2007)

Star Wars: Rebellion #9a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (August 2007)

Star Wars: Rebellion #10a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (September 2007)

Star Wars: Rebellion #11a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (February 2008)

I am sure most will look at these covers and think they are corny.  I appreciate that they represent the content inside, a trait missing from many of today's books.  With the exception of Rebellion #11, the dialogue makes me want to read the stories.  A few of these could work without the speech balloons, most notably the covers for Rebellion #8 and 9.  The cover I feel does the best job of integrating speech balloons into the artwork is on Knights of the Old Republic #21.  The image of Jarael and Camper arguing as their spacecraft, The Last Resort, is about to be swallowed by a giant space slug is effective.  This cover makes me wish publishers would use all the attributes unique to the medium, rather than rely solely on hot artist to sell books.