The wonderful Women Write About Comics (WWAC) site recently wrote a piece on variant covers which I thought was so marvellous I had to share it with you.
Variant covers are limited edition covers sold as an alternative to the more widely available usual cover. They are usually done by a different artist and are meant to be more desirable than the regular cover. WWAC has this to say:
"Variants are often produced in limited quantity by publishers, and many cannot be ordered by comic shops without meeting a minimum order. Ordering all (or any) variants is a difficult task even for large retailers. Many comic shops that order variants may also take advantage of their rarity by selling them for more than cover price, even going so far as to bypass the shelf altogether and put them in their online stores first. This is a controversial practice, but it is no different than a speculator buying them for cover price then selling them online for more based on demand. It’s every retailer’s right to decide how to sell “retailer incentive” covers (as variants are also called), and not ordering them at all is also an option.
Variant covers are limited edition covers sold as an alternative to the more widely available usual cover. They are usually done by a different artist and are meant to be more desirable than the regular cover. WWAC has this to say:
"Variants are often produced in limited quantity by publishers, and many cannot be ordered by comic shops without meeting a minimum order. Ordering all (or any) variants is a difficult task even for large retailers. Many comic shops that order variants may also take advantage of their rarity by selling them for more than cover price, even going so far as to bypass the shelf altogether and put them in their online stores first. This is a controversial practice, but it is no different than a speculator buying them for cover price then selling them online for more based on demand. It’s every retailer’s right to decide how to sell “retailer incentive” covers (as variants are also called), and not ordering them at all is also an option.
Every major publisher offers variant covers, some more frequently than others, and there are many different kinds of variants."
The full post is much longer than that so I urge you to go across to the site and read the full post. The rest of the site is pretty good too - they cover comics, movies, games, fashion, books and loads of other nerdy things. Enjoy :)
