Dollar Comics
Dollar Comics was a line of DC Comics comic book publications issued from 1977 to 1983 and revived in 2019. The 1977-1983 line included the titles The Superman Family, House of Mystery, G.I. Combat, World's Finest Comics, Batman Family, and Adventure Comics; as well as the series of specials with the umbrella title of DC Special Series. The 1977-1983 Dollar Comics were notable for costing $1, having 64 pages, and being advertising-free. The 2019 revival consists of full-issue one-shot reprints of key DC issues.
History
1977-1983
According to then-DC publisher Jenette Kahn, comics' price-per-page value had been declining since the "Golden Age". When superhero comics debuted in the late 1930s, they featured 64 pages of art for 10¢. As the decades passed, comparable publications like Time and Life raised their prices, while comics stayed at 10 cents and reduced their page-count. Finally in December, 1961, National Periodical Publications/DC raised its price to 12¢, a 20% increase. Comparable magazines, in contrast, were by then 3.5-to-5 times their original price. By 1977, even though the typical price of a comic book was 35¢, it still lagged far behind its magazine competition, thus decreasing its appeal for newsvendors. Thus, the idea for Dollar Comics was born.Writing for the Silver Bullet Comic Books website, John Wells detailed Dollar Comics' history:
Most Dollar Comics titles began as traditional format books and expanded to the Dollar Comic format. All-Out War and Time Warp were short lived series which were published entirely as Dollar Comics. Several anniversary issues such as Action Comics #500 and The Flash #300 were also in the format as were the DC annuals for 1982 and 1983.
1977-1983 Dollar Comics titles
Action Comics #500Adventure Comics #459-466All-Out War #1-6All-Star Squadron Annual #1-2Batman Annual #8Batman Family #17-20DC Comics Presents Annual #1-2DC Special Series #1, 5, 9, 11, 13, 15-17, 20-22Detective Comics #481-495The Flash #300G.I. Combat #201-259Green Lantern #150House of Mystery #251-259Justice League of America Annual #1Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #1-2New Teen Titans Annual #1-2The Saga of the Swamp Thing Annual #1Sgt. Rock Annual #2-3Superman Annual #9The Superman Family #182-222Superman III Movie Special #1Time Warp #1-5The Unexpected #189-195The Warlord Annual #1-2World's Finest Comics #244-2822019-
In 2019, DC revived the Dollar Comics line as a weekly series of one-shot reprints of key issues priced at $1, beginning with Detective Comics #854 -- the first comic to feature a solo adventure of the modern Batwoman.2019 revival issues
Title is followed by scheduled or actual publication date:Dollar Comics: Detective Comics #854 Dollar Comics: Batman #608 Dollar Comics: Harley Quinn #1 Dollar Comics: Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 Dollar Comics: The Joker #1 Dollar Comics: Watchmen #1 Dollar Comics: Batman #497 Dollar Comics: Swamp Thing #1 Dollar Comics: Superman #75 Dollar Comics: Flashpoint #1 Dollar Comics: Blackest Night #1 Dollar Comics: Lex Luthor: Man of Steel #1 Dollar Comics: Infinite Crisis #1 Dollar Comics: Birds of Prey #1 Dollar Comics: Tales of the Teen Titans Annual #3 Dollar Comics: The Flash (Volume 2) #164 Dollar Comics: Batman #613 Dollar Comics: The Brave and the Bold #197 Dollar Comics: The Batman Adventures #12 Dollar Comics: Batman/The Huntress: Cry for Blood #1 Dollar Comics: Detective Comics #554 Dollar Comics: Batman #386 Dollar Comics: Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1 Dollar Comics: Batman #567 Dollar Comics: Green Lantern: Rebirth #1 Dollar Comics: The Flash: Rebirth #1 Dollar Comics: The New Teen Titans #2 Dollar Comics: Amethyst #1 Dollar Comics: Flash #1 Dollar Comics: JLA: Year One #1 Dollar Comics: Swamp Thing #57 Dollar Comics: Batman #428 Dollar Comics: Robin #1 Dollar Comics: Justice League #1 Dollar Comics: JLA #1 Dollar Comics: Justice League #1 Dollar Comics: Justice League of America #1 Dollar Comics: Batman #13 Dollar Comics: Green Lantern #1 Dollar Comics: Batman #663 Dollar Comics: Catwoman #1 Dollar Comics: Catwoman #1 Dollar Comics: Checkmate #1 Dollar Comics: Detective Comics #826 Dollar Comics: Batman #450 Dollar Comics: Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #1 Dollar Comics: DARK NIGHTS: METAL #1 Dollar Comics: MANHUNTER #1 Dollar Comics: Green Lantern #29 Dollar Comics: Wonder Woman #212 Dollar Comics: Wonder Woman #206 Dollar Comics: Legion of Super-Heroes #1 Dollar Comics: Saga of the Swamp Thing #1- ''Dollar Comics: Sandman #23''