Leading up to The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #50 release, Gemstone Publishing will commemorate the milestone by diving into the publication’s rich history. Over the Guide’s five decades in print, thousands upon thousands of comic books have been priced, the market has been meticulously studied, and creators, characters, and publishing houses have been featured with detailed coverage. With the 50th edition comes time to revisit how comic values have steadily (sometimes astronomically) risen over the years and reflect on contributions made in crafting the Guide.          

Since Don Newton created original cover art for the fourth edition, the Guide’s cover has become an important part of each new volume. Many of the industry’s biggest names have put their personal style into that coveted spot, including John K. Snyder III, who has been featured on the Guide multiple times. With his next cover attached to the 50th edition, Scoop caught up with Snyder to discuss his cover work and the finer points of the design process.  

Scoop: Your recently announced Valiant Guide cover is part of Overstreet’s 50th anniversary celebrations. What did you want to convey with this cover?
John K. Snyder (JKS): I wanted to emphasize, literally, the explosive power of the Valiant characters.

Scoop: You’ve created several Guide covers, how has your process changed during that time?
JKS: In the past, my covers were fully painted recreations of classic covers. This was an all-new piece, line art and tones finished in pencil by yours truly, and then color rendering by Jason Wright, who has worked with me for some time on past covers and gallery pieces for everything from Suicide Squad to The Rocketeer.

Scoop: What steps do you take to create the covers?
JKS: Much the same as my process with covers in general, I start with a few small rough designs and then run them by J.C. Vaughn, my long-time editor for the Overstreet covers. After his final approval I move to the finished art. In this case, finished pencil art, slightly manipulated in photoshop, and then sent off with color notes to the colorist, Jason Wright.

Scoop: How does designing a Guide cover differ from creating a comic book cover?
JKS: It’s much the same, though the Guide cover is a slightly different proportion from a standard comic book cover format. As with any cover I’m working on, there is an emphasis on the title graphics, so it’s important to keep the main image visually easy to “read” and iconic as possible.

Scoop: Some of your covers have been recreations, like the Guide #31 recreation of Fantastic Four #1 and the bookstore cover for Guide #34 recreation of Incredible Hulk #1. Artistically speaking, are original designs or recreations more difficult. Why?
JKS: Both offer their own challenges, and it’s always a fun challenge, I don’t really think in terms of them being difficult. The challenge of a cover recreation is bringing your own interpretation of the original cover, but retaining the classic imagery as well. It’s a delicate balance. To deviate too much from the original source, both in composition and rendering, can erase the instant recognition you want the reader to get when they first see the recreation cover/homage. I think that’s an important element, to make it easy to identify the original source. But it’s fun to add personal touches as well. For example, I added the Baxter Building to the background of the Fantastic Four #1 cover recreation. Original designs present their own challenges. Mainly, that you’re starting from scratch. But again, it’s a challenge I always enjoy.

Scoop: Was there a Marvel Silver Age key recreation that you didn’t get to do that you really wanted to do?
JKS: I would enjoy recreating either of the first major Spider-Man appearances, Amazing Fantasy #15 or The Amazing Spider-Man #1, which also features the Fantastic Four.

Scoop: Which of your covers was most challenging to design?
JKS: Thinking back, at the time, the X-Men #1 cover recreation felt like more of a challenge than the others. If you look at the original Jack Kirby cover, there is no real established background, the characters are in action in a completely empty, blank space. In the issue, Magneto attacks a rocket base, so I added a corridor of the facility, complete with the rocket visible through a viewing window in the background, all keeping in Kirby’s design style.

Scoop: You’ve created the second-most Guide covers. What keeps pulling you back in to do more of them?
JKS: I’ve loved The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide since I was in my early teens. It’s a cornerstone of comic book collecting history. It’s a dream assignment! And it’s a pleasure and honor to be brought on board to be a part of the series of covers celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide! Congratulations to Bob and Carol and J.C. and everyone involved, who work so hard to put the book together year after year.

Scoop: If you could choose a future Guide cover subject, which characters would you pick?
JKS: Open to any and all, really, but as I mentioned earlier, Spider-Man would be a favorite!