DETECTIVE COMICS #594 & #595

[Marty Mann]

While organizing my run of DETECTIVE COMICS I discovered that numbers 594 and 595

are not dated...#593 is dated December 1988 and #596 is dated January 1989.

 

IMG DETECTIVE COMICS #595

 

 

mm

 

[Carl Elvis]

Odd, CGC shows #595 dated 12/88. No date for #594.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

 

#594 is also dated 12/88.

 

Prior to 1988 (and 1989 for Marvel), the cover dates were 3 (and sometimes 4) months in advance for comics, going back to the 30's.

 

The reason for that, of course, is so newsstand vendors knew when to take the comics OFF sale. If a book was cover dated June, 1938, then it was time to take that Action Comics #1 that didn't sell...heh....and send it back to the distributor for credit as an unsold book.

 

By 1988, the industry had changed dramatically, and the Direct market now commanded the bulk of sales. Retailers were beginning to complain that the long time between the issue date and the cover date, which was now rendered completely irrelevant by the Direct market, who owned the books outright at the time of distribution, was confusing some of their customers.

 

However...the newsstand market still existed, so the lag time, instead of being done away with entirely, was simply "moved up" a month. They accomplished this by issuing the titles once every 3 weeks for the months of September and October of 1988, instead of every 4 weeks, but the middle two issues they released with a "Holiday" and "Winter" cover date, or, in many cases, no dates at all (like the aforementioned Tec #594, 595, Bats #427, 428, etc.)

 

So, if "DC Comic #37" came out the week of Sept 5, 1988 (Direct market; the newsstand was almost universally delayed 1-3 weeks at this time.) Usually, the next issue would be out the week of October 3, four weeks later. But this time, "DC Comic #38" came out the week of Sept 26, a week earlier, and was dated "Winter, 1988." Then, the next issue, instead of coming out the week of Nov 7 (remembering that there were four-five "gap weeks" in the years, because of the 52+ weeks of the year), came out the week of Oct 17 instead, and was dated "Holiday, 1988."

 

Finally, the last issue, now dated "Jan, 1989" was released 3 weeks later, or the week of Nov 7...and the cover dates were now only 2 months in advance, and the books were back on their regular schedule.

 

It's why all DC monthly titles from Dec 1988 and Jan 1989 have "two additional" issues. Action Comics was a weekly publication at the time, so it was unaffected, and the bi-monthlies (if there were bi-monthlies being published at the time), of course, weren't affected, except that there would be a month where there would be no "gap" (that is, Dec 1988 would be followed by Jan, 1989, and then Mar 1989, or Nov 1988 would be followed by Dec, 1988, followed by Feb, 1989, OR there was a single "Winter/Holiday" issue.)

 

Marvel would accomplish the same exact thing almost exactly a year later. That is why there are "Mid Nov" and "Mid Dec" 1989 books for all their monthlies.

 

Useless trivia rules!

 

 

[divad]

Useless trivia rules!

 

I agree, useless, and masturbatory.

[MediumLover]

Informative post

 

Answers many questions I hear asked, and some of my own.

[MK Ultra]

I thought it was a glitch in the Matrix.

[towards2112]

Are they a reprint ? I know you know your sheite, but DC did reprint a ton

of material during the BatMovie glut. Most of the reprints are during '89 and

had updated ads in them.

[Marty Mann]

In checking out the issues of BATMAN COMICS during the same period,

I find that BATMAN #426, Book One of "A Death In The Family" is dated

December 1988...BATMAN #427 and #428 have no dates...and BATMAN

#429, Book Four of "A Death In The Family" is dated January 1989.

 

IMG BATMAN #428

 

 

mm

[RockMyAmadeus]

Are they a reprint ?

 

 

No.