''Star Spangled Comics'' was a comics anthology 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 ''Star Spangled War Stories'' was the title of a comics anthology published by DC Comics that featured war-themed characters and stories. Among the features published in this series were writer-editor Robert Kanigher and artist Jerry Grandenetti' ...

'' 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 S.T.R.I.P.E. (short for Special Tactics Robotic Integrated Power Enhancer) is a superhero in the DC Comics DC Universe, Universe. S.T.R.I.P.E. is a powered armor suit invented and worn by Patrick "Pat" Dugan, the former adult sidekick to teenage ...

who appeared until #86 (November 1948). This feature had the distinction of a teen hero with an older sidekick (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-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 western 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 Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

features and by the end of its run the book switched to a war format; at which point it was rebooted to become ''

''. A ''Star Spangled Comics''

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

by writer Geoff Johns and artist Chris Weston was published in 1999 as part of the " Justice Society Returns" 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 Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin **Forest rob ...

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