Posted in: Batman, Comics, Comics Publishers, DC Comics, Justice League, Superman | Tagged: Batman, dc, gold lantern, walmart, wonder woman

The Walmart Report: DC is Back, After 3 Months Away

DC's departure from Diamond was the first big change that has come about, as other changes, such as the upcoming departure of many of DC's editorial staff, have grabbed a lot of attention.  One change that didn't get quite as much attention was the change over of going from the DC Giant Line to DC four-packs available at Walmart.  After almost two years having displays at Walmart, with new comics being up for sale every month without fail, DC released their first batch of five DC 4-packs, each with a backing board/mini-poster, in June.  Since then, there has been nothing, likely due to all the changes.  Now three months later, DC has finally put out five new four-packs for sale.

Five New Packs, Emphasis on DC and Batman

So like the last set, five packs were released late last week at Walmarts throughout the country.  Each of the five packs contains four comics, one backing board with a part of the "poster" and costs about $9.  Also, each pack contains the same mix of comics, so if one buys pack #1, the pack with Justice League #46 Variant Cover on top, has the same three comics behind it.  Same for the other four packs.  One difference from the last packs, though, is that the "poster" on the backing boards this time consists of four parts, with the poster included with pack #5 being a separate Wonder Woman image by Nicola Scott. Parts one through four from the other packs, when put together, make the Joker War image done by Jorge Jimenez for Batman #100, though formatted and streamlined to fit the four-piece format. Besides having a Batman-centric poster, three of the packs have Batman comics as the top comic, as DC's emphasis that Batman sells is on full display.

Pack #1, Justice League #46 Variant Cover

Pack #1 has Justice League #46 Variant cover on top, with Nightwing #71 Variant Cover, DC Super-Stars #17 Facsimile Edition, and The Flash #755 Main Cover. Justice League #46, DC Super-Stars #17, and The Flash #755 are at best cover price books, but the Nightwing #71 Variant Cover is a rarer book, sold out the week it came out, with its early Joker War tie-in.

Pack #2, Batman/Superman #9 Main Cover

Pack 2 has the first Batman book on top, with Batman/Superman #9 Main Cover, with The Flash #754 Main Cover, Batman Secret Files #3, and Justice League Odyssey #21 Variant Cover.  None of these books are worth more than the cover price. Though Batman Secret Files #3 had a bit of heat, being a little hyped appearance of Punchline, the book has dropped to being worth cover price or less due to a large amount of copies being sent out by Lunar and/or UCS Distribution after Diamond ran out of copies.

Pack #3, Batman The Adventures Continue #1 Main Cover

Pack 3 starts with another Batman book, with Batman The Adventure Continues #1 starting off the pack. Amethyst #3 Main Cover, Young Justice #15 Main Cover, and Wonder Woman #757 Main Cover rounding out the set.  Only Batman The Adventure Continues #1 has gone to second print, but that hasn't made the first print worth more. (Issue #2 is the comic that has gone in value for this series.)

Pack #4, Batman and The Outsiders #13 Main Cover

The third pack that has a Batman book on top starts with Batman and the Outsiders #13 Main Cover, but the next book is the one most buyers would want to buy the set for 1st printing of Legion of Super-Heroes #6 Main Cover featuring the first Gold Lantern.  Not the top seller, it was on the back issue market, it has gone to second print and still sells anywhere from $10 to $20 for a near-mint non-slabbed copy now. Hawkman #24 Variant Cover and Aquaman #60 Variant Cover finish the set.

Pack #5, Wonder Woman '84 Museum Mayhem #1 Main Cover

The final set is the one most will want to buy, just based on its top comic, with Wonder Woman '84 Museum Mayhem #1 on top, Batgirl #46 Variant Cover, Lois Lane #11 Variant Cover, and Harley Quinn #73 Main Cover being the books in the set.  Wonder Woman '84 Museum Mayhem #1 hits earlier this month, then thought, and won't be in comic book stores until September 29th. The lead tale, "Museum Madness" is a old school New Mutants reunion as Louise Simonson and Bret Blevins reunite for a Wonder Woman '84 prequel and the follow up tale "Wolf Cubs" taking place during Wonder Woman '84 as Diana and Steve Trevor deal with fake terrorists and children.  This pack includes what seems to be the main cover for the one-shot and is not a variant cover, but until the comic is released at comic book stores, it is possible this is a variant cover.

New DC Comics for Walmart, but Only One "New" Comic

The return of new DC comics to Walmart is a good thing, but overall the bundles don't look likely to be heavy sellers for Walmart. However, sale numbers for Walmart for these bundles versus the Giant line will likely never be released.  This time, unlike the first series, Walmart has a new comic in Wonder Woman '84 Museum Mayhem #1 that isn't in comic book stores yet.  Now, most of these books were never released to Diamond, but a few such as Harley Quinn #73 and the Flash #754 were supposed to be distributed by Diamond, but copies of at least those two books were rare and harder to get from Diamond as DC did not provide as many copies to Diamond as some other books. Overall the new Wonder Woman mini-poster by Nicola Scott is beautiful to see, and we'll see how these extra copies of Legion of Super-Heroes #6 being released affect the back issue prices.

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