Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Stone Gleason (1898–1971),
was the publisher of a number of popular
comic books
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 ...
during the 1940s and early 1950s, including ''
Daredevil Comics'', ''
Crime Does Not Pay'', and ''
Boy Comics
Crimebuster (Chuck Chandler) is a fictional boy hero, appearing as the lead feature in ''Boy Comics'' in the 1940s and 1950s. Dressed in a hockey uniform and cape, and accompanied by a performing monkey named Squeeks, he fights crime to avenge his ...
''.
Background
Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Gleason in 1939,
[Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas volumes by M. Keith Booker, p. 163] was based in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, and was among the first to produce comic books aimed at an adult audience. He labeled some of his books "illustories" to suggest that they were a new, different form.
Gleason began his career in 1931 as an artist and advertising director for ''Open Road for Boys'' magazine. from 1932 to circa 1934, he served as advertising manager under Harry Wildenberg at
Eastern Color Printing
The Eastern Color Printing Company was a company that published comic books, beginning in 1933. At first, it was only newspaper comic strip reprints, but later on, original material was published. Eastern Color Printing was incorporated in 19 ...
, a printer that became a comics-publishing pioneer in 1933 with the first
American comic books
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'', ...
. Becoming an editor at the newspaper syndicate
United Feature
United Feature Syndicate (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media (along wi ...
, Gleason in 1936 launched the early comic book ''Tip Top Comics'', which ran through 1938.
[ He later became business manager at publisher Dan Gilmor's company Your Guide Publications, Inc., which was affiliated with Gilmor's Friday, Inc. and New Friday, Inc.][Lev Gleason: Your Guide Publications, Inc. (Indicia Publisher)]
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 ...
. "Your Guide Publications, Inc. is not an actual division of Lev Gleason. It was a company owned by Arthur Bernard and Morris Latzen which published comics in 1939-1941, and in 1946."[Lev Gleason: New Friday Publications, Inc. (Indicia Publisher)]
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 ...
Gleason, the treasurer of New Friday,Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
character Daredevil) from that company circa 1942.cover-date
The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...
d July 1942).[''Crime Does Not Pay'' (Lev Gleason, 1942 Series)]
at the Grand Comics Database Also that year, Gleason briefly published the left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
political magazine ''Reader's Choice''.EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-195 ...
) became targets of increasing criticism of the influence of comic books. This pressure led to the formation in 1948 of the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers
The Association of Comics Magazine Publishers (ACMP) was an American industry trade group formed in the late 1940s to regulate the content of comic books in the face of public criticism during that time. It was a precursor to the Comics Magazine As ...
(ACMP) in an effort to avoid external regulation. Gleason was a founding member. The ACMP was the first step toward the establishment of the Comics Code Authority
The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA allowed the comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. ...
in 1954.
In April 1949, Lev Gleason Publications — at this point located ar 114 East 32nd Street in Manhattan — began publishing a comics magazine for adults, ''Tops'', carrying "stories illustrated in the style and technique of comic strips."[ Abstract only; full article requires payment or subscription] The first-issue features included an excerpt from the Billy Rose
Billy Rose (born William Samuel Rosenberg; September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966) was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. For years both before and after World War II, Billy Rose was a major force in entertainment, with sh ...
book ''Wine, Women and Words''.
Personnel
Beginning December 15, 1947, Lev Gleason Publications' advertising director was Gilbert G. Southwick, who had resigned as food advertising manager for ''Seventeen
Seventeen or 17 may refer to:
*17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18
* one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017
Literature
Magazines
* ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine
* ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...
'' magazine.[ Abstract only; full article requires payment or subscription] He left in September the following year to become vice president and general manager of the Roselle Park, New Jersey, toy manufacturer Childhood Interests, Inc.[ Abstract only; full article requires payment or subscription] In 1953, Gleason vice president E.A. Piller resigned to open his own office as a publishers' representative, with Gleason among his clients.[ Abstract only; full article requires payment or subscription]
Selected list of Lev Gleason Publications titles
* ''Black Diamond Western'' (1949–1956) 52 issues
* ''Boy Comics'' (1942–1956) 117 issues
* ''Boy Loves Girl'' (1952–1956) 33 issues
* ''Boy Meets Girl'' (1950–1952) 24 issues
* ''Crime and Punishment'' (1948–1955) 74 issues
* '' Crime Does Not Pay'' (1942–1955) 126 issues
* '' Daredevil Comics'' (1941–1956) 134 issues
* ''Lovers' Lane'' (1949–1954) 41 issues
* '' Silver Streak Comics'' (1939–1946) 23 issues
References
External links
*
*
Lev Gleason's Comic House
* Kent Worcester’s book review for ''The Comics Journal'' (15 July 2020) of Brett Dakin’s “American Daredevil: Comics, Communism, and The Battles of Lev Gleason”