So today we take a look at this comic with one of the most infamous, and definitely the most infamous, stupid cover gimmicks of the ’90s, perhaps of all time.
But first, let’s overview the circumstances that led comic books to this particular point. Comics have been growing with readers since the ’60s. Once a cheap, disposable entertainment for kids, more and more kids are clinging to this art form as they grow up.
Characters such as Peter Parker also began to age at a similar rate to viewers, from high school to college to the workplace. As readership ages, access to disposable income increases as well, and comics have gone from cheap, cheaply produced, essentially disposable entertainment to relatively expensive, impressively produced collectibles. Moved to more expensive items.
The publisher fully capitalized on this newfound appeal among its ever-growing adult fan base. All first issues were sold as “collector’s items”. Issues 25, 50, and 100, not to mention multiples thereof, were sold as milestone “anniversary” issues. Eventually, these special issues would be sold with different covers so that fans would spend the extra money to find comics with the same content but different covers. Now it looks like this.
Foils, embossing, holograms, die-cuts, and even glow-in-the-dark covers began to appear, increasing the appeal, collectability, and thus value of each comic.
Comics included in bags along with free items have also become common. For example, there were trading cards (fans had to buy multiple comics to collect a set of cards), or even a black armband with the Superman logo when the hero’s death became mainstream news .
Of course, everything got out of hand and comics sold in such large quantities that they weren’t necessarily rare. This was just one of the factors that caused the bubble to burst, and many companies that did well during the boom were unable to survive when the bottom fell out of the market.
It may be hard to believe now, but Marvel Comics itself filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the 1990s. Of course, this story lived on, but many publishers were not so lucky.
Anyway, that concludes the lesson. And now I understand why there’s a bullet hole on the somewhat gruesome, graphic, gory cover of The Protectors #5. Just for the record, this is not a real bullet hole. It’s die cut. It’s obvious, and you may think I don’t need to explain it, but there are comics that actually have real guns being fired and each issue has real bullet holes (that comic is a humorous It’s titled “Jab #6” and that’s what I’m still looking for!
Truth be told, it was this infamous gimmick that led me to read The Protectors in the first place, so I think it served its purpose, even if it was some 30 years late.
This issue itself is really great. While I felt the first four issues were varied at best, they actually built up the story for issue five very well, especially as you can tell from the cover that one of the team isn’t The story itself is told with increasing tension and foreboding. You will survive by the end of this problem.
There’s also one final splash page. I’m still really shocked. Writer RA Jones does a great job throughout, and the flawed communicator, which seemed like an insignificant detail in the last issue, suddenly becomes an important plot point that leads to the loss of a member of the team. It will be. The Protector, who didn’t survive, is, or is, one of the best and most empathetic characters in the series to date, which makes it an even braver move.
What was disappointing was that stupid bullet hole, which seems to have been a last minute decision on the part of the publisher. Apparently no one informed the artist, as the panels are frequently interrupted and obscured by missing artwork. I’m sure the companies that were paying for the advertising must have been furious when they saw this issue in the paper.
They even go so far as to remove some text on the letters page, which seems particularly stupid and once again reinforces the idea that this wasn’t planned, even just before the issue went to print. be.
It’s even stupider when you read a comic and realize that the character who dies isn’t even shot by a bullet.
But The Protectors #5 is still a comic worth reading, especially because it shows just how aggressive comic book companies were to sell their work, especially in the ’90s. Not just in terms of gimmicks, but also in terms of edgier, grittier story material.
It’s also a fascinating snapshot of a very specific era in comics history, made all the more fascinating by living through that era and seeing the rise and fall of the entire industry in real time.
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