Darker and Edgier: Gimmick 90s’ comic covers

Covert Nerd Podcast

Al, Ben and Lee talk about their favorite gimmick comic book covers from the 90's. Listen and let us know which one is your favorite. ----more---- The Dark Age of Comic Books was the culmination of a gradual move towards an older audience for Comic Books, particularly those featuring superheroes that had started in The Bronze Age of Comic Books. Sometimes, to follow the Gold/Silver/Bronze progression, at other times it is jokingly called "the Chrome Age", owing to the frequency of publishers selling comics with holofoil covers as a marketing gimmick during the period, but "Dark Age" is the much more common and accepted term. Usually characterized as a Darker and Edgier period featuring an increased focus on sex, violence and dark, gritty portrayals of the characters involved, much of the content produced during this era is very controversial among comic book fans. It's not the world's most exciting cover, but 1991's Silver Surfer #50 gets the nod for being the first comic in industry history to feature the chromium embossed effect, and for how it utilizes the gimmick in a sensible manner. As the 90s chugged along, publishers were seemingly embossing every other comic without much rhyme or reason. But Silver Surfer #50 adds the embossing to the Mr. Radd himself. And that makes sense since the character's name is "Silver Surfer" – so some silver chromium embossing is neither excessive nor inappropriate. Yes, I understand that I'm essentially awarding points here for lack of excess, but considering we're talking about the 90s here, why not applaud Marvel's show of restraint. Tom Chirstopher Cover Art Tom Christopher Inks Ron Lim Pencils - Cover Art James (Jim) Starlin Scripts Tom Vincent Colors Als first pick: Marvels Silver Surfer #50 1991 One of the biggest selling comic books of all time, more than 8 million copies of X-Men #1 were snatched up in the 90s, primarily because of the gimmick – five variant covers that interlocked to create a beautiful Jim Lee-illustrated landscape of the X-Men fighting Magneto (there was also a special edition gatefold version of the comic which contained the entire image). Sure, needing to buy five copies of the same comic in order to see Lee's entire image was annoying and an inefficient use of funds, but the iconography of this issue and its gimmick cannot be denied. Plus, in terms of its historical significance, this was the comic that cemented Lee as one of the industry's best young artists, which of course led to the "Image Revolution" in 1992 of which Lee was one of the core founding member of the company (alongside Todd McFarlane, Rob Liefeld and Erik Larsen). Chris Claremont-Scripts Jim Lee Pencils - Cover Art Tom Orzechowski LettersJoe Rosas Colors Scott Williams Cover Art - Inks Ben's 1st Pick: Marvels X-Men #1 Oct. 1991 Great interior art from Jim Lee. Look at Magnetos glorious mane. Another amazing interior fold out page The X-Men gather for Illyana's funeral. Magneto brings Avalon to Earth and offers the X-Folk a chance to join his dream. Colossus says "Yes." Script Scott Lobdell Pencils John Romita Jr.; Jae Lee; Chris Sprouse; Brandon Peterson; Paul Smith Inks Dan Green; Dan Panosian; Terry Austin; Tom Palmer; Keith Williams Colors Mike Thomas Letters Chris Eliopoulos Lee's 1st pick: Marvels Uncanny X-Men #304 September 1993 Writer(s) Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning Penciler(s) Doug Braithwaite Inker(s) Josef Rubinstein Colorist(s) Kevin Tinsley Letterer(s) Mike Higgins Als 2nd pick: Marvels Punisher #75 Feb. 1993 Nails Ghost Rider Writer: Howard Mackie Penciller: Mark Texeira Cover Artist: Mark Texeira Bens 2nd Pick: Marvels Ghost Rider #15 July 1991 Est. Print Run:, 935,000 Cover Date:, Apr '93 Cover Price:, $2.95 Current Value:, $3.00 Blood Brothers: Prelude. Story by Rob Liefeld and Eric Stephenson . Art by Rob Liefeld, Dan Fraga, and Danny Miki. When the government needs a job done, they call in the best, th