Preacher: Dead or Alive - Glenn Fabry

This is my understanding of the situation with Preacher covers: Glenn Fabry had an arrangement with an art collector in England to sell him every Preacher cover as the series was being produced after they were returned to him from DC. Glenn agreed, since this meant more steady income. Over the next few years, that collector would proceed to purchase each Preacher cover shortly after Glenn finished with them.

A few of Glenn's Preacher paintings did manage to escape, though. I've heard the cover to #1 is somewhere in Jersey, and I think Glenn traded the cover to #5 or 7 to a friend. Apparently one of the series covers was lost as it was being sent back to Glenn from DC and has never surfaced. I've been told the collector in question declined to purchase the covers for the spin off books, and I suspect the original trade covers and the poster as well. (I saw Albert Moy had the cover to Trade #5 some time in '07) 9 trades + 9 spin offs + 1 poster means 19 other paintings supposedly not owned by this collector, plus this set here. If you know any more, please contact me as I'm curious.

What we have here is a three piece set which was used for the cover of Preacher: Dead or Alive, a hardcover published after the series ended collecting every painting Fabry did for the whole series, including the spin-offs and posters, accompanied by commentary by Glenn and Garth. Jesse's portrait is the front cover of the book the same size as the painting (albeit nowhere near as good looking as the real thing), while Tulip and Cassidy appear smaller on the back.

In my opinion, this triptych might just be one of the most definitive pieces of Preacher art there is. Certainly the cover to #1 is more iconic, and the covers to the trades are more emotional, but personally the only pieces I would compare it to would be a complete set of the Alamo story arc covers, or the (original) cover to the Alamo trade.

The set was purchased off ebay in 2006. The pieces are framed together and hanging on my wall. I have had the Jesse portrait signed by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon.