Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Classic Cover Comparison

Star Wars: Poe Dameron #1 My Geek Box Exclusive and Star Wars: Poe Dameron #1 Calgary Expo Exclusive

My Geek Box, like ZBOX, is another pop culture subscription service that originated in the U.K. but now offers their service in other countries around the world.  For their April 2016 subscription box, they offered an exclusive Poe Dameron #1 variant cover by Spanish artist Pepe Larraz.

Star Wars: Poe Dameron #1m - Marvel Comics, U.S. (April 2016)
My Geek Box exclusive
This cover shows Poe Dameron decked out in his pilot uniform approaching his X-Wing Fighter with his helmet clutched in one hand.  The drawing is of Poe's back and nearby is BB-8.  If that sounds familiar, that is because the Poe Dameron #1 Calgary Expo exclusive cover by Mike Del Mundo has many of the same elements.

Star Wars: Poe Dameron #1s - Marvel Comics, U.S. (April 2016)
Calgary Expo exclusive
Poe Dameron is the Resistance's best pilot and the title is about his leading Black Squadron, so it makes sense that the majority of the Poe Dameron covers for issue #1 would show him in his pilot uniform.  What is odd however is two covers by two different artists having a similar theme.  What differentiates the covers however is the composition of the elements.

On the Pepe Larraz cover, everything is closer and larger.  The location is a hangar bay and BB-8 is waiting between Poe and his X-Wing.  Poe has a clenched fist, no doubt determined to succeed in whatever mission he is about to undertake.  On the Mike Del Mundo cover, the distance between Poe and the X-Wing looks to be the same, but the camera is pulled back more.  Poe is walking back to his X-Wing more relaxed, his mission clearly over, and the location is the surface of a planet.  BB-8 is following alongside Poe instead of waiting for him at the ship.  The sun is setting and we can see other X-Wing Fighters flying in the background.  The color palette and location is softer, while on the Larraz cover the mixtures of blues and blacks along with angular shapes in the hangar makes the scene colder.

While both covers contain the three main elements, showing Poe from behind in his uniform, his X-Wing Fighter, and BB-8, they are differentiated by their execution and therefore evoke different feelings.  For me, it is a tossup on which cover is preferred.  It is easy enough to imagine the Larraz's cover is the start of a mission while Del Mundo captures the end of that same mission.

5 comments:

  1. What are these worth? I cant find either on ebay...

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    1. I have the Larraz variant for sale on ebay atm....

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  2. The My Geek Box exclusive comes up for sale on eBay more frequently and I purchased the last one listed for around $25 shipped from the UK to the US.

    The Calgary Expo exclusive is definitely the harder of the two to get. There is actually one listed on eBay right now but it doesn't look to be in NM condition. In NM condition, I've seen these sell for $300 or more.

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  3. I believe the Calgary one is becoming more available as I have seen a few of them up for sale now. The Larraz variant is proving much more difficult to find.

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  4. The asking prices for the My Geek Box exclusive have definitely gone up on eBay since I made this posting. There are 2 listed on eBay at the moment with the asking price of one at $300 and the other around $450. Have any My Geek Box exclusive sold for anywhere close to these asking prices?

    Regardless of what collectors value these book prices at, it does look like both the My Geek Box and Calgary Expo exclusives do not have many copies in circulation.

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