Least Favourite Comic Covers Part 6

What's wrong with this cover, you might ask? Certainly not that it's a Sandman cover, one of the greatest comic series ever - both in terms of quality, and by way of bringing some level of literary attention to the genre! And while it's a bit abstract, like most Sandman covers, I don't mind that when it fits the content, as this one does.

No, my gripe here is gimmick covers. In this particular case, it's the face that you can just make out superimposed over the rest of the image, which glows in the dark! Other gimmicks of that period included holographic images and, believe it or not, an actual purple (cheap plastic) Eclipso 'gem' glued right to the cover itself! That last one cause all kinds of grief among comic stores and fans alike, for a variety of reasons: the gems tended to fall off if the adhesive dried up, making it difficult to keep your copy in high grade condition, and the bulkiness of the comic, with a half-inch deep piece of plastic stuck to its front cover, made storing it problematic, especially without damaging whatever was stored in front of it! Similarly, with glow-in-the-dark covers, there were questions about the substance that was added to the cover to provide that effect, and whether it would fall off over time, or damage the paper under it. All of which seem like unnecessary risks to have undertaken - on the collector's behalf - for very little gain. I'd like my comics to last my entire life, preferably in the same condition as when I bought them, and crap like what I've just described simply gets in the way of that.

And there's also the fact that gimmick covers almost always result in a price increase for the comic, the cost of which I just don't see recouped, personally. Call me old-fashioned, but that sort of thing just doesn't do it for me.