10 Best Variant Comic Book Covers You’ve Never Seen

Gabriele Dell'Otto has had quite a varied career.

He has worked as a cover artist for both Marvel and DC, as well as some lesser-known companies; provided the art for 'Secret War' and X-Force; designed the images for the Carabinieri's 2003 calendar in his native Italy; and even illustrated the cover of the Italian version of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Readers may also recognise his work along the spines of The Official Marvel Graphic Novel Collection that, when put together, form a stunning complete image.

However, while all those aforementioned pieces are pretty stunning, it's his work on the variant of Superman/Batman #7 that is especially impressive.

It sees ol' Bats opening a can of whoop ass on the Joker, deep in the Gotham sewers. The look of anger upon his face is accentuated by the sharp lines and deep colors, whereas the Clown Prince of Crime is defiant to the last, his eyes bulging out of his ghost white face, as playing cards fall around them.

It's almost as if the Caped Crusader is crashing the Clown Prince against a tide, pulling Joker towards him, before inevitably plunging him back beneath the waves. Whether or not this is a successful way to extract the information he needs is doubtful, as it seems the Joker is laughing in his cowled face, exemplifying their back-and-forth perfectly.