Have you ever wished you could own the original cover art from your favorite comic book? Be able to hang it on your wall in a place of pride? But you just don’t happen to have an extra $5,000, $50,000 or even half a million laying around? 

I’ve always wanted to try my hand at recreating some of my favorite vintage comic book covers in a way that not only reflects the diverse and wonderful styles of the great artists of the classic comic book eras (1940s to early 1980s, for me), but also to reproduce the true look and feel of vintage camera-ready production art from a time when every detail was created by hand.

Pencil and ink corrections, cut-out and sloppily pasted on “trade dress” (the comic’s title, the corner box, the Comics Code Authority seal, etc), hand lettered bursts, registration and color separation marks, editorial notations, printer instructions, even artists cleaning out clogged dip pens, or testing new brushes on the margins. All these and much more were integral parts of production art. Add to this the yellowing of the Bristol board the covers were drawn on, the fading India ink, the trimmed edges and other ravages of time from a period when preservation of these wonderful works of art was simply not a priority.

So I’ve combined my decades-long love of old comics with my knowledge of pre-digital production art, my 40+ years of professional experience producing pen, ink and brush art, and my ever growing collection of vintage art supplies, tools and materials to create high-quality recreations of vintage comic book art on demand.

See the recreations in our store for examples of the types of work you can commission, or in the case of these cover samples, purchase. But as the covers will be created individually for each patron -YOU choose not only the cover, but how much you’d like it to match the original. Love the aged paper but not the glue stains...? No problem! Want Mr. Fantastic’s face replaced with that of your hubby’s..? GREAT! You call the shots. Click on the “Store” page above to see all current recreations available or to order your own custom recreation!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

Q: I’d like an interior page from a comic book recreated. Can you do that? How about a recreation of a sketch by my favorite comic book artist? Can I get my dog included on a cover?
A: You bet! Just contact us and we’ll let you know if it’s possible and the pricing.

Q: How much do your cover recreations cost?
A: It varies depending on the size and complexity of the recreation you would like. A small (print size) recreation with a simple design could cost $400 Canadian / 250 Euros / $290 USD. A larger, more complex cover could cost $800 CDN / 500 Euros / $580 USD. Please ask for a accurate quote based on your cover order. The covers in the store are individually priced.

Q: How much is shipping?
A: Shipping costs vary greatly depending on your country and your preferred shipping method. Please ask for an accurate quote based on your locale. Note - you pay ONLY for the exact shipping cost, there are no handling or other hidden fees. You are responsible for all taxes, duties and other fees levied by your country.

Q: How long does it take to make my custom cover recreation?
A: Each cover takes roughly 2 to 5 work days to research, draw, ink, age and package for shipping. If my workload is heavy it can take a few weeks to incorporate your commission into my schedule. If my workload is light I can oftern start on it in a few days. Shipping times vary depending on your preferred service and location.

Q: What tools and materials do you use?
A: Whenever possible vintage and period correct tools, supplies and materials are used. On the older covers vintage pencils, dip pens (for inking as well as lettering), sable brushes, India ink, illustration board, rubber cement, mucilage (an old-fashioned type of glue), fountain pens and vintage non-repro red and blue pencils (for editorial and printers marks), white gouache (for correcting inking corrections) and even vintage X-acto knives and blades are used. For the mid 1960s and newer recreations both dip pens and markers, sable brushes, India ink, plate (smooth) finish Bristol board (2 or 3 ply), rubber cement, Letraset knives and blades, vintage graphic white, 1970s era ball point pens and markers (for editorial notations) are among the tools and supplies used.

Q: The logo of the comic book recreation looks like it’s on a separate piece of paper (as does the price and other things near the top) - how come?
A: Comic books during the pre-digital days were made completely by hand, but that doesn’t mean parts of the covers that were the same on each one, like the corner box, price, logo, Comics Code Authority seal, etc, weren’t copied (a photomechanical “stat”) to save time. These were printed, usually in sheets of multiples, and then cut out using scissors or a blade and glued to the cover art using rubber cement. Rubber cement was quick, non-wrinkling, and you could peel off the stats (or “Trade Dress”) and reuse them again. But it also darkened and stained over time. I’ve recreated the trade dress to emulate the original look as closely as possible.

Q: If your recreations are so accurate - can’t they be mistaken for the real thing? What about fraud, or even unintentional misidentification?
A: Unfortunately in this world there are always folks who aren’t as honest as we’d like. We’ve taken a number of proactive steps to reduce the possibility of these recreations ever being mistaken for the original art, intentionally or unintentionally…
- All recreations are drawn slightly smaller (or if requested, larger) than the original production art ranging from half an inch on same size art to a couple inches smaller on the “twice-up” older recreations.

- All recreations include the full original artists credit and date along with the recreation credit and date on the front of the art in permanent pigment ink down the lower left side border of the cover.

- If the original artist’s signature appears in the body of the art it is replaced with the word “RECREATION” in a matching style (see the Mad #2 recreation for a good example).

- The word “recreation” and the statement “A Mullaly Recreation 2025” are embedded into the body of the recreation art using fluorescent (black light) ink in numerous places (3-5 times per cover). This lettering is invisible under normal lighting conditions but glows brightly under black (ultraviolet) light. See photos in the store for examples.

- All original artist credits, copyright information, recreation information, and other details are hand-printed on the back of each recreation along with my contact information, signature and the date.

Please contact me for any questions not covered here.