Variant Covers

This is the place to discuss the episodes of the Comic Book Page podcast, the Comic Book Page website or pretty much anything else of interest to the Comic Book Page community...

Moderator: JohnMayo

Post Reply
vbchris
Passerby
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jun 05, 2013 8:20 am

Variant Covers

Post by vbchris »

I thought this was an interesting article about variant covers and their impact on the industry.

http://sktchd.com/longform/variant-cover-longform/
drew
Master Reviewer
Posts: 1666
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:56 pm
Contact:

Re: Variant Covers

Post by drew »

They’ve become so commonplace there are over three variants for every five comics released this April.
if you just look at comics there are actually 12 more variants than titles in April. It’s hardly a stretch to say the recent growth in industry sales numbers is connected to the increased presence of variants.
i knew there were a lot of variants but i had no idea it was that many...not a sustainable model for the industry that's for sure;
Comics For Fun and Profit(also available on iTunes and Stitcher)
User avatar
JohnMayo
Host/Owner
Posts: 3282
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:12 pm
Location: Texas
Contact:

Re: Variant Covers

Post by JohnMayo »

The article is longer than I have time to read right now but thanks for sharing the link.

From what I saw in the May Previews, DC had around 40 free to order variants and only two 1-in-25 incentive covers. Marvel on the other hand had about 65 or so incentive covers.
Comic Book Page: Website || Podcast || RSS || Episodes Archive
vbchris
Passerby
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jun 05, 2013 8:20 am

Re: Variant Covers

Post by vbchris »

When you actually put a number on the variants published each month it's staggering. This definitely doesn't seem like a sustainable model. I thought the quotes from the Marvel guy were interesting. As long as they're making sales, I don't think they really care what it does to the long term health of the industry.
drew
Master Reviewer
Posts: 1666
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:56 pm
Contact:

Re: Variant Covers

Post by drew »

vbchris wrote: I thought the quotes from the Marvel guy were interesting. As long as they're making sales, I don't think they really care what it does to the long term health of the industry.
I find this abhorrent and short-sighted; bet he's voting for
PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:
Insert most your most despised candidate name here
...
Comics For Fun and Profit(also available on iTunes and Stitcher)
vbchris
Passerby
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jun 05, 2013 8:20 am

Re: Variant Covers

Post by vbchris »

I find it incredibly short sited as well. I'm as guilty as the next person of buying variant covers. Some of them are really nice. But lately as I'm filing out my order each month I find myself talking a step back and really asking myself if I need x numbers of covers for comic x. The answer I'm coming back with more and more is NO.

Back in the day, when I collected a series I liked to get all of the different covers. But that's just impossible now. As a collector that's hard to come to terms with sometimes, but you would spend a fortune trying to do that now on a title like Deadpool or something. It's just not feasible.
drew
Master Reviewer
Posts: 1666
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:56 pm
Contact:

Re: Variant Covers

Post by drew »

vbchris wrote: Back in the day, when I collected a series I liked to get all of the different covers. But that's just impossible now. As a collector that's hard to come to terms with sometimes, but you would spend a fortune trying to do that now on a title like Deadpool or something. It's just not feasible.
agreed, I used to collect with a completionist mindset and have abandoned that for almost all titles; Saga is achievable, so far, there are a few others
Comics For Fun and Profit(also available on iTunes and Stitcher)
Post Reply