''All-American Comics'' was 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, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

publisher

All-American Publications All-American PublicationsThe 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 form t ...

, one of the forerunners of

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. 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 Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, ...

, the

Red Tornado Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

Doctor Mid-Nite Doctor Mid-Nite or Doctor Midnight is the name of multiple fictional superheroes in DC Comics. The figure has been represented in the comics by three different individuals, Charles McNider, Beth Chapel, and Pieter Anton Cross. Dr. Mid-Nite was ...

, and

Sargon the Sorcerer Sargon the Sorcerer is the name of several fictional characters, the first incarnation of the character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics during the Golden Age. The original incarnation of the is John Sargent, son of archae ...

, 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 Sheldon Mayer (; April 1, 1917 – December 21, 1991) was an American comics artist, writer, and editor. One of the earliest employees of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied Publications, Mayer produced almost all of his comics wor ...

's Scribbly was introduced in the first issue as was

Hop Harrigan Hop Harrigan (also known as The Guardian Angel and Black Lamp) is a fictional character published by All-American Publications. He appeared in American comic books, radio serials and film serials. He was created by Jon Blummer, and was a popular h ...

. 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, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

was introduced by artist/creator

Martin Nodell Martin Nodell (November 15, 1915 – December 9, 2006) was an American cartoonist and commercial artist, best known as the creator of the Golden Age superhero Green Lantern. Some of his work appeared under the pen name Mart Dellon. Biography E ...

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

in #20 (November 1940).

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

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 scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books. He is best remembered for his science fiction, incl ...

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 ''Toonerville Folks'' ( ''The Toonerville Trolley That Meets All the Trains'') was a popular newspaper cartoon feature by Fontaine Fox, which ran from 1908 to 1955. It began in 1908 in the ''Chicago Post'', and by 1913, it was syndicated national ...

", "

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

", and " Ripley's 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 books ...

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

and artist

Eduardo Barreto Luis Eduardo Barreto Ferreyra (1954 – December 15, 2011) was a Uruguayan artist who worked in the comic book and comic strip industries including several years of prominent work for DC Comics. All of his children are artists. Two of them, D ...

was a part of the "

Justice Society Returns "The Justice Society Returns" is a nine issue story arc that ran through a number of comic books published by DC Comics in 1999, reviving the Golden Age superhero team, which had previously been revived in the 1980s. Publication history The comic ...

" storyline.

Features

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

: issues #16-102 *

The Atom The Atom is a name shared by five superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original Golden Age of comic books, Golden Age Atom, Atom (Al Pratt), Al Pratt, was created by writer Bill O'Connor and artist Ben Flin ...

: #20-46, 48-61, 70-72 * Dr. Mid-Nite: #25-102 *

: #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