Posted in: Comics | Tagged:

There Are Problems With Marvel Legacy's Lenticular Covers

Marvel has gone balls-to-the-wall with lenticular covers in October. Something that DC Comics re-popularised with the Batman and Flash "The Button" crossover and again with the Superman and Action Comics storyline regarding the real identity of Mr Oz. In response, Marvel Comics seem to have bought up all known lenticular stock for every single one of their Marvel Legacy not-a-relaunched titles, with tiers to encourage retailers to order more to qualify to get them.

But there is disquiet it seems regarding the lenticular quality of these covers.

Lenticular covers play a trick on the eye, by having two images that can be seen distinctly from different angles. This can create illusions of 3D but can also create two scenes, allowing the reader to flick back from one to the other. However, the success of the illusion can come down to the thickness of the printing material, the thicker the paper, the deeper the "lenticular grooves" and the easier it is to hide one image and reveal another image.

The DC Comics lenticular covers are thick. The Marvel lenticular covers are thin. As a result, there is significantly more bleed from one image to the other on the Marvel versions, and for many it seems impossible to see any single image without bleed from the other, no matter what angle you hold it at.

While with the DC Covers, there is a greater "window " of hold, allowing you to see one image, move the cover, then for the other image to bleed in until you can see nothing else.

One trick can be to look at it with one eye closed, as the monovision makes it easier to hold one specific image as you don't have a competing eye a few inches to the left or right that also has to see just one image. Which is why it looks better in the videos below than with the naked… eyes.

And hey, they are still kinda cool. But if you've been used to the DC versions, you may have higher expectations… and hey, you know the non-lenticular versions have Marvel Legacy stamps in them? They do…

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!