DC comics with no cover month date on them 1982-83?

[bill999]

Does anyone know out there or have insight on if these are variants or possibly 2nd printings? I listed a scan of Detective comics #519 from late 1982 and I have seen other DC comics with no cover date month on them like DC comics presents #51,54,55 which are 1983 books. I dont feel or believe they are 2nd printings?

[bill999]

Here is a larger scan for my above post. It looks like the no cover date months on the covers began late 1982 and ran through early 1983 from what I have seen with them.

[Spider-Variant]

Well, these are new to me. I checked over at STL and could not find them listed either.

 

Shoot Metarog, Sheildagent, or CosmicSpiderMan a PM. Those guys are some of the most knowledgable variant collectors that I know.

 

 

SV

[bill999]

Thanks! for checking. I hope that maybe someone who had a comic shop back in late 1982 might know about them? These no cover month date issues occured on several monthly published DC main titles like Superman , Batman, Worlds finest,Green lantern to name a few, but only on the direct market copies and not the newsstand edition ones from what I have seen?. I established the range that it occured on these DC titles to be for at least six consecutive months or a half a year as far as I can tell. Batman #357 with no cover month date on it is a key late bronze age book! which I verified was published with no cover month date on it also. I hope comic dealers out their will have an answer to this. Mean while everyone check your Batman #357s to see if they are missing the cover month date on them(smile).

[Metarog]

My understanding is that these are 2nd and later printngs and came in multi packs of one type or another. I know or a few other titles including Brave and the Bold and DC Presents and the first 3 issues of Wonder Woman. Here is a sample copy in a Walgreens multi-pack.

 

[bill999]

The mystery on these solved I believe THANKS!!! to the above post.

[Spider-Variant]

My understanding is that these are 2nd and later printngs and came in multi packs of one type or another. I know or a few other titles including Brave and the Bold and DC Presents and the first 3 issues of Wonder Woman. Here is a sample copy in a Walgreens multi-pack.

 

 

I didn't see that one over there on STL.

 

Roger, as usually, you are the man on all things variant. Your knowledge in this area never ceases to amaze.

 

Glad to see a post from you, seems like it's been a while.

 

 

 

 

[Zonker]

So how exactly did this work? I thought the purpose of the multi-packs was to move the unsold leftover copies? Surely they wouldn't go back for a 2nd print on books like these? I've seen the discussion on another thread about multiple printings of Batman copies in the 1989 period to take advantage of the demand fueled by the first Tim Burton film, but going back to print on (non-Teen Titans) DCs from 1982-1983 would seem to be a fool's errand.

 

Unless they just removed a plate or something from the end of the print run, with the idea that they could sell them to the direct market if re-orders justified it, or sell them through aftermarket channels if not.

[Metarog]

My understanding is that these are 2nd and later printngs and came in multi packs of one type or another. I know or a few other titles including Brave and the Bold and DC Presents and the first 3 issues of Wonder Woman. Here is a sample copy in a Walgreens multi-pack.

 

 

I didn't see that one over there on STL.

 

Roger, as usually, you are the man on all things variant. Your knowledge in this area never ceases to amaze.

 

Glad to see a post from you, seems like it's been a while.

 

 

 

 

Hi Reg and thanks for the kind words. I usually read the bronze forum over here and most other forums since STL is on hiatus. I have a few more scans of these "no daters" but I haven't gotten around to hosting them yet.

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

So how exactly did this work? I thought the purpose of the multi-packs was to move the unsold leftover copies? Surely they wouldn't go back for a 2nd print on books like these? I've seen the discussion on another thread about multiple printings of Batman copies in the 1989 period to take advantage of the demand fueled by the first Tim Burton film, but going back to print on (non-Teen Titans) DCs from 1982-1983 would seem to be a fool's errand.

 

Unless they just removed a plate or something from the end of the print run, with the idea that they could sell them to the direct market if re-orders justified it, or sell them through aftermarket channels if not.

 

The "unsold leftover copy multi packs" concept actually ended during the early to mid 70's, with the formalization of the Direct Market.

 

Multi-packs were made throughout the 80's, employing special cover printings of apparently fairly random books, by "special order" through places like Walgreens, So Much Fun, Walmart, etc.

 

Some companies, like So Much Fun, probably approached Marvel and DC about selling reprints, which is likely demonstrated by the existence of at least one Silver Age reprint, Superman #161.

 

Other companies, such as Walmart and Walgreens, may have been approached by DC and/or Marvel, which probably accounts for the random 80's reprints.

 

 

There were also single issues, like Batman #362, Mervyn's variant, that were printed especially for specific programs.

 

There doesn't seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason to many of the multi-packs, as demonstrated by the existence of all but the key issues of Batman from #397-432 in 1989.

 

There are multi-packs of Superman (the John Byrne version) which likewise appeared in 1988 for Supes' 50th anniversary, again no apparent rhyme or reason.

 

As far as special order multi-packs go in the 80's, other than the reprinting of the uber hot GI Joe books, there really seems to no specific instructions for what books were picked.

 

Were they, then, actual later printings/reprints (ie, printed at a separate and later time than the first printings), or just "tail end special order" part of the first printings?

 

Well, if the book identifies itself as a second or later printing, or as a reprint, then you have your answer. If it doesn't, then how do you determine it?

 

The only always, verifiably first print books during this time period are either Direct Market copies or newsstand copies, US or Canadian. UNLESS the ads are identical, the multi-packs are likely reprints. If in doubt whether a book from the 80's is a reprint (and the book does not self-identify as such), aside from the cover "tells", always compare the ads with a known first printing. If the ads are different, it's a reprint.

[Sal]

Is it plausible that DC ran second prints of some of these books to get a volume discount from their printer on their overall run for that week/month?

 

Selling 2nd prints through backchannels doesn't really make sense unless they were getting something beyond just a bulk price from Whitman or whomever. Even a 5% discount on their print/ship bill would be pretty sizable, I'd think. The fact that these are 2nd printings of random books makes me think this is even possibly a reason.

 

I may be reaching here, but stay with me for a second.

 

My recollection is that at this time DC was doing very poorly financially and losing circulation hand over fist to Marvel. If their contract with their printer was set based on larger print runs, they would have still had to run copies at a set amount to get the negotiated print price. This results in a lot of unused/warehouse/overrun copies that wind up getting thrown out or recycled.

 

While they would have been searching out any new revenue stream, it doesn't seem to me that printing extra books, polybagging them, and selling them at a low cost to retailers couldn't have brought in that much money. But I can see them wanting to keep their print costs down, and paradoxically enough, keeping the overall print run for their line high would be a way to do that.

 

 

Sorry, I'm kind of bored today

[Spider-Variant]

Sorry, I'm kind of bored today

 

Dude, don't be sorry, comic related discussion seems to be in short supply these days.

 

 

 

[Metarog]

Good theories on the origins of these comics. That bag I scanned is the only Walgreens set I've seen, however there are several different Batman 401-403 bags. This one is from Lionel Play World and I am also adding the back of the Walgreens bag.

 

 

 

[bill999]

Just thought I would put up a picture of another one of these. Enjoy!