Whitman Comics logo on 70s DC titles?

[tib2d2]

What's the story with some 70s DC comics with the Whitman (Gold Key) logo in the corner? Did they distribute these as some sort of deal with DC? Are the comics any different besides the logo in the cover corner?

[Timothy Hunter]

I would like to know too! I got a DC Comics Presents 51 with a Whitman logo on it.

[Johnny Thunders!]

I’m guessing, I totally don’t know but I guess that Whitman had distribution to K-Mart (the Target of the 70’s) and other big shops. I bought them there in multi-issue packs wrapped in thin plastic bags. I bet they were surplus issues. I’m just totally guessing, because I saw DC comics at the drugstore but Whitman at the K-Mart.

[OBrianTallent]

Whitman had a deal with Marvel and DC at the time to reprint, bag and sell comics in stores that were not generally associated with comic books such as department and toy stores. To differentiate the reprints from the actual comics, the covers were printed with a W or the Whitman logo in place of the DC logo and on Marvel had Reprint placed somewhere on the cover, usually the top right or the side of the corner character box. Likewise, especially on the DC covers, the issue number is not on the cover and can only be found on the first page's indicia. Early issues also were printed without a cover price. Later issues did not have the barcode at the bottom and instead had a black and white version of Superman on some.
Typically the books were bagged three at a time and were generally a random lot. These days, Whitman reprints can actually go for quite a lot as they have become rather rare.

[caj]

Back before comic book shops began opening, I can remember getting 3-packs of DC Comics with the Whitman labels on them. They were back issues that you couldn't find anywhere else.

[Lightning Rider]

I have a few of those myself, was always a little baffled that something could replace the DC logo.

[Jim Kelly]

Previously discussed--

https://community.cbr.com/showthread...Whitman-comics

As quoted there, Paul Levitz said the Whitman (a.k.a. Western) "program was enormous--even well into the 1970s they were taking very large numbers of DC titles for distribution (I recall 50,000+ copies offhand)."