Wednesday Talkback: Cover enhancements on trade paperbacks?

 ·  11 comments

So with official announcement of DC Comics's September Villains Month/Forever Evil, I only half-seriously asked the following on Twitter:
But it got me thinking ... with all the controversy over cover enhancements -- really cool effect or high-priced throwback to the 1990s -- would you want to see trades start to get cover enhancements, too?

I couldn't think of many times this had already been done -- no doubt you all can tell me more in the comments section -- but at least one is Spectre: Crimes and Punishments, the first (and only) collection of the John Ostrander/Tom Mandrake Spectre series, which came with a glow-in-the-dark cover. And then of course the Batman: Death of the Family hardcover will have an acetate dust jacket to mimic the die-cut covers from the single issues.

It's an open forum today on Collected Editions -- sound-off in the comments section whether you'd like to see cover enhancements on trades -- die-cuts, 3D covers, holograms, you name it -- or anything else you're thinking about ...

Comments ( 11 )

  1. Wayne LippaJune 05, 2013

    Even though I bought all the floppies, I am picking up the Batman: Death of the Family hardcover because of the acetate cover and the promise that we'll see what the Joker's "face" looks like under it. What can I say, I'm a sucker that way. I'm also a sucker for glow-in-the-dark covers. I still love the cover to Green Lantern #50 from waaaaay back in the 90s (when Hal Jordan became Parallax); every now and then I take it out of the box, charge it up and then turn the light off to enjoy the glow. Same goes for Superman #123 (the first appearance of him in his "Electric Superman" suit).

    With regard to DC's September villains one-shots, while the covers look like they could be cool, I don't really see the necessity of them, and I'm a little peeved that I'll have to pay an extra dollar for each of them because of the cover. I'm trying not to be too peeved, though, because I want to reserve judgement on the covers until I actually see one in my hands. If they look as cool as DC is hyping, that might make them worth the extra dollar in my mind. Hopefully the stories under the covers will be good!

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    Replies
    1. Sometimes when DC would release an enhanced cover, especially at a higher price, they would also release a variant "un-enhanced" edition, maybe at the regular price -- I'm thinking of the 1990s Robin miniseries, maybe, like Robin II and Robin III, and then maybe also the Superman/Milestone "Worlds Collide" book had two covers, one enhanced and one not. (The Robin books had a hologram and then this "moving" patch respectively; Worlds Collide had stick-on Colorforms!)

      That seems like maybe the thing to do here instead of jacking up prices across the entire line for a month -- maybe release two sets of books, one with the hologram and one without.

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    2. Wayne LippaJune 05, 2013

      Agreed. It would be nice to have the choice.

      Delete
  2. Simon ChangJune 05, 2013

    I'm not a fan of 'gimmick marketing' bleeding over into the collected editions market, which has traditionally focused on long tail sales for those who just want the story and not worry about the value of their collection. I'm pretty sure the DotF cover is a limited print run.

    More importantly, will the 3D covers on the single issues be replicated in the collections? Something tells me no - it'd be way too expensive, especially for the Omnibus edition they're putting out. But it would be a really nice bonus if they did.

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    Replies
    1. I'd think at least that omnibus should have a 3D cover. Or the collection of Forever Evil.

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  3. I wonder if they could develop some new enhancements for the bindings. Since all of my books are shelved, I could care less if they have special covers, but holographic lettering or other neat tricks would be a nice touch.

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  4. I really liked the cover of the first Books of Magic trade. Can anyone remember that?

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  5. How about less gimmicks and more including all the issues in a run, even if they are fill-ins. Bonus issues are more valuable to me than a cover I might not look at it once I file the TPB away.

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  6. DC how about focusing on putting out good quality, well written & drawn books instead of jacking up prices w/ gimmicks! Anyone remember the collapse of the industry in the 90's? DC needs to ditch Dan Didio & Bob Harras return the real DC universe & quit immitating one of the darkest decades of comic books. I miss the real DC, Teen Titans that were readable & legacy characters.

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  7. AnonymousJune 20, 2013

    If it will increase the prices of the collected editions....then NO for me. Unless of course its the Absolute Editions - we can go a bit fancy at this level but for the others, let's keep it simple, beautiful and affordable. :)
    -Omar

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