Rare Comics
By David Pietila — Animation Illustration Designer and CPV Collector, October 2024
“As a comic collector, and specifically a variant collector, I silently set aside extra copies of the Bionicle comic line which coincidentally have cover price variants.”
LEGO holds nostalgia pretty much for everyone growing up since they introduced their “interlocking binding brick” in 1949. Evolving into the "Expert Builder" and eventually "Technic" series paved the way for LEGO’s long running Bionicle series.
Having three sons that were lovingly obsessed with the Bionicle figures didn’t help my collector bug. With the three of them we had pretty much every set as they would only ask for Bionicles for birthdays and holidays. Our house was somewhat taken over by them. Occasionally we still buy and assemble sets for fun (and there are totes and bins in storage that we haven’t got to yet). As a comic collector, and specifically a variant collector, I silently set aside extra copies of the Bionicle comic line which coincidentally have cover price variants.
Initially started as an extension of the LEGO Technics Slizer/Throwbots and RoboRiders lines Bionicle surely wasn’t a household name when introduced in 2001. Gaining popularity with McDonalds promos, movies, books and comics, the Bionicle series of figures sets were a great success for the Lego company, pulling them out a sales slump.
Like any toy line they needed a backstory to Lego’s own “action figure” and they hired Greg Farshtey in late 2000 to do the job. As editorial director at LEGO, Farshtey contributed writing to Bionicle, Exo-Force, Hero Factory, and Ninjago. He wrote for the LEGO Mania Magazine, LEGO Club Magazine, LEGO Club Jr. Magazine, and the Bionicle comic series.
Several mini-comic giveaways paved the way for a full series. Starting June 2001 and under the guidance of DC comics editor Marty Pasko, writer Greg Farshtey began expanding on the Bionicle world. Farshtey would continue to write the comics until the last series in 2010.
The first series team consisted of Writer Greg Farshtey, Penciller Carlos D'Anda, Inker Richard Bennett, Colorist Alex Sinclair (Issues 1 and 2) and Colorist Peter Pantazis.
Bionicle:Ignition started with issue 0; there is a brief biography of new Bionicle artist Stuart Sayger in the book. Writer Greg Farshtey, Illustrator Stuart Sayger and Colorist Alex Bleyaert remained the team for the Ignition series until issue 12; Writer Greg Farshtey, Illustrator Leigh Gallagher and Colorist Ulises Arreola ran to the end of the series with issue 15.
The shortest series, Bionicle:Glatorian, ran 7 issues with popular artist Pop Mhan as illustrator. Writer Greg Farshtey and Colorist Ulises Arreola continued to the final issue.
Issues were 18 pages in full colour and offered through the Lego club magazine as a free bonus. Bionicle was certainly popular enough to have the comic line distributed in stores, even box stores like Toysrus and Walmart. As of this writing only one foil cover variant has a UPC code (first series #8C). To be distributed by mail services, a price point would have to established with or without a UPC code.
The price stayed consistent from Issue #3 to 18, US at $2.25 and Canadian $3.25. On Issue 19 of the first series the US price point changed to $2.95, whereas the Canadian price stayed at $3.25.
Subsequent series Ignition and Glatorian held the US $2.95 and Canadian $3.25 price points. I include UK cover price here as well, although I do not have complete information on the last 2 series.
Issues 10/11 and 13/14 have a £2.00 cover price as they were combined issues for the UK market.
There are differences in ads and paper quality between the US, UK and Canadian versions; the US version has a slightly thicker cover stock than the Canadian version.
There are French variants issued in Quebec and France that have the 3.25$ price. In France LEGO released #1 and 2 with no cover price, #3 with 3.25$ and McDonalds variant giveaways of 1, 2 and 3 sporting the McD’s logo on the cover. Bionicle comics have also been printed for other European countries, as well as Japan and Asia.
Secondary market sales of Bionicle comics are close to the published cover price or less; with exceptions:
Harder to find variants and promos have no recent sales data, although a general guide would be to follow sales of Bionicle issue #26B variant averaging raw $10 to $50. CGC data is sparse as the census is low for all issues. Less than 20 first series #1’s have been graded, with the highest being 9.6.
Publication dates differ by a month starting with issue #3, with the UK being 2 months ahead of the US and 3 months ahead of Canada. To simplify, I am listing the US date. Most issues are 6 5/8” x 10 1/4” with exceptions; issue #10 and #12 5 7/16” x 8 3/8”. No UK issues exist for #6 to 10, as they were instead published in excerpts in Lego World Club magazine. UK issues 10/11 and 13/14 were published in combined issues.
| No. | US Publication date | US price | Canadian price | UK price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | June 2001 | $2.25 | $2.25 | ||
| 1B | June 2001 | NP | No price on cover UK | ||
| 1C | SDCC 2003 | $2.25 | Comicon promo | ||
| 1D | NP | NP | Promo 3 3/4” x 6 5/8” | ||
| 2 | July 2001 | $2.25 | $2.25 | £1.50 | |
| 3 | October 2001 | $2.25 | $3.25 | £1.99 | |
| 4 | January 2002 | $2.25 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 4B | NP | NP | No price on cover | ||
| 5 | April 2002 | $2.25 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 6 | May 2002 | $2.25 | $3.25 | ||
| 7 | July 2002 | $2.25 | $3.25 | ||
| 8 | September 2002 | $2.25 | $3.25 | ||
| 8B | NP | NP | No price on cover | ||
| 8C | September 2002 | $2.25 | $3.25 | Foil cover UPC code | |
| 9 | November 2002 | $2.25 | $3.25 | ||
| 10 | January 2003 | $2.25 | $3.25 | 5 7/16” x 8 3/8” | |
| 10/11 | March/April 2003 | £2.00 | UK only | ||
| 11 | March 2003 | $2.25 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 12 | May 2003 | $2.25 | $3.25 | £1.50 | 5 7/16” x 8 3/8” |
| 13 | July 2003 | $2.25 | $3.25 | ||
| 13B | July 2003 | NP | NP | 5 7/16” x 8 3/8” Walmart promo | |
| 13/14 | July/Sept 2003 | £2.00 | UK only | ||
| 14 | September 2003 | $2.25 | $3.25 | ||
| 14B | September 2003 | $2.25 | $3.25 | £1.50 | Foil cover |
| 15 | November 2003 | $2.25 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 16 | January 2004 | $2.25 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 17 | March 2004 | $2.25 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 18 | May 2004 | $2.25 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 19 | July 2004 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 20 | September 2004 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 21 | November 2004 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 22 | January 2005 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 23 | March 2005 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 24 | May 2005 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 24B | May 2005 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 24C | NP | NP | Sports Illus for Kids Special Edition | ||
| 24D | NP | NP | Sports Illus for Kids Special Edition 8 3/8" x 10 7/8" | ||
| 25 | July 2005 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 25B | July 2005 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 26 | September 2005 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 26B | July 2005 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 26C | NP | NP | Sports Illus for Kids Special Edition | ||
| 27 | November 2005 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 27B | November 2005 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 27C | NP | NP | Sports Illus for Kids Special Edition 8 3/8" x 10 7/8" |
Most issues are 6 5/8” x 9 1/2” with one exception; issue #0 is 6 5/8” x 10 1/4”. Issue #7 US and CDN versions have the same price of $2.95.
| No. | Publication date | US price | Canadian price | UK price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | January 2006 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | 6 5/8” x 10 1/4” |
| 1 | March 2006 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 2 | May 2006 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 3 | July 2006 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 3B | NP | 2006 Comicon promo | |||
| 3C | NP | DVD promo | |||
| 4 | September 2006 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 5 | December 2006 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 6 | January 2007 | Online exclusive only | |||
| 7 | March 2007 | $2.95 | $2.95 | £1.50 | |
| 8 | May 2007 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 9 | July 2007 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 10 | September 2007 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 11 | November 2007 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 12 | March 2008 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 12.5 | May 2008 | Online exclusive only | |||
| 13 | July 2008 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 14 | September 2008 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 15 | November 2008 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 |
Issues are 6 5/8” x 9 1/2”
| No. | Publication date | US price | Canadian price | UK price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | January 2009 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 2 | March 2009 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 3 | July 2009 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 4 | September 2009 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 4 | September 2009 | $2.95 | $3.25 | ”2009 in Red” cover 4 extra pages variant | |
| 5 | November 2009 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 6 | January 2010 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 | |
| 7 | March 2010 | $2.95 | $3.25 | £1.50 |
— David Pietila