Variant Covers

Popular with the Comic Book collecting community, variant covers refer to a comic or graphic novel printed with more than one cover design or finish, but internal pages remain the same. They are usually produced at a lower volume to make them more desirable in the hope it will encourage fans to pick up more than one copy. They are also an excellent reward for Kickstarter campaigns. For example, TPub Comics offered two fantastic covers for their comic book The Theory.

You can request a variant cover by contacting Mixam for a bespoke quote. You can then open your pending order and upload a separate variant cover file. 

NOTE - We can only offer this option on larger litho print runs, and it's not available for smaller digital print runs.

Sketch Covers

Another popular option is a sketch cover. These special edition covers are usually blank - or only feature, for example, a logo. We print them on uncoated paper, creating the ideal surface for artists to unleash their creativity.

Also, you can add sketch covers to the front or back of a comic. You can include the original cover artwork inside one of the first few pages - or a pin-up on a later page.

To create a sketch cover as a variant, follow the instructions above. Or, to include it as part of a regular print run, select Uncoated paper for the Cover section in the Instant Price Calculator.

NOTE - We will use uncoated paper for all the covers - and we cannot apply finishes like lamination.