New wave of DC Comics come to Dollar Tree

We’re a little late getting this story posted, but just prior to Thanksgiving we visited the local Dollar Tree and found a boatload of new DC Comics single issues. These are unique in that they come from a wide range of stories and eras. While most trend toward modern—let’s say from the last decade—there are some from the ’90s, including Batman Adventures (the comic companion to Batman: The Animated Series), an issue of Frankenstein, a New 52 Swamp Thing, an installment from the Batman: Prodigal storyline and an issue featuring an early Jason Todd as Red Hood.

And those are just a sampling, with more in the Superman and Justice League realm that we skipped. As DC has released these over the last year—I believe this is the fourth drop of new issues—I’ve noticed two important things. One, Dollar Tree is keeping the $1.25 price tag. This is great, as it makes the comics accessible to almost everyone. And two, these things are selling out. While only one of the local Dollar Trees has put out the comics, it fully sold out of the first wave and nearly did the second. Strangely, they never got the third—or was it the second wave? The distribution seems to differ across the four stores in four cities. Even stranger, the sole Dollar Tree in one of the largest cities has never gotten the comics.

I’ve seen the comics in gas station convenience stores, though none in our area. However, on a recent trip to a station out of town, we did find a display. It was a mix of the same ones Dollar Tree had, but there were also a few different issues. The biggest difference, though—the price. The gas station was selling them for $3.99.

Most of the comics are the first part of a larger story—the hope on DC’s part is that you’ll be interested in the first issue and seek out a collected version of the storyline.

With apparent success, I hope DC continues to release new issues and digs into its back catalog. We’d love to see some of the ’70s and ’80s Batman issues.