This week we have four parts. Below a clip from Part 1 and the titles of the other parts.
Comic Book Covers – The Week of February 20 in Review Part 1 of 4
Okay with that bit of housekeeping out of the way, I wanted
to talk about comic book covers. I was five or six years old when I first
starting buying comic books. On Saturday night my Dad would drive to a local
newsstand and buy the two Baltimore Sunday papers, the News American and the
Baltimore Sun. It was a corner newsstand that had one magazine rack devoted to comic
books. My Dad would usually give me up to a dollar to spend and that meant I
could get up to eight comic books at 12 cents a shot. I had to choose and I
could not take all day so it was the cover that helped make the decision. Over
time I knew what series I wanted to follow and the cover was no longer a
deciding factor, but if it was something new the cover could often sway my
choice.
Comic Book Covers – The Week of February 20 in Review Part 1 of 4
Okay with that bit of housekeeping out of the way, I wanted
to talk about comic book covers. I was five or six years old when I first
starting buying comic books. On Saturday night my Dad would drive to a local
newsstand and buy the two Baltimore Sunday papers, the News American and the
Baltimore Sun. It was a corner newsstand that had one magazine rack devoted to comic
books. My Dad would usually give me up to a dollar to spend and that meant I
could get up to eight comic books at 12 cents a shot. I had to choose and I
could not take all day so it was the cover that helped make the decision. Over
time I knew what series I wanted to follow and the cover was no longer a
deciding factor, but if it was something new the cover could often sway my
choice.
That was decades ago and the industry has radically changed
and covers seem to serve multiple functions. We have variants, we have the WTF
gatefold covers, we have enhanced covers, wraparound covers, blank covers and
we are still awaiting the first talking cover and edible covers, but you get
the point. Also we have a lot of artists who almost do exclusively covers. Adam
Hughes, until his recent hiatus to draw an actual comic book, was only doing
covers for years. Brian Bolland only does covers anymore. To me having one
artist do the cover is a cheat, because the interior and the cover artist
should be one and the same. Variant covers are BS also. Often I see some
wonderful cover that is a variant and the regular cover is just okay. If the
cover was meant to help sell a comic that best cover should be the main one.
Number Ones – Will I Still Love You Tomorrow? The Week of
February 20 in Review Part 2 of 4
DC How Do I Hate Thee Let Me Count The Ways – The Week of
February 20 in Review Part 3
of 4
Now These Books I Liked – The Week of February 20 in Review
Part 4 of 4
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