Dollar Comics was a line of

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

publications issued from 1977 to 1983 and revived in 2019. The 1977-1983 line included the titles ''

The Superman Family ''The Superman Family'' was an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1974 to 1982 featuring supporting characters in the ''Superman'' comics. The term "Superman Family" is often used to refer to the extended cast of characters o ...

'', ''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror, fantasy, and mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strang ...

'', ''

G.I. Combat ''G.I. Combat'' was an American comics anthology featuring war stories. It was published from 1952 until 1956 by Quality Comics, followed by DC Comics until its final issue in 1987. In 2012 it was briefly revived. Publication history The focu ...

'', ''

World's Finest Comics ''World's Finest Comics'' was an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled ''World's Best Comics'' for its first issue; issue #2 (Summer 1941) switched to the more familiar name. Michael ...

'', '' Batman Family'', and '' Adventure Comics''; as well as the series of specials with the umbrella title of ''

DC Special Series ''DC Special Series'' was an umbrella title for one-shots and special issues published by DC Comics between 1977 and 1981. Each issue featured a different character and was often in a different format than the issue before it. ''DC Special Serie ...

''. 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 Jenette Kahn (; born May 16, 1947) is an American comic book editor and executive. She joined DC Comics in 1976 as publisher, and five years later was promoted to president. In 1989, she stepped down as publisher and assumed the title of editor ...

, comics' price-per-page value had been declining since the "

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

". When superhero comics debuted in the late 1930s, they featured 64 pages of art for 10¢. As the decades passed, comparable publications liked ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' and ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' raised their prices, while comics stayed at 10 cents and reduced their page-count. Finally in 1962,

National Periodical Publications National Comics Publications, Inc. (also known as NCP or simply National) was an American comic book publishing company, and the direct predecessor of modern-day DC Comics. History The corporation was originally two companies: National Allied P ...

/DC raised its price to 12¢, a 20% increase.Kahn, Jenette. "And Now... Still Another Message of Untold Importance from our Prolific Publisher!!" ''Superman'' #310 (April 1977). 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 (which at that point — before the generalized 1980s shift to direct market distribution — was still the dominant retailing location for comics). 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 ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/ magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as National Allied Publications, and later as National Comics Publications ...

'' #500 and '' The Flash'' #300 were also in the format as were the DC annuals for 1982 and 1983.

1977-1983 Dollar Comics titles

* ''

'' #500 * '' Adventure Comics'' #459-466 * '' All-Out War'' #1-6 * ''

All-Star Squadron The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in ''Justice League of America'' #193 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. Although the team was introduced in the 1980s, its self-titled serie ...

Annual'' #1-2 * '' Batman Annual'' #8 * '' Batman Family'' #17-20 * ''

DC Comics Presents ''DC Comics Presents'' is a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1978 to 1986 which ran for 97 issues and four ''Annual''s. It featured team-ups between Superman and a wide variety of other characters in the DC Universe. A recurring bac ...

Annual'' #1-2 * ''

'' #1, 5, 9, 11, 13, 15-17, 20-22 * '' Detective Comics'' #481-495 * '' The Flash'' #300 * ''

'' #201-259 * ''

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

'' #150 * ''

'' #251-259 * ''

Justice League of America The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in '' The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceive ...

Annual'' #1 * '' Legion of Super-Heroes'' #294 * ''Legion of Super-Heroes Annual'' #1-2 * '' New Teen Titans Annual'' #1-2 * '' The Saga of the Swamp Thing Annual'' #1 * '' Sgt. Rock Annual'' #2-3 * '' Superman Annual'' #9 * ''

'' #182-222 * ''

Superman III ''Superman III'' is a 1983 superhero film directed by Richard Lester from a screenplay by David Newman and Leslie Newman based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the third installment in the ''Superman'' film series and a sequel to '' ...

Movie Special'' #1 * ''

Time Warp Time travel is a common theme in fiction, mainly since the late 19th century, and has been depicted in a variety of media, such as literature, television, film, and advertisements. The concept of time travel by mechanical means was popularize ...

'' #1-5 * '' The Unexpected'' #189-195 * '' The Warlord Annual'' #1-2 * ''

'' #244-282

2019-

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.Arrant, Chris
"DC's Dollar Comics Format Returns After 30+ Years", Newsarama (June 14, 2019).
Accessed September 2, 2019.

2019 revival issues

Title is followed by scheduled or actual publication date: * ''Dollar Comics: Detective Comics #854'' (September 4, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics: Batman #608'' (September 11, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics:

Harley Quinn Harley Quinn is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm as a comic relief henchwoman for the supervillain Joker in '' Batman: The Animated Series'', and debuted in i ...

(Volume 2) #1'' (September 18, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics:

Crisis on Infinite Earths "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to Mar ...

#1'' (September 25, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics:

The Joker The Joker is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, and first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book '' Batman'' on April 25, 1 ...

#1'' (October 2, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics:

Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is an American comic book maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 before being collected in a single-vo ...

#1'' (October 9, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics: Batman #497'' (October 16, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics:

Swamp Thing The Swamp Thing is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. A humanoid/plant elemental creature, created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several humanoid or monster incarnations in v ...

#1'' (October 23, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics: Superman (Volume 2) #75'' (October 30, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics: Flashpoint (Volume 2) #1'' (November 6, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics:

Blackest Night "Blackest Night" is a 2009–10 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous central miniseries, written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis, along with a number of tie-in issues. ''Blackest Ni ...

#1'' (November 13, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics: Luthor #1'' (November 20, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics:

Infinite Crisis "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, ...

#1'' (November 27, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics:

Birds of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...

#1'' (December 4, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics: Tales of the Teen Titans Annual #3'' (December 11, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics: The Flash (Volume 2) #164'' (December 11, 2019) * ''Dollar Comics: Batman #613'' (January 1, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics:

The Brave and the Bold ''The Brave and the Bold'' is a comic book series published by DC Comics as an ongoing series from 1955 to 1983. It was followed by two mini-series in 1991 and 1999, and was revived as an ongoing title in 2007. The focus of the series has varied ...

#197'' (January 8, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics:

The Batman Adventures ''The Batman Adventures'' is a DC Comics comic book series featuring Batman. It is different from other ''Batman'' titles because it is set in the continuity (and style) of '' Batman: The Animated Series'', as opposed to the regular DC Universe. ...

#12'' (January 15, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Batman/The Huntress: Cry for Blood #1'' (January 22, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Detective Comics #554'' (January 29, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Batman #386'' (February 5, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1'' (February 5, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Batman #567'' (February 12, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Green Lantern: Rebirth #1'' (February 12, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: The Flash: Rebirth #1'' (February 19, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: The New Teen titans #2'' (February 19, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Amethyst #1'' (February 26, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Flash #1'' (February 26, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: JLA: Year One #1'' (March 4, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Swamp Thing #57'' (March 4, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Batman #428'' (March 11, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Robin #1'' (March 11, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Justice League (1987) #1'' (March 18, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: JLA #1'' (March 18, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Justice League (2011) #1'' (March 25, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Justice League of America #1'' (March 25, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Batman (2013) #13'' (April 1, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Green Lantern #1'' (April 1, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Batman #663'' (April 8, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Catwoman (2002) #1'' (April 8, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Catwoman (2011) #1'' (April 15, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Checkmate #1'' (April 22, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Detective Comics #826'' (April 29, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Batman #450'' (April 29, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #1'' (May 6, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: DARK NIGHTS: METAL #1'' (May 13, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: MANHUNTER #1'' (May 13, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Green Lantern #29'' (May 20, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Wonder Woman #212'' (May 20, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Wonder Woman #206'' (May 27, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (1989)'' (June 10, 2020) * ''Dollar Comics: Saga of the Swamp Thing #1'' (June 27, 2020)

References

{{reflist DC Comics titles Comics formats