''Star Spangled 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 t ...

published by

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 ...

which ran for 130 issues from October 1941 to July 1952. It was then retitled '' Star Spangled War Stories'' and lasted until issue #204 (February–March 1977).

Publication history

''Star Spangled Comics'' debuted with an October 1941

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 ...

. The series began as a

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

title featuring the adventures of the

Star-Spangled Kid The Star-Spangled Kid is the name of several superheroes in the DC Comics' main shared universe. Fictional character history Sylvester Pemberton The original Star-Spangled Kid was Sylvester Pemberton, a Golden Age character, created by Jerry Sie ...

and Stripesy who appeared until #86 (November 1948). This feature had the distinction of a teen hero with an older

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

(the reverse of the usual arrangement). With issue #7 (April 1942), the title starred the

Joe Simon Joseph Henry Simon (October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the ...

and

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...

-created

Newsboy Legion The Newsboy Legion is a teenage vigilante group in the DC Comics Universe. Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, they appeared in their own self-titled feature which ran from ''Star-Spangled Comics'' #7 (April 1942) to #64 (January 1947). In 1970, ...

. A series of stories featuring Robin, the Boy Wonder began in issue #65 (February 1947) and continued through the end of the title with issue #130, and primarily featured Robin solo adventures, but also included some occasional cameos by

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

. Comics historian Brian Cronin has noted that due to Robin's feature in ''Star Spangled Comics'', he made more appearances during the

Golden Age of Comics 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 ...

than Batman.

Tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Europ ...

, a

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

feature, was introduced in #69 (June 1947). Merry, Girl of 1,000 Gimmicks, first appeared in #81 (June 1948) in the "Star-Spangled Kid" feature. In the early 1950s, the title became dominated by horror features and by the end of its run the book switched to a

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

format; at which point it was rebooted to become '' Star Spangled War Stories''. A ''Star Spangled Comics'' one-shot by writer

Geoff Johns Geoffrey Johns (born January 25, 1973) is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and film and television producer. Johns's work on the DC Comics characters Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash and Superman, has drawn critical acclaim. He serve ...

and artist

Chris Weston Chris Weston (born 1969) is a British comics artist who has worked both in the US and UK comics industries. Biography Weston was born in January 1969 in Rinteln, Germany, and lived in various countries as a child. His career began when he was ...

was published in 1999 as 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.

Collected editions

* ''The Newsboy Legion'' Vol. 1 collects ''Star Spangled Comics'' #7–32, 360 pages, March 2010, * ''The Newsboy Legion'' Vol. 2 collects ''Star Spangled Comics'' #33–64, 368 pages, August 2017, * '' Robin Archives'' Vol. 1 collects Robin stories from ''Star Spangled Comics'' #65–85, 240 pages, October 2005, * ''Robin Archives'' Vol. 2 collects Robin stories from ''Star Spangled Comics'' #86–105, 256 pages, April 2010,

References

External links

*
''Star Spangled Comics''
at Cover Browser
''Star Spangled Comics''
an
''Star Spangled Comics'' one-shot
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics {{Jack Kirby, state=collapsed 1941 comics debuts 1952 comics endings Comics magazines published in the United States Golden Age comics titles Comics anthologies Comics by Jack Kirby DC Comics one-shots DC Comics titles Defunct American comics Horror comics Magazines disestablished in 1952 Magazines established in 1941 Superhero comics War comics