What makes the best comic book covers? It is a great topic for debate. For us, as individuals, there is no wrong answer, of course; it is purely subjective. But, with a little thought it’s possible to explain what it is about a particular image that grabs you. The best images are the ones that make you stop and check out something you weren’t previously planning to purchase – and in some cases, you even end up picking up a title you’ve never even heard of before.
There was hardly any category of popular culture in the early 2000s that didn’t celebrate the 1980s. TV music titan VH-1 brought back ‘80s bands from the New Wave era in a celebrity-style show where older musicians left their day jobs and returned to the stage for that “one more performance.” Michael Mann’s stylish cop TV series, Miami Vice, was brought big and black and red and blue on the silver screen thanks to the man himself – the innovative producer who made it a hit in the first place. And comic book publisher Arcama followed CrossGeneration Entertainment’s (CGE) lead six years earlier and plugged into former Disney animator Don Bluth’s groundbreaking video games, translating one of them onto the four-color page via Space Ace #1.
Released to the public at large in October 2009 – and written by the creative force that is Robert Kirkman who brought his Invincible and The Walking Dead properties to the small screen through Amazon Prime and AMC, respectively – Arcana’s Space Ace #1 and its stellar cover by Paulo Borges caught the eye of collectors in the United States as well as beyond its borders. According to the issue’s solicitation text: “Follow the adventures of the musclebound hero Ace! The villainous Commander Borf attacks Ace with the ‘Infanto Ray,’ a weapon that transforms him into an adolescent version of himself, and kidnaps his girlfriend Kimberly. It is up to Dexter – Ace’s younger incarnation – to rescue Kimberly and prevent Borf using the Infanto Ray to conquer Earth.”
As far as the excellence of Space Ace #1 and its standout cover (which mirrors CGE’s first issue frontispiece as well), both took an iconic arcade game and further immortalized its place and time while simultaneously allowed it to stand the very test of time. By both thrilling and delighting readers for decades, the popularity and scarcity of the comic book – especially in high grade – led to the enormous fan interest in both the cover and inside of this landmark issue. And, it’s still well worth the price of this extremely rare and sought-after collectible.
-Scott Braden
