Gladstone Canadian Price Variants

By Benjamin Nobel, January 11, 2019

Hi everyone! My fellow price guide collaborators and I are hoping to expand our guide’s “coverage universe” in the future to include other publishers beyond Marvel & DC; we are very fortunate to be working with Toronto-based researcher Salvatore Miceli, who has been investigating other publishers including Gladstone. This post is to share Sal’s Gladstone research — a huge thanks to Sal for his efforts on this! 🙂

Readers of our Marvel & DC guide are already familiar with how those two publishers produced three versions of each issue during their cover price variant windows: a direct edition version (direct-sold to comic dealers/shops at a discount but on a non-returnable basis), and two newsstand versions (copies sold to the general public on newsstands, where unsold copies were returnable by the newsstand for refund/credit) — the two newsstand types were a higher cover price version and a lower cover price version.

While Gladstone followed this same pattern of publishing three versions, they were fond of placing their bar codes (and corresponding logos for the direct editions) on the back covers, making it all the more challenging to spot these differences online (most online sellers only bother to picture the front cover when listing these comics). To show you what I mean, here below are the three versions Gladstone produced for Donald Duck #246:

Donald Duck #246 – 95¢ Newsstand

From a distance, at first glance these look like they are identical, but if you know in advance that the cover price boxes differ, you can discern that they are different — here is a close-up on those three price boxes:

price-boxes-comparison

The first price box shown above is the direct edition, carrying a large print “main” price of 75¢ with a smaller-print CAN 95¢ price beneath it; the second price box shown above is the single-price 75¢ newsstand edition distributed in the U.S., and the final price box shown above is the newsstand price variant carrying a single-price of 95¢ — such cover price variant copies are the subject of Sal’s research. Below is an example indicia page for Donald Duck #246 — as you can see these were printed and published in the USA:

donald-duck-246-indicia

I mentioned before that Gladstone liked placing their UPC codes (and corresponding logos) on the back covers… here below are the three back covers side-by-side, for the three Donald Duck #246 copies you saw earlier:

As you can see, looking at the bottom left corner, the direct edition copy has a “logo box” instead of a bar code (in this case it isn’t a graphical logo but instead has words that tie in to the poster advert), while the two newsstand copies have identical bar code boxes. Here below is another back cover comparison, this time where the logo box contains a graphical logo — Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories #546:

And here are the front covers for the above — pictured at left is the direct edition (cover price box reads $1.95 in large print, with “CAN $2.50” in small print), and pictured at right is the single-price $2.50 Canadian price variant exclusive to newsstands in Canada (Canada has on the order of one tenth the population of the USA which drives the price variants to be the most-rare of the three types by a long-shot — read more here for a detailed rarity walkthrough with graphics from the Marvel & DC guide — the same basic big-picture concepts apply to the Gladstone situation as well):

So as you can see from the above examples, with the logo-boxes/bar-codes on the back covers, spotting the variants in the marketplace (and researching them in general) is all the more difficult a task (thanks again to Sal for taking on that task!). Below are a few more cover price variant examples, followed by a full “Issue Guide” for the Gladstone Canadian Price Variants.

Gladstone Canadian Price Variant Issue Guide:
15 regular titles (Oct 1986-July 1991) + 4 digest titles (Dec 1986-Sep 1987)
262 total issues

Donald Duck
Oct 1986-May 1990
34 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#246	$0.95	Oct ’86		$ 26
#247	$0.95	Nov ’86		$ 16
#248	$1.00	Dec ’86		$ 16
#249	$1.00	Jan ’87		$ 16
#250	$2.00	Feb ’87	64 Pages	$ 18
#251	$1.00	Mar ’87		$ 16
#252	$1.25	Apr ’87		$ 8
#253	$1.25	May ’87		$ 8
#254	$1.25	Jun ’87		$ 8
#255	$1.25	July ’87		$ 8
#256	$1.25	Aug ’87		$ 8
#257	$1.95	Sep ’87	Giant Summer Special	$ 8
#258	$1.25	Oct ’87		$ 8
#259	$1.25	Nov ’87		$ 8
#260	$1.25	Dec ’87		$ 8
#261	$1.25	Jan ’88		$ 8
#262	$1.25	Mar ’88		$ 8
#263	$1.25	Jun ’88		$ 8
#264	$1.25	July ’88		$ 8
#265	$1.25	Aug ’88		$ 8
#266	$1.25	Sep ’88		$ 8
#267	$1.25	Oct ’88		$ 8
#268	$1.25	Nov ’88		$ 8
#269	$1.25	Jan ’89		$ 8
#270	$1.25	Mar ’89		$ 8
#271	$1.25	Jun ’89		$ 8
#272	$1.25	July ’89		$ 8
#273	$1.25	Aug ’89		$ 8
#274	$1.25	Sep ’89		$ 8
#275	$1.25	Oct ’89		$ 8
#276	$1.25	Nov ’89		$ 8
#277	$1.25	Jan ’90		$ 8
#278	$2.50	Mar ’90	Double Sized Issue	$ 9
#279	$2.50	May ’90	Double Sized Issue	$ 9

Donald Duck Comics Digest
Nov 1986-July 1987
5 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#1	$1.65	Nov ’86		$ 10
#2	$1.65	Jan ’87		$ 6
#3	$1.65	Mar ’87		$ 10
#4	$1.95	May ’87		$ 6
#5	$1.95	July ’87		$ 6

DuckTales
Oct 1988-May 1990
13 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#1	$1.95	Oct ’88	Giant Size Issue	$ 6
#2	$1.95	Nov ’88	Giant Size Issue	$ 4
#3	$1.25	Jan ’89		$ 4
#4	$1.25	Feb ’89		$ 4
#5	$1.25	Apr ’89		$ 4
#6	$1.25	May ’89		$ 4
#7	$1.25	July ’89		$ 4
#8	$1.25	Aug ’89		$ 4
#9	$1.95	Oct ’89		$ 4
#10	$1.95	Nov ’89		$ 4
#11	$1.95	Jan ’90		$ 4
#12	$2.50	Mar ’90	Double Sized Issue	$ 5
#13	$2.50	May ’90	Double Sized Issue	$ 5

Haunt Of Fear
May 1991-July 1991
2 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#1	$2.50	May ’91	EC Reprint	$ 4
#2	$2.50	July ’91	EC Reprint	$ 4

Mickey Mouse
Oct 1986-Apr 1990
38 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#219	$0.95	Oct ’86		$ 20
#220	$0.95	Nov ’86		$ 10
#221	$1.00	Dec ’86		$ 10
#222	$1.00	Jan ’87		$ 5
#223	$1.00	Feb ’87		$ 5
#224	$1.00	Mar ’87		$ 5
#225	$1.25	Apr ’87		$ 5
#226	$1.25	May ’87		$ 5
#227	$1.25	Jun ’87		$ 5
#228	$1.25	July ’87		$ 5
#229	$1.25	Aug ’87		$ 5
#230	$1.25	Sep ’87		$ 5
#231	$1.25	Oct ’87		$ 4
#232	$1.25	Nov ’87		$ 4
#233	$1.25	Dec ’87		$ 4
#234	$1.25	Jan ’88		$ 4
#235	$1.25	Mar ’88		$ 4
#236	$1.25	Apr ’88		$ 4
#237	$1.25	Jun ’88		$ 4
#238	$1.25	July ’88		$ 4
#239	$1.25	Aug ’88		$ 4
#240	$1.25	Sep ’88		$ 4
#241	$1.25	Oct ’88		$ 4
#242	$1.25	Nov ’88		$ 4
#243	$1.25	Dec ’88		$ 4
#244	$3.75	Jan ’89	60th Anniversary Special	$ 5
#245	$1.25	Mar ’89		$ 5
#246	$1.25	Apr ’89		$ 4
#247	$1.25	Jun ’89		$ 4
#248	$1.25	July ’89		$ 4
#249	$1.25	Aug ’89		$ 4
#250	$1.25	Sep ’89		$ 4
#251	$1.25	Oct ’89		$ 4
#252	$1.25	Nov ’89		$ 4
#253	$1.25	Dec ’89		$ 4
#254	$1.25	Jan ’90		$ 4
#255	$2.50	Feb ’90	Double Sized Issue	$ 5
#256	$2.50	Apr ’90	Double Sized Issue	$ 5

Mickey Mouse Comics Digest
Jan 1987-Sep 1987
5 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#1	$1.65	Jan ’87		$ 8
#2	$1.65	Mar ’87		$ 5
#3	$1.95	May ’87		$ 5
#4	$1.95	July ’87		$ 5
#5	$1.95	Sep ’87		$ 5

The Original Dick Tracy
Sep 1990-May 1991
5 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#1	$2.50	Sep ’90		$ 4
#2	$2.50	Nov ’90		$ 4
#3	$2.50	Jan ’91		$ 4
#4	$2.50	Mar ’91		$ 4
#5	$2.50	May-91		$ 4

Tales From The Crypt
July 1990-May 1991
6 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#1	$2.50	July ’90	EC Reprint	$ 5
#2	$2.50	Sep ’90	EC Reprint	$ 5
#3	$2.50	Nov ’90	EC Reprint	$ 5
#4	$2.50	Jan ’91	EC Reprint	$ 5
#5	$2.50	Mar ’91	EC Reprint	$ 5
#6	$2.50	May ’91	EC Reprint	$ 5

Uncle Scrooge Comics Digest
Dec 1986-Aug 1987
5 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#1	$1.65	Dec ’86		$ 8
#2	$1.65	Feb ’87		$ 6
#3	$1.95	Apr ’87		$ 8
#4	$1.95	Jun ’87		$ 6
#5	$1.95	Aug ’87	Low print run per Overstreet	$ 9

Vault Of Horror
Aug 1990-Jun 1991
6 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#1	$2.50	Aug ’90	EC Reprint	$ 5
#2	$2.50	Oct ’90	EC Reprint	$ 5
#3	$2.50	Dec ’90	EC Reprint	$ 5
#4	$2.50	Feb ’91	EC Reprint	$ 5
#5	$2.50	Apr ’91	EC Reprint	$ 5
#6	$2.50	Jun ’91	EC Reprint	$ 5

Walt Disney’s Christmas Parade
1988-1989
2 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#1	$3.75	Winter 1988	Painted cover by Carl Barks	$ 12
#2	$3.75	Winter 1989		$ 9

Walt Disney’s Comics And Stories
Oct 1986-Apr 1990
37 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#511	$0.95	Oct ’86	Donald Duck by Daan Jippes	$ 32
#512	$0.95	Nov ’86		$ 18
#513	$1.00	Dec ’86		$ 18
#514	$1.00	Jan ’87		$ 12
#515	$1.00	Feb ’87		$ 12
#516	$1.00	Mar ’87		$ 12
#517	$1.25	Apr ’87		$ 6
#518	$1.25	May ’87		$ 6
#519	$1.25	Jun ’87		$ 6
#520	$1.25	July ’87		$ 12
#521	$1.25	Aug ’87		$ 6
#522	$1.25	Sep ’87		$ 6
#523	$1.25	Oct ’87	1st Don Rosa 10 pager	$ 15
#524	$1.25	Nov ’87	Don Rosa art and story	$ 15
#525	$1.25	Dec ’87		$ 6
#526	$1.25	Feb ’88	Don Rosa art and story	$ 15
#527	$1.25	Mar ’88		$ 6
#528	$1.25	Apr ’88	Don Rosa art and story	$ 15
#529	$1.25	Jun ’88		$ 6
#530	$1.25	July ’88		$ 6
#531	$1.25	Aug ’88	Don Rosa art and story	$ 15
#532	$1.25	Sep ’88		$ 6
#533	$1.25	Oct ’88		$ 6
#534	$1.25	Nov ’88		$ 6
#535	$1.25	Dec ’88		$ 6
#536	$1.25	Feb ’89		$ 6
#537	$1.25	Mar ’89		$ 6
#538	$1.25	Apr ’89		$ 6
#539	$1.25	Jun ’89		$ 6
#540	$1.25	July ’89		$ 6
#541	$1.95	Aug ’89		$ 6
#542	$1.95	Sep ’89		$ 6
#543	$1.95	Oct ’89		$ 6
#544	$1.95	Nov ’89		$ 6
#545	$1.95	Dec ’89		$ 6
#546	$2.50	Feb ’90	Double Sized Issue	$ 6
#547	$2.50	Apr ’90	Double Sized Issue; Don Rosa art	$ 15

Walt Disney’s Comics Digest
Dec 1986-Sep 1987
7 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#1	$1.65	Dec ’86		$ 8
#2	$1.65	Feb ’87		$ 6
#3	$1.65	Mar ’87		$ 6
#4	$1.95	Apr ’87		$ 6
#5	$1.95	Jun ’87		$ 6
#6	$1.95	Aug ’87		$ 6
#7	$1.95	Sep ’87		$ 6

Walt Disney’s Donald Duck Adventures
Nov 1987-Apr 1990
20 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#1	$1.25	Nov ’87		$ 8
#2	$1.25	Dec ’87		$ 4
#3	$1.25	Feb ’88		$ 4
#4	$1.25	May ’88		$ 4
#5	$1.25	July ’88	Don Rosa cover and art	$ 5
#6	$1.25	Aug ’88		$ 4
#7	$1.25	Sep ’88		$ 4
#8	$1.25	Oct’88	Don Rosa art	$ 5
#9	$1.25	Nov ’88		$ 4
#10	$1.25	Dec ’88		$ 4
#11	$1.25	Feb ’89		$ 4
#12	$1.95	May ’89	Giant Size Issue; Don Rosa art	$ 6
#13	$1.25	July ’89		$ 4
#14	$1.25	Aug ’89		$ 4
#15	$1.25	Sep ’89		$ 4
#16	$1.25	Oct ’89		$ 4
#17	$1.25	Nov ’89		$ 4
#18	$1.25	Dec ’89		$ 4
#19	$2.50	Feb ’90	Double Sized Issue	$ 4
#20	$2.50	Apr ’90	Double Sized Issue	$ 4

Walt Disney’s Mickey And Donald
Mar 1988-May 1990
18 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#1	$1.25	Mar ’88	Don Rosa art	$ 6
#2	$1.25	May ’88		$ 4
#3	$1.25	July ’88		$ 4
#4	$1.25	Aug ’88		$ 4
#5	$1.25	Sep ’88		$ 4
#6	$1.25	Oct ’88		$ 4
#7	$1.25	Nov ’88		$ 4
#8	$1.25	Dec ’88		$ 4
#9	$1.25	Mar ’89		$ 3
#10	$1.25	May ’89		$ 3
#11	$1.25	July ’89		$ 3
#12	$1.25	Aug ’89		$ 3
#13	$1.25	Sep ’89		$ 3
#14	$1.25	Oct ’89		$ 3
#15	$1.25	Nov ’89		$ 3
#16	$1.95	Dec ’89	52 pages	$ 5
#17	$2.50	Mar ’90	Double Sized Issue; Don Rosa art	$ 6
#18	$2.50	May ’90	Double Sized Issue	$ 5

Walt Disney’s Pinocchio Special
1990
1 issue
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#1	$1.25	Spring 1990	50th Anniversary Edition	$ 3

Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge
Oct 1986-Apr 1990
33 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#210	$0.95	Oct ’86	1st Gladstone Issue	$ 16
#211	$0.95	Nov ’86		$ 15
#212	$1.00	Dec ’86		$ 15
#213	$1.00	Jan ’87		$ 15
#214	$1.00	Feb ’87		$ 15
#215	$1.00	Mar ’87		$ 15
#216	$1.25	Apr-87		$ 15
#217	$1.25	May ’87		$ 15
#218	$1.25	Jun ’87		$ 15
#219	$1.25	July ’87	1st Comic Work Of Don Rosa	$ 25
#220	$1.25	Aug ’87	Don Rosa art and story	$ 8
#221	$1.25	Sep ’87		$ 4
#222	$1.25	Oct ’87		$ 4
#223	$1.25	Nov ’87		$ 4
#224	$1.25	Dec ’87	Rosa cover and art	$ 5
#225	$1.25	Feb ’88		$ 4
#226	$1.25	May ’88	Rosa art	$ 5
#227	$1.25	July ’88	Rosa art	$ 5
#228	$1.25	Aug ’88		$ 4
#229	$1.25	Sep ’88		$ 4
#230	$1.25	Oct ’88		$ 4
#231	$1.25	Nov ’88		$ 4
#232	$1.25	Dec ’88		$ 4
#233	$1.25	Feb ’89		$ 4
#234	$1.25	May ’89		$ 4
#235	$1.25	July ’89	Rosa art and story	$ 5
#236	$1.25	Aug ’89		$ 4
#237	$1.25	Sept ’89		$ 4
#238	$1.25	Oct ’89		$ 4
#239	$1.25	Nov ’89		$ 4
#240	$1.25	Dec ’89		$ 4
#241	$2.50	Feb ’90	Double Sized Issue	$ 6
#242	$2.50	Apr ’90	Double Sized Issue	$ 6

Walt Disney’s Uncle Scooge Adventures
Nov 1987-May 1990
21 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#1	$1.25	Nov ’87		$ 12
#2	$1.25	Dec ’87		$ 4
#3	$1.25	Jan ’88		$ 4
#4	$1.25	Apr ’88		$ 4
#5	$1.25	Jun ’88	Don Rosa cover and art	$ 5
#6	$1.25	Aug ’88		$ 3
#7	$1.25	Sep ’88		$ 3
#8	$1.25	Oct ’88		$ 3
#9	$1.25	Nov ’88	Don Rosa art	$ 5
#10	$1.25	Dec ’88		$ 3
#11	$1.25	Jan ’89		$ 3
#12	$1.25	Apr ’89		$ 3
#13	$1.25	Jun ’89		$ 3
#14	$1.25	Aug ’89	Don Rosa art	$ 5
#15	$1.25	Sep ’89		$ 3
#16	$1.25	Oct ’89		$ 3
#17	$1.25	Nov ’89		$ 3
#18	$1.25	Dec ’89		$ 3
#19	$1.25	Jan ’90		$ 3
#20	$2.50	Mar ’90	Double Sized Issue; Don Rosa art	$ 5
#21	$2.50	May ’90	Double Sized Issue; Don Rosa art	$ 5

Weird Science
Sep 1990-Mar 1991
4 issues
Issue	CPV Cover Price	Month / Year	Notes	Baseline (Non-Variant) NM- Issue Value
#1	$2.50	Sep ’90	EC Reprint	$ 5
#2	$2.50	Nov ’90	EC Reprint	$ 5
#3	$2.50	Jan ’91	EC Reprint	$ 5
#4	$2.50	Mar ’91	EC Reprint	$ 5

Happy Collecting! 🙂

Happy Collecting, everyone! As of this writing there are very few of these Gladstone variants on CGC’s census yet: I found one each on census for Uncle Scrooge Adventures #1, #2 & #5, Uncle Scrooge #218 & #221-226, and Walt Disney’s Christmas Parade #2. Thanks again to Sal Miceli for sharing his Gladstone research! 🙂

– Ben

Archie Canadian/Pence Price Variants and the Betty’s Diary #36 Mystery

By Benjamin Nobel, January 9, 2019

Hi everyone! My fellow price guide collaborators and I are hoping to expand our guide’s “coverage universe” in the future to include other publishers beyond Marvel & DC; and another publisher that produced plenty of Canadian Price Variants was Archie. This post is to share some interesting Archie variant research from Bill Alexander (by the way if you’ve not yet read Bill’s market report from this year’s guide, you should check it out!).

Archie did quite a lot of quirky & cool things with their variants that you don’t see with other publishers. For example in one particularly surprising instance they produced both single-price newsstand and single-price direct edition Canadian price variants of certain TMNT Adventures issues! And here’s something else they did that’s very interesting: check out the below pair of pictures, for Archie’s 6/1987 Betty and Veronica #1, and spot what they did in the cover price boxes:

Betty and Veronica #1, 6/1987. Left: regular 75¢ cover price copy; Right: 95¢/40p cover price variant.

Their Canadian price variant — at right — isn’t single price but rather it also has a 40p price as well! [40p means 40 pence, the price in the UK; click here to learn more about understanding pence cover prices]. Since the “main” cover price is 95¢, we would still call this a Canadian Price Variant… but it has a special distinction of also having been distributed in the U.K. in addition to Canada!

So, this variant is a member of a fascinating “class” of Archie Type 1A variants with dual instead of single cover prices! Bill Alexander has put together a list of Archie issues with such dual Canada/U.K. pricing and I’ll share his research in a moment… but first, I think you’ll be interested to hear about the as-yet-unsolved Betty’s Diary #36 Mystery (and maybe even help us solve it!).

To introduce you to the mystery, take a look at the below direct edition examples for Betty’s Diary #34-38, with the CAN cover prices pointed out in the text along the top…

One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong….

These examples all have the main US $1.00 cover price in large font at the top of the price box, then a Canadian small-print price, and lastly a 75p UK pence price; and the CAN price is $1.20 across all of them except for Betty’s Diary #36 (9/1990) which is $1.25! Let’s see a close-up of the #36 price box, shall we?

Bill researched to see what the indicia page for #36 shows the pricing should be in Canada for this issue number, and found that it says $1.20 (not $1.25):

bettys-diary-36-indicia

Was Archie doing test marketing to gauge reaction to a nickel price increase? Did they conduct this test just with their direct edition batch, or, on Canadian newsstands as well? What will the cover price be on the Canadian price variant for this issue? Will it be $1.25 or $1.20? We have yet to spot the variant in the wild (these are all extremely tough to find, but especially the later issues as more sales volume shifted to the direct edition channel and the variants were newsstand exclusives), nor are we able to locate a picture of the variant online anywhere. If any readers have the variant for Betty’s Diary #36, please let us know and help us solve this intriguing mystery!

Bill’s Dual Canadian/Pence Archie List

Phase 1 Archie Comics Type 1A 95c/40p Cover Price Variants 5/87-11/87:

Archie #347-353
Archie Giant Series Magazine #569-578
Archie’s Pals N Gals #187-193
Betty and Me #157-162
Betty and Veronica (2nd Series) #1-6
Betty’s Diary #8-13
Everything’s Archie #129-132
Jughead (2nd Series) #1-2
Katy Keene Special #21-23
Laugh Comics (2nd Series) #1-3
Life with Archie #260-263
New Archies #1

Phase 2 Archie Comics Type 1A $1.20/75p Cover Price Variants 3/90-3/92:

Adventures of Bayou Billy #4 (An “Archie Adventure Series” test market $1.20/75p issue, the only one done as far as I can tell)
Archie #375-397
Archie Giant Series Magazine #608-630
Archie 3000 #7-16
Archie’s Pals N Gals #213-224
Archie’s RC Racers #4-10
Betty and Me #181-197
Betty and Veronica (2nd Series) #28-49
Betty’s Diary #32-40
Dilton’s Strange Science #5
Everything’s Archie #148-157
Explorers of The Unknown #1-6
Falculty Funnies #4-5
Jughead (2nd Series) #17-30
Jughead’s Diner #1-7
Jughead’s Pal Hot Dog #2-5
Jughead’s Police Time #1-6
Kooshkins #1-3
Laugh Comics (2nd Series) #20-30
Life with Archie #277-286
New Archies #22
Riverdale High #1-8
Veronica #7-19

Archie Digest Comics Type 1A $1.65/ £1.25 Cover Price Variants 3/90-3/92:

Archie Andrews Where Are You? #67-79
Archie Annual Digest #58-59
Archie Comics Digest #101-113
Archie’s Story and Game #14-22
Betty and Veronica Annual Digest Magazine #3-6
Betty and Veronica Digest #41-53
Jughead Jones Comic Digest #62-74
Jughead with Archie Digest #97-109
Katy Keene Comics Digest Magazine #9-10
Laugh Comics Digest #87-99
Little Archie Comics Digest Magazine #41-48
New Archies Digest Magazine #9-14

Dual Canadian/Pence Archie Example Pictures

Phase 1 Archie Comics Type 1A 95c/40p Cover Price Variant Examples:

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Phase 2 Archie Comics Type 1A $1.20/75p Cover Price Variant Examples:

From the Betty’s Diary series, although we’ve yet to find the #36 variant, we did find the below #34; here are all three versions so you can see them side-by-side (click to enlarge) — direct edition, US newsstand edition, and the Type 1A Canadian/pence price variant:

And here are some other “Phase 2” price variant examples:

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Archie Digest Comics Type 1A $1.65/ £1.25 Cover Price Variant Examples:

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Happy Collecting! 🙂

Happy Collecting, everyone! Do let us know if you have the Betty’s Diary #36 variant and can solve the mystery for us of what cover price they gave it! And thanks again to Bill Alexander for sharing his Archie research and scans! 🙂

– Ben

U.K. Pence

Pence Price Variant Issue Guide (Marvel & DC)

By Benjamin Nobel, with research assistance from Stephen Cranch

Menu: Introduction; Top 50 Silver; Top 50 Bronze; Further Reading; Full Issue Guide [ Jump: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Z ]

Greetings, fellow collector! This is an issue guide for Pence Price Variants from Marvel & DC based on the extensive research of Stephen Cranch. Huge thanks to Steve; creating this guide without his input would have been like trying to stand up and walk without a backbone! (Note: Archie, Charlton, Dell, Gold Key and King Comics also published pence price variants but this inaugural issue guide will cover just Marvel & DC).

What is a pence price variant? If you’re already familiar, skip ahead to the 2019 Top 50 lists or the full guide. If you’re new to pence price variants, next is a brief introduction to hopefully pique your interest:

Introduction To Pence Price Variants

The very first thing to learn is that these weird-looking things below…

… are all examples of prices! Readers from the U.K. already know this (so bear with me), but many other readers may be asking, in surprise, “Those weird things are prices?” Yes! Prices. I live in the USA, drive on the right-hand side of the road and pay for comics in dollars and cents, but my friend Steve meanwhile lives in Britain, drives on the left-hand side of the road and pays for comics in pounds and pence — and those symbols pictured above are telling us the cost in pence!

You saw a variety of symbols: d‘s and p‘s and the funny-looking “1/-” which may strike some readers as quite a lot of letters & symbols to denote comic book prices in Britain!?

Before decimalization, nine pence was written “9d”; after decimalization, nine pence was written “9p”.

Funny story: you know how in the USA there are 100 pennies to 1 dollar? In Britain it is 100 pence to 1 pound, but that wasn’t always the case: before 1971 there were 240 pence to 1 pound. No joke! Back in those days, pence prices were denoted with a ‘d‘ — nine pence would be “9d” (and the “1/-” symbol denotes a “shilling”; back then, 1 shilling was equal to 12 pence). Then in 1971, Britain went through what is referred to as “decimalization” — resetting to 100 pence to 1 pound — and from that point forward pence prices began to be denoted with a ‘p‘.

And with that handy bit of knowledge, you, dear reader, are now out ahead of your American comic-collecting peers when it comes to understanding pence variants; most of your American friends look at those symbols and shrug their shoulders but you now know that those are prices.

Here’s the second important thing you should learn about pence price variants: they are actually first print originals printed in the USA, published simultaneously with their U.S. cents counter-parts by the same original publisher. The Marvels are U.S.-published Marvels; the DC’s are U.S.-published DC’s… And they are all first print Type 1A Cover Price Variants!

OK: I just used a term you may (or may not) know: “Type 1A Cover Price Variant” has now been floating around in the comic collecting nomenclature since 2010 when the Overstreet Price Guide published an article by comic book historian (and Senior Overstreet Advisor) Jon McClure, entitled “A History of Publisher Experimentation and Variant Comic Books”. His most recent definition of Type 1A cover price variants is as follows:

Type 1A: U.S. Published Foreign Distribution Variants

Cover Price Variants intended for foreign distribution with limited regional distribution, published simultaneously with standard or “regular” editions. In the majority of cases, the indicia and all aspects of the book are identical to regular U.S. editions except for the cover price. In some instances other alterations may be present. These may include missing or different cover dates, regional indicia details and variant company logos. Other minor alterations may also be present.

What Jon’s Type 1A definition basically means is that Pence Price Variants were…

… ♬ B-O-O-O-O-R-N IN THE U-S-A ♫: The comics were printed at the same time and in the same location (on the same presses; same paper; same ink) as their U.S. cents priced counterparts, but with pence-only printed prices and, in the early years, alternative indicias and sometimes missing cover dates as well. There is currently no evidence to determine which batch were printed first — cents or pence — or whether they alternated.

Now onto the third important fact you should know about pence price variants: The U.K. is smaller than the USA in population. Much smaller. In 1970, according to the U.S. Census and World Bank data, the USA had a population of just over 205 million people. The U.K. meanwhile had a population of just under 56 million people in that same year.

Jon McClure estimates original print run for the pence price variants equivalent to approximately 5% of U.S. print run size.

With such a huge disparity in market size, you can already see that if you “zoom out” and look at any given issue number where a pence price variant exists, that variant is going to be a relatively small percentage of the total copies sold for that issue worldwide. In his 2010 article, Jon McClure estimates original print run for the pence price variants equivalent to approximately 5% of U.S. print run size, but with an estimated survival rate of only 1-2% of total copies (with many of those survivors suffering damage from the overseas shipping).

That’s 1-2% of total copies he is citing; but it is also important to realize that at time of distribution, 100% of the local comic book marketplace within the U.K. received the pence price variants (when they exist). In other words, if you were a comic collector in the U.K. and there was a pence variant for sale for a given issue, that pence variant was your only choice at time of distribution; if you wanted a “regular” U.S. cents copy of that same issue, you had to rely on the after-market for imported copies (you had to find your nearest comic book dealer).

Canadian vs U.K. variant distribution distinction

Left: each Type 1A variant issue that exists also had a “regular” counter-part distributed in Canada. Right: When a Pence variant exists, it was the only type distributed in the U.K. for that issue.

Let’s think about that last point for a moment, as a contrast to the newsstand-exclusive Type 1A Canadian price variants of the 1980’s during which there were two types of each issue distributed in Canada whenever a price variant exists: newsstand copies (the Type 1A variants) and direct edition copies (the “regular” copies — which were identical to the ones sold in the USA).

In his Canadian Newsstand Cover Price VARIANTS 2018-2019 Market Report, Senior Overstreet Advisor Doug Sulipa walks through his scarcity estimates for the Type 1A Canadian price variants from Marvel & DC and shows that if we consider two stacks of comics originally sold in Canada for an illustrative issue — a newsstand stack and a direct edition stack — and we adjust those two stacks for survivorship differences, that the size of the surviving direct edition stack is 3x larger than the size of the newsstand stack. Thus, the Type 1A Canadian price variants are the more locally-rare type there, and that’s before thinking about the 10x larger separate stack representing the U.S. market!

That’s an important contrast to understand when thinking about pence price variants so let’s repeat the point: Canada was distributed two types for each issue (“regular” and “variant”) whereas the U.K. market was distributed one type — just the pence price variants (when they exist).

Collectors within in the U.K. may therefore not view the variants as “locally-rare”; thus, collectors from the USA and Canada (and elsewhere) can find opportunities to acquire the more-rare Type 1A variants at bargain prices from U.K. sellers who do not recognize what they own as being anything special.

If you’ve made it this far into the introduction, you are now way out ahead of the pack among your fellow collectors in understanding pence price variants because you now understand both the main problems/challenges the pence price variants face as a “class” of collectibles, as well as the main opportunities.

Whether your comic buying budget is small or large, there are interesting pence price variants out there for you!

If your interest in the opportunities for pence price variants as collectibles has been piqued, you’ll next be interested to learn how the “price variant window” is wonderfully large, producing a great many interesting major and minor key issues in a range that truly has something for everyone: you can find something interesting with a budget of as little as 5 dollars all the way to as high as 5 figures!

And that’s because this large price variant window spans all the way back to May of 1960 for Marvel (marking the cover date of the first known single 9d price printed comics, Gunsmoke Western #58 and Journey Into Mystery #58), and July of 1971 for DC, and ends way out in December 1981 for Marvel and September of 1981 for DC (the last cover month before consistent dual pence/cents pricing commenced on Direct Edition comics, thus effectively ending the need for and existence of pence-only priced variants).

This window gives us Silver Age plus Bronze Age variants to hunt for, but pence variants do not exist for all titles published during the window and even when they do exist there are often frustrating “gaps” in runs. Marvel produced 6,546 comics between the confirmed pence dates of May 1960 to December 1981, covering 200 titles, but a total of only 3,017 first printing Marvel pence price variants are today known to exist — about 46%. For DC, 840 pence variants are known to exist.

Which specific pence variants actually exist? Enter the Issue Guide! Below, you will find Top 50 lists for the Silver and Bronze ages, and beneath those lists you will find each and every Marvel and DC title where pence variants have ever been found to date. Click any title to reach the issue guide page for that title. Key issues (such as 1st appearances of important characters) are noted throughout the guide; we also note the cover price found on the pence price variants, the CGC census count of variants (when found), and the baseline (non-variant) 2019 issue value in NM-. Steve’s research has revealed certain date ranges where the pence variant indicia is assumed to contain regional distributor details — issues within these ranges have special notes throughout the guide but readers should note that not all issues have actually been checked.

Steve and I hope you enjoy the guide! Have any questions or suggestions? Spot any mistakes? Or just want to chat about pence price variants? Tell us what’s on your mind, we’ll be glad to hear from you!

Top 50 Silver Age Pence Price Variants

Baseline values shown are 2019 non-variant value in 9.2; Census data shown is as of 11/13/2018

Amazing Fantasy #15

Marvel Comics, 9/1962

1st Appearances of Spider-Man, Peter Parker, Aunt May, Uncle Ben, and Flash Thompson; Origin of Spider-Man; Death of Uncle Ben
Ben notes: Indicia reads 9/1962 on both regular copies and pence copies; however, the cover of regular copies reads “Aug” under the issue number while the month was omitted from the cover of the pence copies. As a result, CGC catalogs the regular copies with an 8/1962 census entry (going by the cover month) but meanwhile catalogs the pence copies with a 9/1962 census entry (going by the indicia). This gives the unfortunate false impression of the pence price variant being a later month reprint instead of a first print original.
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $375,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Incredible Hulk #1

Marvel Comics, 5/1962

1st Appearances of the Incredible Hulk, Rick Jones, Betty Ross, and General Ross; Origin of the Incredible Hulk
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $265,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Fantastic Four #1

Marvel Comics, 11/1961

1st Appearances of Fantastic Four, Invisible Girl (Sue Storm), Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Thing (Ben Grimm), Mole Man (Harvey Elder), Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards); Origin of Fantastic Four
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $160,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Journey into Mystery #83

Marvel Comics, 8/1962

1st Appearances of Thor, Dr. Donald Blake, Stone Men from Saturn, and Korg; Origin of Thor
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $80,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Amazing Spider-Man #1

Marvel Comics, 3/1963

1st Appearances of Chameleon, J. Jonah Jameson, and John Jameson; Origin of Spider-Man retold
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $72,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

X-Men #1

Marvel Comics, 9/1963

1st Appearances of Angel (Warren Worthington III), Beast (Hank McCoy), Cyclops (Scott Summers), Iceman (Bobby Drake), Magneto, Marvel Girl (Jean Grey), Professor X, and X-Men; Origin of X-Men
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $50,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Tales of Suspense #39

Marvel Comics, 3/1963

1st Appearances of Iron Man (Tony Stark), Yinsen, and Wong-Chu; Origin of Iron Man
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $50,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Tales to Astonish #27

Marvel Comics, 1/1962

1st Appearances of Ant-Man (out of costume) and Hijacker
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $48,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Avengers #1

Marvel Comics, 9/1963

1st Appearance of the Avengers; Origin of the Avengers
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $42,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Fantastic Four #5

Marvel Comics, 7/1962

1st Appearance of Doctor Doom; Origin of Doctor Doom
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $20,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Strange Tales #110

Marvel Comics, 7/1963

1st Appearances of Doctor Strange, The Ancient One, Wong, Nightmare, and the Amulet of Agamotto
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $19,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Fantastic Four #2

Marvel Comics, 1/1962

1st Appearance of Skrulls; Second appearance of Fantastic Four
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $15,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Fantastic Four #4

Marvel Comics, 5/1962

1st Appearance of Giganto; Death of Giganto; 1st Silver Age Sub-Mariner appearance
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $15,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Fantastic Four #3

Marvel Comics, 3/1962

1st Appearances of Miracle Man, the Baxter Building, Fantasti-Car, Fantasti-Copter, and Pogo Plane; Fantastic Four don costumes and establish headquarters; Origin retold
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $14,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Amazing Spider-Man #2

Marvel Comics, 5/1963

1st Appearances of Mysterio (as alien), Tinkerer, and Vulture
Steve notes: First ‘Marvel Comics Group’ Price Boxes
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $13,500

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census: none

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #1

Marvel Comics, 12/1963

1st Appearances of Sgt. Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, General Samuel Sawyer, Robert Ralston, Junior Juniper, Gabriel Jones, Izzy Cohen, and Dino Manelli
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $13,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Fantastic Four #12

Marvel Comics, 3/1963

1st Appearance of The Wrecker I (Dr. Karl Kort); 1st meeting of the Fantastic Four and the Incredible Hulk
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $13,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census: none

Incredible Hulk #2

Marvel Comics, 7/1962

1st Appearance of Toad Men; 1st Green Hulk; 2nd appearance of Hulk
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $12,500

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Tales to Astonish #35

Marvel Comics, 9/1962

1st Appearance of Ant-Man (in costume); 2nd Appearance of Ant-Man
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $11,500

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Amazing Spider-Man #3

Marvel Comics, 7/1963

1st Appearance of Doctor Octopus; Origin of Doctor Octopus
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $11,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census: none

Daredevil #1

Marvel Comics, 4/1964

1st Appearances of Daredevil, Karen Page, and Foggy Nelson; Origin of Daredevil
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $11,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Amazing Spider-Man #4

Marvel Comics, 9/1963

1st Appearances of Betty Brant, Sandman, and Liz Allen; Origin of Sandman
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $8,400

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Strange Tales #89

Marvel Comics, 10/1961

1st Appearance of Fin Fang Foom; Origin of Fin Fang Foom
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $8,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Journey into Mystery #84

Marvel Comics, 9/1962

1st Appearances of Executioner and Jane Foster; 2nd Appearance of Thor
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $8,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census: none

Avengers #4

Marvel Comics, 3/1964

1st Appearance of Baron Zemo (Heinrich Zemo); Death of Bucky (James Barnes); Revival of Captain America (1st Silver Age appearance), who joins the Avengers
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $8,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Journey into Mystery #85

Marvel Comics, 10/1962

1st Appearances of Balder, Heimdall, Loki, Odin (cameo), and Tyr; 3rd appearance of Thor
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $7,500

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census: none

Incredible Hulk #3

Marvel Comics, 9/1962

1st Appearances of Bruto the Strongman, Cannonball, Ringmaster, Teena the Fat Lady, The Clown, Circus of Crime, and Aunt Polly; Origin of the Hulk retold
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $7,200

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Fantastic Four #6

Marvel Comics, 9/1962

1st Appearance of Yancy Street Gang; 2nd Appearances of Doctor Doom and the Silver Age Sub-Mariner; 1st Marvel villain team-up
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $6,800

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Amazing Spider-Man #5

Marvel Comics, 10/1963

Doctor Doom appearance
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $6,500

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census: none

Amazing Spider-Man #14

Marvel Comics, 7/1964

1st Appearance of Green Goblin I (Norman Osborn)
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $6,200

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

X-Men #4

Marvel Comics, 3/1964

1st Appearances of Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Mastermind, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Toad
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $6,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Tales of Suspense #40

Marvel Comics, 4/1963

2nd appearance of Iron Man; 1st sppearance of Gargantus
Steve notes: Last ‘MC’ cover logo
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $5,800

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Incredible Hulk #4

Marvel Comics, 11/1962

1st Appearance of Boris Monguski and Mongu
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $5,500

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census: none

Incredible Hulk #5

Marvel Comics, 1/1963

1st Appearances of Tyrannus and General Fang
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $5,500

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Amazing Spider-Man #6

Marvel Comics, 11/1963

1st Appearance of The Lizard; Origin of The Lizard
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $5,500

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Incredible Hulk #6

Marvel Comics, 3/1963

1st Appearances of Metal Master and Teen Brigade
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $5,250

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Strange Tales #101

Marvel Comics, 10/1962

1st Appearance of Destroyer (Charles Stanton); Human Torch features begin
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $4,800

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

X-Men #2

Marvel Comics, 11/1963

1st Appearances of Vanisher (Telford Porter) and Amos Frederick Duncan
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $4,700

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census: none

Rawhide Kid #17

Marvel Comics, 8/1960

Origin of Rawhide Kid
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $4,500

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census: none

Fantastic Four #7

Marvel Comics, 10/1962

1st Appearances of Kurrgo and The Xantha
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $4,300

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Fantastic Four #8

Marvel Comics, 11/1962

1st Appearances of Alicia Masters and Puppet Master
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $4,300

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census: none

Fantastic Four #9

Marvel Comics, 12/1962

3rd Silver Age Sub-Mariner appearance
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $4,300

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Fantastic Four #10

Marvel Comics, 1/1963

1st Appearance of Ovoids; Stan Lee and Jack Kirby appear in story; Doctor Doom appearance; Invisible Girl pin-up
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $4,300

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census: none

Fantastic Four #11

Marvel Comics, 2/1963

1st Appearances of Impossible Man and The Popuppians; Origins of Impossible Man, Fantastic Four (retold)
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $4,200

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Amazing Spider-Man #13

Marvel Comics, 6/1964

1st Appearance of Mysterio (identified); Origin of Mysterio
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $4,200

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Tales of Suspense #52

Marvel Comics, 4/1964

1st Appearance of The Black Widow
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $4,200

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census: none

Tales to Astonish #44

Marvel Comics, 6/1963

1st Appearance of Wasp; Origin of Wasp
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $4,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Fantastic Four #52

Marvel Comics, 7/1966

1st Appearance of Black Panther (T’Challa)

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $4,000

Pence Variant Cover Price: 10d

Pence Variants on Census:

Amazing Spider-Man #7

Marvel Comics, 12/1963

2nd Appearance of the Vulture; Versus Vulture
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $3,800

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census: none

Amazing Spider-Man #9

Marvel Comics, 2/1964

1st Appearances of Doctor Bromwell and Electro; Origin of Electro
Steve notes: Pence indicia contains regional distributor details; missing cover date.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $3,700

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9d

Pence Variants on Census:

Top 50 Bronze Age Pence Price Variants

Baseline values shown are 2019 non-variant value in 9.2; Census data shown is as of 11/13/2018

Iron Man #55

Marvel Comics, 2/1973

1st Appearances of Thanos, Blood Brothers, Drax the Destroyer (Arthur Douglas), Kronos, Mentor (A’Lars), Starfox (Eros)

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $1,500

Pence Variant Cover Price: 6p

Pence Variants on Census:

Werewolf By Night #32

Marvel Comics, 8/1975

1st Appearance of Moon Knight; Origin of Moon Knight

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $1,350

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9p

Pence Variants on Census:

Amazing Spider-Man #101

Marvel Comics, 10/1971

1st Appearance of Morbius

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $700

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census:

Tomb of Dracula #10

Marvel Comics, 7/1973

1st Appearance of Blade the Vampire Slayer

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $700

Pence Variant Cover Price: 6p

Pence Variants on Census:

Fantastic Four #112

Marvel Comics, 7/1971

Classic Hulk versus Thing cover and battle issue; 2nd Appearance of Collins

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $475

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Ghost Rider #1

Marvel Comics, 8/1973

1st cameo appearance of Son of Satan (Damion Hellstrom)

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $430

Pence Variant Cover Price: 6p

Pence Variants on Census: none

Amazing Adventures Volume 2 #11

Marvel Comics, 3/1972

1st Appearances of Beast (in furry form) and Carl Maddicks; Origin of Beast (in furry form); X-Men appearance in flashback

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $425

Pence Variant Cover Price: 6p

Pence Variants on Census:

X-Men #101

Marvel Comics, 10/1976

1st Appearance of Phoenix (Jean Grey); Death of Jean Grey

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $375

Pence Variant Cover Price: 10p

Pence Variants on Census:

Silver Surfer #14

Marvel Comics, 3/1970

Spider-Man appearance

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $360

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Avengers #93

Marvel Comics, 11/1971

Giant-size issue; Neal Adams cover and art
Steve notes: Decimalisation commences at 6p regular price

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $340

Pence Variant Cover Price: 8p

Pence Variants on Census:

Daredevil #131

Marvel Comics, 3/1976

Origin and 1st Appearance of the new Bullseye. 1st Appearance of Jacob Conover.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $340

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9p

Pence Variants on Census:

Amazing Spider-Man #100

Marvel Comics, 9/1971

Anniversary issue; Classic John Romita and Frank Giacoia cover

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $325

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census:

Avengers #112

Marvel Comics, 6/1973

1st Appearances of the Lion God and Mantis

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $300

Pence Variant Cover Price: 6p

Pence Variants on Census:

Avengers #83

Marvel Comics, 12/1970

1st Appearances of The Liberators, Tom Fagan, Valkyrie (Brunhilde)

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $260

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Amazing Spider-Man #102

Marvel Comics, 11/1971

Origin of Morbius
Steve notes: Decimalisation commences

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $260

Pence Variant Cover Price: 8p

Pence Variants on Census: none

X-Men #66

Marvel Comics, 3/1970

Last new story with original X-Men; Hulk appearance and battle

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $250

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Iron Man #54

Marvel Comics, 1/1973

1st Appearance of Moondragon (as Madame MacEvil)

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $250

Pence Variant Cover Price: 6p

Pence Variants on Census: none

X-Men #65

Marvel Comics, 2/1970

Death of Changeling

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $240

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Amazing Spider-Man #86

Marvel Comics, 7/1970

Origin of Black Widow

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $240

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Amazing Spider-Man #90

Marvel Comics, 11/1970

Death of Captain Stacy

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $240

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Daredevil #168

Marvel Comics, 1/1981

1st Appearance of Elektra (Elektra Natchios)

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $240

Pence Variant Cover Price: 15p

Pence Variants on Census:

X-Men #64

Marvel Comics, 1/1970

1st Appearance of Sunfire; Origin of Sunfire

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $235

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Thor #193

Marvel Comics, 11/1971

Giant-size issue; Silver Surfer appearance
Steve notes: Decimalisation commences

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $235

Pence Variant Cover Price: 8p

Pence Variants on Census:

X-Men #100

Marvel Comics, 8/1976

Old X-Men vs. New X-Men

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $230

Pence Variant Cover Price: 10p

Pence Variants on Census:

Amazing Spider-Man #96

Marvel Comics, 5/1971

Drug story not approved by the Comics Code Authority

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $225

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Amazing Spider-Man #97

Marvel Comics, 6/1971

Drug story not approved by the Comics Code Authority

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $225

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census:

Amazing Spider-Man #98

Marvel Comics, 7/1971

Drug story not approved by the Comics Code Authority

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $225

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Incredible Hulk #141

Marvel Comics, 7/1971

1st Appearance of Doc Samson; Origin of Doc Samson

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $215

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Sub-Mariner #34

Marvel Comics, 2/1971

Prelude to 1st Defenders story

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $210

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Silver Surfer #12

Marvel Comics, 1/1970

Abomination appearance.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $200

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Silver Surfer #13

Marvel Comics, 2/1970

1st Appearance of Doomsday Man

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $200

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Silver Surfer #15

Marvel Comics, 4/1970

Fantastic Four appearance.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $200

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Silver Surfer #16

Marvel Comics, 5/1970

Mephisto & Nick Fury appearances

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $200

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census:

Silver Surfer #17

Marvel Comics, 6/1970

Mephisto, Nick Fury & Dum Dum Dugan appearances. Fantastic Four & Tony Stark cameo.

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $200

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census:

Silver Surfer #18

Marvel Comics, 9/1970

Inhumans appearance; Last Issue

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $200

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census:

Avengers #87

Marvel Comics, 4/1971

1st Appearances of B’Tumba, T’Chaka, and N’Baza; Origin of Black Panther; Death of N’Baza; Death of B’Tumba

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $200

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Amazing Spider-Man #94

Marvel Comics, 3/1971

Origin of Spider-Man retold

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $200

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

X-Men #96

Marvel Comics, 12/1975

1st Appearance of Moira MacTaggart

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $200

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9p

Pence Variants on Census:

X-Men #97

Marvel Comics, 2/1976

1st Appearance of Lilandra Neramani

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $200

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9p

Pence Variants on Census:

Strange Tales #180

Marvel Comics, 6/1975

1st Appearance of Gamora; Warlock appearance

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $195

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9p

Pence Variants on Census:

X-Men #98

Marvel Comics, 4/1976

Jack Kirby & Stan Lee cameo in 2 panels

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $195

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9p

Pence Variants on Census:

X-Men #99

Marvel Comics, 6/1976

1st Appearance of Black Tom Cassidy
Steve notes: Regular price increases to 10p

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $195

Pence Variant Cover Price: 10p

Pence Variants on Census:

Fantastic Four #100

Marvel Comics, 7/1970

100th anniversary issue; Mad Thinker and Puppet Master appearances

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $190

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census:

Avengers #100

Marvel Comics, 6/1972

Barry Windsor-Smith cover featuring all past Avengers

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $185

Pence Variant Cover Price: 6p

Pence Variants on Census:

Tomb of Dracula #13

Marvel Comics, 10/1973

1st Appearance of Deacon Frost; Origin of Blade the Vampire Slayer

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $185

Pence Variant Cover Price: 6p

Pence Variants on Census:

Werewolf By Night #33

Marvel Comics, 9/1975

2nd Appearance of Moon Knight

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $185

Pence Variant Cover Price: 9p

Pence Variants on Census:

Amazing Spider-Man #84

Marvel Comics, 5/1970

2nd Appearances of The Schemer (Richard Fisk), Vanessa Fisk (Kingpin’s wife)

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $175

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Amazing Spider-Man #85

Marvel Comics, 6/1970

Schemer revealed as the Kingpin’s son

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $175

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census: none

Amazing Spider-Man #93

Marvel Comics, 2/1971

1st Appearance of Arthur Stacy

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $175

Pence Variant Cover Price: 1/-

Pence Variants on Census:

New Teen Titans #2

DC Comics, 12/1980

1st Appearances of Deathstroke (Slade Wilson), Trigon, Wintergreen, Ravager (Grant Wilson); Death of Ravager

Non-Variant 9.2 Value (2019): $175

Pence Variant Cover Price: 15p

Pence Variants on Census:

Full Issue Guide

Jump to any title by first letter:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Z

See only the DC Pence Price Variant Title List
See only the Marvel Pence Price Variant Title List

DC’s pence price variant window spans July & August of 1971, followed by issues between the cover dates of February 1978 to September 1981 inclusive. The first pence-only printed DC comics found are Action Comics #402, Adventure Comics #408, Detective Comics #413, Jimmy Olsen #139 all cover dated July 1971, and Flash #208 cover dated August 1971.

For monthly DC titles, no pence copies have been found for comics cover dated September 1978 to November 1978 inclusive. All monthly titles which cross these dates have a 3 issue gap. This gap coincides with, and is likely explained by, the increase and subsequent decrease in the US cover prices (35c to 50c September 1978 / 50c to 40c December 1978). For bi-monthly titles, September 1978 dated issues exist, but no pence issues exist for the following two months. No DC annuals have been found as pence only printed copies. Unlike Marvel, DC pence copies are distinguished by the pence price alone (no other changes were made such as removing the cover date, additional indicia distribution details, or different logo/banners).

Within Marvel’s pence price variant window, no pence copies have yet been found for comics cover dated December 1964 to July 1965 inclusive. Most monthly titles have a 9 or 10 issue gap around these dates, potentially due to shipping strikes. Almost every title which crosses the cover dates of October 1966 to December 1966 has a two issue pence gap. This may explain why Amazing Spider-Man completists haven’t found #42 and #43 yet; they probably don’t exist (ditto Avengers 33/34, Daredevil 21/22, Fantastic Four 56/57, Sgt. Fury 35/36, and Tales To Astonish 85/86). However, Strange Tales only misses one issue (#151) as does Tales of Suspense (#84). Two-Gun Kid has all issues as pence copies but as a bi-monthly title you can see there may have been a missing issue had it been monthly.

No pence copies have been found for comics cover dated December 1967 to March 1969 inclusive — a 16 issue gap — nor for comics cover dated April 1974 to July 1974 inclusive. This four issue gap coincides with the transition from 6p to 7p. No pence copies have been found for comics cover dated February 1981 to March 1981 inclusive either; this two issue gap coincides with the transition from 15p to 20p.

Many single issues do not appear to exist when the issue was double-sized, e.g. Avengers #200, Astonishing Tales #8, Ghost Rider #50, The Invaders #41, Thor #300, X-Men #137. Nor have pence copies been found for the ‘Giant Size’ titles of 1974 and 1975. Only 5 annuals have been found with pence only printed copies, all cover dated 1965 (Amazing Spider-Man #2, Fantastic Four #3, Journey Into Mystery #1, Marvel Tales #2, Sgt. Fury #1).

The U.K. distributor for all pence variants was Thorpe and Porter except with some exceptions being distributed by L Miller & Co. including Amazing Adventures and three western titles — Gunsmoke Western, Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid — for issues cover dated May to August 1960. Miller continued to distribute the western titles up to August 1961, but with cents cover prices and variant indicias. Thorpe & Porter took over from September 1961, becoming the sole distributor for Marvel comics in the U.K. from this point.

Below is a summary for Marvel of the price changes throughout the pence price variant window: