Posted in: Boom, Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News | Tagged: FOC, jeff lemire, Minor Arcana

Is Minor Arcana Already the Most Collectible Jeff Lemire Comic?

Is Minor Arcana Already the Most Collectible Jeff Lemire Comic? It hits Final Order Cut-Off Date today so we will see...

It's FOC's final day for Jeff Lemire's next big project, Minor Arcana, a new ongoing series with Boom Studios that he's calling his most personal story in years. It also just so happens to be the first Lemire book since his much-hyped Image exclusive contract expired, and one that he's seemingly going all in on, writing, drawing, and colouring the series.

Boom clearly believes in the project as well, bringing Lemire out to Comic-Con last month for a 20 year retrospective on his career, where they also debuted a trailer for the series, and selling an exclusive convention edition ashcan which I've been told completely sold out and is now going for upwards of $100 on eBay.

That early excitement should be no surprise considering the Lemire of it all. Sweet Tooth just recently crossed its third season on Netflix, and graded copies of #1 still regularly sell for $150-$200 online.

I'm getting the feeling that this fact isn't lost on the Boom team, with a cover program that they just recently extended all the way up to a 1:75 incentive with artist Jenny Frison, something they haven't tried outside of Something is Killing the Children in a good long time. It's a bold move and a pretty big step up from the previous top of the incentive tiers, a 1:50 David Mack cover that was already seeing some heat.

Those two variants are likely going to be the ones in collectors' crosshairs given the rarities, but a few more seem to be catching eyeballs on social media in particular, including a crossover cover with the aforementioned Something is Killing the Children, as well as the start of a series of tarot card variants by Lemire himself, and a 1:25 cover by Lemire's longtime collaborator Dustin Nguyen. All of those covers were personally promoted by Lemire on a recent ComicsPro Q&A livestream with Boom's EIC Matt Gagnon, maybe a good indicator of how close this project is to him.

I won't have confirmed sales numbers until the bell rings on FOC Monday, but I've poked around and the word back seems to be that readers and retailers are in fact showing up so far. Apparently, orders on the series have already surpassed the totals on Lemire's recent Image #1's, with that pivotal final weekend still to go. Now whether that's mainly being driven by the speculator crowd or Jeff's longtime fanbase of loyal readers remains to be seen, but things are shaping up to give him one of the splashier launches of the year.

For what it's worth, I've heard that Boom recently gifted each retailer with a single advance copy to help whet the store's appetites, and in return, stores have already been selling them to rabid fans with a steady stream of sales on the secondary market. There's clearly an engaged audience out there… so here's hoping they all turn into The Lovers and not The Fool.

MINOR ARCANA #1 CVR A LEMIRE
BOOM! STUDIOS
JUL240010
(W) Jeff Lemire (A/CA) Jeff Lemire
Theresa, the daughter of a small-town "psychic" fraud, returns home to care for her ailing mother, however begrudgingly. But when Theresa discovers that there may be more to the magic than she originally believed, she'll find herself caught up in a town that desperately needs her help… One of the most renowned creators in comics, New York Times bestselling and award-winning writer and artist Jeff Lemire (Descender, Black Hammer) arrives at BOOM! Studios with an extra-length opening chapter of a must-read ongoing series inspired by, and intricately linked to, the tarot and perfect for fans of his creator-owned work as well as Helen of Wyndhorn and Locke & Key.In Shops: Sep 04, 2024
SRP: $4.99

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