Here is the story on the AF#1 cover.
I can't remember the year it was close to about one year from its debut...But I bought the AF1 cover AND one interior page---title page from Howard himself for $600 at SDCC. He brought a stack of OA AF with him, there was one particular page I wanted to purchase that he would also not let go. I held that cover for 20 years or something like that and sold it to Joe when he had just joined HA for I think 10 times what I paid, maybe more...I think it was 6k and I threw in couple of other minor pieces. Here is a good thing, when I bought the cover, Howard did not have the overlay material with him...he promised to send me that in the mail and he DID...cool guy. I REALLY really liked the "the stars my destination" graphic novel. In fact until this year I had two prime pieces as I had bought them from Mitch as I had the whole book to chose from and have finally traded them off. It's a great cover, and I have the best taste...LOL I agree, the first 12 issues are amazing for its time.