Cover Art Chronicles: Who Drew Those Old Konami Covers?
When I first started the Cover Art Chronicles series over a decade ago, I posted new entries with alarming frequency. They turned out mostly okay, at least by my writing style standards around that time. They were read by a small-but-steady number of people who passed by this blog, and perhaps attracted some to it, until I mostly retired the series after entries were becoming too predictable and stale. (You can also credit this as the reason why I’ve ceased any columns I started — it’s not entirely due to laziness.) These days, I only use it for special occasions, like with Final Fantasy XV’s multitude of covers a few weeks ago.
During its time of relative popularity, though, some posts took off: Particularly, those about old Konami covers from the 16-bit days from nearly six years ago. It wasn’t uncommon for covers changed for western markets to be met with abrasiveness, especially as some of us grew up figured out how and why this happened. But these were met with praise and remembered fondly, thanks to how exquisitely detailed they were — even compared to their covers from the east. They wouldn’t look out of place as covers for older comic books; to this day, they’re still admired and pointed to as the style western districts of Japanese companies should have gone with in making their covers palatable to the western market.
The post linked above took off far more than I expected, as I received some comments and multiple emails from people asking me for the name of the artist who drew them. But try as I might, I couldn’t find their identity. I’m aware of the staggering number of staffers who used pseudonyms in video game credits around that time, if they were credited at all, but it was surprising that even large internet resources for retro gaming info like Hardcore Gaming 101 also couldn’t find this elusive person’s identity either. Upon realizing that, I eventually gave up in frustration, and hoped the answer would simply manifest one day.
As it turns out, that time is now: The person who drew those covers is Tom duBios. This was discovered through an interview with Box = Art, who also provided a rather comprehensive listing of covers he provided for Konami throughout the years. He drew more than I expected, many of which contain stylistic differences due to the need to match the game’s art style, his art evolution, and some ungodly strict deadlines.
In fact, it’s the segment about deadlines that stuck out in that interview, where duBios mentioned that his Konami bosses told him they needed covers done “yesterday.” There are many stories around regarding how strict deadlines were for cover designers in this era, which explains why some of them resembled haphazardly-done efforts — because they were. The biggest one was the infamous cover to the original Mega Man on NES, where the cover designer was given mere hours to complete it. Not to say many cover designers of this era weren’t talented, but that duBios could still put out good work despite such immense pressure speaks to his expertise.
Covers like the one for non-canonical Metal Gear sequel Snake’s Revenge would make anyone think he had all the time in the world to design them. But my favorite among the bunch were his Super Nintendo covers, due to the exquisite amount of detail they possess. Specifically, those for Super Castlevania IV, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, and especially Contra III: The Alien Wars are a sight to see to say the least. They’re also busy, as it’s nearly impossible to see every detail contained within them upon taking an initial glimpse. The horizontal SNES covers gave him a little more room to work with, but also showed how his art was evolving compared to those when he started in the late 80s. Even his worst work still qualifies as “good” at least.
Interestingly enough, there are some I could have sworn he had a hand in, but aren’t part of his credits. The biggest among these is Contra: Hard Corps, whose covers I highlighted (among others) in another post, where it was compared to the Japanese version’s anime-style one. I preferred the American version compared to Japan’s Yasuomi Umetsu-drawn offering, but now I’m wondering who could have drawn it. The adventure continues, my friends.
If you’ve made it this far, then I’m sure you’re aware that I have a lot of nostalgia for these covers, and miss them. Unfortunately, most Japanese companies would have no need to make new covers like them, thanks to the country’s games as a whole drifting away from being inspired by western works. duBios still works, so it’s nice that his art can be seen somewhere; but in the meantime, now’s a good opportunity to cherish his contributions to gaming, especially now that we know who he is.
About The Author
Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
