Variant covers

[paradise]

Well, one way to look at the variants is that a 1:20 variant means the publisher assumes only 1 in 20 collectors care.

Corrected it for you

[kinggirlfriend]

I wish the trades collected all the covers for every issue. I'd rather have that than the un-colored/un-inked process pages.

Do the deluxe editions collect all the covers?

[Serpentor]

... variant covers have killed my interest in current comics.

I would call *SQUEE* on this. If you enjoy comics, no cover gimmicks will kill your interest. 90% of people getting VEI comics just get whatever cover is pulled for them or is on the shelf and enjoy the books.

"If i can't get them all, I will not read ANY" is a type of statement that makes me feel that person is not a real fan in a true way.

"True fan" is subjective. I don't make a habit of comparing my level of dedication to that of others. I am all-in on V1 Valiant, and the huge amount of covers has been the factor that has prevented me from collecting the newer books. Note that I never said I abstain from reading, as I do have some TPBs of really good stories. I simply take a pass on collecting the actual comic books. I enjoy good stories, but I also enjoy having key books and first appearances. There is something to be said for the feeling one has owning a V1 Harbinger #1 and knowing there is only one version of it and that the collecting world views it as iconic. When a key character or team is introduced these days, who knows which version of the book is going to be considered the iconic one? Will the huge number of variations prevent all of them from attaining iconic status? Imagine if the original X-Men #1 had 15 covers. That would be a freaking mess from a collecting perspective. Instead, there is only one. Nice, neat, tidy.....and iconic. Multiple covers completely ruin the experience for me. I am sorry if my opinion offends you, but it is my personal take on it. I'll stick to the TPBs when I want to read newer stuff.

"If i can't get them all, I will not read ANY" is not an accurate interpretation of my perspective, although I can somewhat understand how you might have gotten that impression. In most cases, I don't want them all nor do I want a single one of them because there is no "definitive version" in my mind. I will still read them if the story is great, but it will be in TPB form. At that point, I am buying purely for the story and collecting is no longer in the equation. This is what makes the old way so much better for me. Figuring out which book is "the" book is easy because there was almost always only one cover. Even in cases like the old school Valiant gold books, the cover art was the same. An iconic book still had the iconic look, even when pimped out with gold ink.

[possumgrease]

Do the deluxe editions collect all the covers?

Unfortunately they do not. There are some, but not all.

And I am like you in that I would prefer to have all the covers (full sized - no quarter panels) instead of the "making of" filler.

[DirtbagSailor]

You should try collecting all of the availble original art for a given title.

Trust me, that is a virtually impossible and expensive undertaking!

[agent_graves]

Buy the cover you like the most as long as you can afford it.

You are new to it, enjoy reading MORE books instead of paying more for a book because of a cover. Honestly I have made my business selling variants here but that's a game for people who already know what they read, and can afford the "chase".

You should read more different books from a variety of publishers and try new things out. That's better for you, the publishers and the industry. Once you feel comfortable, buy cool expensive covers if you can.

THIS....

[Gafti]

I think we can agree that too many Variant covers do the fans a disservice.
However, it seems like the economics of the business, for both publishers and retailers, dictate that they continue to do lots of variants. I'm sure the artists themselves have no problem with it either, as it presents more opportunities for them to get work.
It's a money making game, and I wish Valiant didn't participate. But if I had to choose between VEI/LCS going out of business or producing variant covers, then you can bet your *SQUEE* I'm taking the covers.
Long live Valiant.

[greg]

Well, one way to look at the variants is that a 1:20 variant means the publisher assumes only 1 in 20 collectors care.

Corrected it for you

I guess if you can get one collector to buy all 21 books... yep.

[nycjadie]

I think we can agree that too many Variant covers do the fans a disservice.
However, it seems like the economics of the business, for both publishers and retailers, dictate that they continue to do lots of variants. I'm sure the artists themselves have no problem with it either, as it presents more opportunities for them to get work.
It's a money making game, and I wish Valiant didn't participate. But if I had to choose between VEI/LCS going out of business or producing variant covers, then you can bet your *SQUEE* I'm taking the covers.
Long live Valiant.

There is definitely a limit. Would Valiant sell more covers if they only did 2 per issue? Possibly. I know more folks went for every cover at launch. I think there are far, far fewer doing that today. Unity 1 kind of jumped the shark on the covers.

[DirtbagSailor]

It is an interesting discussion.

1.) Valiant can be enjoyed by reading the story on the pages of a 1:500 variant, regular edition, electronically (Valiant App, Comixology, ComicBlitz), or in Trade Paperback. It is unlikely that anyone will actually read a 1:100 or 1:500 though as they are created for a different targeted market demographic entirely.

2.) The very reason many collectors place value on a rare or hard to find variant, is because it is rare and hard to find. If it is NOT rare or hard to find, then the market will react and the value will adjust accordingly. In this event, it is less likely that the demand or desire to own the variant will exist. (An example of this would be the number of WTB threads of board members looking for DMG, Platinum Errors, or Ninjak Templesmith variants, or Golden Tickets).

Interestingly enough, people seem to demand low prices for what they place high value on, and once (if) the HTF variant is obtained, they (the buyer) then subsequently adjusts the value back to its perceived market value once again. Problem is, that few sellers want to sell a $500 book for $100 so that a buyer can have a $500 book just because.

3.) The desire to own everything is quite real. Anything of value is considered a resource, and resources are consider helpful in a number of social, biological, and evolutionary ways. However, while it is normal to what it all, it is not realistic (unless one is independently wealthy). It's frustrating, sure, but much like cars, power, and women (men?) we simply cannot have it all. Kings have tried and failed. Instead, we get what we can, and push for more.

Because I can't *SQUEE* the prom queen and her six best friends (at the same time) doesn't mean I give up on all women (men?). Instead, I sit back, look at the billions of other available people on earth and make my move accordingly.

I want every issue of V1 Bloodshot; however, there is only one copy of the Bloodshot #0 (Pink) on earth. It was auctioned earlier this year and sold for $5,000+. So, unless that book sells, I'll NEVER complete that set. It's demotivating, so instead I am building the best and most complete V1 Harbinger set on earth.

Its like not wanting to play a game unless you know you will win. But then, it's not much of a game is it. It's hard for May to run a race with no real hope of winning the race, yet, millions do it each year.

[ShadowTuga]

I think we can agree that too many Variant covers do the fans a disservice.
However, it seems like the economics of the business, for both publishers and retailers, dictate that they continue to do lots of variants. I'm sure the artists themselves have no problem with it either, as it presents more opportunities for them to get work.
It's a money making game, and I wish Valiant didn't participate. But if I had to choose between VEI/LCS going out of business or producing variant covers, then you can bet your *SQUEE* I'm taking the covers.
Long live Valiant.

There is definitely a limit. Would Valiant sell more covers if they only did 2 per issue? Possibly. I know more folks went for every cover at launch. I think there are far, far fewer doing that today. Unity 1 kind of jumped the shark on the covers.

I remember getting the covers for Unity #1 (I have 13 or 14 different ones, plus duplicates) and just thinking "this is getting out of control" and questioning myself on why was I paying for something that was not really valuable to me?.

But its misguided to be angry at Valiant for doing it, because it really helps them. We should just step aside and let the peeps kill each other over the next 1:150000 platinum talking cat cosplay cover.

[Sunlight on Snow]

If you don't want to spend money on expensive variants that will only end up in boxes then you can frame them and put them up on the wall. With a couple of different spots it's easy to let them rotate if you feel like it's time for a change.

[greg]

If you don't want to spend money on expensive variants that will only end up in boxes then you can frame them and put them up on the wall. With a couple of different spots it's easy to let them rotate if you feel like it's time for a change.

I'm a fan of displaying framed scanned copies of book covers.

The fading (that will eventually happen) will (safely) happen to the copy of the real thing.
You know you own the real book, so it's not like you're pretending anything.

[Sunlight on Snow]

If you don't want to spend money on expensive variants that will only end up in boxes then you can frame them and put them up on the wall. With a couple of different spots it's easy to let them rotate if you feel like it's time for a change.

I'm a fan of displaying framed scanned copies of book covers.

The fading (that will eventually happen) will (safely) happen to the copy of the real thing.
You know you own the real book, so it's not like you're pretending anything.

Well, for some books I do already have a second copy and wouldn't mind the fading of the framed one. There are certainly books with a certain value and scarcity for which a scanned copy would make sense, however, my current printer/scanner combo really sucks - it's a cheap Canon. It does its job but it's just not meant to make perfect scans... without too much pixelation while maintaining the image's hue & saturation.