The Aztecs was novelised for Target by its original writer, John Lucarotti, in 1984. The cover art was by Nick Spender. In my opinion, it's a bit of a disappointment...
The design bears no relation to the serial as broadcast, with no characters, props or backgrounds seen in the programme. Instead, Spender has employed generic images of an Aztec priest, a pyramid and a carved golden skull image. In terms of the artwork, the only thing which lets you know that this is supposed to be a Doctor Who story is the inclusion of the TARDIS in the lower right corner.
The appearance of the TARDIS is spot on, suggesting that Spender did have access to some photographic reference material. Perhaps he didn't have anything story-specific - or he just decided to ignore it and devise his own Aztec-themed artwork from scratch.
The reprint had cover art by Andrew Skilleter, designed to tie in with the 1992 VHS release. Here we get Tlotoxl, as portrayed by John Ringham, and more pyramids (including a pyramid-shaped star field). The prominent Hartnell portrait derives from a publicity shot taken during the making of Galaxy 4 (the one where he's leaning towards the camera over the TARDIS console).
If you compare with the VHS version of the same image below, you'll see that the skull emblem at the top is obliterated by the book's header.
This VHS was to have been a Woolworths exclusive initially, but the company changed its mind in favour of a colour story (settling on The Twin Dilemma).
Had they not gone down the Blu-ray box set route, it was planned that all of the pre-2006 DVDs would be given Special Editions.
The DVD release in October 2002 has the usual photo-montage cover in a fiery red colour scheme. It used to stand out like a sore thumb when sitting on the shelf.
The cover stresses Barbara's role in the story, with Tlotoxl up to his usual business in the background. For a change, the main image of Barbara breaks out of the box, created by the grey TARDIS roundel top section.
The Doctor is absent from the main image. The designer, who doesn't get a credit, has managed to select photo images for the rear cover that avoid the obvious rehearsal shots.
This was the very first ever Hartnell release on DVD.
You can tell it's an early one, as the discs are plain silver. Later releases would also include the name of the cover designer (often, but not always, Clayton Hickman).
Occasionally the US DVD release had a different cover, and this is one of those cases. Barbara in her distinctive Aztec High Priest costume is present, as is Tlotoxl, but it is the Doctor who is most prominent, as with the US covers for An Unearthly Child and The Daleks / Edge of Destruction.
The Region 1 releases do not have a small Doctor portrait at the bottom, as the Region 2 and 4 ones have.
The US release came out in March 2003.
Had they not gone down the Blu-ray box set route, it was planned that all of the pre-2006 DVDs would be given Special Editions.
For its SE release in March 2013, both the UK and the US releases went for the same artwork, this time by Lee Binding. They were actually released one day apart - Region 2 on 12th March, and Region 1 on the 13th.
Doctor, Barbara, Tlotoxl and pyramids are all present and correct. Because they were the versions I collected, I always favoured the UK design with the grey TARDIS roundel header. However, since beginning these posts, seeing the two versions side by side, I have to admit that I'm appreciating the US covers more and more, which give the artwork space to breathe. As mentioned above, the artwork on the UK ones only occasionally break out and overlap into this header.
Finally, the Target novelisation was released as an audiobook, narrated by William Russell, in August 2012. As was generally the case, it employed the original book artwork. The squarer format allows more of the TARDIS to be seen, so you can see more clearly that Spender definitely had access to a photograph of the ship at the very least.
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