You know those cool little Archie digest-sized comics you see in the grocery store? Believe it or not, there was a time when DC Comics pursued the digest market! Back in 1979, DC launched a digest entitled The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest that ran until 1986. This wasn’t the only digest series DC produced, but it lasted the longest. Once a year The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest would run a selection of stories under the banner “Year’s Best Comics Stories”. In the 1982 edition of “Year’s Best Comics Stories”, Firestorm was included! What an honor! They reprinted The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #7 featuring the introduction of Plastique! Below you’ll find the cover and back to The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #35, the 1982 “Year’s Best Comics Stories” edition. Art by Ed Hannigan and Dick Giordano.
This particular issue contains reprints of stories from:
- DC Comics Presents (1978) #50
- Detective Comics (1937) #514
- The Fury of Firestorm (1982) #7
- House of Mystery (1951) #310
- Legion of Super-Heroes (1980) #286
- The New Teen Titans (1980) #20
- The Saga of Swamp Thing (1982) #4
- Sgt. Rock (1977) #361
This was the only digest to feature a reprint of a Firestorm story, however, he did manage to make it on the cover of at least one more issue. The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest, “Year’s Best Comics Stories” #52 (1984).
Click here for a wealth of information on DC digest comics, presented by our good friend Rob Kelly (of The Aquaman Shrine and The Fire and Water Podcast)! For even more, be sure to check out Rob’s old blog dedicated to Digest Comics!
For me personally, the first DC digest I picked up was The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #71. It was another “Year’s Best Comics Stories” featuring Ambush Bug and Blue Devil! I was immediately hooked! At the time I loved this digest and planned to pick up each new digest going forward. Then I read the last page of issue #71 … where it was announced this was the final issue. Just my luck.
My thanks to the Fortune Cookie Tumblr for attracting my attention to this particular super-cool digest!
Support Firestorm (and Digest Comics)! Fan the flame!
Thanks – I LOVE these digests(Swamp Thing, man) and actually picked up that top one this summer – read it on the beach.
They’re on newsprint too..
cheers, Artie
Man, I would love to see something like this in the grocery stores now. The closest we get are the magazine editions, and those are not as cool as a digest!
Um…Why is Captain Carrot on the back cover if he’s not in the book? Or is he?
Oh sorry, that’s not the back cover. It’s the contents page.
Sean – You’re right. That’s the back cover. Why is Captain Carrot there. Cause he’s awesome. That’s why.
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