It seems like you are not allowed to criticise the design elements of the cover to this new comagazine as its just not in the spirit of supporting the publication and if you do then others will not be too happy about it at all.
However it does help to present some plus points as well if there are any so that its balanced.Personally i cant say anything positive at all about the layout of the cover and that is being as objective as i can about it.I also should point out that i am talking layout which is a seperate thing to the artwork on display on the cover and i am not commenting on the art not because i dont want to say what i think about it but its off topic as my topic is the layout of the cover.
The worst aspect of the cover is the military style stencil font that lists the contents on the left hand side of the cover.I wont go into any more detail but the whole cover layout looks very amateurish and thrown together.
On a much more positive note the other six covers on display are 100 times better so i am pleased that the design team responsible not only improved on it but improved on it so well.The design element that i like the most about the improved covers is the typeface that is used for the script logo which reminds me a lot of the typefaces/balloon script used on old UK comics from the 1930s/40s and those hardback books/annuals that always had beautifully designed colorful covers with beautiful typefaces and layout.I cant recall the titles of those books but i have 2 or 3 of them around somewhere [1950s LION annuals possibly] and i often see them at the boot fair and i often browse through them but never buy them but they are lovely things and worthy of appreciation.
The "Magazine" typeface reminds me a bit of Comic Sans but it also has a look of 1950s Brush Script look about it although it bears no actual similarity to it at all.It sort of reminds me of the Walt Disney signature for some reason.
The point of my digression is that when i did an image search for STRIP i saw that image of 6 covers of STRIP pictured above and in the first instance i thought they were images from an old 30s/40s comic and that STRIP magazine shared its name with an old comic but that was before clicking on the image when it became apparent that they are future covers.
So from a design point of view its extremes of very bad and then very very good.
Design is all about first impressions and impact and thats what i think about it all.
Since i havent paid for a copy and havent read the content inside i cant comment on it unless i decide to judge a book by its cover which i wont.
As an aside i very frequently do judge a book by its cover and its the same with LP covers as well.Of course i am not always right in my judgement but i would be lying if i said that i didnt do it but in doing so you might be missing out on something very good if you judge things wrongly so really the only way is to look inside or listen to the music.you can be over judgemental and dismissive or you can be too accomodating of poor design so i dont know for sure but do what you feel is right for you.
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