Just found out how many comics were in a single issue of Action Comics #1

I was watching a documentary on the history of DC and they said the original Action Comics #1 from 1938 had 64 pages for 10 cents. I always pictured those old comics as being thin little things, but that's a HUGE amount of content for the price. It makes you realize how much value fans back then were getting. Has anyone here actually held a real copy and felt how thick it is?

3 comments

3 Comments

jade_davis1mo ago

Actually, that 64 page count includes all the ads and filler pages too. The real comic story with Superman was only about 13 pages long. The rest was other short features and a ton of ads for stuff like x-ray glasses. So it was physically thick, but the main content we care about now was a pretty small part of it. Still an amazing piece of history to hold, I bet. Have you seen how much a decent reprint of it costs these days?

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grace_bailey1mo ago

Wow, so they were basically selling a magazine of ads with a comic tucked inside. Classic.

jade3281mo ago

Guess they were padding the page count from day one. Makes me feel better about modern comics being mostly ads too.