After looking at hundreds of comic book covers, it becomes quickly apparent that not every cover is 100% original. Whether done intentionally or even underhandedly, there’s something about uncovering these “swipes” that adds a new element of fun to reading and collecting comics.
In 1996, the X-Men line of comics brewed up a cool story with a mystery villain named Onslaught. This storyline quickly grew into a mega-event spanning across almost all of the Marvel titles at the time. It wrapped up ages-old plotlines (Who was the infamous X-Traitor?) and set up a whole new alterniverse (the Heroes Reborn line of books). The books featured below are the bookends to the Onslaught saga. I think it was a neat choice to use a cover swipe here to show the changes in the character’s look and also to show that, initially it was just the X-Men … but, in the end, it took the all of Marvel’s heroes to defeat him.
Onslaught: X-Men August 1996 Adam Kubert |
Onslaught: Marvel Universe October 1996 Adam Kubert |
On Ebay: Onslaught | Adam Kubert