or . . . How I came to love the UPC

Disclaimer: This journal won't be for everyone. I fully realize that what I am about to discuss here has nothing to do with how good or bad any particular comic book is. In fact, this discussion has nothing to do with the content of any comic at all. I realize that I am about to make an argument about a topic that most collectors won't care about -- and which will probably be seen by most as superficial and silly. Of course, let's admit that we all have our quirks in collecting. So maybe my peculiar quirk here ends up making you feel a little less quirky and a little more normal. If that turns out to be the case, well, I'm glad to be of service. But just know in advance that I fully realize how ridiculous this is. With that said, let's get right to it.

Newsstand Editions. At the outset, let's please stop calling them "variants;" or "newsstand variants." I say this will a little bit of a chip on my shoulder, in light of my preferences here, but please realize that before the direct-sales editions existed, the only editions published were newsstand editions. That Amazing Fantasy 15 worth tens of thousands of dollars? That's a newsstand edition. Detective 27? Newsstand. Everything prior to 1979, from every comics company (except Whitman, which I will discuss in a few moments) in existence? All newsstand editions. I was around, in full collecting mode, when the direct-sales editions were born and I didn't like them from the start. I never bought one . . . and still won't. In my mind, the direct-sales editions are the "variants."

So let me take you back to 1979, when these direct editions invaded the comics collecting world. I am going to discuss the newsstand-vs.-direct-edition war in the context on my favorite run at the time . . . which is still my favorite run today: Frank Miller Daredevils. This is a good set to use, because DD 158 was the last issue of DD before the direct-edition invasion. The cover of 158 has that "still only 35 cents" blurb in the upper left-hand corner of the cover. And it had the box with the UPC code on the lower left.

Ah, the UPC box. That's partly what this is about. We collectors tend to like uniformity in our collections. Most people reading this journal right now collect CGC comics, which means most -- if not all -- of of us have collections which fit neatly inside holders of identical size, inside boxes built for them, stacked somewhere in a room or closet. There's something appealing about that. We can compare one comic to the next -- whether for condition, design or whatever -- in a one-to-one comparison. When we get a comic in a larger or smaller format, we don't really know what to do with it, right? It doesn't quite seem to "fit" into our collection -- both literally and figuratively. It's a little bothersome. Admit it.

Mind you, I didn't like the UPC box when they first started putting them on comics. On Daredevils, that bothersome box first arrived on the cover of issue 130, in early 1976. I remember thinking at the time that it was a dumb idea, because they were covering up the cover art for no good reason with something boring and unsightly. I formed this opinion with my teen-aged sensibility, of course. It took a few years, but in time, I got used to the UPC. After a while, in fact, I began to not even notice it. Nowadays, we're used to seeing them all over the place on just about everything we buy. Well, that started happening in the 1970's. I know that because I remember the era through the comics I was buying. But I digress.

Let's get back to the issue of uniformity of format, and its desirability to collectors. The UPC box was something that every comic featured in the mid-to-late 70's. Starting with DD 159, however, two different-looking editions were published. The newsstand edition looked like the previous thirty or so Daredevils that came before it. The direct-sales edition sort of looked like them . . . except the UPC box had a diagonal black line through it. If the UPC box was boring and unsightly before, the UPC box, crossed out, was both ugly and more distracting. I decided, upon seeing both, that I would stick with newsstand editions. It wasn't even a close call.

The crossed-out UPC box stuck around on direct-sales editions for about eight months. Daredevil was published bi-monthly in those days, so that meant issues 159 through 162 had that ugly and distracting, crossed out code in the rectangular box.

Starting with DD 163, something even worse was put in the box: Spider-Man's masked face. Ugh. Okay, at least it was a piece of "art," rather than something that looked like a mistake that a teacher had corrected on the cover. But if you were a Daredevil fan in those days, having Spidey on all of your DD covers was more maddening. The only analogy that comes to mind is an appropriate one for me, as a lifelong Red Sox fan. Today, the Red Sox are one of the premier franchises in all of baseball. The Sox have won more World Series in this century than any other team. They've got great owners, great management, winning players and a terrific farm system. For most of my life, however, they always played second fiddle to the Yankees . . . and they always lost to the Yankees (and to everyone else!) when it really mattered most. That obviously gave a Red Sox fan a chip on his shoulder when it came to the mere mention of the NY Yankees. You couldn't bring up the Red Sox in those days without also bringing up their rivalry and inferiority to the Yankees.

So it was with Spider-Man and Daredevil. Today, mainly as a result of Frank Miller, Daredevil is a popular and top-tier character. Back when I was collecting DD comics as a teenager, however, Daredevil was always thought of as a poor-man's Spider-Man. It seemed as though DD was always on the verge of cancellation. I was collecting DD's when his circulation was downgraded from monthly to bi-monthly. At the same time, Spider-Man was all over the place -- in his own title, in Marvel Team-up every month, in Marvel Tales reprints, on TV. Well, I liked Spidey as much as the next guy, but I felt a stronger connection to Daredevil (for reasons that I'll probably discuss in another journal) and I didn't like Spidey invading the cover. After all, Spider-Man was featured prominently on the very first DD ever published! In my mind -- with a Red-Sox-sized chip on my shoulder, Frank Miller's Daredevils should stand on their own! Now I have to look at Spidey's masked face on every issue going forward?

Not if I kept buying newsstand editions! Over time, esthetically, the clean (and not crossed-out) UPC code was no longer boring and unsightly. It became appealing. It carried on the uniform tradition from prior issues and focused more attention on the terrific Frank Miller covers. The Spidey face in the direct-sales box instead reminded us all that Spidey is a better and more popular character.

And we haven't even talked about the price box in the upper left-hand corner. To give you a little background here, that black diamond-shaped price box existed prior to direct-sales editions. In the '70's, you could walk into a Walgreens or some other drug store and purchase a plast

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