About Heroes

DC has just announced that that there will be a “special pencil” variant of Infinite Crisis #4. My question is this; why in the hell would anyone want it?

Variant covers are all ready pretty damn near worthless in my book. I mean if you’re going to do a second print, fine. I mean we all know that retailers pretty much suck when it comes to gauging interest and ordering books properly. (But that is a discussion for another day.)But when a variant cover is used, you are encouraging people to re-buy a book they all ready have. And really some saps can’t help themselves.

Now, those of you that engage in this practice are probably asking yourselves; why is this a bad thing? Who cares if I’m a moron and buy the same book twice? Well, I do, and I’ll tell you why.

Most of us, with a few exceptions, can’t buy everything we want as it is. So when you make a conscious decision to buy another copy of a book you all ready have, that money is taken away from a new book you might like, or an existing book you have to skip, thus damaging its sales. Most comics barely sell enough to stay alive as it is. So instead of supporting this practice, try something new! It makes better financial sense, and it helps keep variety alive in our favorite hobby. After all we don’t want a repeat of the “boom and bust” of the 90’s do we?