What is a variant cover?

Types of variant

• Ratio (incentive) variants. A retailer who orders 25 copies of the regular cover may order one copy of the 1:25 variant. Higher ratios (1:50, 1:100, 1:500) are scarcer.
• Retailer and convention exclusives. A shop or show commissions its own cover, often with a fixed print run stated on the cover or in the indicia.
• Virgin variants. The cover art with no logo or trade dress.
• Sketch / black-and-white variants. The line art uncoloured.
• Second and later printings. A reprint with a changed cover; scarce when the first printing sold out fast.
• Newsstand editions. Not a variant in the usual sense, but a differently distributed edition — see Newsstand vs direct edition.

What drives a variant's value

1. The issue. A variant of a key issue inherits the key's demand; a variant of a forgettable issue is just a nice cover.
2. The ratio or stated print run. Lower is scarcer, but only matters if people want the book.
3. The artist. Popular cover artists have their own collectors.
4. Grade. Because variants are Modern Age books, the market is almost entirely 9.8 slabs.

Pitfalls

• Print ratios describe the ordering rule, not a fixed print run; retailers could over-order to qualify.
• Convention exclusives are sometimes reprinted or reissued with slight changes; check the indicia.
• "Rare" in a listing means nothing without the ratio or print run.

CGC notes the variant on the label ("Variant cover", the ratio, or the exclusive's name), which is the most reliable identification for a slabbed copy.