Amazing news!
Thank you, Tom, and everyone else at Marvel for relaunching Spider-Girl as "The Amazing Spider-Girl"! The retro logo looks awesome.

Special hugs and kisses to Molly. She's been terrific for the book!

Posted by Jeffers on 2006-07-12 12:43:07
Covers
I am really new to comics but I have to say the covers totally draw me into reading them. I mean I see now of course I like reading them in some sort of order but when just flipping through huge boxes of comics I will pull some and buy just for the covers. I heard tons of hours go into just doing a cool cover and it is well worth it! Keep up the great work!

Posted by Johnny Yuma on 2006-07-12 13:01:24
Don't judge a book...
I never really got why people made such a big deal about the covers. Sure, I'll look at a cover and either say "Wow, that's really great. David Finch is awesome" or "I don't really like that cover, but at least it's written by Bendis, so who cares? Oh look, there's an variant that I like better!" It's not a big deal to me as long as what's inside keeps me interested in what's going on.

I'll be perfectly honest, sometimes the artwork on the cover is more interesting than the story inside. A few years back I managed to grab up all the Maximum Carnage issues for fairly cheap because I had fond memories of playing the video games and was always interested in the symbiotic villains of Spider-Man. I read through it, and althought it's a memorable storyline, it wasn't really written all that well. So many editor's notes of which issue referred back to another one that I didn't have or didn't read through me off (by the way, I'm really glad those are used sparingly or as jokes nowadays), and I couldn't enjoy the story as much... but the covers were still awesome.

Most important thing is that Marvel keeps putting out great storylines. I think the covers ARE fairly superfluous. You're still going to have those die-hard cover fans that want to get every variant, and that's great. If you can still cater to those fans, I say do so. But really, when it comes down to substance, the cover is nothing more but pretty artwork to let you know that you're buying a different issue from the last, not to mention it's a nice backdrop to any comic store as you're passing through the various busts and figures.

Posted by causeitwasfunny on 2006-07-12 13:40:12
Covers are still cool thou. :o)
Interesting. I must say though, that covers still draw me in, there are titles I'll always read no matter what the cover looks like because I know the series and just have to continue otherwise I'd spontaneously combust. But other titles I've never read before, it still usually is the cover that draws me in. The art.

Eternals for example, the cover was just eye catching to me (and I had been tortured enough through the blogs with previews of the amazing art.) and I think even if I hadn't seen the previews I still would have gone over to it and flipped through it. I also think that a lot of the fun to comics is looking at the covers as well. (Maybe I'm weird, but I always appreciate the covers more and stay staring at the details for a little while before actually reading.) To me its a lot about the art and if I don't like the covers or the art design, I must admit I think twice about picking up that comic.

But I understand what you've said. I guess in the market value sense covers don't really touch sales, but they still are special. It is interesting however, how it seems like covers play such a big role, and then to learn, that. hm. not really. Which makes sense. It is always about the story and the story is what brings people back for more, not to look at pretty covers. Lol.

Posted by TwilghtDragon on 2006-07-12 13:48:59
Speaking of Covers...
I'd really prefer that the trade paperbacks have their own covers instead of using a cover from an issue of the story arc.

I definitely prefer my covers to match the story. Generic pose covers are lazy and uncreative.

Posted by Larry C on 2006-07-12 14:07:14
I miss Holographic Covers
The role of covers has changed because comics have changed.

Readers have matured and are more interested in the story rather than 1 picture on the front page. There is less emphasis on covers because comic sales have dropped drastically from what they once were in the past. However this doesn’t mean that comics are less profitable than they were in the past. The business model has changed and thus the role of covers has also changed. It’s an evolution from what has been. It is more profitable to spend less time on the cover.

As a fan though I really wish those awesome covers would return, I remember when comics used to have Holographic covers. I miss those awesome covers. I still have Spiderman vs Venom "Final Confrontation" It was so cool with the holograms.


Posted by eddiecho on 2006-07-12 14:31:58
Covering the subject
I must admit that I really enjoy both kinds of covers, and I don't know that it isn't a bad thing to have the story covers. Captain America's latest run is an example of a good selling story cover book. The only gripe I have is when the cover art is so completely different from the interior art that you feel like you experienced a bait and switch.

Posted by bigdaddyhub2 on 2006-07-12 15:20:34
RE: Covering the subject
...kinda like when Wolverine is on a whole bunch of covers, but nowhere is he seen throughout the story.

Posted by causeitwasfunny on 2006-07-12 15:29:48
Judge by the Cover
Honestly, the creative team and the characters are the main factors that I use to determine how I spend my comics budget. However, the cover is part of the book and there should not be a disconnect between the cover image and the content. Comics are, after all, a narrative medium. The best covers take this into account. If you ask any fan or pro what his or her all-time favorite covers are, I'd guess that most would have some relevance to the book's contents.
I feel the same way about covers not drawn by the interior artist. I feel like I've been lied to when I pick one up and flip through it.
There have been truly great pin-up style covers [Nick Fury #4 springs to mind] and there are many great cover artists working today, but these should be the exception, not the rule.
When it comes to comics, I prefer to be able to judge a book by its cover.

Posted by leeboone on 2006-07-12 15:40:59
Judge a book by it's cover
I like covers that have the story on the front. Word balloons. The guest-starring hero or villain. That so many times attracts people to pick up an issue they wouldn't otherwise. I hate the ones with just iconic images. Yes I know Spider-man is in this issue, it is named Spider-man after all, but who else might be in it? Wait Moon Knight is in it? How would I know? Especially with alot of comic shops bagging the comics on the shelves, you don't even get a chance to flip through them anymore, so the cover is crucial then.

And I would daresay that you don't see much difference in sales because so many of the comic buyer base has pull slots/boxes. So we are getting the title automatically regardless of the cover. And stores are ordering based off their pull slots and just general hype on a book.

Thing didn't do well? It wasn't because of the cover. Where was the hype on it? I guarantee, had Bendis been writing it, Marvel would have been pushing the book more than they did. Dan Slott has his following, but isn't the name some others are.

Covers have less to do these days with the internet and hype. But I still like seeing a good cover. I just don't want fancy hologram covers that raise the price $1-2 more. I don't wanna pay extra for a cover. But take the comic covers from the 80s and the covers to Ultimate Spider-man, and based off covers alone without considering anything else, which ones would you feel more inclined to read?

Posted by thatsmystapler on 2006-07-12 16:08:59
A compromise?
If there is no vast sales difference between iconic, pin-up covers and story-based covers, why not mix up a little of both? While I admit that I'm a fan of many pin-up covers (Phillip Tan and Steve Uy's covers from Uncanny X-Men a couple of years ago, and James Jean's Runaways covers more recently come to mind) There was nothing more captivating and fun for me as a young reader than a story cover (for instance, that issue of Uncanny in the late #200's with X-Men, X-Factor, and the New Mutants staring at the reader in horror, with a shadowed image of the legs of a villain, Arcade I believe, with a big screaming speech balloon saying "Come with me, X-Men, or PROFESSOR X DIES!) That's a bad example, because that had NOTHING to do with the story it contained, but it was still one of my favorite covers and one that stays with me to this day, even though that comic has been lost and gone to me for at least 10 years.

In short, mix a few story covers in and leave pin-ups to books where the cover artist is different from the interior or a top-flight artist (Runaways, New Avengers, and Iron Man for the former, Astonishing X-Men and Moon Knight for the latter) and utilize story covers for second-tier books with artists who are not quite A-List or as flashy as a Cho, Jean, or Finch. I don't want to offend anyone by naming their favorite artist as an example, but you get the idea.

Posted by GabeFab on 2006-07-12 16:27:09
covers r wat makes u get the book
it catches ur i and makes u wanna get it

Posted by tarhaun on 2006-07-12 18:45:36
Welll....
Do you think this book willl sell as well with a different cover?

http://static.flickr.com/53/183988971_f9a90aae03_b.jpg

Posted by RichJohnston on 2006-07-13 05:23:22
Please don't hog all the covers
I picked up my books today...USM, Civil War Frontline, Supreme Power, Sensational S-M and then...what the...Civil War: The Director's Cut? Okay. What's up with this? And the variant covers? Folks, I've got a kid coming in a few months. A man's gotta prioritize. I can't be feeding my little girl superfluous issues of comics I've already bought. Love the work Marvel is putting out these days but, really, this is just crass commercialism. It makes me very cranky.

Posted by maskedmenace on 2006-07-13 05:48:30
Cap
Steve Rogers has been around since the beginning of super heroes, having fought in WWII. At the start, heroes were vigilantes and no one worked with the Government. He has seen many Governments come and go, and has been screwed by some of them.

Posted by joka_23 on 2006-07-13 22:49:01