Archie Comics Digest Ad

Courtesy DigestFan Steven Thompson (he of Booksteve's Library) comes this ginchy ad for the Archie digests--in fact, the very first Archie digest! There was no way of knowing that with this release, Archie would end up becoming the dominant--and only remaining--publisher of the format, forty years later. In fact, head to your local supermarket and pick some Archie digests up today!

Thanks Steven!

Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #37 Color Guide

Another DC color guide courtesy DigestFan Jon Knutson. A beautifully designed cover, featuring the always great Sheldon Mayer and an unknown DC staffer.

DC Pocket Books Ad

Kind of an oddly staged ad for these international pocketbook editions of DC books--it looks like Batman is enraged and massacring some thugs, and Superman is there to calm his friend down. Good luck with that, Clark!

I only have one of these pocket books, but I want to find some more. They're really fun, even if I can't read them!

 

Superman Adventures: The Man of Steel

As I said yesterday, DC released two digest-sized Superman collections to tie in with their "Superman at 75" celebration, with little to no pre-release hype. I didn't even know they existed until Nuclear Sub Kyle Benning pointed them out to me after we did a digest-themed episode of The Fire and Water Podcast.

Squarebound with cardstock covers, these books were cover priced $9.99 which is a bit much, nevertheless they make for a handsome package. Superman Adventures: The Man of Steel reprints stories from:

Superman and Batman Magazine #s 1,3,5,7
Superman Adventures of Superman #s 17,18,40,41
Justice League Unlimited #34

I have yet to see any evidence DC did this for their Batman 75 celebration, which you would think would be even more of a slam dunk, sales-wise, than Superman. Let's hope I'm wrong, and that DC does digests for Wonder Woman 75 next year!

Superman: The Man of Steel - 2013

DC released two digest-sized Superman collections to tie in with their "Superman at 75" celebration, with little to no pre-release hype. I didn't even know they existed until Nuclear Sub Kyle Benning pointed them out to me after we did a digest-themed episode of The Fire and Water Podcast.

Squarebound with cardstock covers, these books were cover priced $9.99 which is a bit much, nevertheless they make for a handsome package. Superman: The Man of Steel: Believe reprints stories from:

Action Comics #s 0, 810
Adventures of Superman #s 1, 623
Justice League of America Special #1
Superman #185
Superman 80 Page Giant #s 1-2

The Daily Planet: June 18, 1979

Nice to see a digest get "above the fold" placement on this installment of The Daily Planet, and plugging a non-superhero book to boot! For 95 cents, you can't beat Sgt. Rock's Prize Battle Tales.

I could have just posted the digest-centric part of this page, but I love(d) these Daily Planet features so much that I couldn't help post the whole thing, Hembeck and all!

The Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of Star Wars - 1977

Marvel partnered with several different paperback publishers in the 70s and 80s to issue these digest-sized collections. With Star Wars being the biggest thing around, it only made sense that they collected their movie adaptation in every format possible--big and small.

This b/w book reprints Star Wars #s 1-6 by Roy Thomas, Howard Chaykin, Steve Leialoha, and others, with an introduction by (of course) Stan Lee. May the Force be with you!

Golden Comics Digest #38 - Aug. 1974

Digest Fan Chris Franklin was kind enough to send me this book a few months ago, and who doesn't like a digest comic in the mail?

As the cover indicates, this is a reprint collection of Pink Panther and The Inspector comics, comprising 28 stories across 128 pages. Given the short nature of these stories, it must have been fairly easy to find just enough material to fill a book, whatever the page count. To that end, there are no bonus features to be found, save for some ads for other Gold Key titles.

I was never that big a fan of the Pink Panther, given his generally bland personality. but I loved The Inspector shorts, and I could hear those voices in my head as I read the comics. Thanks Chris!

Captain America Battles Baron Blood

I realize these paperback reprint editions aren't really "digest comics", but they're too nifty to ignore and besides, they're in the spirit of the alternate comic book formats that I find so charming.

This book reprints Captain America #s 250, 253, and 254, back when the book was being done by Roger Stern, John Byrne, and Josef Rubinstein, who did superb work on the title. Capped off with a cover by Bob Larkin, and you've got one great little collection.

I had distinct memories of reading the Baron Blood issues while we were on vacation in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, which was always in August. Then when these issues were discussed on an episode of Mike Bailey's Views From the Longbox podcast, I looked them up online, and saw they were released in October and November. What the?

Then I remembered that one of the newsstands in that area that I frequently haunted sold paperbacks as well, and had this book there in August, which was what I bought and devoured at the time. I found another copy on Amazon and enjoyed it all over again!

DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #3 Color Guide

DigestFan Jon Knutson sent me this color guide years ago, and after this blog went dark it stayed in my "to post" folder, collecting digital dust. Sorry about that, Jon!

In any case, this is a neat behind-the-scenes peek at how one of these digests were put together. In the UPC box you can see the name of longtime DC colorist Tatjana Wood--whether that's her signature or someone else indicating she did the work, I don't know. But things like these give you an idea just how much work goes into any given comic book, even a collection of reprints!