Variants within DC Newsstand Issues 3 3

[Cpt Kirk]

Well, now that DC newsstand issues are a thing of the past, I thought I would update the article that I posted several years ago pertaining to differences between DC direct sales and newsstand issues.  Here it is:

 

I am pretty sure I’ve gone totally insane.

I collected Batman and Superman comic books for about 35 years. The madness started in early 2012 when a good friend of mine bought a big plastic bin full of comics at a flea market in Alabama. I went through them and picked out a few that looked interesting, including a Whitman variant of Batman comics. I filed them away without much thought, but going through those old comics got me interested enough to look at some of my back issues. When I start going through them, I noticed that when I originally bought my comic books in the early 1980’s, some of them had newsstand bar codes and some had the direct sales symbols in the UPC box on the covers. That’s because I got some from my local comic shop and others from the “Family Drug Store” newsstand racks in Lincoln, Nebraska. Somewhere around 1986, I started getting all my comics from comic book stores, so I thought all the comics in my collection after 1986 were direct sales copies. Being the perfectionist that I am, I decided to buy some back issues so that every single issue I owned was in the format of a direct sales copy.

That’s when things started to get out of hand.

I bought a lot of the direct sales copies that I needed on a trip to New York City, and then filled in the holes at a local comic shop and Mile High comics. But when I went to the Mile High website, I saw that some newsstand issues had very high asking prices. I found many of these same newsstand issues at my local comic shop for a buck or two, and could not resist buying them. Then I also started to notice that several issues had second, third and even up to seven printings. As I started looking closer, I stumbled upon some issues that had Mark jeweler inserts. And I even found a second printing that had a double cover at my local comic shop. And issues that had a little “DC UNIVERSE” symbol in the UPC box instead of the normal bar code. And more Whitman variants. And an issue with a reader survey! And a quadruple cover! Now every visit to a comic book shop or convention was like an Easter egg hunt!

I eventually was able to find direct sales versions of every single back issue of Batman, Detective, Superman, and Action Comics going back to when they started making direct sales versions (i.e., September 1980). But I thought I should also double check all the issues after 1986 just to be sure. Lo and behold, I found a newsstand version of Adventures of Superman #589 from April 2001 in my collection. My local comic shop must have forgotten to put that comic in my hold slot, and I probably went to Waldenbooks to get it. I don’t know what caused me to check, but when I got the direct sales copy, I noticed that the page count between the direct sales and the newsstand versions were different. What. The. Heck? It turns out that the direct sales version had a few more advertisement pages than the newsstand version (the photos below show pages from the direct and newsstand version of Adv of SM 589 side-by-side so that you can see the extra ad pages in the direct sales copy). Was this variation only for issues published that month, or were there more of them?

 

Adv of Superman 589 direct sales vs newsstand:

 

 

Adv of Superman 589 (direct sales on bottom, newsstand on top): 

 

 

So I decided that I needed to get every newsstand version of every single issue of Batman, Detective, Superman and Action comics to see what differences existed. Most newsstand versions were pretty easy to get, but some issues after the early 1990’s were extremely hard to find in newsstand format. I could usually buy newsstand variants for a couple bucks at conventions and shops, and for an average of $5 per issue on ebay. In a few rare cases, I paid up to $25 for a single newsstand issue. I had to go so far as to get friends in Venezuela and Germany to find some newsstand issues that never popped up in shops or ebay here in the states.  The results of obtaining and scrutinizing these newsstand issues were interesting (if you are into this type of thing!).

I now have all the newsstand issues for those titles up until the time they stopped making them, which the exception of Superman New 52 #8.  And, yes, if you find that newsstand issue you could probably convince me to spend $50 to buy the dang thing. 

I found that from February 1999 through August 2009, there are more than 100 newsstand issues of Batman, Detective, Superman, and Action Comics that are missing advertisements that appear in the direct sales versions. This has been confirmed by another collector, who also has many of these newsstand variants in his possession. Therefore, these newsstand versions are variants from the direct sales versions.

I have compiled a spreadsheet that show which issues have differences between direct sales and newsstand versions of Batman, Detective, Superman and Action comics. The sheets are ordered chronologically, so that you can get a feel for how frequently these newsstand variants occurred. If a cell is not highlighted next to the issue number in the sheet below, then there was no difference between the direct sales and newsstand issues. If the cell is highlighted in blue, then the newsstand version contains less pages than the direct sales version. If the cell is highlighted in yellow, then the newsstand copy contains an advertising insert that is not in the direct sales copy. I have detailed descriptions of the differences summarized in the cell next to each issue. If you collect other titles, you can extrapolate by date from the following spreadsheets to determine which newsstand issues are likely to be variants. Notice that just because one of the titles in any given month contains a variant, doesn't mean all the titles in that month contain variants (see November 1999 in the spreadsheets below for an example: newsstand versions of Batman 571 and Action 759 are variants, but newsstand versions of Detective 738 and Superman 572 are not variants).    For brevity, I've only shown a portion of the spreadsheet below:

 

 

 

It was very common to find direct sales issues that had advertisements that were not included in newsstand issues. However, I found that in only a VERY few instances some newsstand issues contain an insert or advertisement that cannot be found in a direct sales copies. Following are the ones I found:

 

1. Batman 426 and 427 newsstand versions have ads that aren’t in direct sales versions (because the direct sales versions have ads with a phone number to cast your vote to let Robin live or die). See following photos for side-by-side comparisons.

 Batman 426:

 

 

 

Batman 427:

 

 

 

2. Superman 397 newsstand version has a baseball insert stapled into the centerfold that appears in no direct sales versions nor any other newsstand issues in other titles that I could find in that month. The following photos show the baseball insert (which you will not find in your direct sales copy!).

Superman 397 newsstand:

 

 

3. Some (but not all) Detective 692, 693 and 694 newsstand versions contain a subscription insert that doesn’t appear in direct sales versions. The insert is stapled into the comic books. The following photo shows the subscription insert inside Detective 693.  All inserts have a CC-1 serial number on them even though they appear in different issues.

Detective 693 newsstand:

 

 

4. I have found newsstand versions of Batman 637 and 638, Detective Comics 803 through 806, Adventures of Superman 637 and 638, Action Comics 824 and 825, and Superman 214, 216, and 217 that contain a Mad magazine insert that doesn’t appear in direct sales versions. This insert is not stapled into these issues and could be easily pulled out which might explain why several newsstand copies of these same issues might not contain the insert.

The insert for Adv of Superman 637 is shown below and it is the same as the insert that appears in Batman 637, Detective 803, and Action 824 (all from April 2005). Note that the close-up photo shows this insert has an A2C5DC serial number on it, which is different than subsequent issues below.

Adv of Superman 637 with Mad Magazine insert:

 

 

 

 

The insert for Superman 638 is shown below and it is the same as the insert that appears in Batman 638, Detective 804, Action 825 (all from May 2005), Superman 214 (from April 2005), and Detective 805 and Superman 216 (both from Jun 2005). Note that the close-up photo shows this insert has an A2D5DC serial number on it, which is different than issues from other months.

Adv of Superman 638 with Mad Magazine insert:

 

 

 

The insert for Superman 217 (from July 2005) is shown in the photo below and it is the same insert that appears in Detective Comics 806. Note that the close-up photo shows this insert has an A2E5DC serial number on it, which is different than previous issues above.

Superman 217 with Mad Magazine insert:

 

 

 

5. Newsstand versions of Batman 674, Detective 842 and 843, Superman 674, and Action 862 all contain a DC Comics subscription insert that doesn’t appear in direct sales versions. The inserts from all these issues are identical and they have a A8DCU1 serial number on them. Except for Batman 674 and Superman 674, all the inserts were stapled into the comic books. The insert in Batman 674 and Superman 674 can be easily pulled out. See photo below of Superman 674 for an example of this insert.

Superman 674 with subscription insert:

 

 

I’m guessing a lot of people think Chuck Rozanski at Mile High Comics is a little crazy for having his people sort through his inventory and list newsstand versions of comics on his website. However, due to the scarcity of the more recent newsstand issues (which I can only find for sale in Barnes and Noble Bookstores now), the value of those newsstand variants in Mile High’s inventory may be justified if demand exceeds supply. I can only speak for myself, but based on my experience I would not want to pay more than $20 for most newsstand variants. That is because if you wait long enough, you will eventually find them on ebay or for sale cheaply at comic book stores and conventions. However, if you really need to have a copy of a newsstand issue that was issued after the mid-1990's, you might have to pay more than $20 if the seller holds out because the likelihood of seeing the one you want any time soon might be very low. If you look at Superman and Batman titles on Mile High's website, you will see many cases where they have never seen a newsstand issue in spite of the massive number of comic books they process. I think I looked high and low for more than a year before I found the newsstand version of Action 681 (September 1992), Action 727 (November 1996), and Detective 710 (June 1997). Just try and find a newsstand versions of Detective 800 through 881 and you will see what I mean.

 

Other notable facts pertaining to newsstand issues that I’ve noticed along the way: 

1. The direct sales version of Batman 375 has a slick Jemm ad in the centerfold but I don’t think newsstand versions contain this ad. See photos below for a comparison of the direct sales and newsstand issues. There is also a close-up of the newsstand centerfold, which shows a very tight staple. This makes me very confident that the insert was not just pulled out of the centerfold. I’ve seen at least a ten other newsstand issues of Batman 375 and they do not have the slick Jemm ad.  (One time I found an ebay seller who claimed the newsstand version contained the "Jemm" ad;  when it arrived in the mail I was delighted to see it contained the Mark Jewelers insert instead!)

Batman 375 direct vs newsstand:

 

 

Batman 375 newsstand closeup of centerfold staple showing nothing removed:

 

 

2. Very few issues have more than one version of the comic appearing in newsstand format. Following are some examples:

 Batman 457 has 3 different newsstand issues (one with serial number 457 in the indicia, one with serial number 000 in the indicia, and one with “2nd printing” in the indicia). The newsstand version of the 2nd printing is extremely hard to find (this is probably the hardest newsstand variant to find in DC comics in my opinion, and I believe $100 or more would be a reasonable asking price (I have a copy and I know of only two other variant collectors who do as well). Just google “Batman 457 newsstand 2nd printing” and you will see blogs and even a video pertaining to that issue.

 

The 2nd, 3rd and 4th printings of Superman 75 all exist in direct sales and newsstand formats and (just google “Death of Superman and Reign of Superman Variants” to see all those issues).

 

Both the deluxe version and regular version of Justice League 70 exist in direct sales and newsstand formats, whereas the non-deluxe version appears in newsstand format only (these Justice League 70 issues can also be seen in the “Death and Reign of Superman Variants” blog). So there are two newsstand versions of JL 70.

 

Both the deluxe version and regular version of Superman 100, Justice League 100, and Superman Man of Steel 100 exist in direct sales and newsstand formats (see photo below).

Justice League 100 newsstand formats of both deluxe and non-deluxe covers:

 

 

Both versions of the 1st printing of Batman 686 each have a newsstand variant (see photo below). Similarly, Superman 205 (1987 series) has a newsstand version of both the “Lee” and “Turner” covers. I also found newsstand versions for both the regular and alternate covers for Superman 215 (1987 series).

Batman 686 newsstand versions of both regular and variant covers:

 

 

Superman 205 newsstand versions of both regular and variant covers:

 

 

3. Some friends of mine also noticed that the covers of Batman 456 and Batman 465 are slightly different between newsstand and direct sales copies. If you compare them side by side, you will see that DC had to move some of the lettering on the newsstand issues to make room for the bar code. I know of no other variation like that within the titles of Batman, Detective, Superman, Action and Justice League of America.

 Batman 456 direct vs newsstand versions:

 

 

Batman 465 direct vs newsstand versions:

 

  

4. Some of the poly-bagged comics were released in newsstand format in addition to direct sales and the newsstsand issues are extremely difficult to find in a sealed bag. This makes sense to me, as I can hardly imagine someone buying an issue off the newsstand and just leaving it in the poly bag. First example shown below is Superman Man of Tomorrow #6 from September 1996. I’ve shown both direct and newsstand issues in the sealed poly bag that was used to contain a free copy of Edge Magazine (I’ve also found newsstand issues of Adv of Superman 539 and Batman 535 still sealed in the poly bag with the Edge Magazine. The second example shown below is Adventure of Superman 631. The poly bag for that issue contained a free sample of the Sky Captain video game on CD.

Superman MOT 6 poly in both direct and newsstand versions:

 

 

Adv of Superman 631 poly in both direct and newsstand versions:

 

 

Update (Feb 2018):  There have also been some variations between direct and newsstand issues within the New 52 and Rebirth series.   Examples are as follows. 

1.    Batman New 52 #13 and Detective New 52 #15 (direct sales has double cover; news does not;  easily seen on ebay)

 

2.    Most all of the New 52 #19 issues (direct sales has fold-out covers; news does not… see example of Superman New 52 #19 below).) 

 

 

Superman 19 Direct on top, Superman 19 Newsstand on bottom:

 

3.    Batman New 52 #21 and #25 (direct sales has embossed covers; news does not)

 

4.    Superman New 52 #32 and #38 (direct sales has a cover wrap; news does not… see example of Superman 32 below).

 

 Superman 32 Direct on right;  Superman 32 newsstand on left.

 

5.    Later New 52 issues and all Rebirth issues have a one dollar higher cover price than direct sales (see example of Batman 29 Rebirth below, which is the last known Batman newsstand variant).

 

 

Acknowledgments: I want to thank Jerome Wenker, who is one of the kings of variants in my opinion. Jerome provided much assistance and several newsstand copies in my pursuit to get all the differences documented.   I would also like to give a shout-out (and some curses) to good friend Mark Weiss (of Comic Books for Kids) who wrote some of the earliest threads on Batman variants, which helped get me turned on to this nutty pursuit. Also thanks to John Jackson Miller of Comichron who is doing a great job of nailing down the last DC newsstand issues.  Following is a recent article he wrote on the topic:

http://blog.comichron.com/2018/02/end-of-era-last-dc-newsstand-issues.html

Even more importantly, I would like to thank my wife Cindy. She has been immensely patient and has also been a big help with finding some of these variants. Funny how she can walk into a shop, pull out a comic book, and say “Is this one you’ve been looking for?” And darned if it is not one that I’ve been looking for over the last couple years. Thanks Cindy!

 

Happy collecting!

Kirk Ticknor

kwticknor@aol.com

 

 

 

Edited February 11, 2018 by Cpt Kirk

[Lazyboy]

49 minutes ago, Cpt Kirk said:

I found that from February 1999 through August 2009, there are more than 100 newsstand issues of Batman, Detective, Superman, and Action Comics that are missing advertisements that appear in the direct sales versions. This has been confirmed by another collector, who also has many of these newsstand variants in his possession. Therefore, these newsstand versions are variants from the direct sales versions.

They already are. They may be slightly more different, but they are already different versions of the same issue. It would be notable if you found a Direct edition that was different from other Directs, or a Newsstand edition that was different from other Newsstands, like these.

 

1 hour ago, Cpt Kirk said:

3. Some (but not all) Detective 692, 693 and 694 newsstand versions contain a subscription insert that doesn’t appear in direct sales versions. The insert is stapled into the comic books. The following photo shows the subscription insert inside Detective 693.  All inserts have a CC-1 serial number on them even though they appear in different issues.

 

1 hour ago, Cpt Kirk said:

4. I have found newsstand versions of Batman 637 and 638, Detective Comics 803 through 806, Adventures of Superman 637 and 638, Action Comics 824 and 825, and Superman 214, 216, and 217 that contain a Mad magazine insert that doesn’t appear in direct sales versions. This insert is not stapled into these issues and could be easily pulled out which might explain why several newsstand copies of these same issues might not contain the insert.

 

1 hour ago, Cpt Kirk said:

5. Newsstand versions of Batman 674, Detective 842 and 843, Superman 674, and Action 862 all contain a DC Comics subscription insert that doesn’t appear in direct sales versions. The inserts from all these issues are identical and they have a A8DCU1 serial number on them. Except for Batman 674 and Superman 674, all the inserts were stapled into the comic books. The insert in Batman 674 and Superman 674 can be easily pulled out. See photo below of Superman 674 for an example of this insert.

For any non-full-page inserts, the placement can vary. I've seen different copies of the same issue that had the insert loose, fully stapled, and even partially stapled.

[Cpt Kirk]

4 minutes ago, Lazyboy said:

They already are. They may be slightly more different, but they are already different versions of the same issue. It would be notable if you found a Direct edition that was different from other Directs, or a Newsstand edition that was different from other Newsstands, like these.

 

 

 

For any non-full-page inserts, the placement can vary. I've seen different copies of the same issue that had the insert loose, fully stapled, and even partially stapled.

thanks for weighing in Lazyboy!

[Joosh]

Kirk,

Thank you for amassing and documenting your Pedigree level collection of DC Newsstands.  This is something I could see myself falling into.  But since you already did it, I don't have to!

Are you expanding into more DC titles, Marvel, Image perhaps?

[Cpt Kirk]

1 hour ago, Joosh said:

Kirk,

Thank you for amassing and documenting your Pedigree level collection of DC Newsstands.  This is something I could see myself falling into.  But since you already did it, I don't have to!

Are you expanding into more DC titles, Marvel, Image perhaps?

No... definitely not expanding... lol.   Instead trying to focus on finding the remaining comic books on my want list.   The chase of the variants is great fun... and seemingly never ending.   As soon as I think I'm closing in on the remaining ones, someone finds another one that no one ever heard of.   

[mr_highgrade]

Here's my  

 

 

[awe4one]

DC has stopped newsstand distribution?

Jim

[Cpt Kirk]

4 hours ago, mr_highgrade said:

Here's my  

 

 

Awesome... thanks for sharing.  I will pile on with the following:

[Cpt Kirk]

Here's another one.... I believe the Best-Buy Endgame variant (showing swiping the Batman 700 cover) is hard to find.

[ygogolak]

36 minutes ago, awe4one said:

DC has stopped newsstand distribution?

Jim

 

[Cpt Kirk]

43 minutes ago, awe4one said:

DC has stopped newsstand distribution?

Jim

Also take a look at this:    http://blog.comichron.com/2018/02/end-of-era-last-dc-newsstand-issues.html

[awe4one]

On ‎2‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 3:10 PM, Cpt Kirk said:

Also take a look at this:    http://blog.comichron.com/2018/02/end-of-era-last-dc-newsstand-issues.html

That's a shame.  Wonder how Bookmart copies are getting to military members overseas?  I know the stateside BXs have pretty much stopped providing comics.

Jim

[kimik]

I wonder if the ads are different in the Canadian and US newsstand editions?

[Cpt Kirk]

13 hours ago, kimik said:

I wonder if the ads are different in the Canadian and US newsstand editions?

No.... they are the same.

p.s.  I know a guy who has found every single Canadian variant of Batman and Detective comics in high grade.  If ever there's a doubt, he can confirm no differences in ads.... just the variant in price.

Edited February 16, 2018 by Cpt Kirk

[ADAMANTIUM]

@Cpt Kirk

Is Batman #24 prelude newsstand price variant one that CGC will remark on the label? I thought it was, but I could be wrong...  

I sent it back in to get the label corrected.... if CGC honors it and puts it on the label then I'll thank my luck stars and sell my 1 other raw copy..... too much trouble...

Edited September 29, 2018 by ADAMANTIUM

[Cpt Kirk]

1 hour ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

@Cpt Kirk

Is Batman #24 prelude newsstand price variant one that CGC will remark on the label? I thought it was, but I could be wrong...  

I sent it back in to get the label corrected.... if CGC honors it and puts it on the label then I'll thank my luck stars and sell my 1 other raw copy..... too much trouble...

I think there is a good chance that they will note it as "newsstand" issue.   I heard that they started doing this.

If you sell one, I would like to hear how much you get for it.   Regards, Kirk

[ADAMANTIUM]

1 hour ago, Cpt Kirk said:

I think there is a good chance that they will note it as "newsstand" issue.   I heard that they started doing this.

If you sell one, I would like to hear how much you get for it.   Regards, Kirk

I bought 2 raw copies for $20 a piece, I think there are still some on eBay from the same seller. I submitted one and it came back 9.6, so not too bad. I just really want it on the label. 

When I bought the raws, i noticed a slab of one that I think had it on the label, but it doesn't show up under sold so anyway

But I'll let you know if I get the label corrected and I might not sell it if so.

If by some miracle there is onsite grading next year at fan expo Dallas, I'll try and grade the other one with maybe SS if available etc. 

EDIT: also if you search ebay for 3.99 newsstand price variant, they do recognize them so  

Edited September 29, 2018 by ADAMANTIUM
, comma then the edit

[Cpt Kirk]

14 hours ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

I bought 2 raw copies for $20 a piece, I think there are still some on eBay from the same seller. I submitted one and it came back 9.6, so not too bad. I just really want it on the label. 

When I bought the raws, i noticed a slab of one that I think had it on the label, but it doesn't show up under sold so anyway

But I'll let you know if I get the label corrected and I might not sell it if so.

If by some miracle there is onsite grading next year at fan expo Dallas, I'll try and grade the other one with maybe SS if available etc. 

EDIT: also if you search ebay for 3.99 newsstand price variant, they do recognize them so  

Interesting.   I have almost every newsstand issue of Batman, Detective, Superman, and Action Comics since they started in 1980.   The only exceptions are Batman New 52 #10 and Superman New 52 #8 and 9.    Some guy has Superman #9 on sale for $60, but I can't bring myself to spend that much when I know I will probably find one on ebay for less than $10 one day.   But if you ever find one of those, let me know.... I will definitely make it worth your while if you sell to me. 

 

[divad]

Great work once again!

[Cpt Kirk]

A friend of mine just found a Batman New 52 #10 newsstand variant for me at NYCC.  That means I now have all newsstand variants in the original, New 52, and Rebirth issues of Batman, Detective, and Action Comics titles.    That completes a major milestone for me.   

If you are thinking about trying to do this, I would caution you.   It took me 7 years (and I won't say how much money) to make it happen.  I was mainly doing it as an academic pursuit.   I know one other friend who is trying to do this for the title of Batman.   He has all but a few of the most recent New 52 and Rebirth issues (which, toward the end, were hard to find due to low distribution).  

So now the only remaining newsstand issues I need to find are Superman New 52 #8, Action #252 Millennium Edition, and Justice League (1987 series) #1 Millennium Edition.   I am confident they exist, but I have never seen any of those 3 newsstand editions (as a matter of fact, I have not even seen an image of the newsstand versions of those comic books).

Edited October 10, 2018 by Cpt Kirk