Top 10 Comic Book Gimmick Covers of All-Time! 

Don’t forget all the fold out posters and cards. Those spirit of vengeance posters were some of my favorites

Ghost Rider #15 was ultra cool. Those gimmick covers were priced at or slightly above the cover price, so they didn't gouge the public. Many of them should be popular with modern collectors. They were printed to death, so they are in good supply at reasonable prices.

That Magnor pop up cover is great! You need to put it in full pop up mode to see all of the great art by Sergio Aragonés. Fun fact: Mark Evanier was getting a license plate for his car when that book was coming out, and for fun got MAGNOR as his license plate. He still has the car and the plate still reads MAGNOR.

One of my favorite gimmicks were Marvels Hip=hop covers they actualy made hunting for books a thing again and the fact most were tied to a new number one made it a lot of fun for me .

Your ideas for content never disappoint

People used to buy 2 books back then, one to read, one to collect. Now they buy one and never read it.

Lets be honest, while the gimmicky covers may not have retained alot of value, they definitely got you the most excited back in the day 😎

With one second of the video starting, the zoom in to the awkward hand gesture made me laugh. You get it, James.

That Ghost Rider is on my to get list. So gimmick worked lol. Thx for the video

The all-hologram cover from Mortal Kombat Blood & Thunder #1 is my favorite gimmick cover

I’m a sucker for all 90’s gimmick covers. I’ll pick em up if they’re NM and cheap, which they usually are

Nice top pics. I also love ASM #365 hologram cover as well as all of the Jim Lee X-men covers (The "collect them all" gimmick). Both had me super excited as a teenager and will always have nostalgia. Ghost Rider #15 I loved having on my wall as a kid and remains a favorite.

This take me back. I can remember how ridiculously high the prices went for some of these. Then there was those that you'd buy 2 so one you'd keep bagged and boarded and the other you would read. When the bottom fell out, that's when I bought up some of those covers just because they were really cool looking, like the X-O Manowar cover in your video. My fav though is Turok #1, Valiant with its holographic foil cover. I always though it was just cool looking.

I love that blood strike number one just unapologetically has cable and wolverine on it lol

Just seeing those Reign of Superman die cut covers took me back to being a 12 year old kid running to the local comic shop to buy these and being completely wrapped up in the whole death and return saga. I've read and re read those a dozen times and it's classic nostalgia for me and an instant time warp. Thanks for this. Made my morning.

These heavily researched videos you do are the gold standard of your Channel and what sets it apart from the RU-vid comic dross. I love these so much! Keep ‘em coming. 👍

Always liked the Wildstar 1 cover with the bloody nose

I was a comic collector in 93 and came back in this year and glad to see some more gimmicks now, but also, I can see it being over done a bit with the foil covers. Either way, it got me back in, and I enjoy reading the stories more now too, than as a kid growing up.

1993! I was 20 years old. Wow what a blast from the past Brother. Thanks always for sharing Your passion and adventures from Toronto Ontario Canada. Another great video!😎👍♥️📚📚📚📚📚✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️✨️✨️💯💯💯💯💯✨️✨️✨️

Gimmick comic book covers are brilliant. 😀👍

The german editions of marvel/dc we had mid 90s to 00s were also pretty great. A pretty cool one was the Spawn #1(?) chameleon cover which also used the thermo responsive color... Also Spawn 5 and i think Curse of the Spawn had sick embossed covers and there is a set of DC hero foil covers i once was thinking of getting...

The only "slabs" I'll ever want are the 90s gimmick covers with chromium, prisms, and holograms.

The 90’s kid in me loves guardians of the galaxy 25. The book is described as having a “foil stamped prismatic cover”

One of my favorite gimmick covers not mentioned on your list is the first ongoing series with Eclipso #1 had a fake gemstone glued to the cover. I recently scored that Superman/Lobo book in the dollar bins still sealed. Silver Surfer 50 gets my vote on best gimmick book...and a fantastic issue even still!!!

Yeees! That Ghost Rider 15 is one of my favorite books of all time! I still have the copy I purchased as a kid from the newsstand rack

My personal favorite chromium wrap-around cover is definitely Ninjak #1 from the 90’s!

I have the Ghost Rider glow in the dark cover. I never knew about that Specter covers. Those look the best. I will keep a look out for them. Another great information video. 🤠

Very well made video!

I think the Jab #3 had a “shotgun” variant that was just a bag of comic shreds 😂

I just picked up that Bloodstryke and some of those lenticular covers are bad ass but I’m still a fan of that Ghost Rider cover and the Evil Ernie glow in the Dark

Yet again, another eclectic and interesting video. Looking forward to the worst list.

I got The Spectre #8.😀👍

I like DD 231 glow-in-the-dark too beside the GH.

I had another Ghostrider glow in the dark cover and that Superman vs Lobo one, aswell as a load of other gimmic covers, including Secret weapons #11 that came in a sealed brown enevelope.

To this day that X-O cover is one of my favorites. Just beautiful. I even sold all my Valiant stuff, but kept that issue. Solid story too!

I'm in the the process right now,trying to collect all the lenticular new 52 covers,I think they are amazing,lol and have such a killer look to them.

the DC villians cover Swamp Thing, Arcane, was sick.

I am a sucker for foils! and their coming back so lol

great show and gratz on the comic store!! oh man yes X force , Valiant book do not move at all lol. I have questions about & pressing, and visual grading books

The Die cut covers for _Death of the Family_ was one of the things that got me reading comics regularly

I love specture covers

Greatness video James!! Yes I am a glow in the dark cover hunter and I love them!!! I saw most of these covers at Black Friday sales in dollar bins!!!

I have that bloodstrike cover. And recently got the local man #6 tribute to that cover👍🏼

I recently picked up a small collection that I purchased FB marketplace and in the set was that Darksied lenticular cover. I actually like it and think it's one of the better ones as the omega beams really seem to pop on it. I am also a big fan of those 90's Silver Surfer foil covers and still have all my original Valiant foil covers. Some of the gimmick covers were bad but there were still some good ones.

I've been enjoying your show. I do a little one under Comics with Stevey D and I just did an episode with shiny covers as I call them. Your show was in the same vein so I thought Great minds think alike.

Not sure if it is really a "gimmick" but I sure do love a good virgin cover. Looks more like artwork.

I always liked Batman #530 (and to a lesser extent 531 and 532) the glow in the dark variant where Deadman is inside of Batman and the Deadman header is inside the Batman header

I just picked up the jab #3 after watching your video. Brilliant! And now of course to complete the joke I have to get it graded! Not surprisingly there are none on the census. This made my day. Thank you.

I was lucky to get an Ecko Marvel shirt with a embossed "silver" Silver Surfer!

I have a lenticular cover of Earth 2 cover by Ken Lashley. At a convention he said that a signature on that cover looked part of the 3 D. He was right, looks cool. Maybe that should be slabbed.

I have half of these, the other half I've either never heard of or have never actually seen in person to be able to buy them 😅 such a cool list!

cool story.

Those foil covers really make the white storage boards go brown. I have no idea why.

My favorite glow in the dark cover is the The Maxx #1 C. I finally got one a little over a year ago

I have the glow in the dark ghost rider first and second print autographed by the artist.

I don't know if it was out when you published this video but DC Comics & Legendary Comics put out a pair of sound fx covers for The Justice League vs King vs Godzilla ❤

You're basically ticking off every comic I had! Your Glow in the dark Ghost Rider comic doesn't look right, Lobo's codpiece was silver, I put the Lobo vinyl clings on my stuff instead of the comic, but I never had to cut them out. Venom Lethal Protector #1 was gimmicky, but he punches a clown! Thanks for the trip down memory lane! My favorite comic is the Lobo's Paramilitary Christmas Special, it's tied with Evil Ernie Youth Gone Wild! Evil Ernie had gimmick covers and a Glow in the dark action figure! Good stuff!

I got a green lantern war journal a few months ago. Glow in the dark dog tags. It's awful, completely lack of glowy effect. My favourite Dark Glow is Spectre #1 from 1992.

War machine 1 Gambit 1 Deadpool 1 Doom 2099 Cable 1 Spidey 2099 Anything from when you were 9-10 years old will always be memorable

What about the hologram or blood or ash in the ink and scratch n sniff books

a good die cut or tasteful foil cover are my favorite. Some gimmick covers seemed to focus more on the gimmick then how the cover ended up looking lol

I still have them all, 😆

*_A glow-in-the-dark SIGN can last 25+ years._* *_So a sealed or slabbed GR that has been stored in a longbox all these years is your best chance at getting on that will actually remain a 9.8 for some years._* *_Because if it's a 9.8 and it does not glow; is it really a 9.8 anymore?_* *_Glow-in-the-dark covers are thus time-limited. If any of the GR still glows in 10 years...well that is something quite odd._*

I liked this vid. Id be down to see a top 10 worst. Hell, if your feeling borded it would be cool if you talk about EVERY gimmick cover there is. Not every issue, but like, talk about every kind they made. Like top 50 gimmicks. Like a list of grimmicks not a list of the comics. Also I know its not something you can see with your eyes per say, but the Kiss Blood comic is very grimmicky.

Rise of the midnight sons posters *

I really expected to see hologram covers listed.... like the Spider-Man 30th Anniversary issues across the 4 titles in 1992.

I got from Villains Month 2 of my favorite characters: First Born (can´t believe DC hasn´t brought back this AMAZING Wonder Woman villain) and Ocean Master. And they look AMAZING. ...sadly most of the stories are bad or not interesting at all. For instance, the Lobo one you just want for the cover. And, as a Puerto Rican, also got the JLA #1 with the Puerto Rico flag. PS Back in the day I bought a Special Edition of SAW that came with blood on the cover but it evaporated or the liquid went away with time.

*_Was it a black sealed polybag of a TMNT comic that could come with a $20 bill? Thing is, if you opened the poly bag...the comic book value would drop, so could you risk it?_*

I don’t know if this is a gimmick but my favourite gimmicky cover is the TMNT #15 1988. Hands down the best cover imo.

Eclipso with the Black diamond on the cover is cool.... check it out

No love for the wildcats😢 jk great video

Is it just the Ostrander run on Spectre that you like or The Spectre as a character in a more general sense?

I see you didn’t do any modern ones. I did buy a couple of those when I was young. Like silver surfer 50 from the LCS. The modern gimmicks that I enjoy are negative space covers. (I bought almost all of those) and action figure covers.

Me I liked very much Cyberad #5 by continuity comics.

Ss 50 was a good read

I don't mind gimmick covers errr, sorry, "enhanced covers" but I really object when a publisher adds a gimmick and forces up the price for that issue but doesn't offer a plain, non-gimmick alternative. It's like those businesses which refuse to take cash but hit you with a surcharge for electronic payment processing because their bank charges them (these are the stores I walk out of without ordering or buying). One cover that's always appealed to me is Wolverine #145 with the silver foil claws in front of Logan's face - proof that the less-is-more approach can work well. Jab: one I forgot but quite hilarious in its own way. That's really creator commitment, spending 3 days shooting your own comics. The gimmick comic (not just the cover) I recall most clearly is Marvel Comics Super Special #1 starring KISS: each band member added a vial of his blood to the ink (red I assume). Sometime in the future, science may be able to extract the DNA and clone new KISS members! Or not. This is a fun video James, I vote for Part 2: worst gimmick covers.

I have to go check because I got rid of some bloodstrike comics and I hope the #1 wasn’t one of them

Actually have a signed copy of Magnor...haven't taken it out of tge bag..

I have that Ghost Rider 15 in both direct and newstand

I think variants now a days could be considered a gimick. Soo many variants and some are connecting variants of the same issue 🤦‍♂️

I got Fantastic Four #375.😀👍

No 3D? Tading cards? Captain Britain came with a cardboard mask.

I got Wolverine #50.😀👍

RIP fellow Silver Surfer fans after hearing the MCU is making him a woke gender swap. It's like Disney hates the fans or something...