by Hal Hickey
In this multi-part series on the history of variant comics, we are exploring series of variants that collectors are likely to find, albeit some being much more difficult than others, depending on the rarity of those series. I have stayed away from the “one-off” variants of which there are many but most are rare. Part 1 and part 2 explored the first series, the “price variant comics”. In part 3, part 4 and part 5, we dug into the second series, the “printing variant comics”, covering second printings, third printings and so on. In part 6 we discovered the “alternate publisher” variants, namely the “Whitman” and “Modern Comics” variants.
In this, part 7, we will begin to cover the last series of variant comics, which is the most prolific in sheer volume today and continues to play a major role in how comic books are marketed. The introduction of these variants was part of a series of events that nearly destroyed the comic book industry. This final series are the “variant covers”. In their early years they were referred to, somewhat non-affectionately as “gimmicky covers” or “chase covers”. These were introduced specifically targeting the many completist comic collectors, especially Marvel Comics collectors, who existed at the time. But I wouldn’t be doing this final series of variants justice without spending some time with the story behind what spurned variant comic book covers.
It all started with Baseball cards, yes that’s right, baseball cards. Continue reading