Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jun 8, 2024 | 2 comments

Another first for DC’s Facsimile line…

It wasn’t in the original solicitation but it appears that DC will producing its first sketch cover for a treasury-size Facsimile Edition — August’s All New Collectors Edition #56: Superman vs. Muhammad Ali.

The cover is listed on the Lunar Distribution website, complete with an image:

I included a border here to show scale.

DC did a foil edition for its recent Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-51 Facsimile Edition, featuring the original Batman-Ra’s al Ghul saga, but not a sketch cover. I just kind of assumed that DC figured sketch covers of that size might be considered unwieldy.

Shows what I know.

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A few thoughts:

— The sketch cover lists for $15.99. The main cover is a dollar less and the foil cover is $2 more.

— There’s an inherent irony that this is the first treasury-size sketch cover: The original wraparound by the late Neal Adams (above) is widely considered one of the greatest achievements in comics art, with its enormous cast of non-fictional and fictional characters. It’s unfortunate that Adams himself never got the chance to put his skills to work on the blank.

— I’ll mention this at every opportunity: Adams was the story’s co-writer with Denny O’Neil. O’Neil left the project early due to illness and Adams did the heavy lifting. While that’s reflected in the credits of later editions, that’s not the case in the Facsimile, which is an exact replica of the original.

— We already know two more treasury Facsimile Editions are coming but they’ve not been officially solicited, so who knows if they’ll have sketch covers? If this one’s successful, you can bank on it. Just imagine how LCE #C-37: The Batman Special All-Villain Issue would look. Especially if it’s in the original gradient purple.

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MORE

— DC to Release SUPERMAN VS. MUHAMMAD ALI Facsimile Edition — IN FULL TREASURY SIZE. Click here.

— DC Expands TREASURY Facsimile Editions With BATMAN and SUPERMAN vs. WONDER WOMAN Classics. Click here.