Ask the Answer Man...with Bob Rozakis

[Jezebel Bond]

Quite enjoyed seeing his sometimes snarky responses to questions posed to him by comic fans in bronze age DCs...some were informative, some made me giggle out loud.



What are some of your favourites? I'm filtering out the boring ones which asked about comic book values.

By the way, a question I never got around to asking since I read most of these DCs 10-15 years after they were originally published...why did DC need Whitman reprints? Couldn't they handle their own distribution?

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

I know that at one time (up until 1970), DC controlled distribution of its comics and other comics through its Independent News distribution arm. I don't know, but it might be that this kind of distribution arrangement eventually came up against anti-trust laws.

[Rob Allen]

DC didn't "control" Independent News; the reverse wasn't really the case either but Independent was larger and had more influence on DC than DC did on Independent. As for why Whitman, I guess it looked like an opportunity to make some money.

[MRP]

I always thought that the Whitman reprints were distributed to places that didn't normally carry comics via the regular distributors, such as department stores and the like, so distributing through them got DC comics into places that didn't normally sell them. I also thought the Whitmans were sold in sets rather than individually, but of course I am speculating on hearsay rather than relating any kind of fact based info here. The only Whitman DCs I had as a kid were received as a birthday gift and came in a set, but that is by no means solid evidence.

-M

[Judomaster]

I remember a friend of mine getting a Whitman 3-pack for his birthday. We all noted the difference in the logo and I remember him being disappointed because of this. He didn't think they were "real" comics. I know that one of the comics was a Super Friends issue. I think his dad bought them at a toy store.

[GavinR]

I think Whitman just came up with an idea to sell comics in the type of stores that typically didn't sell comics. Stores with no news stands, spinner racks, or anything like that. Whitman probably approached DC with the idea and they thought "What the hell, why not?". Since you have no racks they came up with idea of bagging them so they could be hangers, and if you bag them you might as well sell a pack of three. I have some Whitman comics from my childhood and they weren't bought from toy stores. They were sold in also in department stores and other places as well.

[DCIndexer]

Whitman was a brand used by Western Publishing, the publisher of Gold Key comics. In addition to comics Western produced a variety of "children's" material such as puzzles, coloring/activity Books, and toys. Much of this was produced using the Whitman label. Since toy stores and chain stores were already familiar with Whitman products, including those featuring licensed DC characters, they were more apt to carry Whitman branded comics (usually in bagged packs ranging from 2 to 5 issues each). Gold Key/Western had been distributed books to these markets for years. In order for DC to get into these markets, they branded versions of their comics using the Whitman label and used Western's distribution network. In addition to getting a presence in new stores, these books were non-returnable. The Whitman labeling also served to prevent newsdealers from returning Whitman copies for credit alongside returnable newsstand versions.

More info including a list of all DC Whitmans is here: http://www.dcindexes.com/whitman.php?site=goldkey#Q6

[Jezebel Bond]

I always thought that the Whitman reprints were distributed to places that didn't normally carry comics via the regular distributors, such as department stores and the like, so distributing through them got DC comics into places that didn't normally sell them. I also thought the Whitmans were sold in sets rather than individually, but of course I am speculating on hearsay rather than relating any kind of fact based info here. The only Whitman DCs I had as a kid were received as a birthday gift and came in a set, but that is by no means solid evidence.

-M

They also did a Whitman Superman vs Muhammed Ali treasury...so it wasn't just restricted to bagged comics. The Whitman copy usually sells for more too...

[Red Oak Kid]

They also did a Whitman Superman vs Muhammed Ali treasury...so it wasn't just restricted to bagged comics. The Whitman copy usually sells for more too...

I did not know that. The cover scan on Mike's Amazing World shows a price of $2.50 tho Mike says no cover price shown.

So was this Whitman the large treasury size?

That is wild.

http://www.dcindexes.com/gallery/gal...&seriesid=3082

[earl]

The Whitman comics were usually packaged like 4-6 issues together wrapped in a plastic bag and were sold at like K-Mart and department stores often in their toy department or where the books were located. I definitely remember seeing lots of Gold Key comics and even some Marvel sold in a similar fashion (like the Star Wars comics).

I got a bunch of comics when I was kid from those packages. Big thing was to try and move the comics around as much as possible to see what else was in the bag.

[GavinR]

Gold Key and Whitman were both owned by Western which is why there were loads of Gold Key comics sold in Whitman bags. I can totally remember getting a lot of those in the 70's.

[Jezebel Bond]

More info including a list of all DC Whitmans is here: http://www.dcindexes.com/whitman.php?site=goldkey#Q6

Ahh...thanks for that info and comprehensive list...nice knowing what's there....

[The Darknight Detective]

Quite enjoyed seeing his sometimes snarky responses to questions posed to him by comic fans in bronze age DCs...some were informative, some made me giggle out loud.



What are some of your favourites?

One that I recall was someone asking Bob how much a certain comic book would cost in about 10-20 years. His response was whatever somebody wanted to pay for it. Short and sweet.