About a decade ago, when I really started getting serious about world-building for Apocalypse Child, I started a project for myself creating fake book covers for the series. Back then it was planned as a trilogy of novels, rather than an online graphic novel, so I was going to make 3 covers. I only ended up finishing 2 with this one being the first.

The idea behind the covers was meant to utilize how deadpan/emotionless our protagonist Thunder is, with each new book reflecting a change in environment but with Thunder looking exactly the same. The back cover would then reveal some aspect of the true nature of how Thunder feels in that book (or is thought to feel).

For book 1, the story starts in winter, hence the winter coat and chilly background. The back of the book has Thunder using the hands of Buzz and Frostroy to cover his eyes: the eyes painted on their hands symbolizing how the two characters view Thunder (Frostroy sees him as a monster, and Buzz sees him as a helpless child).

I still like the concept behind these book covers, and they were some of my most impressive paintings for a long time. The way I draw Thunder has changed dramatically since these were made though.