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
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
active in the 1940s whose best-known title was ''
Big Shot Comics
''Big Shot Comics'' was an American comic book series published by Columbia Comics during period in the 1940s that fans and historians refer to as the Golden Age of comic books. An anthology title, the series included a mix of superheroes, costum ...
''. Comics creators who worked for Columbia included
Ogden Whitney
John Ogden Whitney (May 1, 1919 – August 13, 1975) was an American comic-book artist and sometime writer active from the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of comics through the 1960s Silver Age of comics, Silver Age. He is best known as co-creator of t ...
and
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 ...
on Skyman.
History
Columbia Comics was formed in
1940
A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* Januar ...
Frank Jay Markey Syndicate
The Frank Jay Markey Syndicate was a small print syndication service that distributed comic strips and columns from the mid-1930s to c. 1950. Although small in size, the syndicate distributed strips by a number of notable cartoonists, including ...
to publish comic books featuring reprints of such McNaught and Markey comic strips as '' Joe Palooka'', ''
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan was conceived as an alter ...
'', and ''Sparky Watts'', as well as original features. Other properties published by
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 ...
are also transferred to Columbia Comics. Eastern appears to have subsequently retained a close relationship with Columbia, running advertisements for Columbia books in their own comic book titles.
Columbia Comics' first published title was the anthology title ''
Big Shot Comics
''Big Shot Comics'' was an American comic book series published by Columbia Comics during period in the 1940s that fans and historians refer to as the Golden Age of comic books. An anthology title, the series included a mix of superheroes, costum ...
'', the premiere of which introduced Skyman and The Face. ''Big Shot Comics'' would run for 104 issues until 1949, when Columbia went out of business. Other titles published by Columbia included spinoff series from ''Big Shot Comics'' featuring ''Skyman'' (four issues) and ''The Face''.
Charles V. McAdam, president of the McNaught Syndicate, was also publisher of Columbia Comics."Who's Who Among Leading U.S. Syndicate Executives," ''Editor & Publisher'' (September 7, 1946) Archived at ''Stripper's Guide''. /ref>
Titles
*''
Big Shot Comics
''Big Shot Comics'' was an American comic book series published by Columbia Comics during period in the 1940s that fans and historians refer to as the Golden Age of comic books. An anthology title, the series included a mix of superheroes, costum ...
'' (104 issues, 1940–1949)
* ''
Dixie Dugan
''Dixie Dugan'' is best known as a long-running syndicated newspaper comic strip published from October 21, 1929 to October 8, 1966. The title character was originally modeled after 1920s film actress Louise Brooks and early stories followed Dix ...
'' (13 issues, July 1942–1949) — McNaught Syndicate strip
*'' The Face'' (2 issues, 1941–1942)
* '' Joe Palooka'' (4 issues, 1942–1944) — McNaught Syndicate strip
* ''Ken Stuart'' (1 issue, 1948) — Markey Syndicate strip by
Frank Borth
Frank M. Borth III (April 1, 1918 – August 9, 2009) was an American comic book artist.
Biography
Borth was born and raised in Cleveland, eventually graduating in 1940 from the Cleveland School of Art, where he majored in illustration."New Sea A ...