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 a twist on the Superman mythos, the title character in Jim Valentino’s normalman (stylized in all lower-case letters) is shipped off into space by his father when he concludes that the planet they inhabit will explode. The child arrives on a planet inhabited completely by super-powered beings – they dub him normalman, because he’s the only one there without powers.
The character debuted in Cerebus the Aardvark #56 and was soon given his own ongoing series. That title served as a vehicle for creator, Jim Valentino, to spoof and parody other comics, a perfect opportunity (if ever there was one) to introduce cover swipes that parody the source material.
It looks as if normalman #2 is paying homage to this classic issue of Fantastic Four (guest-starring Daredevil) but the logo is actually honoring the long-standing Spider-Man logo design that debuted on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #2 and dressed the covers of that series up through issue #394.
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 a twist on the Superman mythos, the title character in Jim Valentino’s normalman (stylized in all lower-case letters) is shipped off into space by his father when he concludes that the planet they inhabit will explode. The child arrives on a planet inhabited completely by super-powered beings – they dub him normalman, because he’s the only one there without powers.
The character debuted in Cerebus the Aardvark #56 and was soon given his own ongoing series. That title served as a vehicle for creator, Jim Valentino, to spoof and parody other comics, a perfect opportunity (if ever there was one) to introduce cover swipes that parody the source material.
I started selling comics full-time in 2010 and wanted to track my progress against the online back issue markets. Here’s a look at the current comics aftermarket and my progress in achieving my goal of becoming a prominent back issue dealer.
From October 2015 to February 2016, eBay was giving away 10,000 free listings to sellers with store accounts. Despite the elimination of this promotion, the number of listings have dipped but not dropped off sharply.
Atomic Avenue‘s total listings are continuing their slow climb out of their most recent 5-year low brought on by a combination of increased selling fees and stricter selling metrics that removed some members (other members left proactively). This month, that slow climb took a slight hit. However, more importantly, their number of unique issues continues to rise consistently – and has done so since I began tracking this data.
/39.jpg "Fantastic Four #39")
/146.jpg "Superman #146")
