If you are a collector of modern comics you have probably heard the name Peach Momoko or at the very least seen some of her amazing cover art in recent years. She has graced the covers of books from Marvel, DC, IDW, Boom!, Titan, Heavy Metal and more. She has also worked with Guerrilla Games and Upper Deck Trading Cards. Last year she became a member of the inaugural class of Marvel's Stormbreakers, a program that spotlights the best up-and-coming artists in the comic book industry. She has most recently begun a new series Demon Days of which she is Creator, Writer and Artist. Additionally, due in no small part to the success of her Marvel Anime Trading Cards, her colorful art will debut on a series of anime inspired variant covers this summer.
Unfortunately none of them have been released yet to join the other spectacular covers in this set.
I feel a majority of Peach's work can be categorized in two ways: Bright & Colorful like those pictured above, or Dark & Mysterious which tends to favor her more traditional artwork. When I asked Peach about her different styles she said,
"I have a strong interest and love for the dark world. So I do enjoy and see things a bit naturally through the darker theme. But I also grew up with watching a lot of anime movies, folktales, and other colorful and positive themed media that I also enjoy painting colorful and positive vibe artwork. So the two themes, I still consider it, me."
I asked her if she found it easier to create work for the more villainous, evil type of characters or if she was allowed more freedom with them. She added,
"When working on a cover, be it dark villainous… or upbeat positive character… their is always restrictions. I do not consider it easier or harder with these guidelines. I just have to make sure it truly represents the character without breaking my style."
Lastly I asked her where she finds the time to create all of the work she has done recently. She responded,
"I enjoy everything. Cover, Interiors, my own personal projects. When I’m not working on a painting, I paint for something else. If I’m tired of painting, I still end up painting. Time is tough sometimes with deadlines, but honestly if I take out my video game time, sleeping time, random time, I still feel I can add more time to paint if needed."
My interest in collecting comics again was only rekindled a few years ago and discovering Peach's artwork has definitely contributed to the steady growth of both my graded and ungraded comic collections. Her variants have introduced me to some characters and series that I would not have found otherwise. On a more personal note I discovered Peach's artwork mid pandemic after suffering some heavy losses in my personal life. There was something about the beauty in all of the dark imagery that I found inspiring. Putting this set together was definitely a welcome distraction. A few of the highlights for me while putting this set together: • I have managed to secure 9.8's for all of the graded books so far • I was lucky enough to land my first 9.9 with the TMNT: The Last Ronin variant • I have been able to ask Peach about her inspiration and motivation for her work • I was able to share with Peach two animations I made from her covers
I animated a couple of my favorite covers: Ghost Spider #8 and Strange Academy #4
Some more covers that are still in the queue to be graded but will be added to the set soon.
Any images used above are © their respective owners/publishers.
Because this set pertains to comic book covers specifically, I have included undistorted images of the covers alongside the images of the slabs themselves.