''All-American Comics'' is a

comics anthology A comics anthology collects works in the medium of comics, typically from multiple series, and compiles them into an anthology or magazine. The comics in these anthologies range from comic strips that are too short for standalone publication to co ...

and the flagship title of

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

publisher

All-American Publications All-American Publications, Inc.The name is spelled with a hyphen per its logo (pictured) and sources includinat Don Markstein's ToonopediaArchivedfrom the original on April 15, 2012. was one of two American comic book companies that merged to fo ...

, one of the forerunners of

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. It ran for 102 issues from 1939 to 1948. Characters created for the title, including

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

, the

Atom Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements. An atom consists of a atomic nucleus, nucleus of protons and generally neutrons, surrounded by an electromagnetically bound swarm of electrons. The chemical elements are distinguished fr ...

, the Red Tornado, Doctor Mid-Nite, and Sargon the Sorcerer, later became mainstays of the DC Comics line.

Publication history

''All-American Comics'' published 102 issues from April 1939 to October 1948. The series was an anthology which included a mixture of new material and reprints of newspaper strips. Sheldon Mayer's Scribbly was introduced in the first issue as was Hop Harrigan. The

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

was introduced by artist/creator Martin Nodell in issue #16 (July 1940). He continued in the title until #102 (Oct 1948). The Golden Age

debuted in #19 (October 1940) and Mayer created the original Red Tornado in #20 (November 1940). Doctor Mid-Nite first appeared in #25 (April 1941), while

Howard Purcell Howard Purcell (November 10, 1918 – April 24, 1981)Howard Purcell
at the Social S ...

and John Wentworth introduced Sargon the Sorcerer in the following month's issue.

Alfred Bester Alfred Bester (December 18, 1913 – September 30, 1987) was an American science fiction author, TV and radio screenwriter, magazine Editing, editor and scriptwriter for comics. He is best remembered for his science fiction, including ''Th ...

and

Paul Reinman Paul J. Reinman (; born Joseph Paul Reinmann, ; 2 September 1910 – 27 September 1988)Paul J. Reinmen

created the monstrous supervillain Solomon Grundy in #61 (October 1944). Other features included " Toonerville Folks", "

Mutt and Jeff ''Mutt and Jeff'' is a long-running and widely popular American newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Bud Fisher in 1907 about "two mismatched wikt:tinhorn, tinhorns". It is commonly regarded as the first daily comic strip. The concept o ...

", and "

Ripley's Believe It or Not! ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals with bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' ...

". All-American Publications and all its titles were purchased by National Periodicals (DC Comics) in 1946. Responding to the demand for

Western comics Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier (usually anywhere west of the Mississippi River) and typically set during the late nineteenth century. The term is generally associated with an American comic bo ...

, ''All-American Comics'' changed title and format with #103 (November 1948) to ''All-American Western''. The retitled series had

Johnny Thunder Johnny Thunder is the name of three superheroes appearing in comics published by DC Comics. A fourth character has the variant name Jonni Thunder. The character appeared in the second season of '' Stargirl'' on The CW network played by Ethan E ...

as the lead feature. It changed title and format again to '' All-American Men of War'' as of #127 (August–September 1952). A May 1999 one-shot issue by writer

Ron Marz Ron Marz (born November 17, 1965) is an American comic book writer, known for his work on titles such as '' Batman/Aliens'', ''DC vs. Marvel'', ''Green Lantern'', ''Silver Surfer'', and ''Witchblade''. Career Marz is known for his work on ''Si ...

and artist Eduardo Barreto was a part of the " Justice Society Returns" storyline.

Features

* Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist: issues #1-59 *

: issues #16-102 * The Atom: #20-46, 48-61, 70-72 * Dr. Mid-Nite: #25-102 * Sargon the Sorcerer: #26-50, 60

References

External links

*
''All-American Comics''
an
''All-American Comics'' one-shot
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics {{DC Western Characters 1939 comics debuts 1948 comics endings All-American Publications titles Comics magazines published in the United States Comics anthologies DC Comics one-shots DC Comics titles Defunct American comics Golden Age comics titles Superhero comics Western (genre) comics Works by Alfred Bester