Thrift Store Finds: The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #10 (DC Comics)

This week, we’ll be looking at The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #10, a digest-sized collection of comics published by (you guessed it!) DC Comics in 1981.

Cover price is .95 cents… I paid $4 dollars.

I know what you’re thinking: $4 bucks is kind of a big purchase for me book-wise, you’re right! When I’m at thrift stores, I mainly stick to lower priced paperbacks. I found I couldn’t resist this one, mark-up be damned.

DC Comics got out of the digest business in the mid 1980’s but for years, digest sized presentations of their comics were a regular feature at newsstands and grocery stores across the country. These days, Archie Comics is the last company standing in regards to the digest… and there’s a very definite reason for that. Most Archie comics are meticulously drawn in a house style pioneered by cartoonist Dan DeCarlo. Comics drawn by the company today match DeCarlo’s style from the 1960’s. This gives Archie Comics a wealth of back catalog from which to draw for their current digests.

The art and writing for superhero comics has always been a bit more faddish – trends and artistic styles come and go with the times. A Superman comic from the 1960’s looks almost nothing like a modern day Superman comic, save for some cross-generational touches (the “S” shield, the cape, and so on). While Archie can seemingly reprint stories forever with consumers being none the wiser, most of DC’s back catalog has been rendered quaint by time.

This Best of DC Digest is subtitled Secret Origins of Super-Villains and contains six stories focusing on the baddies of the DC Universe. The majority of these stories look to be drawn from DC’s Silver Age of comics but although creator credits are given, the digest doesn’t give any notation of where and when the stories come from. I found this to be somewhat annoying but it makes sense given the time this book was published that this information would not have likely been at the forefront of reader’s minds. Some Googling does reveal the sources of these books and I’ll include them in my appraisals, but as far as I can tell, the first comic story in the collection is original to this digest.

Chalkboard Drawings: The “All sea” edition

I draw a picture of myself on my classroom’s chalkboard everyday. I collect those pictures as camera phone photos and post them on Sundays. See the rest here.

Two things about this week’s chalk offerings:

1. Some kind-hearted philanthropist donated some supplies and books to my classroom last week. Included in this package was a set of Chalk Ink Wet Wipe Markers. They provide a bolder line and I seriously love them. I wanted to use them as much as possible this week, even while quickly becoming aware they weren’t great for coloring in large spaces.

2. The theme this week was “the ocean” because… I don’t know why. I guess it being a four day week (thanks to Labor Day here in America) had something to do with it but I couldn’t tell you why. 

chalkboard photo posts: the all sea edition

Like with the Odds & Ends posts, I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue posting these chalkboard drawings. In some respects, they’re more popular than the comic (if those Site Stats are to be believed), but I’ve been posting them for two years. Not only is there bound to be some repetition in the things I draw on my chalkboard… I’ll be honest and tell you all I plan it that way! Some drawings get trotted out at certain times because I’m teaching a certain kind of lesson. Some get drawn because I know they’ll provoke a reaction from students.

Ultimately, I suppose it’s not something that would bother a casual reader or someone who’s been around for months and years, so I’ll keep posting them. I guess this just serves as a warning: I may repeat myself.

Anyhow, I thought I’d do a couple of “theme” weeks at the beginning of the year. This week? The ocean!