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All-American PublicationsThe name is spelled with a hyphen per its logo (pictured) and sources includin

at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on April 15, 2012.
was one of two
American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
companies that merged to form the modern day DC Comics, one of the two largest publishers of comic books in the United States. Superheroes created for All-American include the original Atom,
Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid F ...
, Green Lantern, Hawkman, and Wonder Woman, all in the 1940s'
Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known chara ...
.


Publishing history

Max Gaines, future founder of EC Comics, formed All-American Publications in 1938 after successfully seeking funding from
Harry Donenfeld Harry Donenfeld (; October 17, 1893 – February 1, 1965) was an American publisher who is known primarily for being the owner of National Allied Publications, which distributed ''Detective Comics'' and ''Action Comics'', the originator publicatio ...
, CEO of both National Allied Publications (publisher of ''
Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as National Allied Publications, and later as National Comics Publications and ...
'' and other titles) and sister company Detective Comics (publisher of that namesake comic book). As
Gerard Jones Gerard Jones (born July 10, 1957) is an American writer, known primarily for his non-fiction work about American entertainment media, and his comic book scripting, which includes co-creating the superhero Prime for Malibu Comics, and writing for ...
writes of Donenfeld's investment: While All-American, at 225 Lafayette Street in Manhattan, was physically separated from DC's office space uptown at 480 Lexington Avenue, it used the informal "DC" logo on most of its covers for distribution and marketing reasons. In 1944, Gaines sold his share of the company to Liebowitz, keeping only ''Picture Stories from the Bible'' as the foundation of his own new company, EC. As Jones describes, Before the merger, Gaines first rebranded All-American with its own logo, beginning with books cover-dated February 1945: ''
All-Flash ''All-Flash'', originally published as ''All-Flash Quarterly'', was a comic book magazine series published by All-American Publications and later National Periodicals (DC Comics) featuring superhero Jay Garrick, the original Flash. The series was ...
'' #17, ''
Sensation Comics ''Sensation Comics'' is the title of an American comic book anthology series published by DC Comics that ran for 109 issues between 1942 and 1952. For most of its run, the lead feature was Wonder Woman, a character which had been introduced in ''Al ...
'' #38, ''Flash Comics'' #62, ''Green Lantern'' #14, ''Funny Stuff'' #3, and ''
Mutt & 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 wikt:tinhorn, tinhorns". It is commonly regarded as the first daily comic strip. The concept ...
'' The comic book, unlike the comic strip, spelled its title with an ampersand. See
''Mutt & Jeff''
at the
Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...
.
#16, and the following month's ''
All-American Comics ''All-American Comics'' was a comics anthology and the flagship title of comic book publisher All-American Publications, one of the forerunners of DC Comics. It ran for 102 issues from 1939 to 1948. Characters created for the title, including Gre ...
'' #64 and the hyphenless ''
All Star Comics ''All Star Comics'' is an American comic book series from All-American Publications, one of three companies that merged with National Periodical Publications to form the modern-day DC Comics. While the series' cover-logo trademark reads ''All S ...
'' #24. Liebowitz later merged his and Donenfeld's companies into National Comics Publications.


Creative legacy

During All-American's existence, much cross-promotion took place between the two editorially independent companies, so much so that the first appearance of the
Justice Society of America The Justice Society of America (JSA, or Justice Society (JS)) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Boo ...
, in ''
All Star Comics ''All Star Comics'' is an American comic book series from All-American Publications, one of three companies that merged with National Periodical Publications to form the modern-day DC Comics. While the series' cover-logo trademark reads ''All S ...
'' #3 (Winter 1940/41), included in its roster All-American characters the Atom, the Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman, and the National characters
Doctor Fate Doctor Fate (also known as Fate) is the name of multiple superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original version of the character was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Howard Sherman, debuting in ''More F ...
, Hour-Man (as it was then spelled), the
Spectre Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and wri ...
, and the Sandman — creating comics' first intercompany crossover,National's top stars, Batman and Superman, had first crossed over as "honorary" Justice Society members in ''All Star Comics'' #7 (Dec. 1941), making cameo appearances in the three-page introduction and four-page conclusion of the story "$1,000,000 for War Orphans". See
''All-Star Comics'' #7
at the Grand Comics Database.
with characters from different companies interacting — although National's Sandman, Spectre and Hour-Man had previously appeared in solo adventures in ''All Star Comics'' #1 (Summer 1940). With Gaines as editor, assisted by
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 wo ...
, All-American Publications launched its flagship series ''
All-American Comics ''All-American Comics'' was a comics anthology and the flagship title of comic book publisher All-American Publications, one of the forerunners of DC Comics. It ran for 102 issues from 1939 to 1948. Characters created for the title, including Gre ...
'' with an April 1939 premiere. Like many comics of the time, ''All-American'' debuted with a mix of newspaper
comic strips A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...
, reprinted in color, and a smattering of original, comic-strip-like features. Among the strips were three hits of the era: ''
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 wikt:tinhorn, tinhorns". It is commonly regarded as the first daily comic strip. The concept ...
'', by
Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a Civ ...
ghosting for strip creator
Bud Fisher Harry Conway "Bud" Fisher (April 3, 1885 – September 7, 1954) was an American cartoonist who created '' Mutt and Jeff'', the first successful daily comic strip in the United States. Early life Born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of a merchant, ...
; '' Skippy'', by
Percy Crosby Percy Lee CrosbyPercy Lee Crosby
at 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 ...
'' by
Fontaine Fox Fontaine Talbot Fox, Jr. (June 4, 1884 – August 9, 1964) was an American cartoonist and illustrator best known for writing and illustrating his ''Toonerville Folks'' comic panel, which ran from 1913 to 1955 in 250 to 300 newspapers across North ...
. New content included ''
Scribbly ''Scribbly'' was a Dutch comic strip, created by Jan-Paul Arends. It ran daily in the Dutch edition of the ''Metro'' free newspaper from 1999 to 2010. Seven albums have been published containing the daily strips. The comic is known for its weird c ...
'', a semiautobiographical Mayer feature about a boy cartoonist. ''All-American Comics'' lasted 102 issues through October 1948. Also debuting that month was ''Movie Comics'' ("A full movie show for 10 cents"), featuring simple adaptations of movies using painted movie stills, as well as
cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
Ed Wheelan Edgar Stow Wheelan (1888–1966), who signed his work Ed Wheelan, was an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip ''Minute Movies'', satirizing silent films, and his comic book ''Fat and Slat'', published by EC Comics. He was one of the ...
's popular ''Minute Movies'' comics. The first of its six issues through Aug. 1939 adapted no fewer than five films: ''
Son of Frankenstein ''Son of Frankenstein'' is a 1939 American horror film that was directed by Rowland V. Lee and stars Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. The film is the third in Universal Pictures' ''Frankenstein'' series and is the follow-up to the ...
'', ''
Gunga Din "Gunga Din" () is an 1890 poem by Rudyard Kipling set in British India. The poem is much remembered for its final line: "You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din". Background The poem is a rhyming narrative from the point of view of a Briti ...
'', ''
The Great Man Votes ''The Great Man Votes'' is a 1939 American drama film starring John Barrymore as a widowed professor turned drunkard who has the deciding vote in an election for mayor. It was based on the short story of the same name by Gordon Malherbe Hillman ...
'', '' Fisherman's Wharf'', and ''
Scouts to the Rescue ''Scouts to the Rescue'' is a 1939 Universal film serial directed by Alan James and Ray Taylor. It starred Jackie Cooper and Bill Cody Jr. Premise A troop of Boy Scouts use a treasure map to find a stash of counterfeit notes and a lost tribe ...
''. The next two comics were ''Mutt & Jeff'', which ran 103 issues from Summer 1939 - June 1958; and the company's superhero debut, ''Flash Comics'' #1 (Jan. 1940), which introduced the super-speedster title character, created by writer
Gardner Fox Gardner Francis Cooper Fox (May 20, 1911 – December 24, 1986) was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC ...
and artist
Harry Lampert Harry Lampert (November 3, 1916 – November 13, 2004) was an American cartoonist and bridge teacher and writer. Biography Born in New York City, Lampert began cartooning when he was sixteen years old, and worked for the legendary Max Fleische ...
, as well as the Golden Age Hawkman and future Hawkgirl, by Fox and artist
Dennis Neville Dennis Neville was an American comic book artist during the Golden Age of Comic Books, who co-created the DC Comics characters Hawkman, his lover Hawkgirl, and nemesis Hath-Set. Although not one of the big names in early comics, Neville did wor ...
, and
Johnny Thunder Johnny Thunder is the name of three fictional 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 b ...
, by scripter John Wentworth and artist Stan Aschmeier, among other features. The Golden Age Green Lantern, from ''Batman'' writer
Bill Finger Milton "Bill" Finger (February 8, 1914 – January 18, 1974) was an American comic strip, comic book, film and television writer who was the co-creator (with Bob Kane) of the DC Comics character Batman. Despite making major (sometimes, signature ...
and artist
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 ...
, debuted in ''All-American Comics'' #16 (July 1940), followed by the original Atom, created by Bill O'Connor and penciler Ben Flinton, in ''All-American'' #19 (Nov. 1940). Wonder Woman was introduced in a nine-page story in ''All Star Comics'' #8 (Jan. 1942), the product of psychologist
William Moulton Marston William Moulton Marston (May 9, 1893 – May 2, 1947), also known by the pen name Charles Moulton (), was an American psychologist who, with his wife Elizabeth Holloway, invented an early prototype of the lie detector. He was also known as a se ...
(under the pseudonym Charles Moulton) and Max Charles Gaines, and drawn by artist
Harry G. Peter Harry George Peter (March 8, 1880 – January 2, 1958) was an American newspaper illustrator and cartoonist known for his work on the ''Wonder Woman'' comic book and for Bud Fisher of the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. Biography Harry George Peter ...
.


All-American characters


Superhero/masked crimefighter

*
The Atom The Atom is a name shared by five superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original Golden Age Atom, Al Pratt, was created by writer Bill O'Connor and artist Ben Flinton and first appeared in All-American Pub ...
*
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 ...
*
The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...
* The
Gay Ghost The Gay Ghost (later renamed the Grim Ghost, not to be confused with Grim Ghost) is a fictional superhero in the DC Comics DC universe, universe whose first appearance was in ''Sensation Comics'' #1 (January 1942), published by one DC's predecessor ...
* Green Lantern * Hawkman and
Hawkgirl Hawkgirl is the name of several superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original Hawkgirl, Shiera Sanders Hall, was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, and first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' ...
*
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 King * Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys * Mr. Terrific *
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 ...
*
Johnny Thunder Johnny Thunder is the name of three fictional 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 b ...
* Gary Concord, the
Ultra-Man Ultra-Man (Gary Concord) is the name of two fictional comic-book superheroes, father and son, that first appeared during the 1940s, the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books. Both were characters of All-American Publicatio ...
* The Whip *
Wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...
* Wonder Woman


Adventurer/war

*
The Black Pirate ''The Black Pirate'' is a 1926 American silent action adventure film shot entirely in two-color Technicolor about an adventurer and a "company" of pirates. Directed by Albert Parker, it stars Douglas Fairbanks, Donald Crisp, Sam De Grasse, a ...
* Gunner Godbee * Red, White and Blue (Red Dugan, Whitey Smith, Blooey Blue)


Talking-animal/other humor

* Bulldog Drumhead * The Red Tornado *
Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist is a comic book character created in 1936 by Sheldon Mayer, first appearing in Dell Comics and then moving to All-American Publications. Scribbly Jibbet is a semi-autobiographical character, presenting the adventures of ...


Notes


References


External links


DC Comics
an

at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
DC Comics Timeline
SupermanArtists.comics.org {{Comic book publishers in North America navbox 1938 establishments in New York City 1944 disestablishments in New York (state) Publishing companies based in New York City American companies established in 1938 American companies disestablished in 1944 Publishing companies established in 1938 Publishing companies disestablished in 1944 1944 mergers and acquisitions