Direct vs. Newsstand

Jaknife · Post by **Jaknife** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 10:59 pm

what is the difference? how do you tell? which is better?

ZephyrWasHOT!! · Post by **ZephyrWasHOT!!** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 11:09 pm

Until 1976, there was no UPC on comics.

From 1976-1979, Marvel had an experimental Direct Distribution experiemnt, the details which are still unclear, but which are designated by prices in a large diamond, a small diamond, a crossed out UPC code, or anywhere in between.

In 1979, Direct Marvels could be distinguished by Newstand by a crossed out UPC.

In 1980, Marvel replaced the crossed out UPC with a spidey head in the UPC box. DC adopted the same style at the same time, but used the UPC box as an extra ad space.

In 1995, both DC and Marvel did away with the 'art' in the UPC box and went back to using UPC on everything; the difference between UPC and Direct was the word 'Direct Sales' for DC, or 'Direct Edition' for Marvel, while the newstand issues have just the code, and it has remained so to this day.

Almost every comic company that has published since the early 1980's has followed this format, and those few that have distributed to newstands (Image, Valiant) have simply added a UPC code somewhere on the front or back cover; direct editions don't have the code or its box.

There. More than you EVER wanted to know about Direct vs. Newstand.

ZephyrWasHOT!! · Post by **ZephyrWasHOT!!** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 11:14 pm

And....as for what is better, I've ALWAYS preferred direct editions...they don't sit on news racks, so you can probably be assured it wasn't pawed through by every greasy fingered child at the stand...

Plus...the nifty UPC box art! Heck, McFarlane's box art for Hulk and Spidey alone was worth it.