DC's bringing the 3-D covers back this September for a month long event they have titled "Futures End." Inspired by the newly created weekly comic book series of the same name (which I have to admit I haven't read yet), each of the monthly titles in DC's New 52 lineup during September will feature a stand-alone story that leaps your favorite super hero characters into a possible future five years ahead of the current timeline. Each of these one-shots will feature a 3-D motion cover that hints at the story within the comic book. Here are a few samples of the upcoming 3-D covers, I think they look pretty sharp:
Hopefully DC has learned its lesson from the mistakes it made in VILLAINS MONTH. Last September, they didn't produce enough of the 3-D covers to meet demand and many of the publications were hard to get your hands on. Also it appears DC over-extended its staff with all these one-shots because to be honest most of the stories were pretty badly put together and a lot of the artwork was lacking in quality. It seemed as if this whole promotion was rushed into distribution beyond the capabilities of the publisher. So while you did have a nice cover for your collection with these 3-D titles (if you could fine the books), the pages behind the covers weren't very impressive...which was pretty disappointing with how much potential the the promotion could have been with its theme. Come on DC, comic book fans are as interested in checking out the histories, plots, and imagery of cool villains as they are your super heroes. After last year's experience, I initially rolled my eyes when I heard they were doing a big September promo with 3-D covers again.
Than I picked up a new weekly series by DC titled BATMAN ETERNAL. It is a year-long weekly serial celebrating Batman's 75th anniversary and I have to say I've purchased 13 issues now enjoying every one. The artwork has been incredible and the stories are really well scripted. This is what I thought VILLAINS MONTH would be like and while that failed Batman Eternal has exceeded my expectations. If you haven't read this weekly Batman comic book series (most comic books are published monthly) and you are a fan of the caped crusader you have to grab it. I believe BATMAN ETERNAL is the best comic book series that DC currently has on the market! It utilizes a wide array of authors and artists from across all DC's titles to be able to meet its publishing demands and yet it meshes together. So now I have a slimmer of hope that in addition to some cool 3-D covers, FUTURES END will also have good scripts and artwork making these comics coming out in September more like BATMAN ETERNAL than VILLAINS MONTH. THE FUTURES END comic books will be published in weekly waves throughout the month of September. So we'll be able to see from the first week if the titles are worth the money to purchase from weeks 2 - 4. Of course, it is all about your own interests and tastes and even if the inside content isn't the best you may want to purchase the 3-D books just to showcase their covers for a collection. I've also been told by some comic book retailers that they are getting plenty of allocations for every issue so the limited supply and price gauging issues of VILLAINS MONTH shouldn't be a problem this year.
Whether you are a new or long-time collector these 3-D covers are a nice addition to any collection. I'd encourage you to keep an eye out for them this fall. If you grab one off the shelf, send me an e-mail to thegeekdaddy [at] yahoo [dot] com and let me know what you think of both the 3-D covers and the pages that fall in between.
