These are the original Marvel and DC comic book cover art printing plates that were used in Sparta, Illinois by World Color Press to make the actual Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Star Wars, Iron Man, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Teen Titans, Hulk, GI Joe, Captain America, Thor, Conan, Richie Rich, Walt Disney and many other comic book covers. World Color Press printed all the Marvel and DC comic books in Sparta from the 1950s into the early 1990s when they closed the Sparta plant. These cover plates were kept in their own special room at the plant. My grandfather started purchasing the plates followed by my father and then my uncle bought them, until the plant closed. The plates were placed in the scrapyard and melted at the refinery for their metal. It is sad to think about all the comic history my family personally destroyed. The type of common printing plates you see offered are the interior page plates that were not protected like the cover plates. There are many more interior page plates than cover plates. Interior page plates do not display nearly as nice as the cover plates because the artwork on the interior page plates is so tiny you cant appreciate it. The other printing plates you see often are from newspapers that printed comic sections. There were thousands of newspapers that printed with plates and those plates are vey common. When I was a teenager, I would go to my familys scrapyard from time to time. I saw the plates in piles around the yard and I pulled a few random plates out to take home. I randomly did this for almost a decade. I have had these plates for almost 40 years. You may see original art out there, but you never see cover plates. The cover plates look great how they are and when framed with the cover it printed, I think they look even better. There are only a few plates of any title available because when I pulled them I had no reason other than they were neat, so I saved just a random selection of plates. The printing process has changed since the 1980s when I saved these plates. Printing plates like these will never be used again. Some of the original comic art artwork that was used to create these plates was done by such artists as. Warren Kremer, Mark Texeira , Joe Quesada, Val Mayerik, Michael Golden, June Brigman, Al Hartley, David Wilson, Dave Hoover, Alan Davis, Jose Luis Garcia, John Byrne, Al Milgrom, Gene Colan, Mark Bagley, Ed Hannigan, Denys Cowan, Frank Miller, Billy Graham, Mark Bright, Kerry Gammill, Larry Hama, Marie Severin, Bill Sienkiewicz, Armando Gil, Mike Kaluta, Joe Kubert, Dwight Turner, Steve Bove, Gene Day , Pat Boderick , Gil Kane , Kelly Jones, Keith Pollard, Barry Windsor, John Buscema, Tom Mandrake, Arthur Adams, Alan Davis, Rick Parker, George Perez, Dan Jurgens, Jim Aparo, Keith Giffen , Steve Lightle , Stan Goldberg, Dan DeCarlo, Ross Andru, Neal Adams, Tony DeZuniga , Brian Bolland, Paul Smith, Walt Simpson, Luke McDonnell, John Romita, John Romita Jr. Bob Layton, Mark Bright, Jerry Bingham, Alan Kupperberg, Mike Zeck , Herb Trimpe, Keith Pollard, Gene Day, Kevin Hopgood, Carl Barks, Doug Beekman, Ron Frenz, Bob Hall, Carmine Infantino, Sergio Aragones, Joe Kubert, Bob Budiansky, Frank Springer, David Mazzucchelli, Lee Weeks, Mike Manley, Jack Kirby, John Constanza, Pete Alvarado, Larry Mayer, Cliff Voorhees, Larry Mayer, Daan Jippes, Rich Buckler, Anthony Tollin, Dan DeCarlo, Dave Cockrum, Tom Lyle, Paul Neary, Stephen Bissette, Dick Giordano, Walter Simonson, Howard Chaykin, Roy Richardson, Bob McLeod, Mark Bagley, Sal Buscema, Alex Saviuk, Ron Lim, Don Jurgens, Alfredo Alcala, and many others. The item “Marvel Star Comics Wars Droids 4 John Romita Original Cover Art Printing Plate” is in sale since Wednesday, March 24, 2021. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Comic Books & Memorabilia\Original Comic Art”. The seller is “rjrjegyptian” and is located in Sparta, Illinois. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada.
- Year of Production: 1981
- Signed: No