Marvel vs. DC: A comparison of page counts

One thing I noticed recently that is never commented upon by comics fans is that historically DC often had more story pages than Marvel.  I don't know if fans at the time noticed this, or cared, or wrote to Marvel commenting/complaining about this.  In the early 1980s, DC occasionally pointed out that they had "more pages," but I don't think that was sufficiently appreciated at the time.

In fact, I think Marvel in the mid-1960s to early 1970s had fewer story pages than any other comics publisher, since those non-advertisement pages would be turned over to the Bullpen Bulletins, subscription pages, letter pages, etc.  Perhaps fans would have been reluctant to lose these filler pages to having more pages of actual comics.  DC, though, also had letter pages, in addition to having more story pages than Marvel.

A comparison, by taking a look at the GCD (Grand Comics Database):

AVENGERS #1 (Sept. 1963) has 22 story pages, plus 3 Marvel ad pages -- no Bullpen page, no lettercol, etc.  

The same month, JLA #22 (Sept. 1963) was released, which is part two of the very first JLA/JSA crossover.  (JLA #21 was part one.)  It can be argued that this was just as (or more) exciting an event for many fans at the time as the debut of Avengers and X-Men over at Marvel.  

JLA #22's story was 24 pages long according to the GCD entry, but in those days DC put ads at the bottom third of some story pages.  The GCD entry notes: "Story across 25 pages in three chapters of 8.67 pages, 9.67 pages, and 5.67 pages."  8 + 9 + 5 equals 22 pages, but then you have 3 more story pages where one-third is an ad, so that totals two more whole pages, giving us a total of 24 story pages.  The issue also has a 1-page letters page, a 1-page DC ad page, and a half-page PSA comic strip.  

So, at this point, JLA had two more story pages than Avengers did.  (JLA had 24, Avengers had 22.)

Beginning with Avengers #10 (Nov. 1964), the number of story pages drops to a consistent 20 pages per issue.  This is supplemented for a little while by an extra "pin-up page" (which is eventually dropped) and a 2-page lettercol.  

JLA #31 (Nov. 1964), released the same month, has 23 story pages (across 24 pages), plus a 1-page lettercol.  

So, Avengers readers were getting an extra page of letters than JLA readers, but JLA readers were getting 3 additional story pages than Avengers readers were, for the same 12 cents cover price.

Avengers remained at 20 story pages per issue until #113 (July 1973) when it goes to 19 story pages per issue.  At that time, JLA was still offering around 23 story pages per issue.  Shown here is JLA #106 (July/Aug. 1973) which the GCD lists as having "22.67 story pages" (i.e. 22 full pages and a 23rd page that has an ad on the bottom third of the page).  Incidentally, JLA was a bi-monthly during this time, which explains how Avengers was able to overtake its issue numbering, even though JLA had started first.

JLA drops down to 20 story pages per issue with #108 (Dec. 1973).  

Throughout 1974 (#110-116), JLA is a thick 100-Page comic, offering 20 new JLA story pages, supplemented by reprints, for 60 cents per issue.   

Avengers drops to 18 story pages per issue with #123 (May 1974).  

JLA is still at 20 new story pages per issue (within a larger 100-page comic).  

Beginning with #131 (Jan. 1975), Avengers drops to 17 story pages per issue.  The page count fluctuates between 18 and 17 pages for the next five years.

Beginning with #117, JLA reverts to the traditional comic book size, but is still at 20 story pages.  The next issue, #118 (May 1975), JLA drops to 18 story pages, giving it the same story page count per issue as Avengers for the first time.

The first JLA issue with only 17 story pages is JLA #131 (June 1976).  

JLA remains at 17 story pages until #139 (Feb. 1977) when it expands to a "Giant" format, with 34 story pages (plus two pages of letters) for 50 cents.  

At the same time, Avengers has 17 story pages per issue for 30 cents.  So, JLA was giving readers the same amount of total story pages as Avengers for a dime less.

With the next issue, JLA settles into a regular 33 story pages per issue plus 2 story recap pages (reprinted from previous issues) and a 1 page lettercol.  It then switches to 32 story pages, 2 recap pages, and a 2 page lettercol.  Eventually the 2 recap pages are dropped.

JLA's cover price jumps to 60 cents with #143 (June 1977), which happens to be the earliest comic book that I ever remember owning.  This was the period (age 6-7) when I first started buying comic books, and the first comic book I ever followed regularly was JLA.  I have to admit, I don't think price or page count was a factor in my purchases at that young age.

Avengers' cover price went to 35 cents with #165 (Nov. 1977), still at 17 story pages.  JLA had 34 story pages for 60 cents at this time, so it was once again offering as many story pages as two issues of Avengers for a dime less.

With #158 (Sept. 1978), JLA moved back down a dime, to 50 cents per issue, and cut back to 25 story pages.  It turns out that this is the exact same price and page count that the series would have two years later, but this early attempt was short-lived.  

With #161 (Dec. 1978), the cover price went down to 40 cents, with 22 story pages.  (The GCD entry for this issue notes that "this story was originally 25 pages and was cut to 22 pages before publication."  

JLA remained at 22 story pages for 40 cents until #166 (May 1979) when the page count went down to 17 pages per issue.  The same month, with Avengers #183 (May 1979), Marvel raised their price to 40 cents as well, also with only 17 story pages per issue.  So, once again, the two series had the same cover price and page count.

Interestingly, both Marvel and DC raised their page counts (along with their cover prices) in 1980, although DC's page count was once again higher than Marvel's, as it was in the 1960s and the early 1970s.  

Beginning with JLA #182 (Sept. 1980), the cover price was raised to 50 cents (previously was 40 cents) and the page count was raised to 25 story pages (previously 17).  

Avengers went to the 50 cents cover price the same month (#199, Sept. 1980), but was still at 18 story pages.  #200 was an extra-long anniversary issue (35 story pages for 75 cents).  

But then Marvel inaugurated the new page count that they would stick with throughout the 1980s: 22 story pages per issue.  The first Avengers issue with the new 22 page count was #201 (Nov. 1980).  

After a while, the JLA page count was bumped up even higher: 27 story pages per issue.  Although I was more of a Marvel reader at the time, I bought JLA #199 (Feb. 1982) when it came out, and I don't think I ever noticed that the comic's story ran 27 pages.  DC was giving readers five more story pages per issue than Marvel was, for the same price.  

Did any readers ever point this out to Marvel and complain about it, or simply ask why Marvel comics had fewer pages?  I don't recall seeing such an observation in Marvel's letter pages -- understandably so, given that their competition was offering a better deal for money.

It wasn't until a bit later, when I started buying New Teen Titans regularly, that I noticed that DC comics had more pages than Marvel, and also ran more 2-page lettercols (which Marvel had cut back to a single page in the early 1970s).

Anyway, the extra pages is something that DC rarely if ever gets credit for, which belatedly prompts me to recognize that fact now, and wish I had appreciated it more back then.