Cover models vs. canon characters.

[freyalorelei.livejournal.com]

You know what I just realized? Merry in canon has a number of scars. One is directly over one of her breasts, and is in the shape of a large handprint.

Why the hell hasn't this scar ever been on any of the covers? I mean, it's plot-related, it's intriguing (hey, how'd she get that on her chest? read to find out!) and it would just plain look cool, even a bit sexy. I have numerous scars myself and have never understood the appeal, and even I think it'd be nice and artistic-looking.

Yet while the cover to A Stroke of Midnight displayed ample quantities of heaving bosom, there were no scars. I realize the scar is usually disguised by glamour, but there's no reason it couldn't be shown.

In fact, both of LKH's protagonists have scars, and the covers for both series portray basically naked women...with nary a scar or even a mole in sight. We don't even need to see all the scars; just the more (relatively) photogenic ones. Anita's cross and Merry's hand would make spiffy cover fodder, and appropriate for their respective series. It's a shame they were ignored in favour of "prettier" covers.

Comments

[freyalorelei.livejournal.com]

*nods* There's always an initial reference for the angst-factor, then the scars are quickly dropped and rarely mentioned again, if ever.

And of course ALL the scars are relics of vicious attacks by people who were trying to kill Merita! NONE of them are due to, oh, I don't know, SURGICAL OPERATIONS. For once I'd like to see a scarred character who DIDN'T receive their wounds at the hands of bitter enemies. It would be highly amusing for one of Merita's horrible disfiguring *snort* scars to be right next to the result of a botched appendectomy, for example. Or a trachaeotomy scar.

/personal issues

[dwg.livejournal.com]

I know on the UK covers, they...kinda try to have a handprint on Merry'sback while she lounges nekkid around in shrubbery. But that's as close as it's come to actually having the cover art reflecting the heroine.

[jassanja.livejournal.com]

Well, to me these people on the cover are just models, and I don't identify them with the characters in the book... so I don't care about them having scars or not

I even kind of liked the guy on the Micah cover

[pith]

To me, character scars are utterly compelling; that's one of the things I liked about early Anita—that she was a flawed heroine, physically and mentally. But LKH seems to like that sort of thing for effect but when it gets in the way of teh prettah, away it goes, precious.

(Please oh please tell me Asher hasn't been "healed" yet. I love my angsty scarred Asher.)