DC Comics; $9.99

Just when I think I’ve had enough of facsimile editions and cover gimmicks, along comes an issue that is both and I snatch it up without hesitation. Of course it helps that Static #1 was one of the truly great debut issues of the 1990s, when it seemed like everyone was starting a superhero universe. But it’s more than that.

The gimmick here goes beyond the polybag and to its contents: in addition to the enclosed copy of Static #1, the package also includes a poster, which was comprised of four panels or one quarter of the large Milestone poster formed with the pieces that accompanied Icon #1, Hardware #1, and Blood Syndicate #1, when they were released 30 years ago. There’s also a replica trading card and an illustrated backing board.

As for the issue itself, there’s been a lot written – including here in Scoop – about the early issues of Static having the feel of early Amazing Spider-Man. That favorable comparison has stood the test of time. Dwayne McDuffie, Robert L. Washington III, and John Paul Leon – sadly, all no longer with us – delivered an introduction for the ages. To date, despite efforts of a series of solid writers, no one other than McDuffie himself seems to have ever recaptured that magic to the full extent (that doesn’t mean we stop hoping; the character is too cool).

– J.C. Vaughn