Comic books have been around for a long time. That means the industry has had to change continuously evolve, adapting to new social trends and emerging technologies decade after decade. Today, we’re going to examine how a technological change created some of the first cover variants. This is the tale of how Newsstand Edition variants came to be!
1970s High Tech
1975’s Daredevil #131, printed with barcode.
For most of the 20th century, the primary distribution method for comic books was through newsstands. Magazine distributors handled comic books right alongside Time and Playboy. They stocked the corner store spinner racks from whence many collectors bought their childhood comics. They were therefore subject to all the policies that applied to magazines. That includes unsold copies being returnable to the publisher for a refund, a fact that will be important later.
The 1970s brought a technological revolution to the retail industry: Universal Product Code numbers and computerized cash registers to read them. Those emerging technologies reduced human error in ringing up items and, more importantly, inventory management. UPC scanners were quickly adopted by retailers nationwide, newsstands included, and manufacturers began printing UPC bar codes on products of all kinds. The comic book industry was no exception, with major publishers adopting such codes around 1975.
Newsstand Variants
The ubiquity of UPC codes on comics wouldn’t last, however. The 80s saw the rise of comic book specialty stores, run by fans for fans. The Direct Market, as it was known, proved very attractive to publishers because these retailers kept unsold comics as back issue stock. Specialty distributors, like industry leader Diamond, didn’t even allow returns or refunds at all on most items. Major publishers began printing comics specifically for this market in the latter part of the 80s.
New Mutants #87, printed for the Direct Market with Spidey’s face replacing the barcode.
Since the direct market was largely made up of one-man businesses and computerized inventory systems were still expensive, most comic shops didn’t bother with them. As such, direct market titles like Neil Gaiman’s Sandman or Jim Starlin’s Dreadstar were published without space for a barcode. Direct market editions of major titles didn’t have barcodes either, despite having the space for one. This box was usually filled by a slogan/ad (“Who Watches The WATCHMEN?”) or picture (like Captain America’s face). The Newsstand/Direct Market variation marked one of the earliest forms of “common” variants. Barcodes would become standard industrywide once more in the mid-90s as computerized point-of-sale systems became more affordable.
Collector’s Take Note
Until recently, collectors drew little distinction between the two editions due to their identical content. In fact, it was only in September of 2022 that CGC began to note a distinction between the two when grading comics. That was driven, at least in part, by a spike in the value of newsstand variants. Due to the collector-focused nature of the direct market, quality copies of direct market edition back issues are more plentiful than their newsstand equivalent. Modern collectors have taken notice, and the rarer editions have gained the edge in value. The difference isn’t typically make-or-break, but it is worthy of notice.
Which is a development we here at Back to the Past have been keeping an eye on! We’ve been noting this variation, where applicable, in our auction catalogs for years. We know what the collector audience wants, that’s our job. That’s why you should give us a call when it’s time for you to part with your comic collection!
If you have any questions on this or any other collectibles topic, sound off below or hit us up on socials @b2pcollect!
Your article is not totally correct. Comic book stores arose in the 1970s, not the 1980s. I know, because I was an owner of Comic City in Minneapolis, MN, beginning in 1975. At that time, the primary direct distributor was Phil Seuling; he pioneered the idea and he deserves credit. And you left out important parts of the story: why would comic book stores order from direct distributors if the comics were not returnable, while those from the normal distribution channels were? The two main reasons were that retailers got comic books two, or even three, weeks ahead of the normal distribution channels if they ordered direct, which made a huge difference in sales. And the wholesale discount was at least double (possibly even a bit more) than the normal distributors offered. So having comics left over at the end of the sales period wasn’t a big problem, especially when the cover price was 25 cents! At Comic City, we were doing a brisk business in back issue sales anyway.
For a while, we were even able to maintain both a direct account and one with our local distributor. One memorable situation occurred when Howard the Duck came out. One disadvantage of getting comics direct was that you had to order a few months in advance (I think you still do). So when Howard the Duck was announced, we ordered 25 copies. When the first issue hit the stores, it took off. We couldn’t get enough. Our local distributor did offer a nice service, though: they would send additional copies of any comic book or magazine that we requested if they saw them among the returns they received from other stores. So we called Gopher News (as it was called then) and asked them to send us any copies of Howard the Duck they got back. We never did get any copies of #1 that way, but we got a number of copies of #2 when we were already selling them for about $2 each! I don’t know if anyone cares about Howard the Duck anymore, but that’s the way it was in 1976.
Thanks for reading and thanks for the input, Julian! I definitely simplified the details about the direct market and its history. That could easily be an article or three on its own, but the basics were necessary for understanding how newsstand vs. direct market editions came about.