Marvel Legacy: The difference that trade dress can make

In January 2023, I began trying to fill the holes in my Captain America comic book collection.  I had stopped buying the series in 2013, having only bought four random issues since then: the 2016 Free Comic Book Day issue (which was free); Sam Wilson: Captain America #7 (May 2016) and two semi-recent Cap issues (#696 & 698) in March 2018 when a local comics shop had them on sale.  (See the screencap of my Facebook post below, which shows these Cap issues.)

These two 2018 Cap issues were part of the "Marvel Legacy" initiative, where many series returned to their higher "legacy numbering."  A banner across the top of the comics, and the headshot in a box in the top left corner, gave them an appealing retro look.  Later, in September 2018, I wrote the following post on Facebook about a Marvel Legacy series from earlier that year: a revival of Tales of Suspense, picking up where the classic series had left off in 1968!

In 2023, I started filling holes in my Cap collection and picking up some of these issues from the "Marvel Legacy" era (2017 & 2018) that I had missed out on before.  I wrote a post about them on Facebook in March 2023, and showed examples of some of the Marvel Legacy covers and interior pages.

And here's the Marvel Value Stamp that I mentioned in my Facebook post:

Looks like fun, right?  It's too bad that I didn't know about the Marvel Legacy initiative at the time, I thought.  I probably would have been tempted to buy some of them when they were new, instead of getting them years later in the cheap bins.

Out of curiosity, I did a search of my old Facebook posts to see if I actually did know about them back then.  Even though I wasn't buying new comics during that time, I would occasionally looks at the solicitations of upcoming comics posted on news sites like CBR (ComicBookResources) and sometimes comment about them on my Facebook wall.  

So, funnily enough, it turns out that I had indeed posted a link to CBR's Marvel solicitations for October 2017 (with Dec. 2017 cover-dates), just as "Marvel Legacy" was beginning.  (You can view the original CBR article here.)  Here is what I wrote on my Facebook wall on July 26, 2017:

The interesting thing to me now is that I hadn't remarked on the way that the regular Marvel Legacy issues had a retro look; I only referenced the variant covers.  The reason has to do with what has prompted me to write this blog post, and why I have titled it "The difference that trade dress can make."  

The CBR solicitations that I had looked at -- and indeed most comics solicitations to this day -- do not show exactly what the published covers will look like when they arrive on the shelf.  The solicitations offer previews of the cover artwork for the upcoming issues, but the trade dress (the cover logo, price tag, barcode, publisher branding, etc.) is absent.  In many cases, even all of the variant covers that will be published for an issue are not yet available to view until closer to the publication date.  So, even though the solicitations are an excellent way to find out what a comic book's front cover will look like, small cosmetic changes that are made afterwards can change one's perception of the cover.

And that's what happened in this case.  I looked at those upcoming Marvel Legacy covers and was not impressed by the regular covers, because the retro trade dress elements had not yet been added to them.  Instead I was interested only in the variant covers that were shown, since their retro logo elements had been included.  

So, let us run through the CBR solicitations that I looked at in July 2017, and compare what was shown with what was actually published.  

First up we have Amazing Spider-Man #789 (Dec. 2017).  This was the first "Marvel Legacy" issue of the series, returning the title to its legacy numbering.  The previous issue had been #32 (Nov. 2017).  Shown below is how the regular (main) cover looked in the CBR solicitation, and (on the right) how the published cover looked (image taken from the Grand Comics Database).  

As you can see, the published cover has much more of a fun, retro look to it.  Since I didn't see the published cover, I was more interested in the retro looking variant, which used a Steve Ditko drawing of Spider-Man taken from ASM Annual #1 (1964) that had later been used on a t-shirt.  You can see here that the final version used the classic ASM logo, unlike the preview which used the logo from the t-shirt.

Also during this time Marvel was releasing lenticular variant covers.  These had two images on one cover, which changed depending on how you held the cover.  Move the cover one way and one image would be shown.  Turn the cover slightly and the second image would be revealed.  However the CBR solicitation was only able to show the Alex Ross image, without the John Romita one underneath, as on the published cover.  (The Alex Ross image on its own was used for the 2nd printing of this issue.)

The CBR solicitation listed in the text that there were two other variant covers for this issue: a "headshot" variant by Mike McKone, and a blank variant cover.  Neither one was shown, however, so here is what they looked like when published, as taken from the GCD entry:

Let's move on to FALCON #1 (Dec. 2017).  Sam Wilson had recently ceased being Captain America, giving the shield back to Steve Rogers, and resumed his previous identity as The Falcon.  I like the character, but for some reason I didn't check out this series when it came out.  (In fact, I didn't buy a copy of the series until last month.)  So far this has been the only Falcon solo series, apart from the 4-issue mini-series that he had in 1983-1984.  

CBR's solicitation page showed three covers of the issue: the main cover and two variants.  Here's a comparison between how they looked in advance and then how they looked when they were published:

Although the preview cover is a bit more striking due to being less cluttered, the published cover has the retro trappings that make it more appealing to me.  If I had seen the version on the right in July 2017, would I have been more tempted to buy the comic?  (As it happens, I don't recall ever seeing the comic on the shelves back then.  Which is not unusual actually -- I will occasionally see comics that are in solicitations that never make it onto the shelves of my local comics shops.)

Once again, the CBR solicitation was unable to convey what the published lenticular variant cover would actually look like.  I was impressed in 2017 by the retro look of this variant in the CBR preview below, but the published version is not so clearly visible.

The CBR solicit showed a "virgin" version (i.e., no writing on it) of Joshua Cassara's variant cover of the issue.  The GCD didn't have a scan of the published version, so I am showing one that I saw on eBay.  The trade dress doesn't add much in the way of retro appeal to this cover, though, since it lacks the banner/strip across the top and the corner box headshot  

The CBR page mentioned but did not show the Mike McKone "legacy headshot variant" edition, so here's what the published cover of that one looks like.  (The issue had other variant covers, but I won't be showing them here.)

Next on the CBR solicitation page is Invincible Iron Man #593 (Dec. 2017). As with ASM above, this was the first issue of the series in the Marvel Legacy initiative.  The previous issue was #11 (Nov. 2017).  As you can see, there is a dramatic difference in the impact of the preview version compared to the published cover.  The latter has much more nostalgic appeal, bringing back the 1970s logo in addition to the Marvel Legacy banner at the top and the corner headshot box.  I think if I had seen the published version of this issue in the solicits, I would have been talking about its retro quality, rather than about the variants.

I posted the above image on my Facebook wall in July 2023, when I began writing this blog post, asking which image people preferred.  Some commenters were confused, thinking that the artwork itself had been altered due to the slight coloring differences between them. Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort clarified: "That is exactly the same piece in both instances. The difference just comes down to how the file printed on different paper stacks and at different points in the print cycle. The one on the left is from the Marvel Previews catalog so there wasn’t any deliberate set-up done for it."  (Marvel Previews is a booklet that is available for free each month from your local comic book shop, showing the cover images and descriptions of the upcoming Marvel comics, and from which sites like CBR obtain their solicitation info.)

Below is what the lenticular variant cover looked like in the CBR preview of Iron Man #593, compared to the published version (which has the cover of Iron Man #150 overlaid it):

And here's the vintage t-shirt variant cover:

Once again, the Mike McKone headshot variant cover was not included in the solicitations shown at CBR, so here's what the published cover of that one looked like:

Next we have Spirits of Vengeance #1 (Dec. 2017).  The published version of the cover with the trade dress gives it more of a 1990s look than the preview does.

Below is what the lenticular variant cover looked like in the CBR preview compared to the published version (which has the cover of Giant-Size X-Men #1 overlaid it):

And once again, the Mike McKone headshot variant cover was not included in the solicitations shown at CBR, so here's what the published cover of that one looked like.  Not that great really, but I can imagine someone trying to collect all of the headshot variants (like collecting the Marvel Value Stamps).  And they would draw attention to themselves as a uniform comicbook line if stacked together on the new releases shelf.

Next we have Incredible Hulk #709 (Dec. 2017).  According to the GCD, the previous issue was Totally Awesome Hulk #23 (Nov. 2017); the series changed its title and resumed the legacy numbering with this issue.  Personally I don't think there is that much appealing about either version of this cover, and I doubt that seeing the published version would have made me more interested in it.

And here's what the vintage T-shirt variant cover looks like:

And the headshot variant cover:

Okay, on to the next one: Black Panther #166 (Dec. 2017).  The previous issue had been #18 (Nov. 2017) but the legacy numbering includes all the previous Panther series that Marvel had published through the decades, getting him up to #166.  The published version of the regular cover doesn't particularly have much retro appeal, despite the Marvel Legacy trappings.  

And here's the headshot variant (which doesn't look like T'Challa to me -- more like Wolverine wearing the Panther's mask!):

Next is Captain Marvel #125 (Dec. 2017).  The previous issue had been Mighty Captain Marvel #9 (Nov. 2017).  By combining all of Carol Danvers' previous series, they came up with legacy numbering #125.  Both the preview version and the published version are fine covers, although I think I prefer the published one.  

Here's the lenticular variant cover, which has The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962) as its second (overlaid) image.  But of course the CBR preview just shows the one image, a new illustration by Dan Mora that was used on its own for the issue's 2nd printing (although eliminating the words "The Mighty" from the cover logo). 

And here's the headshot variant.  Again, not that great IMHO.

Now let's take a look at Iron Fist #73 (Dec. 2017).  The previous issue was #7 (Nov. 2017).  The preview image at left retains the logo that #7 had, but the published version of #73 has the classic 1970s logo.  And once again that little difference makes the cover of the published issue much more appealing to me.

There was also a headshot variant and lenticular cover for this issue, but let's skip past those.  Instead, I thought that I would share here the letters page that appeared in the following issue, #74 (Jan. 2018).  As noted earlier, I happened to get this issue from a dollar bin a few months ago, which prompted me to wonder why I was unaware of the Marvel Legacy initiative at the time that it originally came out. For many longtime fans, the combination of the classic logos, legacy numbering and lettercols would seem to be an irresistible package.  And yet, many of us apparently resisted -- or never knew about the changes in the first place. 

Next we have Avengers #672 (Dec. 2017).  The previous issue was #11 (Nov. 2017). 

Below is the lenticular variant cover, which features a new Mike Allred illustration superimposed with the cover for Avengers #53.  The Allred cover was published by itself for the cover of the 2nd printing of this issue.

Here's the vintage t-shirt variant cover:

And here are two other variant covers, including the headshot variant, as they appeared when published (taken from the GCD entry for the issue):

The Mighty Thor #700 (Dec. 2017) had a similar high-number jump.  The previous issue had been #23 (Nov. 2017).  CBR's preview showed the entire wraparound cover image which is more eye-catching here than the published cover, especially with the large "#700" lettering.  However the textbox-burst at the bottom right, listing the names of the issue's contributors, may have enticed some readers to buy the issue when they saw it on the shelf.  (There were more variants for this comic and the issues that are listed below, but I have decided to skip past them.  You can check out the differences for yourself on GCD and the CBR link provided earlier.)

Next we have Champions #13 (Dec. 2017).  For some reason, this series didn't have an issue-number increase, absorbing the numbering from the 1970s Champions series -- probably because it would have made little sense to do so!  Although more cluttered, the published version has a more classic and appealing design to my eyes.

Then there is Uncanny Avengers #28 (Dec. 2017):  

Monsters Unleashed #7 (Dec. 2017) also didn't have a numbering jump.  The difference of the visual impact between the preview and the published cover is minor. The traditional trade dress of the published version does make it slightly more appealing to the nostalgic fan, however.

The variant covers on this issue look pretty cool, too. (These ones are from the published issues.)

Jessica Jones #13 (Dec. 2017) is an example of how the retro trade dress can clash with a more modern art style.  The retro trappings signal "fun" to the reader, while the realistic illustration sends a more serious and adult feeling (reinforced by the large parental advisory box).  So, I'm not really sure which version looks best for this cover.

Anyway, you get the point.  I'm not going to show the rest of the solicitations for December 2017 issues and compare them to the final published versions -- otherwise this post (which I began writing a month ago) will take a lot longer for me to complete.  And in some cases the cover differences for that month on titles such as Luke Cage, Cable, Deadpool, etc. are not really significant enough to be worth highlighting here.  

Nonetheless, I do think it's interesting to see how the addition or alteration of a cover's trade dress can impact a potential reader's opinion of it.  The solicitations are necessarily incomplete when offered to the public, as the final camera-ready version of the published issue has not yet been prepared.  And yet, when fans are deciding what to pre-order, their judgement about the upcoming comic may be partly determined by this not-final cover image.  The only solution then is for fans to recognize that what they see on the shelf may look a little different than the preview they saw months earlier, and that it may be worth taking another look at them when they are released.  You may want to pick up the issue after all!

A timeline of cover-price increases for AVENGERS (1963-2023)

The following is an overview of the increase in cover price for the Marvel comics series Avengers from 1963 to 2023.  During that 60 year period, the cover price for regular-sized issues of the series in the United States increased from 12 cents to $3.99.  (The cover price has remained at $3.99 from 2009 to present, with some exceptions.)  I have made a simple chart showing that price increase timeline below:

What follows is a more detailed examination of each price increase, with exceptions noted for thicker issues (containing more pages).  The information comes largely from the Grand Comics Database.  There are three additional charts below showing the price increase over the 20-year periods from 1963 to 1983; 1983 to 2003; and 2003 to 2023.

The cover price of Avengers was 12 cents each from the series' debut (#1, Sept. 1963) to issue #65 (June 1969).  During that time, a few story pages had been dropped -- replaced by text pages -- as I explored in a previous post.

The cover price was raised to 15 cents beginning with issue #66 (July 1969).  This 15-cent price lasted through to #92 (Sept. 1971).

The next issue, #93 (Nov. 1971) was a thicker issue priced at 25-cents.  The intention had been to increase the page count and price of the entire Marvel comics line, but this change lasted only one month before reverting to a standard page count.

The new cover price for a standard comic book at Marvel was 20 cents.  Avengers had a 20-cent cover price from #94 (Dec. 1971) to #122 (April 1974).  (Although #100 was an anniversary issue, it was not a thicker, higher-priced issue as sometimes happens.)

Avengers had a cover price of 25 cents from #123 (May 1974) to #150 (Aug. 1976). (Again, #150 had the same page count as a regular issue.)

Avengers had a cover price of 30 cents from #151 (Sept. 1976) to #164 (Oct. 1977).

Avengers had a cover price of 35 cents from #165 (Nov. 1977) to #182 (April 1979).  This was the period when I started buying comics.  The earliest Avengers issue that I know I bought brand-new was #170 (April 1978) which I bought at a local drugstore when I was 7 years old.

Avengers had a cover price of 40 cents from #183 (May 1979) to #198 (Aug. 1980).

Avengers had a cover price of 50 cents from #199 (Sept. 1980) to #214 (Dec. 1981), with the exception of course of #200 which was a thicker anniversary issue priced at 75 cents.  Marvel did increase the page count of story content from 17 or 18 pages to 22 pages, in order to offset the pain of this 10-cent price increase.  I recall talking with my friends at the time about what would be a cover price increase that would force us to stop buying comics. We all agreed back then that if the price of a regular-size comic ever rose to $1.00, we would have to quit buying them!

Avengers had a cover price of 60 cents from #215 (Jan. 1982) to #253 (March 1985).  Issue #250 (Dec. 1984) was a thicker issue that had a $1.00 cover price.

At this point, it might be good to show how the overall cover price increase looks on a graph I made, showing the years 1963 to 1982 in one simple image:

As you can see above, in 20 years' time, the cover price had more than quadrupled.  You could have bought FIVE comics in 1963-1968 ($0.12 x 5 = $0.60) for the price of ONE comic twenty years later, in 1982-1984.

So, let us continue our chronology...

Avengers had a cover price of 65 cents from #254 (April 1985) to #263 (Jan. 1986).  This would be one of the shortest-lived cover prices in the series' run.  DC had already increased their cover prices from 60 cents to 75 cents in 1983, so Marvel was trying to keep their own cover price down for as long as possible, it seems, by adopting the more incremental 65-cent price.

Avengers had a cover price of 75 cents from #264 (Feb. 1986) to #290 (April 1988).

Avengers had a cover price of $1.00 from #291 (May 1988) to #343 (Jan. 1992).  Issue #300 (Feb. 1989) was a thicker issue with a $1.75 cover price.

The dreaded day had finally come when the cost of a regular Marvel comic had risen to $1.00 each.  But me and my friends who had worried about such a fate back in 1980 were mostly not buying them anymore anyway, having outgrown them or become bored and dissatisfied with the content.  The last issue of Avengers that I remember buying brand-new back in the 1980s was #299 (Jan. 1989).  I wouldn't buy an issue of the series again until 1997.  In retrospect, however, the late 1980s/early 1990s wasn't a bad period of Avengers, and the $1.00 cover price was a bargain, although I didn't appreciate it at the time.

Avengers had a cover price of $1.25 from #344 (Feb. 1992) to #373 (April 1994).  The $1.25 cover price is a bit misleading when shown on a graph because there were six issues of the series published during this time that were much more expensive.  

Issue #347 (May 1992) was a thicker issue with a $1.75 cover price. Issue #350 (Aug. 1992) was another thick issue that was a flip-book (reprinting Avengers #53 on the other side) with a $2.50 cover price. Issues #360 (March 1993), #363 (June 1993), #366 (Sept. 1993) and #369 (Dec. 1993) were also thicker issues, all of them having foil or cardstock covers and a $2.95 cover price.  Ah, the 1990s!

Avengers had a cover price of $1.50 from #374 (May 1994) to #402 (Sept. 1996).  Issue #375 (June 1994) was a thicker issue with a $2.00 cover price.  Issue #400 (July 1996) was also a thicker issue and had a $2.50 cover price.

The series was cancelled with #402, and replaced with the "Heroes Reborn" volume drawn by Jim Lee.  Avengers Vol. Two #1 (Nov. 1996) was a thicker issue with a $2.95 cover price.  Issue #2 (Dec. 1996) to #9 (July 1997) had a $1.95 cover price. (I think I started buying the series again with #8.)  

Issue #10 (Aug. 1997) to the final issue, #13 (Nov. 1997) had a $1.99 cover price, with the exception of #12 (Oct. 1997) which was a thicker issue with a $2.99 cover price. 

Avengers Vol. Three #1 (Feb. 1998) kicked off the Kurt Busiek-George Perez run that helped get me interested again in buying new comics.  It was a thicker issue with a $2.99 cover price.

Avengers Vol. Three #2 (March 1998) to #28 (May 2000) had a $1.99 cover price, with the exception of #12 (Jan. 1999), #25 (Feb. 2000) and #27 (April 2000) which were thicker issues with a $2.99 cover price.

Avengers Vol. Three #29 (June 2000) to #502 (Nov. 2004) had a $2.25 cover price.  (The series returned to its legacy numbering with #500, which normally would have been #85.  The final issue of the series was #503.)  The exceptions included the thicker issues of #34 (Nov. 2000) with a $2.99 cover price, and #48 (Jan. 2002), #50 (March 2002), #60 (Jan. 2003), #500 [#85] (Sept. 2004) and #503 [#88] -- all of which had a $3.50 cover price.  There were also two price-rollback issues where the price was actually lowered, to make them more attractive as a jumping-on point for new readers.  Issue #38 (March 2001) had a cover price of $1.99, and #77 (March 2004) had a cover price of only FIFTY CENTS!

Let's stop again at this point to look at the previous 20 years of cover-price increases, picking up where we left off before in 1983.  The graph below shows the cover price increase from 60 cents (1983) to $2.25 (2003).  So, you could have bought nearly FOUR issues (3.75 to be exact) in 1983 for the same price of ONE issue in 2023.  This is a little better than the FIVE to ONE rate of the previous 20-year period (1963 to 1983). 

Let's get back to the listing of issues.  We pick up in late 2004, which would begin perhaps the most significant Avengers run in decades, when the title was rebooted as New Avengers, written by Brian Michael Bendis. Issue #1 (Jan. 2005) to #7 (July 2005) had a cover price of $2.25, same as the previous series.  

New Avengers #8 (Aug. 2005) to #17 (May 2006) had a cover price of $2.50.  Incidentally, it was around this time that the newsstand editions of the issues had higher cover prices than the direct-sale (comics shop) versions.  While the direct-sale copies were $2.50 each, the nearly-identical newsstand editions cost $2.99. 

New Avengers #18 (June 2006) to #48 (Feb. 2009) had a cover price of $2.99. (I finally stopped buying the series in 2007, having bought it every month since 1997.)  The newsstand editions had a cover price of $3.99. 

New Avengers #49 (March 2009) to the final issue, #64 (June 2010), had a cover price of $3.99, with the exception of #50 (April 2009) which was a thicker issue for $4.99.

Avengers Vol. Four was the next series in the Avengers' legacy numbering. Issue #1 (July 2010) to #33 (Jan. 2013) had a cover price of $3.99.  The exceptions were #12.1 (June 2011) and #24.1 (May 2012) -- both of which had a lower cover price of $2.99 -- and the final issue, #34 (Jan. 2013) which was a thicker issue with a $4.99 cover price.  Incidentally, Marvel ended the distribution of its comics to newsstands (including bookstores like Barnes & Noble) in 2013.

Avengers Vol. Five #1 (Feb. 2013) to #43 (June 2015) had a cover price of $3.99.  The exceptions were #24 (Feb. 2014), #29 (July 2014), #34.1 & #35 (both Nov. 2014), #34.2 & #40 (both March 2015) and the final issue, #44 (June 2015), which were thicker issues for $4.99.

The next series in the Avengers' legacy numbering is All-New, All-Different Avengers which ran only 15 issues from #1 (Jan. 2016) to #15 (Dec. 2016).  They were all $3.99 each with the exception of the first issue, which was thicker than the rest and had a $4.99 cover price.

Avengers Vol. 6 was the next series, which has a little bit of confusing numbering.  The first issue was #1 (Jan. 2017), which had several additional fractional numbers (#1.1, #2.1, etc.).  After issue #11 (Nov. 2017) it returned to the legacy numbering, so that the next issue was #672 (Dec. 2017).  The final issue was #690 (June 2018).  From #670-on, the cover logo was "Avengers No Surrender."  All of these issues were $3.99, with the exception of the following thicker issues that had a $4.99 cover price: #1, #1.MU, #675, #684 and #689.

Avengers Vol. 7 was published from #1 (July 2018) to #66 (May 2023), written by Jason Aaron.  All of the issues had a $3.99 cover price with the exceptions of the thicker issues of #1 ($4.99 cover price), #10 [legacy #700] ($5.99), #31 ($4.99) and #50 [#750] (a 100-page issue for $9.99).  

Note: the legacy numbering jumps on the above series from #707 (for #17) to #718 for the next issue (#18) because another series, Avengers: No Road Home #1-10 (2019), is legacy #708-717.  For the sake of completeness here: all of those No Road Home issues had $3.99 cover prices with the exception of #1, 6 & 10, which were thicker issues with a $4.99 cover price.

Avengers Vol. 8 is the current main Avengers series.  So far the cover price has been $3.99, with the exception of the first issue (#1, July 2023) which had more pages and a $4.99 cover price.  The most recent issue is #4 (Oct. 2023) which came out August 9th.

Whew!

So, here is our final chart showing the cover price increases over the last 20 years, from 2003 to present (2023).  As you can see, the price has remained fairly stable compared to the previous two 20-year periods (1963-1983 and 1983-2003).  

This means that in 2003 you could have bought nearly TWO Avengers issues ($2.25 each) for nearly ONE Avengers issue ($3.99) today in 2023.  Compare this to the situations we showed earlier, where you could have bought FIVE in 1963 compared to ONE in 1983, or FOUR in 1983 compared to ONE in 2003.  Yes, the price has gone up -- but on the other hand, it hasn't gone up on regular-sized issues in over a dozen years, holding the price down longer than in any other period of time.

Having said that, I do expect the cover price to be raised to $4.99 at any time now.  However you can still buy issues at 2003 prices by subscribing to them via the mail, as I have outlined in a previous blog post.  

What do you think?  Is the price of a new issue too high, too low, or just right?  If you think that current issues of Avengers ought to have a different cover price, what price do you (realistically) think they should be?