Camouflage
I saw this a couple days ago and took pause to consider it. It's the new hardcover edition of Identity Crisis. If you notice, it looks nothing like a comic book cover at first glance. It really looks like a fairly generic mystery/thriller, though putting Meltzer's name in blue was a bad design choice.
You have to look close to see that the family photo is really filled with people wearing spandex, and if you read the quote from the NY Times, the jig is up. However, it is interesting to see DC trying something new with its trade dress. Okay, not particularly new, as Dark Horse really started the trend with the new prints of Sin City, featuring the (uninspired in my opinion) Chip Kidd covers that are cleverly arranged so as to look like the cover of a real book filled with words, and not a comic book that is obviously for kids.
I have to commend the publishers who are moving in this direction, though I considered Identity Crisis to be pretty substandard in most regards, fairly shallow and manipulative and not a strong story. That said, a lot of mainstream outlets picked up on it and the book itself may have a shot at getting folks to pick up more (DC superhero-themed) comics, which is a noble goal. I just wish they'd done it with something like, say, New Frontier or perhaps a nice treatment collecting all of Grant Morrison's (relatively) recent miniseries. The latter, in particular, actually has a good shot at hitting with non-comics readers, while the former is a great story that deserves a single-volume collection.
Ultimately, I don't know whether or not this will help break down the barriers separating comics from non-comics readers, but priming the experience with familiar design tropes isn't a bad way to start.
You know, come to think of it, we're probably only noticing this because it's DC. Most of the non-Big Four publishers have done some great design work that could easily be shelved in traditional bookstore shelves and nobody would bat an eye. AiT/Planet Lar comes to mind, for solid design work that doesn't really look like a "traditional" comic book, not unless they're aiming for that mark. Publishers like have also done great design work that doesn't read like comics until you flip the books open.
There's also a thread about cover design over at , but I'm not finding it right now. Though I'd be surprised, nay, shocked, to hear them talking about the new printing of IC.