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The Best of DC

The Best of DC is a digest size comics anthology published by DC Comics from September–October 1979 to April 1986. The series ran for 71 issues and while it primarily featured reprints of older comic books, it occasionally published new stories or inventory material.

Publication history

The Best of DC began publication with a September–October 1979 cover date.[1] The digest size format was chosen as a way of gaining distribution in supermarkets and was successful enough that a second such series, DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest, was launched in 1980.[2] The series was 100 pages including covers for 95¢. The "Year's Best Comics Stories" issues included extra pages and a higher price point.

Two Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer stories intended for publication in the All-New Collectors' Edition treasury series were printed in The Best of DC #4 after the former title was cancelled in the DC Implosion.[3] A Sandman story written and drawn in 1975 was published in The Best of DC #22 (March 1981) after sitting in DC's inventory for several years.[4]

Writer Michael Fleisher and artist Romeo Tanghal crafted a new story which revealed the origin of the Penguin in The Best of DC #10 (March 1981).[5] Other new material was prepared occasionally for the title including a Teen Titans story in #18 (Nov. 1981) by writer Marv Wolfman and artists Carmine Infantino and Romeo Tanghal[6] and a Legion of Super-Heroes tale in #24 (May 1982) by Paul Levitz, Infantino, and Rodin Rodriguez.[7] Several Sugar and Spike stories by writer-artist Sheldon Mayer which were prepared for overseas markets were published in various issues of The Best of DC[8][9] The Super Jrs. characters made their only comic book appearance in #58 (March 1985) in a story written by Tom DeFalco and drawn by Vince Squeglia[10] The Best of DC was cancelled as of issue #71 (April 1986).[1]

The issues

Collected editions

See also

References

  1. ^ a b The Best of DC at the Grand Comics Database
  2. ^ McAvennie, Michael (2010). "1970s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #1: The company leaned toward the digest-format that became ideal for stocking on supermarket and newsstand racks...The popular format resulted in a second digest series a year later called DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest.
  3. ^ a b Dallas, Keith; Wells, John (2018). "Part 3: Implosion (1978–1980)". Comic Book Implosion: An Oral History of DC Comics Circa 1978. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 79. ISBN 978-1605490854.
  4. ^ a b Dallas and Wells, p. 101
  5. ^ Manning, Matthew K. (2014). "1980s". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). Batman: A Visual History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 139. ISBN 978-1465424563. After 40 memorable years as Batman's bird-obsessed number two foe, the Penguin had his bizarre beginnings finally revealed to a curious readership in this completely new origin tale...written by Michael Fleisher with pencils by Romeo Tanghal.
  6. ^ a b "The Best of DC #18 (November 1981)". Grand Comics Database.
  7. ^ a b "The Best of DC #24 (May 1982)". Grand Comics Database.
  8. ^ a b c d Wells, John (July 2012). "The Lost DC Kids Line". Back Issue! (57). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 47.
  9. ^ a b c d Markstein, Don. "Sheldon Mayer". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved December 3, 2011. He continued to write and draw Sugar & Spike until 1971, when failing eyesight forced him to abandon cartooning...Mayer's sight was restored a few years later, and he went back to producing new Sugar & Spike stories. But the American comic book market was no longer able to support such a feature, so these were mostly published overseas.
  10. ^ a b Mangels, Andy (October 2014). "Super Jrs. vs. Superkids: The Many Mysteries of DC's Romper Room JLA". Back Issue! (76). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 69–77.

External links