Ranking the Cover Art of Redwall (1986)
If there's one thing the Redwall series is well known for besides the delicious food descriptions & intensely bloody violence for its age demographic, it's having very memorable book covers! Out of all the books the original novel remains my absolute favorite, and I've found that there are actually a LOT of cover variants for this one.
For this ranking I'm sticking to the UK & US editions, but maybe I'll look at the other international variants too if y'all want me to! 🐀 ⚔️🐁
UK First Edition Hardcover
DAMN do I love this cover! Here we get a very accurate artistic rendition of the arrival of Cluny the Scourge and his army. We see the warlord himself in his large, intimidating glory with his entire hoard looking vicious and the horse of the hay cart they hijacked giving such an utterly terrified expression; all while the abbey itself looms in the distance. Super cool to see this cover put so much emphasis on the main villain because he's awesome and deserves all of the attention. Absolutely sick as hell, no notes! 5/5
US First Edition Hardcover
Once again we got another awesome cover for a first edition pressing! This is actually the version I own, although my copy is a paperback that also includes full-color illustrations by Troy Howell and a forward + signature by Brian Jacques himself. I love the scale of this cover in how it puts us in the perspective of being amongst the army of rats (also can't get enough of that one rat snickering deviously to himself). Redwall Abbey looks great, I like how you can clearly see Constance the Badger peering down at the army, and the center image of hyper-realistic baby mouse Matthias standing in front of the tapestry of Martin the Warrior and holding up his sword and shield actually looks pretty darn cute I must admit. The art even stretches to the back cover, which even had a portrait of Cluny to contrast with Matthias on the original hardback variants. It's just got everything! 5/5
UK Paperback 2nd Variation
This one here also gives us an image of the villains and the abbey itself, but it's not nearly as striking as the previous two. Why are we putting so much focus on two random mustelid soldiers that Cluny's yelling at? Is the one on the right supposed to be Kilconey? I also like how the robin perched on the left unintentionally implies that it too is a member of Cluny's army lol. Despite all of that though, the art style is beautifully detailed with great sense of scope, especially the way the forest and abbey are drawn (even if the lack of red in Redwall is kind of odd). Quality anthro fiction cover. 3.5/5
One of the versions I see most often at my local bookstore. I admire how maximalist this paperback is. Not only does it do a nice job making everything look like its a part of a tapestry, but it uses both the front and back of the book to show off Cluny, Matthias, Redwall Abbey, AND Martin the Warrior's sword! That being said, while the attention to detail is great it does look very busy too, which I can imagine being a turn off for some. I like it a lot, but it's not one of my personal favorites. 4/5
UK Illustrated Collector's Edition
First UK pressing I found with art that actually focuses on the hero of this story! Matthias has a nice design here; good balance between cartoonishness and realism. I also like how it depicts the scene of him confessing his insecurities to Martin the Warrior, though the tapestry itself is so zoomed in it to the point where the details of it start to look awkward without the context of what it fully represents. It just looks like Martin standing in a goofy pose while one single rat runs behind him. The US first pressing's version of the tapestry definitely looks a lot better in comparison. Overall solid, but could be better. 3/5
Most audiobooks for Redwall borrow their cover art from one of the standard novels... but not this one. There are hardly any pics online for this version that aren't mostly covered up with giant stickers or website logos, and that's a shame because I can't get over this artwork. The way Cluny looks like he was scribbled by Tim Burton, Constance's head being flattened like a pancake for some reason, Matthias looking dazed and confused, and of course that very concerned expression on the sun in the corner. Pretty bad, but also pretty funny so it balances out XD 2/5
US 10th Anniversary Edition
OUGH what a great cover! Very pleasing to look at, and I especially love how it uses so little to say so much. Young Matthias posing with Martin's shield and sword, the border being made up of the late roses as well as Asmodeus slithering around them to convey both the beauty and terror of nature that Matthias faces throughout his journey, and the head of Cluny the Scourge looming ominously above him. Without any text it tells us everything we need to know about the story this book is about to tell. 4.5/5
Oh wow this design sooooo late 2000's. While it is certainly more generic compared to the older artworks and more focused on making the sky red than, y'know, the red-bricked abbey, I actually think the simplicity of its style works alright here. Cluny's silhouette makes him look threatening but also gives him an expression that's hard to pinpoint (possibly one of stoicism, or even a subtle unease referencing his prophetic nightmares he has throughout the story), and the black and blueish-green contrasts well with the harsh warm coloring around the abbey. Not great, but the emo furry child in me approves. 2.5/5
The other version I see most often at my bookstore. Okay for starters, that logo design is INCREDIBLE! That being said, while the artwork is nice it also doesn't really do that much besides show us the bare minimum of Matthias posing with Martins weapons. The beams of light behind him are striking, and I do often prefer the covers that depict the woodlanders as looking like more realistic animals, but that's about all I have to say really. It's perfectly fine and visually pleasing. 3.5/5
UK Vintage Children's Classics Edition
...What the hell am I even looking at? Why are these designs and lettering so bland? Why do all the rats look like they're larger than a badger and hare? What is Matthias even wearing? Why is Basil wearing a freaking modern army helmet and WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIS NECK?! It's like it was trying to have a classic picture book aesthetic but got poisoned by the corporate simplification wave that hit all those poor book covers in the 2010's and gave us this instead. Such a tragedy. 1/5
Redwall: The Graphic Novel
I didn't even know this version existed until making this post. While I have no real opinion on the artwork of the pages themselves, I have to admit that this front cover is great! Here Matthias actually looks like he's ready for battle instead of just posing cutely with his weapons, and HOLY HELL Cluny looks so goddamn imposing here! They even got the detail of his cape being made from severed bat wings right; most art of him always misses that aspect of his design so it's great to see it brought back here to make him look like a absolute demon. Just a cool cover all around! 4/5
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