Gabriele Dell'Otto has established himself among the elite cover artists in the industry, and his variant covers tend to hold their value and are worth collecting.
If you want to stir a major debate, bring up variants at a comic convention. Depending on the artist and the title, I buy variants, but I've learned not to get caught up in the hype, which I covered in "Most Over-Hyped Comics of 2018."
As I've repeated before, virtually every comic from Marvel or DC gets a variant. If it's a milestone issue, there's dozens of variants, such as Action Comics #1000, which had close to 40 different covers. With Detective Comics #1000 on the horizon, we'll be seeing about as many for that landmark issue as well. Like its predecessor, very few of those will hold their values.
Despite all this negativity towards the volume of variants (Stan Lee would be proud of that alliteration), the Dell'Otto covers don't fall off as much as others. That's because he is one of - if not THE - hottest cover artists in the industry, and his work is amazing. That's why he is on a short list of cover artists whose variants I buy.
There's too many Dell'Otto covers to mention in this post, so I've narrowed it down to four of my favorites.
PETER PARKER: THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #300
This may be my favorite Dell'Otto cover so far. His Carnage is impressive, and the dynamic Spider-Man pose in its beautiful coloring makes this a masterpiece.
Last spring and into the summer, the virgin edition of Spectacular Spider-Man #300 averaged over $100, but it has slipped down to a 90-day average of $67 and has regularly sold for below $50. However, this comic is proving to be resilient. Over three sales in January, it hasn't sold for less than $75. An even better sign is that the most recent sale was for $101.
Thanks to two wretched seasons on Netflix, most collectors are steering clear of all things Iron Fist, but Dell'Otto's haunting work on the cover art has actually increased in value over the past 90 days.
Like most variants, the virgin editions are the more sought-after copies, and Dell'Otto's Iron Fist is perfect without the trade dress to take away from the art. What he captured in this one image - a tired, weary hero, blood dripping from his fists - is what Netflix should have brought to the small screen.
As far as value, the virgin edition averaged $75 last year. In the last three months, the sales have picked up. Since October 11, it has twice sold for $90 and hasn't brought less than $75 during that span.
As I pointed out previously, nearly every variant for Action Comics #1000 has been on the decline. However, Dell'Otto's Christopher Reeve-inspired cover is still bringing decent figures despite the drop off. The virgin edition was once commanding a $150-$200 price, but it's still selling for between $80-$100.
The trade dressed cover isn't doing too bad, either. In July it was selling in the $90-$100 range, and while it hasn't kept that pace, it's routinely bringing close to $70, which is respectable.
It's hard to compete with the Alex Ross standard cover for ASM #798, but Dell'Otto's take gives Ross stiff competition.
All of the issues in the Go Down Swinging story arc are falling, and it doesn't matter if it's the first full appearance of the Red Goblin or not. Dell'Otto's variants, like all the others, have taken a sharp turn downward compared to the former prices. Back in May and June, the trade dress edition routinely brought over $100 and maxed at $200. There's been a steep decline, sure, but it has sold for $60 in five of the past six sales, so there are still signs of life.
