Clipping Memories: Comic Cut Cards

Comic card collecting is normally another format to view and appreciate images of comic book characters. Art can be original for the card set or reproduced from associated comics and can be shown on a variety of materials, but cards are usually a step removed from the inspiring items. However there are types of cards that directly tied to the original material in a physical sense: comic cuts.

Comic Clippings / Comic Cuts are exactly what they sound like. Some portion of actual printed comics cut out and put into a card. The cardstock has an opening on the front side to frame/show the clipping.

Clippings used to this are most often a single panel that can be spotlighted on the small surface of the standard 2.5 x 3.5 inch size for trading cards.

Comic cuts can be controversial, as some collectors don’t see the point of them and/or object to comics being cut apart to make them. I’m not going to wade into a debate of the merits. I personally like them as unique and unusual chase insert subsets.

Like many other collectors of this type of insert, I concentrate on collecting cuts of favorite characters and storylines. Infinity Gauntlet, which I read as it came out when it was originally published in 1991, remains one of my favorite comic stories of all time. It contains the broad strokes storyline that was the basis for Thanos’ role in the MCU. A good chunk of my comic cut card collection feature panels from that six issue series, with special focus on Thanos himself, Lady Death, and Nebula’s brief time with the gauntlet.

Other cuts I’ve sought out relate to specific favorites, including Emma Frost, Psylocke, and a host of other X-Men characters.

I adore cuts of characters that visually stand out. In particular the Spider-Man related cuts in my collection tend to focus on black suit Spidey and Venom. The design is striking and looks great spotlighted in this format. A couple of these cuts come from another classic, favorite storyline of mine, Kraven’s Last Hunt.

One of the cooler variations of comic cuts feature autographs of creators of the comic issue the cut is from. These can be from the artist of the shown panel, but also the writer or editor of the issue.

Occasional, rare dual signature cards are signed by writer/artist or writer/editor pairs. I have several with signatures by Jim Starlin, many on Infinity Gauntlet panels and a couple duals from Warlock with editor Marvel Wolfman, as well as some by legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont.

These cuts feature smaller clippings, as the border surrounding the cut needs to leave room for the autograph. Autos are typically done via sticker rather than directly on card for these likely for both space and production reasons.

Perhaps even more so than regular cards a comic cut’s desirability varies wildly from person to person due to a variety of factors. Personal taste is of course foremost, with individual meaning to stories and characters as discussed above often having even more significance than normal due to these containing actual pieces of the comics.

But there are numerous other considerations as well that don’t apply to other inserts. Cuts from issues that are rare or particularly significant can become more sought after. The condition of clipping is important, as older comics paper quality can have declined and the printed image san fade. Printing mistakes, imprints, or other imperfections can also affect perceived value.

One of the most interesting aspects that’s largely unique to cuts is how well the panel stands on its own. Uncluttered images and poses of popular characters tend to work best as opposed to half cut off panels overrun with text bubbles.

That said some collectors don’t mind mid-story text heavy cuts, and in certain cases a bit of context via speech bubbles or captions can more strongly tie back to the comic the cut was taken from.

Card design varies from set to set, which affects the shape and size of the opening and amount of border that will be surrounding it. This will impact how the cut looks and feels, as panels are very rarely going to measure the exact same as the display opening. As mentioned above pieces of other panels encroaching on the featured image can be less than ideal.

On the other hand cuts forced into displays smaller than the panel can sometimes provide a more dramatic focus on the subject. And so on. These are highly individualized collectibles that have a million little details that can determine whether any particular card speaks to a collector.

Beyond just the graphic design of the card set, there are some variations on the idea of comic cuts that make for unique implementations.

One interesting insert type is Upper Deck’s “Coinage,” in which actual coins are imbedded into the cards. For their comic related sets that had this subset they featured classic comic cuts as well, with the imbedded coin(s) equal to the cover price of the comic the clip is from when it was originally published.

Another interesting variation on the comic cut concept are cover cuts. Cover cuts feature an entire cover from a comic divided into card sized pieces, forming a multi-card “puzzle” that together show the original cover.

Cover cuts are usually only available via special redemption methods that allow multiple cards to be awarded together, such as ePack achievements, so that the collector is getting the whole cover and not just one random 16th of it. These were rewards for difficult to complete collecting tasks.

Milage on these varies, and they are even more susceptible to some of the things I’ve been discussing than normal cuts. Card borders are even more attention grabbing when they are crisscrossing a larger combined image, and can block key parts of the cover. Sometimes obscuring character’s faces, or otherwise hiding key portions of the image.

That said I personally think they look pretty great in some cases, and having a couple of them of key issues of favorite characters is one of the highlights of my collection.

I hope everyone’s enjoyed this look at a literal intersection of cards and the comics they spotlight. Best of luck with wherever your personal collecting tendencies take you.

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