Kooky Gimmicks

Steven Clubb · 01 Mar 2005

Here's an odd one. A comic cover that doubles as a Halloween mask. Just punch out the eyes and open yourself up for tons of mockery that you actually bought this book.

Steven Clubb · 01 Mar 2005

Okay, I know someone is going to reveal that he loved Sleepwalker, so I figure I'll use that to my advantage.

Wikipedia says: Marvel, at the time, announced in a press release that Sleepwalker was "Sandman done right"

I'm pretty sure this is wrong. I think it was just a common variety letter hack that wrote that in and got his letter printed. Anyone feel like checking and putting that Wikipedia in its place.

Evan Billingsley · 09 Oct 2006

Other kooky gimmicks: scratch 'n sniff Ren and Stimpy in their first issue; and pretty much every issue of Shadowhawk

Eric W.H. Taft · 14 Aug 2006

The old bullet-hole cover is one of the famous lame gimmicks. I'm pretty sure an issue of Ferret from Malibu did the same thing.

I have some DC comic I can't remember for the life of me with a big, dumb gem attached to the cover. Stoooopid.

Simon · **Joined:** 26 Oct 2006 **Posts:** 59410

I recall seeing a bullet-hole cover for Too Much Coffee Man years ago, and it was a pretty lame concept. I thought the whole 'foil' thingy during the 90's was completely pathetic as well. It didn't look good, and was just...well, silly. Not in a good way, though.

I still fail to understand the people who buy the same comic more than once to get the alternate covers. The whole concept of printing the same comic with different covers just gives me a headache. It's not even a real gimmick - just a really cynical slap in the face.

Jimmy Mnemonic · 22 Aug 2004

Mad Magazine gimmicks were better.

They had a cut-out voodoo doll.

The had the little flimsy records "Makin' Out" and "Super Spectacular Day". SSD had mutliple endings that would play randomly... multiple grooves were arranged in a spiral. Cool stuff.

Steven Clubb · 01 Mar 2005

My favorite (from a historical POV) was a fake bill, which money machines at the time would accept as real money

And I always wanted one of the Super-Specials that reprinted one of the old MAD comics, but I never seemed to find those anywhere.

Jimmy Mnemonic · 22 Aug 2004

I had a few of those with the 50's reprints. A few years ago, they reprinted a bunch of those in one compendium, I think.

I have the Mad collection on CD's that contains everything from the 50's comic-style Mad's to sometime in the year 2000. ( the fold-in's are animated, there's a search-engine ... )

As I understand it, the cover that Charles Schulz did isn't on the CD's.

Jeff · 05 Oct 2006

Eric W.H. Taft wrote:

The old bullet-hole cover is one of the famous lame gimmicks. I'm pretty sure an issue of Ferret from Malibu did the same thing.

I have some DC comic I can't remember for the life of me with a big, dumb gem attached to the cover. Stoooopid.

Eclipso:The Darkness Within. I have (or had) it too.

Steven Clubb · 01 Mar 2005

The first ever Do-It-Yourself Cover on Superman: Man Of Steel #30.

Steven Clubb · 01 Mar 2005

Then they did it again.

Rawburn · 24 Sep 2004

Eric W.H. Taft wrote:

I have some DC comic I can't remember for the life of me with a big, dumb gem attached to the cover. Stoooopid.

Oh God... Eclipso.... gak!

Evan Billingsley · 09 Oct 2006

Steven Clubb wrote:

The first ever Do-It-Yourself Cover on Superman: Man Of Steel #30.

Color-forms...Niiice. I'm pretty sure I own those comics without the gimmicks, though, so there was a newsstand edition?

And if gimmicky covers on comics today resulted in prices of $2.50 or even $2.00, I would say bring on the gimmicks! :wink:

Rob Steinbrenner · **Joined:** 05 Jun 2006 **Posts:** 49778

I did like Sleepwalker for awhile.

Li'l Jay · 28 May 2006

I never knew what it was. When I casually glanced at it, I associated it with a so-called "Stephen King" movie that was very, very bad. I can't remember the name of the movie, but it was something like that.

Rob Steinbrenner · **Joined:** 05 Jun 2006 **Posts:** 49778

Quote:

The sleepwalkers were dream police. In that capacity, they apprehended any beings that invaded the sleeping minds of humans. Sleepwalker was tricked by his long time foe known as Cob Web (who like Sleepwalker had a real name that is unpronnouncable by human language) into entering the mind of one individual (a New York college student named Rick Sheridan) and became trapped.

When Rick slept, Sleepwalker could materialize in reality or he could stay in Rick's mind and converse with him via his dreams. It was through a conversation in dreams that Sleepwalker was able to dispel Rick's initial fears that he was a malicious entity and work out agreeable terms to cohabitation.
he would automatically disappear from the material plane at whatever point Rick would awaken from sleep. This would often lead to his current heroic endeavor being aborted before he could accomplish his given task

Bill Johnson · **Joined:** 14 Aug 2004 **Posts:** 1776

Steven Clubb wrote:

My favorite (from a historical POV) was a fake bill, which money machines at the time would accept as real money

And I always wanted one of the Super-Specials that reprinted one of the old MAD comics, but I never seemed to find those anywhere.

I had a bunch of those Super-Specials. Good stuff with the reprints. In fact I still have them.

Thanks god others responded about Eclipso before I had too...

Mark · 28 Jul 2005

I think Marvel should revive Sleepwalker, and let Neil Gaiman write it.

Rob Steinbrenner · **Joined:** 05 Jun 2006 **Posts:** 49778

this was the worst special cover because it didn't come out right:

Evan Billingsley · 09 Oct 2006

How should it have come out? I have a copy and recall being less than enthused about it at the time, but was there something wrong with the printing, Rob?

Bobson Dugnutt · 31 Jan 2005

Li'l Jay wrote:

I never knew what it was. When I casually glanced at it, I associated it with a so-called "Stephen King" movie that was very, very bad. I can't remember the name of the movie, but it was something like that.

1992's "Sleepwalkers". A mother-and-son team of supernatural creatures try to kill a virgin for some reason. It was "Cat People" done right.

Simon · **Joined:** 26 Oct 2006 **Posts:** 59410

Quote:

1992's "Sleepwalkers". A mother-and-son team of supernatural creatures try to kill a virgin for some reason

With a tiny cameo from Mark Hamill - He's the cranky cop at the very beginning of the movie.

Kooky Gimmicks

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