Can’t disagree with a word of that, Clifford. IMO it’s this greed that degraded the cultural value of the average comic cover to that of wrapping paper.
The Pop Artists would find nothing to riff on in all this narrative free pap - it’s already emptier than a Lichtenstein
I used to hate variant covers. I would never buy the same comic twice because it had a different cover. However... over the years I've noticed that some of my favourite artists have drawn variant covers, sometimes breathtakingly beautiful ones. I can't find it in my heart to wish that those covers didn't exist. There's a gorgeous Neal Adams image of Daredevil falling over a cityscape... or a lovely portrait of Hawkwoman by José Luis García López. I'm thankful for the internet for letting me see these wonderful covers. I'm never going to own the comics, but beautiful comic art by masters of the craft should always be celebrated, regardless of the circumstances under which they are created.
That is a fact. I have definitely bought my fair share of comics because of a favorite artist of mine did the cover (only to be let down by the interiors).
Hi, Cliff. I'm an old man now, but recall when X-Men #1 hit the stands... weren't those variant covers all the same cover price? Meaning, you didn't have to shell out $30 + apeice? And the die-cuts, chromium, etc etc werent they too cover price? I'm not trying to defend the decision...merely pointing out that collecting comics in the 90s was at least affordable.
I too am an old man and remember affordable comics. And you're right. Buying comics was cheaper and more democratized then. The cover price on X-Men 1 was $1.50 for the standard editions and $3.95 for the polybagged deluxe gatefold edition, but it was still a cash grab. And that's where the corpos realized they could get scam readers into buying five editions of essentially the same comic, and another five more to collect, and then five more to trade, and all they had to do was swap out the cover, saving money on paper at the same time.
So, instead of walking out of the store with 14 different comics and a single issue of X-Men 1, you'd walk out with 15 copies of exactly the same issue for your $30, thinking that you'd made an investment (as did everyone else). Affordability, the plurality and availability also crashed the false economy, led to a mass exodus of readers (later exacerbated by the rise of the internet, which would be a whole other column), and condensed the market into this comics-as-luxury-item niche economy we're seeing now.
Whether the fact that cover prices now stand around $4 to $5 on average and the variant cover scam is still a thing is the now the fault of the fools in charge of supply or the fools who create the demand ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ... your guess is as good as mine. The investment lie is still the prevailing myth.
I'd love for comics to be mass market and affordable again, but if wishes were horses and all that.
I'm almost curious to investigate the specificities of that Guinness World Record for X-Men # 1 as it seems both inflated, heavily caveated and low when compared with the sales of manga (which might be aggregated, mind you).
Honestly, I can believe it although I understand your skepticism. The false economy of comics being an investment pulled in all kinds of speculators beyond the readership hoping to cash in.
Norris McWhirter and Roy Castle had an interesting dynamic in their relationship. I'm almost curious enough to carry our fairly rigorous background searches on both of them to build up and accurate account of them as people.
True, but the flipside of this is it existed in the first because of capitalism.
Capitalism generates lots of good and then commodifies it.
Greed is indeed a factor but at this point I think it's more desperation. Sales are so low compared to days past that these gimmicks become necessary to even stay afloat.
The variant scheme game is annoying as a customer to be sure. I sometimes wonder if these variant chasers are aware there is a story inside.
The emergence of image comics in the 1990s was a precursor to the manufactured bubble that allowed corporate America to take over comic books. They repeated the same pattern with the housing market a decade later.
Can’t disagree with a word of that, Clifford. IMO it’s this greed that degraded the cultural value of the average comic cover to that of wrapping paper.
The Pop Artists would find nothing to riff on in all this narrative free pap - it’s already emptier than a Lichtenstein
You're are bang on there. "Greed." In the face of that, it makes art seem so pointless. Everything is in service to the bottom line.
Good piece.
I feel seen 🥹 As someone who has been in comics for well over 30 years now and recently got into it with Mayhew, I'd like to say thank you for this.
I feel seen 🥹 As someone who has been in comics for over 30 years now, and recently got into it with Mayhew, I'd like to say thank you for this.
You are seen, Erik. Pull up a chair for a spell.
Thank you! I'm not so old that I didn't notice that my comment was uploaded twice! Sorry about that 😆
You know what, you post duplicate comments as much as you want. We will have no discrimination related to age here.
I used to hate variant covers. I would never buy the same comic twice because it had a different cover. However... over the years I've noticed that some of my favourite artists have drawn variant covers, sometimes breathtakingly beautiful ones. I can't find it in my heart to wish that those covers didn't exist. There's a gorgeous Neal Adams image of Daredevil falling over a cityscape... or a lovely portrait of Hawkwoman by José Luis García López. I'm thankful for the internet for letting me see these wonderful covers. I'm never going to own the comics, but beautiful comic art by masters of the craft should always be celebrated, regardless of the circumstances under which they are created.
That is a fact. I have definitely bought my fair share of comics because of a favorite artist of mine did the cover (only to be let down by the interiors).
Hi, Cliff. I'm an old man now, but recall when X-Men #1 hit the stands... weren't those variant covers all the same cover price? Meaning, you didn't have to shell out $30 + apeice? And the die-cuts, chromium, etc etc werent they too cover price? I'm not trying to defend the decision...merely pointing out that collecting comics in the 90s was at least affordable.
The greed just seems more out in the open now.
I too am an old man and remember affordable comics. And you're right. Buying comics was cheaper and more democratized then. The cover price on X-Men 1 was $1.50 for the standard editions and $3.95 for the polybagged deluxe gatefold edition, but it was still a cash grab. And that's where the corpos realized they could get scam readers into buying five editions of essentially the same comic, and another five more to collect, and then five more to trade, and all they had to do was swap out the cover, saving money on paper at the same time.
So, instead of walking out of the store with 14 different comics and a single issue of X-Men 1, you'd walk out with 15 copies of exactly the same issue for your $30, thinking that you'd made an investment (as did everyone else). Affordability, the plurality and availability also crashed the false economy, led to a mass exodus of readers (later exacerbated by the rise of the internet, which would be a whole other column), and condensed the market into this comics-as-luxury-item niche economy we're seeing now.
Whether the fact that cover prices now stand around $4 to $5 on average and the variant cover scam is still a thing is the now the fault of the fools in charge of supply or the fools who create the demand ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ... your guess is as good as mine. The investment lie is still the prevailing myth.
I'd love for comics to be mass market and affordable again, but if wishes were horses and all that.
Is it greed or desperation?
Both, probably.
I'm almost curious to investigate the specificities of that Guinness World Record for X-Men # 1 as it seems both inflated, heavily caveated and low when compared with the sales of manga (which might be aggregated, mind you).
Honestly, I can believe it although I understand your skepticism. The false economy of comics being an investment pulled in all kinds of speculators beyond the readership hoping to cash in.
I also trust Norris McWhirter implicitly.
Norris McWhirter and Roy Castle had an interesting dynamic in their relationship. I'm almost curious enough to carry our fairly rigorous background searches on both of them to build up and accurate account of them as people.
Dedication … Dedication … that’s what you need if you want to be the best.
I'll never forget Castle's vehement hatred of working men's clubs and passive smoking. I think this has oddly crept into the comics that I make.
Well, it is what killed him in the end.
You'd like everyone to believe that, eh?
" all of it, went to shit because capitalism."
True, but the flipside of this is it existed in the first because of capitalism.
Capitalism generates lots of good and then commodifies it.
Greed is indeed a factor but at this point I think it's more desperation. Sales are so low compared to days past that these gimmicks become necessary to even stay afloat.
The variant scheme game is annoying as a customer to be sure. I sometimes wonder if these variant chasers are aware there is a story inside.
The emergence of image comics in the 1990s was a precursor to the manufactured bubble that allowed corporate America to take over comic books. They repeated the same pattern with the housing market a decade later.