Before most of our comix titles were printed, either the printer or the company that created the film color separations (from which the plates were made for printing the color portions of the comic) provided us with a proof so that we could make sure the color would look OK before we went to press. These were usually the overlay type, in which clear films with an emulsion the same color as the four process colors of printer's ink are exposed to the actual separation negatives and put together to simulate the final printed appearance. They tend to be very bright and shiny looking, and have more dimensionality than an actual comic cover since they are made up of several different layers.
For the vast majority of our publications there has only ever been one POP made, the one that was created when the title was first sent to press. This makes them much rarer than animation cels, since even on comic titles that sold tens of thousands of copies there was only one single POP – not thousands as there are cels that go to make up an animated film. Over the years we have amassed quite a few of these, and we are now offering some of them as art collectibles. Many of them represent the entire comic cover exactly as it was printed, while others are images of the artist's original cover painting only and do not include the text that was added mechanically giving the cover price, publisher's logo and other information.
Each POP is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity from Rip Off Press, certifying that this POP is the one and only original made as part of the process of publishing the title in question. Individual POP prices reflect the popularity of the artist or title, condition and appearance of the POP, and size. Most comic cover POP's are approximately 7" by 10" with some additional border, whereas magazine size is 8 1/2" by 11" plus border and wraps are 10" by 14". Recently, we have cataloged some POPs from our mid-80s color Cheech Wizard comix. These include some multi-page stories, sold as a set.