Is the cover now worth more than the story in comic book? 0

[fastballspecial]

Just seems week after I get these emails now pushing nothing but covers. They don't discuss what's going on in the book at all just
what the new cover is. Anyone else notice this? 

A whole industry now has exploded around covers. JSC got in early on and makes a killing with the same sort of images over and over.
Land has been doing for a while and Ross for awhile was the king before Hughes and others came along.

I don't mind all the attention to a book, but selling a book on a cover just seems like a way to fail.

 

Edited May 23, 2018 by fastballspecial

[Randall Dowling]

Unfortunately, I think for a lot of collectors, the cover is all that matters in the era of CGC that makes interiors inaccessible and emphasizes the cover.  And I think it’s been like that for a long while.  However, to be fair, the last new comics I read were pretty lame.  That was 5 years ago.  

Now all I read is Warren magazines.  Stories are better, and so are the covers. 

Edited May 23, 2018 by Randall Dowling
Clarification

[kimik]

Covers and 1st apps are what drive sales now. TAH #22 is a comic book with very few words, a  cover, and crappy artwork, but it is worth big $$$ for a modern since it is the first appearance of Wolverhulk/Hulkverine/Weapon H. 

[TYPE-R]

The market has gone variant crazy but we're also getting some incredible cover art right now. Naturally people are going to be drawn to it and companies are going to push what's hot.

I don't see as many people collecting runs as in the past. Seems like now it's about getting the hot issues and the trade. That could just be my group of friends though.

 

Edited May 23, 2018 by TYPE-R

[jcjames]

OldSchool: "You can't judge a book by it's cover"

CGC: "Challenge accepted."

 

 

[valiantman]

At least some of the blame should be placed on the publishers.  Nothing matters in comics anymore.  Suppose something amazing happens in the comic, something that would have been a major turning point in the industry in the 1960s... the publisher will just undo it in a year.  What choice do collectors have but to celebrate a beautiful cover (which is still beautiful after the next reboot) and to speculate on first appearances (which are still first appearances after the next reboot)?  Trying to put emphasis on anything else is like trying to make an heirloom out of an Etch-a-Sketch.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

I think there are more artists with talent than writers. You can have 10 great artists doing covers, but how many great writers do we currently have?

[ygogolak]

9 hours ago, kimik said:

Covers and 1st apps are what drive sales now. TAH #22 is a comic book with very few words, a  cover, and crappy artwork, but it is worth big $$$ for a modern since it is the first appearance of Wolverhulk/Hulkverine/Weapon H. 

Stonehouse does some great work. Not sure what the issue with #22 is.

[miraclemet]

12 hours ago, fastballspecial said:

Just seems week after I get these emails now pushing nothing but covers. They don't discuss what's going on in the book at all just
what the new cover is. Anyone else notice this? 

A whole industry now has exploded around covers. JSC got in early on and makes a killing with the same sort of images over and over.
Land has been doing for a while and Ross for awhile was the king before Hughes and others came along.

I don't mind all the attention to a book, but selling a book on a cover just seems like a way to fail.

 

I think its part artists who "specialize" in covers (which is in part due to the decreasing page rate from the publishers, and the inflation in value of OA covers over interior pages). Makes more sense to produce 5 covers a month that you can sell for $1-5k each than to kill yourself on 22 pages that mostly never go sold outside of some cherry picked pages that you can sell for $2-500)

and part variant cover collecting/speculating 

that has led to the over-emphasis on covers 

I think the cgc/slabbing of comics (which means all you see is the cover) is a distant 3rd as far as impact. 

[Broke as a Joke]

I miss the days of the hot artist, whose work inside the covers would lead to the book being desirable.  These hot cover artists can't put out monthly full books which is rather sad.

[the authority]

If I have a choice between story or cover, give me the story. Still, a nice cover is a plus. 

I just bought a run of bronze Justice League of America in VG+ to VF as a lot of readers. It jogged my memory that some old covers had little to do with the story inside but they stood out so I bought them as a kid. 

DC and Marvel own the cover market while occasionally telling a good story. Image and Dark Horse own the story market while sometimes having a standout cover. Based on overall distribution, it seems that cover collectors outnumber people wanting a new story. 

[the authority]

2 hours ago, The Resurrection said:

I think there are more artists with talent than writers. You can have 10 great artists doing covers, but how many great writers do we currently have?

Hickman

Aaron

Bendis

Remender

Vaughn

Cates

Lemire

King

Kirkmanw

Johns

Taylor

...I could go on. It seems that collectors prefer the cover artist right now. Maybe people who just read comics are switching to digital and the people who want something physical to hold in their hands are art guys. Can't say for sure but art definitely sells for more than stories currently.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

6 minutes ago, the authority said:

Hickman

Aaron

Bendis

Remender

Vaughn

Cates

Lemire

King

Kirkmanw

Johns

Taylor

...I could go on. It seems that collectors prefer the cover artist right now. Maybe people who just read comics are switching to digital and the people who want something physical to hold in their hands are art guys. Can't say for sure but art definitely sells for more than stories currently.

Remender, Cates, King, Johns are the ones I would agree with. I actually find Bendis absolutely terrible, and does Kirkman write anything besides walking dead (also terrible, my opinion)

[the authority]

2 minutes ago, The Resurrection said:

Remender, Cates, King, Johns are the ones I would agree with. I actually find Bendis absolutely terrible, and does Kirkman write anything besides walking dead (also terrible, my opinion)

Bendis on Ultimate Spider-man, Powers, and some of his independent stuff was a lot of fun. He is sometimes preachy but he has introduced some nice characters in comics imo. I understand that we won't completely agree on who is great in artwork or storytelling. My point was, there are tons of talented writers out there right now. These were just people that I'd read this week that came to mind. It seems regardless of the number of talented people on either side, art is king right now.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

4 minutes ago, the authority said:

Bendis on Ultimate Spider-man, Powers, and some of his independent stuff was a lot of fun. He is sometimes preachy but he has introduced some nice characters in comics imo. I understand that we won't completely agree on who is great in artwork or storytelling. My point was, there are tons of talented writers out there right now. These were just people that I'd read this week that came to mind. It seems regardless of the number of talented people on either side, art is king right now.

 I would agree with that. And ultimately, at any given time there has only been a few talented writers, regardless of time period. I enjoyed New Avengers quite a bit, but his ASM run turned me off (bendis). I feel like we are in a lull as far as "great" storytelling (like Brubakers Cap, Johns Green Lantern) compared to a few years ago.

Edited May 23, 2018 by The Resurrection

[the authority]

12 minutes ago, The Resurrection said:

 I would agree with that. And ultimately, at any given time there has only been a few talented writers, regardless of time period. I enjoyed New Avengers quite a bit, but his ASM run turned me off (bendis). I feel like we are in a lull as far as "great" storytelling (like Brubakers Cap, Johns Green Lantern) compared to a few years ago.

Haha. ...and I'd agree with that. Brubaker's run was one of the best ever. Johns ? JSA, Flash, Lantern, and whatever else he decides to do is just exceptional. The fact that you can buy his JSA run for anywhere from 50 cents to a $1 per book says something about the current views of the market imo. Even with those black background Alex Ross covers in the mix, that run doesn't bring money. It is mind boggling.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

2 minutes ago, the authority said:

Haha. ...and I'd agree with that. Brubaker's run was one of the best ever. Johns ? JSA, Flash, Lantern, and whatever else he decides to do is just exceptional. The fact that you can buy his JSA run for anywhere from 50 cents to a $1 per book says something about the current views of the market imo. Even with those black background Alex Ross covers in the mix, that run doesn't bring money. It is mind boggling.

 If Johns writes it, it's usually good. His flash series with Bart Allen was criminally under rated.

[TYPE-R]

Solid writing has it's following just as solid art does. I'm one of those art guys but get books slabbed if the story's good or pick a cover from a run I like.

Snyder's and King's Batman runs are good but I'm a Bat fan so the last few years have been great for me.

[Key Largo Comics]

If cover art is bringing new eyes to the hobby I'm good with it.

[divad]

On 5/22/2018 at 8:17 PM, fastballspecial said:

Just seems week after I get these emails now pushing nothing but covers. They don't discuss what's going on in the book at all just
what the new cover is. Anyone else notice this? 

A whole industry now has exploded around covers. JSC got in early on and makes a killing with the same sort of images over and over.
Land has been doing for a while and Ross for awhile was the king before Hughes and others came along.

I don't mind all the attention to a book, but selling a book on a cover just seems like a way to fail.

 

Of course, way back when (SA), it used to go something like this:

1. First issue of title
2. Classic cover
3. Condition
4. Major event (story)
5. Renowned artist
6. Headlights
7. First appearance in the SA
8. Really cool splash page or centerfold
9. Lesser event (story)
10. Personal taste

Then, it began to change a bit in the BA:

1. First issue of title
2. Condition
3. Renowned artist
4. Major event (story)
5. First appearance
6. Classic cover
7. Headlights
8. First appearance in the SA
9. Really cool splash page or centerfold
10. Personal taste

I'll let you guys take it from there.

 

Edited May 26, 2018 by divad