Juggernaut Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 4 minutes ago, Juggernaut said: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_book_collecting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variant_cover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazyboy Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 6 minutes ago, Juggernaut said: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_book_collecting As much as wiki junk is... well, junk, even that says that gimmicks started during the boom. They also peaked at that time and died off as things went bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffro. Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 54 minutes ago, Juggernaut said: 1 hour ago, Lazyboy said: um... what? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_book_collecting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeksAreMyPeeps Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 1 hour ago, Juggernaut said: Never said variants began in 1992 but in the 1990's comic publishers produced gimmick or variant covers to sell more comics due to declining sales. Today variant covers is a comic standard for almost every issue. So, the roots began in the 1990's and early 2000's. I'm not saying variants aren't important, you just have its importance for the wrong time period. Unless I'm mistaken, the first "gimmick" cover was Silver Surfer 50, June 1991. Sales were most definitely *increasing* then, as speculation mania was ramping up. (There may be earlier gimmick covers, but the success of SS 50 is what led to so many more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenaran Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 1 hour ago, GeeksAreMyPeeps said: Unless I'm mistaken, the first "gimmick" cover was Silver Surfer 50, June 1991. Sales were most definitely *increasing* then, as speculation mania was ramping up. (There may be earlier gimmick covers, but the success of SS 50 is what led to so many more. I believe John Bryne's Man of Steel #1 (1986) was the first intentional variant cover (as in more than just a Whitman logo or a other small difference for higher printings). Agreed that it didn't really take off until the 90's. Became common in 00's, more so with the smaller publishers at first then DC at least later in the decade if I recall correctly. Iconic1s and littledoom 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littledoom Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 I identify the ages of comics by the size and the paper used Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeksAreMyPeeps Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 13 hours ago, kenaran said: I believe John Bryne's Man of Steel #1 (1986) was the first intentional variant cover (as in more than just a Whitman logo or a other small difference for higher printings). Agreed that it didn't really take off until the 90's. Became common in 00's, more so with the smaller publishers at first then DC at least later in the decade if I recall correctly. I see variant covers and gimmick cover as two different things. kenaran and steveinthecity 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExNihilo Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 (edited) If we're going off metals I think the metals in decreasing value post Copper should be... Chromium Age (this would refer to books in the 90s to early 2000s and would be somewhat apt given that some books had "chromium" foil covers. Overall, it would refer to the period of comics with gimmicky covers that was prevalent in the 90s). Aluminum Age (mid-2000s to 2020s(???)) Digital Age (20xx - ) Personally, I'd like to avoid using "Modern Age" unless you want to go through the exercise of re-naming ages again down the road. I think using "Digital Age" allows a natural move away from precious and base metals. So what happens after Digital Age? I guess it depends on what happens to the marketplace. With the existing ages, there's at least some sort of industry shift so it would make sense to wait and see what future shifts occur to delineate changes in ages. Edited January 11, 2021 by ExNihilo littledoom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeksAreMyPeeps Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 3 hours ago, Meecrab said: How so? They're both gimmicks. Because there are no bells and whistles on your typical variant cover. It's just different art. When I think "gimmick cover" I'm thinking of some additional method of production that you don't normally see. Lazyboy and D2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D2 Posted January 11, 2021 Author Share Posted January 11, 2021 5 hours ago, Meecrab said: How so? They're both gimmicks. That's a tough one. On one hand, I agree with you. I feel like the variant cover was created under the guide of it being a gimmick. But damn I love me some variant covers... Not all variants mind you, but when there is a story that I love and there is a variant cover associated with that, I'm in heaven. A story with multiple variants that I truly enjoy is the Wolverine 66-72 Old Man Logan original run. Those covers are astounding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazyboy Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 15 hours ago, Meecrab said: When Wikipedia is your evidence, you lose. Especially when even the Wikipedia article doesn't support your claim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggernaut Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 I used the Wikipedia pages for 2 reasons. First, to give some background to others on what we are talking about. Not everyone is knowledgeable about comic history. It is not complete but a good starting point. Give others an opportunity to contribute to the thread which they did. Secondly, I'm glad someone caught the year of the Wikipedia pages. I have been saying this for years, the overstreet advisors and comic historians need to update our hobby history. I'm not here to have an argument but to stimulate a discussion and possible change on a subject to has been long overdue for an update. A few years ago, I provided definitions for different types of 1st appearances as the hobby needed an update. It wasn't fully adopted but it was a good starting point in understanding 1st appearances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valiantman Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 You all can put whatever furry labels you want on these ages, but underneath it's still just some dude from the 1980s and some gal from the 1990s. Decades are the answer... but, by all means... keep "dressing up" these "ages" with unnecessary costumes. Readcomix and sagekilz 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagekilz Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 CLZ doesn't recognize Copper nor does the ever trustworthy Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_comic_book). Not going to lie, don't understand why it's commonplace here - among other 'places' - but nowhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveinthecity Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 45 minutes ago, sagekilz said: CLZ doesn't recognize Copper nor does the ever trustworthy Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_comic_book). Not going to lie, don't understand why it's commonplace here - among other 'places' - but nowhere else. Fwiw, Overstreet uses “Copper”. sagekilz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
