By CCL Researcher Steve Boyd*
Twenty years ago, if you walked into a supermarket or 7-11 station looking for comics, you probably snagged one of these little goodies with your Slurpee or candy bar. 100 pages of action from DC COMICS crammed neatly into a pocket-sized format that you easily fit in your backpack or back pocket. They are the DC Digests, and yes, they are still as cool as you remember.
Starting in 1972 with a 150-page Tarzan Digest, DC began the foray into another unique format on the other end of the size spectrum from the large Treasury editions offered to readers. While the oversized Treasury editions held their ground for 7 more years, it was in 1979 that the digest sized format began paying off for DC. Headlining special moments in the DC Universe such as “Secret Origins” or “Year’s Best Superman Moments”, two digest titles were created: “DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest” and “Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest”. In this format, DC found a way to offer a new and fun format in which to read classic tales as well as a method to print stories which had never been published until that time, such as a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in “Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest” #2.
The special-sized digests were utilized to breathe new life into the comic book title “Adventure Comics”, as issues #491-503 were published in digest format. This title featured stories of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, a popular subject in many DC Digests. Another unlikely DC character that benefitted from the digest was the weird western hero Jonah Hex. “Jonah Hex and Other Western Tales” lasted 3 issues and featured other DC Western stars such as Scalphunter and Outlaw. Both of these titles were completely separate from the other DC Blue Ribbon digests available on the market.
The Digest format ended in 1986. Today, DC has tried to bring back the digest format with titles such as Justice League Unlimited and other Cartoon Network titles that appeal to young readers. From a collector’s standpoint, the unique size and format are both the appeal and the downside to collecting the Digests. Since they were made to be easily stored and read, the DC Digests are often found in used condition. Some issues had lower print runs than others and are harder to find to complete entire runs of the different titles. You can often find them not only in comic books shops that carry back issues, but also in small, locally-owned book stores dealing in paperbacks or magazines.
For more information on DC Digests, grab a copy of the Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, or visit www.comiccollectorlive.com. *Steve Boyd is Event Coordinator for Comic Collector Live, and always carries a DC Digest in his car for light reading at long stoplights.