In a sign that we may be reaching the peak of the cover variant phenomenon, Vault Comics will give away copies of the A cover version of Unnatural Order #1, by MCU screenwriter Christopher Yost and artist Val Rodrigues, free to retailers, and continue to charge as normal for the variant cover versions, the company announced. The marked price of the standard version will remain $4.99, so they can be sold at that price. The free comics will be made available in bundles of 25.

Unnatural Order #1 was originally solicited for July 19, 2023, but the comic was delayed, and when the decision was made to offer the standard cover free in bundles of 25, the original solicitation was cancelled and new orders for free copies by bundle solicited. "This was done at the request of our distributors to make sure there was no order confusion with retailers,” Vault VP of Sales & Marketing David Dissanayake told ICv2.

In addition to the standard cover, Vault is offering open-to-order, net-priced premium variants by Tula Lotay and Maria Wolf.

The second and third issues of Unnatural Order have been delayed as well, with new release dates of October 22 and November 26, respectively.

“We know this has been a tougher than expected year for retailers,” said Vault CEO Damian Wassel in a statement accompanying the announcement. “So, we’re making a game-changing move. We’re taking our biggest book of the year and giving it to you for free. Give it away or sell it. It’s up to you. What do we ask in return? Simple. Make this the best-selling comic of 2023. Get every copy you order in the hands of a customer within a week. And then, heck, maybe we’ll keep up this crazy gambit with all our new comics.”

Yost is the writer of Thor: Ragnarok and numerous other films and television series, and he has had long runs on a number of Marvel titles including X-23 (see “Marvel to Omnibize ‘X-23’”), X-Men, and Scarlet Spider. He was the co-creator of the character X-23.

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