Author Topic: Gimmick Cover Cavalcade!: Bloodstrike #1  (Read 11123 times)

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Offline JackFrost

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Gimmick Cover Cavalcade!: Bloodstrike #1
« on: February 16, 2009, 02:28:33 AM »
Note: These have been cleared off Demonoid, so I wanted to make sure I didn't lose them entirely, so I'll post them here.



(Click here for larger image)

Bloodstrike #1
32 pgs (No ads!)
$2.95 (Now the average cover price of most current comics!)
April 1993
Image Comics

Cover Art: Dan Fraga
Signature: Rob Liefeld (He also 'writes' the book - bonus!)

No, wait, don't leave, there really is a gimmick on this cover!

While it may look like a generic early Image title you would've sneered at when spying it on the racks, this bad boy's got a surprise in store for you! This was a must-have for people who liked their comics 'grim and gritty'...

Let it be said that this is first part of the 'Blood Brothers' crossover, which I think has the distinction of being one of Image's first multi-title swindles. The story is continued in Brigade #1 according to the final page, if you're keeping track of continuity, that is. But don't expect me to read this thing, having to look at Liefeld's 'art' is enough of a chore that I can't bring myself to try. I'm sure I'm cheating myself of an epic saga. ::) And about the art, let's just say there are as many backgrounds as there are characters' feet, and there's A LOT of gritting teeth and black-hole crotches. Ah, but this was actually drawn by Dan Fraga, aping Rob Liefeld - and other than for a paycheck, I can't imagine why any artist would want to do that. I dunno if Fraga's still working but I hope he's grown into his own style...

Anyway, the gimmick - if you check out the upper left corner of the cover, in the 'i', it says 'Rub the Blood!' Unfortunately, that it. That's all it says, even inside it doesn't tell you what rubbing the blood will do. So, unless you'd read the solicitation, you didn't know that it was supposed to make the blood disappear. Pretty awesome, eh? So let's take the politician for a spin, right?

For perspective, the part of the cover I've chosen is the blood just beneath the chin of that Wolverine-looking guy...



Well, maybe it needs a little more...



Huh. And I started over from zero, too...



Um, okay. So I've managed to smudge the cover, but the blood doesn't really seem to have 'disappeared' even slightly. I mean, it got a little lighter, but that's hardly 'disappear'...

Y'know, we're talking the height of the speculator craze here, so no one in their right mind was going to risk losing the 'mint' grade to actually rub the cover! And if they were, they still bought and set aside multiple copies of the bless'ed thing. :D But basically, they counted on no one trying the thing to see that the gimmick didn't work at all. I also believe they counted on no one reading the things either just bagging and hoarding them, and so the interior is akin to filler.  And I tried just applying warm and cold and it makes no difference either way, the blood does not disappear. And anyway, you can see through the blood already, so making it disappear was redundant, really.

You really can credit Image with not only the exacerbation, but also the demise of the speculator market and comics like this were a major part of that. They bled those poor suckers dry.

Not that Image didn't have help, of course.

Offline dweez

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Re: Gimmick Cover Cavalcade!: Bloodstrike #1
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2009, 03:02:16 PM »
How old was this comic you were trying it on?  I remember that comic and I believe it was probably sometime in the late 90's when it came out.  I can see any kind of reaction losing it's effectiveness after waiting that long.
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Offline dweez

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Re: Gimmick Cover Cavalcade!: Bloodstrike #1
« Reply #2 on: February 16, 2009, 03:51:29 PM »
Hurray for me and not reading.  Ok, so after about 16 years, I would think any "reaction" would have become inert.
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Offline Santafer

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Re: Gimmick Cover Cavalcade!: Bloodstrike #1
« Reply #3 on: February 16, 2009, 10:29:49 PM »
It has "Wolverine" in the cover, doesn't matter how much you rub it, it will just heal.

Offline dweez

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Re: Gimmick Cover Cavalcade!: Bloodstrike #1
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2009, 09:36:46 AM »
Actually, that's not Wolverine.  That's an Image comic character (although his name aludes me at this time).
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Offline JackFrost

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Re: Gimmick Cover Cavalcade!: Bloodstrike #1
« Reply #5 on: February 17, 2009, 02:11:17 PM »
Actually, that's not Wolverine.  That's an Image comic character (although his name aludes me at this time).

I actually looked up the name for SenTox at Demonoid, but they've dropped the thread so I'll have to check the issue again for his name. If I recall it's like Killzone or something equally retarded.

Hurray for me and not reading.  Ok, so after about 16 years, I would think any "reaction" would have become inert.

Let's be clear: This gimmick never worked. I tried to see if the blood would disappear the day they shipped me the bless'ed thing and got the same results - nothing.

I was only making it seem like it was a test run - y'know for comedic reasons...  ;D 8)

Offline dweez

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Re: Gimmick Cover Cavalcade!: Bloodstrike #1
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2009, 02:14:08 PM »
Ah, gotcha.  Oh well, you know what they say about a fool and his/her money.
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Offline dweez

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Re: Gimmick Cover Cavalcade!: Bloodstrike #1
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2009, 02:23:18 PM »
lol, that the fool and his money are soon parted.

I also remember the phrase credited to P.T. Barnum (but I just found out it was his competitor, David Hannum, that said it) that there's "a sucker born every minute".
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