• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Covers -- Pros and Cons
1 1

55 posts in this topic

6 minutes ago, exitmusicblue said:

Word.  The only Modern exceptions that immediately come to mind are the creme de creme of (in)famous variant covers.  Dell'Otto, AH, JSC, etc... and frankly, most of those seem to remain in the owner's possession anyhow.

Setting aside the relative aesthetic quality of those rare variant covers, it is an interesting case of the tail wagging the dog; I think the rarity/collectability of those books would drive their covers up should they come to market.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, BCarter27 said:

Setting aside the relative aesthetic quality of those rare variant covers, it is an interesting case of the tail wagging the dog; I think the rarity/collectability of those books would drive their covers up should they come to market.

Indeed -- practically everyone knows "the" AH Supergirl cover.  ASM 667, that X-23 variant by Dell'Otto... JSC Black Cats...

The OA covers may well go for multiples of those books' prices.

 

Edited by exitmusicblue
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, delekkerste said:

today's covers (especially variants) have little chance of becoming truly iconic and memorable to a wide audience.

Let's not make the mistake of assuming -linear not cyclically- that comic art collecting/roi appreciation will always be primarily nostalgia based.

I can see the hobby taking a significant turn someday (maybe not in "my years" though but later) to appreciating the truly individual innovative creators over house characters/style as today.

If that happens, then artist will drive almost everything not content and not 'iconic' status, etc. Even today -anything James Jean drew/painted, anything, is worth more than nearly (75%? of) all cover art created during the same period, except for hi-retro stuff like Sink on NM, Neal or Miller hitting a Batman et al. Whether I'm exactly right about 75% or whatever, there definitely aren't many 21st century artists one could write that about. A lot of guys are hot on "their" book on a major Big Two title but pretty flat otherwise (some hundreds not thousands). Not JJ. And some few others too which I know people can name. A minority now but I think probably not always.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, exitmusicblue said:

Indeed -- practically everyone knows "the" AH Supergirl cover.  ASM 667, that X-23 variant by Dell'Otto... JSC Black Cats...

Not me. Because I'm not reading/collecting those titles. Are enough doing that that "do" OA too to support the price thesis? I dunno. Just asking those that might. My point being that my money is off the table not only for content but also -blanket statement- all those artists. Unless one of those named pieces was pretty different than the rest of their body of work...um, no (for me anyway).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, BCarter27 said:

Setting aside the relative aesthetic quality of those rare variant covers, it is an interesting case of the tail wagging the dog; I think the rarity/collectability of those books would drive their covers up should they come to market.

The books are rarer than the originals for the covers. While the specialty comic book covers they print less of. The number of original art covers for the issue could be up to 50, for those special issues like Batman 1000. Used to be there was one original art cover for an issue and maybe a rejected cover. Now there are so many variant covers its hard to remember what issues had what covers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, delekkerste said:

Yep. Modern covers are hugely devalued IMO. I only read Modern trades (either digitally or in physical TPB format), so, what the original covers looked like is practically irrelevant to me and people like me, as I am not buying individual floppies at the LCS and the cover is not necessary to hook me. I may never even see all the original covers if they are not included in the TPB as bonus material. 

Plus, with decompressed storytelling, lack of logos/trade dress and stock covers being created months in advance for Previews, there's just a lot more covers out there per storyline (and that's not even including the gazillion variants, which REALLY devalues the notion of a 1/1 cover) with less to tie them to future nostalgia than ever. 

For Moderns, covers to me are basically interchangeable with splashes and pin-ups. Totally different from what covers showcased in the vintage era and what they represent as the focal point for nostalgia. 

I can tell you what is on practically every X-Men cover from GSXM 1 to somewhere in the #200s. Who can make the same claim for ANY Modern run? Covers simply don't matter like they used to, and it's not only wrong, but simply absurd for anyone to even suggest otherwise.

And, what's more, there are probably a LOT of people who can recall from memory the covers for X-Men and other vintage titles, given that hundreds of thousands of people read these books (both at the time and in the years/decades that followed) and largely consumed them month to month and absorbed the contents in a way that Modern content is not these days - collected/binged, just part of an exponentially larger amount of content being consumed overall, making everything less memorable/retained by default. Plus, the readership/viewership is much narrower than in the past when there were far fewer content choices - today's covers (especially variants) have little chance of becoming truly iconic and memorable to a wide audience. 

 

I knows the covers to the Spider-man and FF books I read as a kid so well that I have sometimes used them as pneumonic devices to remember a number.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎10‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 12:22 AM, Carlo M said:

- Some splashes that are not title splashes can actually have a larger image.

- Comparing similar relative quality (ie A cover vs A splash), splashes typically would be 1/3 the price of a cover

That's why I generally prefer splashes to covers (thumbsu

A lot of the splashes (and "splashy" pages) I own have a larger image of a character than on that book's cover, and cost less than 1/2 of what the cover would. Many of these pages actually contain the largest published image of a character that the artist has ever drawn :cloud9:

And of course, size-wise there's no contest between double-page splash and cover, even though the DPS probably costs less.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don’t have a lot of covers because I don’t value the “bump” usually associated with them. I am more about the art than having a cover and when presented with the choice between a cover and a splash that appeal to me semi-equally, I will save the money and buy multiple splashes in lieu of the cover. From a nostalgia perspective, I usually prefer an interior page(s) as that is where the story played out and you interact with the characters/dialog/writing, etc. How many times did a cover do a great job of getting you to pick up the book only for it not to fit into the story (that always bugged me)?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/19/2019 at 9:15 AM, delekkerste said:

Yep. Modern covers are hugely devalued IMO. I only read Modern trades (either digitally or in physical TPB format), so, what the original covers looked like is practically irrelevant to me and people like me, as I am not buying individual floppies at the LCS and the cover is not necessary to hook me. I may never even see all the original covers if they are not included in the TPB as bonus material. 

Plus, with decompressed storytelling, lack of logos/trade dress and stock covers being created months in advance for Previews, there's just a lot more covers out there per storyline (and that's not even including the gazillion variants, which REALLY devalues the notion of a 1/1 cover) with less to tie them to future nostalgia than ever. 

For Moderns, covers to me are basically interchangeable with splashes and pin-ups. Totally different from what covers showcased in the vintage era and what they represent as the focal point for nostalgia. 

I can tell you what is on practically every X-Men cover from GSXM 1 to somewhere in the #200s. Who can make the same claim for ANY Modern run? Covers simply don't matter like they used to, and it's not only wrong, but simply absurd for anyone to even suggest otherwise.

And, what's more, there are probably a LOT of people who can recall from memory the covers for X-Men and other vintage titles, given that hundreds of thousands of people read these books (both at the time and in the years/decades that followed) and largely consumed them month to month and absorbed the contents in a way that Modern content is not these days - collected/binged, just part of an exponentially larger amount of content being consumed overall, making everything less memorable/retained by default. Plus, the readership/viewership is much narrower than in the past when there were far fewer content choices - today's covers (especially variants) have little chance of becoming truly iconic and memorable to a wide audience. 

 

This is a fantastic topic...

While I agree with most of what is said in the quoted post. Especially about the glut of variants currently hitting the market I do not agree that current covers can not be iconic or nostalgic. I think it comes down to the subject and the artist. I am also an X-men fan and I am fairly certain I will never be able own a Byrne/Adams/Lee X-Men cover. But what I do own are a couple recent variant covers like the one below that touch all those feelings the vintage ones would. I obviously paid a premium vs a splash but no where near what the vintage stuff commands and no current splashes would touch the collector cords this does. 

 

D7021CE3-0B00-4A5C-9709-654180982BBD.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cover "con":

Depending on the times, the top 1/4 to 1/3 of the real estate is reserved for logos, trade dress, price, corner box art, publisher's logo, etc.  It's more or less a dead zone for art.

At the bottom you have the box for the bar code of whatever.

X-Men 137, a landmark issue, cover art by a major artist... how much "art" is really there ??

xmen137.jpg

Edited by Will_K
Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, Will_K said:

Cover "con":

Depending on the times, the top 1/4 to 1/3 of the real estate is reserved for logos, trade dress, price, corner box art, publisher's logo, etc.  It's more or less a dead zone for art.

At the bottom you have the box for the bar code of whatever.

X-Men 137, a landmark issue, cover art by a major artist... how much "art" is really there ??

xmen137.jpg

I agree the editors added way too much trade dress. I do like having the corner box and logo either mounted or on an overlay. Yes it does take up realistate that could be used for artwork but I love having the originals with the extras that are very close to what was published. Even better when the logo is incorporated into the artwork.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great topic. Lots of food for thought. Re: Modern Covers, my 2 cents is that they are, and will remain, a completely different beast from Gold/SIlver/Bronze covers. I'm a relatively new collector and my tastes run relatively modern. The oldest cover I have is a Deathlok cover from 1991 and even that isn't dressed. Just the image. CAF tells me I have 22 covers - they are all stand alone images. Not a drop of text anywhere. Don't get me wrong, I love them, but when I'm at a con and I see older covers, it definitely gives you a different kind of thrill and the combination of title, image, words really helps trigger a maelstrom of memory. 

With the modern covers, as other have mentioned with the many variants, and also with the advent and uptick of grading, the variant model is going to hold very strong. I'm in line at cons to get a simple autograph or a sketch/remarque, and other people have multiples of multiple comics to be signed and graded. The variant covers are a goldmine. 

Regarding the price of (high demand) modern covers, I find that they can be quite high, particularly if they get a very exclusive variant bump. The D'O's are expensive. Felix is doing a great job for his artists - modern splashes and covers are going for 8 - 15k in some cases. However, it's nice that you can still get a cover from a great artist for much less depending on the title/characters. Ed McGuinness' work has a wide range. 

In fact, I really should find a way to have an acetate overlay made for all my covers. I think it would really add depth and make viewing them an even more multi-dimensional experience. If anyone knows of any person doing this kind of work I'd appreciate a link. 

Edited by dichotomy
New information
Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, Jay Olie Espy said:

You left me crying in bed for days. 

Very sorry to hear it. That was my first clink auction! You’re welcome to visit  and look at it whenever you like. And to bring things full circle, apropos to this topic, I decided to concentrate on this piece over the other great DPS of Deathlok and Ghost Rider in the same auction because, among other factors, this is a cover and that was a splash. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, dichotomy said:

Very sorry to hear it. That was my first clink auction! You’re welcome to visit  and look at it whenever you like. And to bring things full circle, apropos to this topic, I decided to concentrate on this piece over the other great DPS of Deathlok and Ghost Rider in the same auction because, among other factors, this is a cover and that was a splash. 

You're welcome to visit and look at it whenever you like" lollol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
1 1