In mid-2016, Valiant Comics launched an adventurous initiative. They inserted 50 reproduction “micro prints” into various X-O Manowar comic books (one per comic). These micro prints were 4×6″ black-&-white trading cards, and it would take months to collect them all. For example, X-O Manowar issue #47 included seven different prints including art from talent like Sean Chen, Tom Fowler, Jeff Lemire, and Rafer Roberts. Then a different batch of prints would be included in X-O Manowar issue #48. This continued for at least five months (if not more).
What made this program exciting is that “original art” (4×6″ sketch cards) would be randomly inserted; replacing the micro print. These almost never surface on eBay anymore now that they are tucked away in people’s personal collections, but they are remarkable in their diversity and talent. — Now I would be remiss not to mention that there was a completely unrelated Valiant Preview Trading Card Set (by Rittenhouse Archives in 2013) that had traditional sketch cards. But these original micro prints included many well-established comic book creators that otherwise have not drawn sketch cards before; as well as a few SCAD Atlanta art school students.
The odds of finding original art were never specifically announced, but one collector bought 50 issues and found 2 original micro prints. So it’s plausible to guess that originals were inserted between 1:25 – 1:50 comics. In my opinion, those would be pretty good odds and return on value considering that a modern box of trading cards might cost over $120 and yield only one sketch card.
A checklist of the 50 reproduction “micro prints” was assembled by fans, but the artists contributing to the original sketch cards was never announced. Note: at Wondercon 2016, the Valiant promotion was first announced and the Cary Nord sketch seen above was given out at a panel (instead of inserted in a bagged comic). Each of the inserted Original Micro Prints has a Valiant “stamp” on the back. — There are also Artist’s Editions (like Artist Proofs) given directly to the Artists, which have a sticker on the front, but not a stamp on the back.
As mentioned earlier, these are hard to track down on eBay because they are rare, but also because collectors struggle what to call them in the description. Are they sketch cards, original micro prints, or XO Manowar insert postcards? I could only find two on eBay past-or-present, and they sold $20-50. Valiant collectors are still hunting these down and you can expects some bidding competition regardless of how they are titled.
This isn’t the first time original art has been inserted into blind-bag comics. For example, Chip Zdarsky randomly inserted original art into his comic book, “Sex Criminals” (issue #11), but that was art from a single artist applied directly to the cover of the comic book; and most of it looks rushed. This Valiant Comics event might be the most ambitious initiative using the largest group of artists ever attempted in a free comic book art giveaway. It deserves a lot more credit and appreciation. Thanks; and happy collecting!
Original Art that fits in your pocket 