Sunday, February 24, 2013

The Week of February 20 Review Preview

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.

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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