I might have not be too off when I say that the text looks tacked.
I think, you should have incorporated the text in the design from the very beginning. After all, the text is an important part of the cover design.
You could also have at least provide space to where the text should go. As it where important elements of the picture doesn’t realy enable any good place to place the titles. It would just look awkward or cover important elements of the image.
Some of your ideas seems good. You might also do it like this:
Move the image lower to provide more space at the top for the tittle text. An element in the bottom (a box here) would hide the fact that the feet are going off the frame.
[img=http://i.imgbox.com/XOzHddyA.jpg]cover 1[/img]
You might also like to just provide more space at the bottom for the tittle text by moving the image higher. The gradient I used on the bottom could be raised higher though that would hide a large part of the characters. Maybe add a box there instead?
[img=http://i.imgbox.com/wIIrICJO.jpg]cover 2[/img]
What do you think?