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Karl Wiebe
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Posted: 20 September 2017 at 10:30pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

Apologies if this has already been covered (I couldn't find anything in the other threads on it).  Question for the group please: I noticed with current DC and Marvel titles, many covers have no words or speech balloons anymore.  Many covers just look generic.  

For example, Batman (2016 series) just has cover after cover of Batman scowling and standing on a rooftop.  No words, no description of anything inside the actual book.

Another example is early Spider-Man (like issues 1-400) almost all covers seem to have at least a HINT of the plot inside the book.  But now there are Spider-Man covers that are just... Spider-Man swinging through the city.

Just wondering: was there a deliberate decision made by DC or Marvel on this?  Or is there a specific reason for this trend to "generic" covers?  Wondering if anyone has any insight (maybe comics are produced differently, or the lead time between cover and publication is different, etc).  
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Christopher Frost
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Posted: 20 September 2017 at 11:02pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

I think it's like the old practice of having inventory stories on hand. They commission a bunch of generic looking covers from artists and then use them whenever. Given that creative teams seem to shift constantly and story content is often in flux, it makes sense. Personally, I prefer a mix of the two. I feel that most covers should be at least a little bit story related but generic type images are fine from time to time.
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Eric Sofer
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Posted: 21 September 2017 at 5:35am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

For quite a while, Fantastic Four had pin up covers consistently.

Worse, perhaps, were ambiguous covers that MIGHT refer to the story inside... but without a thorough reading of the book, one could not discern the contents by the cover. Ridiculous.

Might as well just have a black cover with the title and other necessary trivia. the cover is the first thing that potential buyer sees; it HAS to sell the book. And that means (or at least, it used to mean) that it had to attract readers with a great story. One might get away with a pin up of Superman or Captain America occasionally... but unless the character is selling the book, REGARDLESS of the contents, it seems a rather useless gimmick.
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Doug Centers
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Posted: 21 September 2017 at 6:12am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

Covers for the most part need an antagonist or life threatening situation for our hero or civilians, IMHO.

That's the tease!
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Bill Collins
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Posted: 21 September 2017 at 7:57am | IP Logged | 5 post reply

I heard a bit of advice concerning advertising `Sell the
sizzle,not the sausage` it appears to me that modern
covers are mostly sausage and no sizzle!
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John Byrne
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Posted: 21 September 2017 at 8:07am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Marvel especially started slipping into generic covers when prima donna artists and writers started getting later and later turning in their work, until it reached a point where the editors literally did not know for sure what was going to be in the issue.
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John Byrne
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Posted: 21 September 2017 at 8:10am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

It should also be noted that very few sales actually depend upon a potential reader seeing a cover on the rack, and being drawn (no pun!) to it. Since the books are solicited and ordered (don't get me started!)* three months in advance, it really doesn't matter what's on the cover.

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* Achully --- get me started! I wonder if any of you appreciate what a nightmare this is. The covers are showing up in catalogs THREE MONTHS before the books ship, so good luck trying to get any kind of surprise on those covers. Potential readers will know what's in Part III before Part I has even shipped!!! In my JURASSIC PARK mini, for IDW, I wanted to show what kind of "dinosaurs" we were dealing with as a Big Reveal at the end of the first issue. But that three month lead on the solicitations meant I could not show the beasties on ANY of my covers!!!

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James Woodcock
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Posted: 21 September 2017 at 3:25pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

This lateness has led to a spate of solicitations with 'not final cover' being placed  in the listing.

That, and not wanting to reveal anything about the contents.

Oh to be a comic shop owner trying to predict how many people will buy something that they know nothing about
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Andrew W. Farago
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Posted: 21 September 2017 at 3:41pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply

How recently have you looked at comic book covers? The "totally generic cover every single month" trend played out about ten years ago, and apart from #1 issues, most current Marvel and DC books give you a pretty decent guess what to expect on the inside.
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Robbie Parry
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Posted: 21 September 2017 at 6:07pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

Give me this any day of the week:





Bought this as a kid.

Who's the big guy on the cover? I didn't know. But I wanted to find out. All I knew was that Batman and a young lady were floating on ice - and some big, Hulk-like guy was endangering them.

So, yes, I bought the issue. This was my FIRST experience of Blockbuster, the 'villain' on the front.

I had to buy the issue. It hooked me. I needed to know who the big guy was. He looked unstoppable. I also needed to know why he and Batman were fighting. And just how Batman would survive (and save the young woman) whilst stuck on ice.

That is what gripped me.

And here's EAGLE #335 (1988):





This was my first EAGLE. All I remember is that there weren't any US titles on the shelves - and this one caught my eye. Who was the guy with the strange eyes? Why were his eye beams attacking a London bus? What was it all about? 

So, yes, I bought that, too.

A cover pose does nothing for me. I may as well buy posters. There has to be something to grip me. The above covers (and they are just two of many I could share) certainly hooked me.
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Andrew W. Farago
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Posted: 21 September 2017 at 7:02pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

The reason that covers changed as much as they did in the past 15 years is that the way people are buying comics has changed. Comic shops live and die by pull lists now, so they're dealing with customers who've pre-purchased a comic whether the Flash is running full-speed at Captain Boomerang or he's just sitting down and eating an apple.
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Robbie Parry
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Posted: 21 September 2017 at 7:15pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

True though that may be, the industry should at least endeavour to remember that there could well be fresh blood walking into a comic store. 

As an adult, I'm old enough and wise enough to know that I'll give a book a chance, perhaps based on story, who the inker is, because I'm following a creator, etc.

But no kid ever walked into a store thinking about inkers, creators or whether there'd be good writing and decent sub-plots. Young me, and any kid since the year dot, is going to be hooked with a cover that shows something utterly compelling.

I don't have any scientific studies to back up my view, but if a kid (aged around 7) walks into a comic store, I think he'd probably go for the action-packed cover, featuring Batman battling a crocodile whilst the Joker shoots bullets at him, than a generic pose with Hawkeye standing up and polishing his arrows.


Edited by Robbie Parry on 21 September 2017 at 7:15pm
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