The word “slapdash” comes to mind

I discovered these rather tattered little items in a bargain bin a couple of weekends ago. I was intrigued by what the hell they were, as I’d never heard of an “Elson’s” before, nor had I ever encountered these comics. There are a few odd things about them. First, they each contain complete pillar to post reprints of several contemporaneous (1980) DC comics titles. When I say complete, that’s what I mean — everything right down to the ads (often repeated in the issues reprinted) and letters columns. Second, though I was only able to pick up the first and third editions (there were six), all the covers contain the same art with only a different colored background to demarcate the difference (and something in me rebels at the thought of the Joker, Penguin and Riddler charging alongside our assemblage of heroes). Third, the inside covers are utterly blank — all-white like a really lazy Rothko painting. Fourth, there’s no price anywhere on or in them. Maybe you had to haggle over the amount like you were buying fruit in some Calcutta bazaar.

Finally, the back cover has this little bit of marketing propaganda from Elson’s, which was apparently a chain of newstands:

If I were Elson’s-Man,  or whoever this guy is, I’d be tempted to blurt out “Well you need a shave too, bitch…” to that shrew behind the counter.

These are somewhat unique. Not all that scintillating, I’ll grant you. But unique. I actually showed these to a comic store owner friend of mine, who’s been in the business for a good long while (measured in decades, not years) and he had never seen them before.

Perhaps Elson’s didn’t do the briskest business back in the day.