McFarlane’s Spawn/Spidey Cover Leads the Way for Golden Anniversary
Hunt Valley, Maryland – The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #50 arrives in comic shops on Wednesday, September 2, 2020, kicking the celebration of its five decades of service to comic book collectors and retailers into high gear. The Bible of serious enthusiasts since it was first published in 1970, the Guide is compiled by founder Robert M. Overstreet with contributions from an extensive roster of Overstreet Advisors.
This year’s historic main cover was provided by Image Comics founder and recent Guinness Book of World Records subject Todd McFarlane, who illustrated his signature character, Spawn, and the character that propelled him to fame, Marvel’s Spider-Man, together for his first Overstreet cover. It marks not only the first time McFarlane has illustrated Spawn and Spidey together, but his first professional Spider-Man in 27 years.
Fresh off the feature film debut of Valiant’s Bloodshot, artist John K. Snyder III (Eight Million Ways To Die) brings not only Bloodshot, but also X-O Manowar and Livewire to the cover of The Overstreet Comic Book Price #50 as well. Beau Smith’s Wynonna Earp, the demon hunter, descendant of famous lawman Wyatt Earp, and star of both her own graphic novels from IDW Publishing and SyFy’s TV series, is the first western character to be featured on the cover of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. It is illustrated by Chris Evenhuis, who has worked on many of the Wynonna Earp comics. The cover of The Big, Big Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #50, our oversized, limited edition, is a deliberate throwback to 1970’s first edition of the Guide, as longtime fans will see at first glance. Gemstone Publishing’s Creative Director, Mark Huesman, created this cover.
The Spawn/Spider-Man soft cover edition of Overstreet #50 will be available in traditional bookstores in about two weeks, but all of the other versions of the Guide are exclusive to comic book shops and are available for reorder as of September 2. The hardcover editions retail for $37.50, the soft covers are $29.95, and the Big, Big edition carries a $49.50 cover price.
This cover will be offered in the April 2020 PREVIEWS from Diamond Comic Distributors in both soft cover ($29.95 SRP) and hardcover ($37.50) editions. The Wynonna Earp cover will be exclusively available in comic book shops (and from the Gemstone website for those who don’t live near a comic shop).
McFarlane, Evenhuis, and Huesman join Snyder III (the Guide’s most prolific cover artist) in a
a deep roster of top comic book talents who have provided covers for the Guide over its five decades. Joe Kubert, Will Eisner, Carl Barks, Wally Wood, Alex Schomburg, C.C. Beck, Murphy Anderson, George Pérez, Mark Chiarello, DarwynCooke, Amanda Conner, Walter Simonson, Adam Hughes, J. Scott Campbell, and Ryan Sook are among the luminaries who have illustrated the top characters in comics on Overstreet covers.
On social media this morning, artist David Mack teased fans with news that he would be joining the Overstreet ranks with his Daredevil/Echo cover for The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #51. “It is an honor to create the cover of next year’s edition of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. And it’s a joy to include these characters that are so special to me: Daredevil, my first work for Marvel, and Echo who I created in my first Daredevil story. I’d never guess that two decades later she would be on the cover of the Comic Book Price Guide that I read as a kid,” David Mack said.
“As much as 2020 has been a relentless crazy year, it’s been a spectacular year for back issue sales and we’re excited to keep documenting that. We couldn’t think of a better way to kick off our sixth decade than getting the incredible talent of David Mack on the cover of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide#51 for 2021. We’ve been fans since the earliest days of Kabuki, and when you see this cover, you can clearly see why,” said J.C. Vaughn, Vice-President of Publishing for Gemstone Publishing. Additional details will be announced at a later date.
“The covers to The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide have been created by the historical greats of our medium that I respect, such as Joe Kubert, Will Eisner, Carl Barks, Wally Wood, Jim Steranko, Joe Simon, Alex Ross, Mark Chiarello, Todd McFarlane, Matt Wagner. It’s an honor to be a part of this tradition of legendary artists.”
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