While "researching" a recent Nexus Graphica, I had reason to look through my collection of Comics Of Unusual Size. This set of the big and small and odd of comicdom offers many gems. Deciding that I really should share some of these largely forgotten and sometime rare pieces, I’m taking you through a tour of the more interesting selections.

Continuing my tour through some of the more mainstream selections. In the seventies and eighties, digest-sized comics were all the rage. These 4.75 in. x 6.5 in. perfect bound collections usually contained minuscule, often poorly reproduced reprints.

DC’s first experimented with the smaller format in 1972 with Tarzan Digest #1. Though a Laurel & Hardy digest was announced (and never produced), DC would only return to the format in 1979 following the DC Implosion.

Click on images for full sized versions.

The Best of DC No. 54 (November, 1984) and No. 64 (September, 1985)

Beginning with a collection of Superman reprints, The Best of DC ran for 71 issues. Throughout seven years, the series focused on a wide array of DC properties including Batman, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Binky, Jimmy Olsen, and Plop!

The Best of DC No. 63 (August, 1985) and No. 46 (March 1984)

Starting in 1980, The "Year’s Best Comic Stories" became an annual event as part of The Best of DC. The final issue (No. 71) was the Year’s Best Stories of 1985.

The Best of DC No. 71 (April, 1986) and No. 52 (September, 1984)

Later in the same month that premiered The Best of DC, the digest-sized Jonah Hex and Other Western Tales appeared. After three issues, DC canceled the title and replaced it with DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest. Each volume tended to focus on theme. The variety of characters and subjects included the Legion of Super Heroes, Flash, Green Lantern, Ghosts, Secret Origins, Strange Sports, and Sgt. Rock.

DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest No. 16 (December, 1981) and No. 19 (March, 1982)

After 24 issues, DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest ended in 1982 and was soon replaced by the digest-sized last gasp of the legendary Adventure Comics. Beginning with no. 491, the now-completely reprint series limped its way to an ignoble conclusion with no. 503.

Adventure No. 501 (July, 1983)

The DC digests introduced me to some of my favorite characters and series. My first exposure to the Doom Patrol, the O’Neil/Adams Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Plop!, Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, and countless others first occurred within those tiny pages.