In 1961, they published a special column addressed to all those “boys and girls”…
By PETER BOSCH
Editorial announcement in DC comics on newsstands in December 1961, a couple of months after prices went up from 10 to 12 cents:
Two cents more?! How dare they?!
It is charming that they felt compelled to write such an impassioned letter to the fans, though.
By the way, 10 cents in 2024 is worth $1.03, and 12 cents is worth $1.24. If only today’s comics cost that little.
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MORE
— PALISADES PARK: The Grooviest DC COMICS Promotion of the Silver Age. Click here.
— 13 REASONS to Love DC COMICS in the SILVER AGE. Click here.
November 7, 2024
I must have started buying them right after this. DC always cost me 12 cents.
November 7, 2024
Those 12¢ Superman, JLA, Batman, Worlds Finest are what I read sitting in the piano teacher’s living room waiting for my lesson. I didn’t retain much piano skills but I did embark on a lifetime of DC comics.
November 7, 2024
Ja2661, look at this clip from the Beatles movie “Help!” At 1:06, Paul is playing the organ and on the music stand are all DC comics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx_7xjpySK0
November 7, 2024
$1.25 for a single issue might have been closer to reality today if only comics had the same distribution system as 1961. And if only the system was exponentially as successful today as it was then. And if only kids could just as easily ride their bikes to the drug store, convenience store, or newsstand to pick up the latest issues. And if only parents could feel just as safe allowing their kids to bike that far. And if only kids TV programming could have stayed only on Saturday mornings and maybe an hour or two in the afternoons. And if only video games were never invented to take away kids’ time and interests. And if only…
November 7, 2024
Dan, thanks for the extra input.
November 8, 2024
I got into comics in 1966 during the Batman TV craze. When DC raised the price from 12 cents to 15 cents they published a modified version of this letter. I was so touched that I wrote a letter to the publisher thanking them for the explanation.