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All-American Comics

All-American Comics is 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 Green Lantern, the Atom, the Red Tornado, Doctor Mid-Nite, and Sargon the Sorcerer, later became mainstays of the DC Comics line.

Publication history

All-American Comics published 102 issues from April 1939 to October 1948.[1] The series was an anthology which included a mixture of new material and reprints of newspaper strips.[2] Sheldon Mayer's Scribbly was introduced in the first issue as was Hop Harrigan.[3][4]

The Golden Age Green Lantern was introduced by artist/creator Martin Nodell in issue #16 (July 1940).[5] He continued in the title until #102 (Oct 1948).[6]

The Golden Age Atom debuted in #19 (October 1940)[7][8] and Mayer created the original Red Tornado in #20 (November 1940).[9][10]

Doctor Mid-Nite first appeared in #25 (April 1941),[11][12] while Howard Purcell and John Wentworth introduced Sargon the Sorcerer in the following month's issue.[13]

Alfred Bester and Paul Reinman created the monstrous supervillain Solomon Grundy in #61 (October 1944).[14]

Other features included "Toonerville Folks",[15] "Mutt and Jeff",[16] and "Ripley's Believe It or Not!".

All-American Publications and all its titles were purchased by National Periodicals (DC Comics) in 1946. Responding to the demand for Western comics, All-American Comics changed title and format with #103 (November 1948) to All-American Western. The retitled series had Johnny Thunder as the lead feature.[17][18] It changed title and format again to All-American Men of War as of #127 (August–September 1952).[19]

A May 1999 one-shot issue by writer Ron Marz and artist Eduardo Barreto was a part of the "Justice Society Returns" storyline.[20]

Features

External links

References

  1. {{gcdb series|id= 112|title= ''All-American Comics''}}^
  2. Kurt Mitchell, Roy Thomas. American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944 TwoMorrows Publishing, 2019^
  3. Daniel Wallace. DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle Dorling Kindersley, 2010^
  4. Don Markstein. Hop Harrigan Don Markstein's Toonopedia, 2005^
  5. Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 32: "Alan Scott underwent an unexpected career change into the costumed hero Green Lantern in a story by creator Martin Nodell (using the pseudonym 'Mart Dellon') and writer Bill Finger".^
  6. Mike Benton. Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History Taylor Publishing Company, 1992, retrieved 1 April 2020^
  7. Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 33: "Writer Bill O'Connor and artist Ben Flinton revealed the Atom in a short, six-page story, though the non-superpowered character soon went on to bigger things".^
  8. Don Markstein. The Atom Don Markstein's Toonopedia, 2008^
  9. Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 33: "The Red Tornado was the first outright super hero parody at DC, and she was also one of the company's first prominent female characters".^
  10. Don Markstein. The Red Tornado Don Markstein's Toonopedia, 2009^
  11. Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 37: "April's All-American Comics #25 saw the costumed hero Doctor Mid-Nite make his first appearance".^
  12. Don Markstein. Dr. Mid-Nite Don Markstein's Toonopedia, 2008^
  13. Don Markstein. Sargon the Sorcerer Don Markstein's Toonopedia, 2008^
  14. Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 47: "Green Lantern faced a monstrous foe in All-American Comics #61. Solomon Grundy was a zombielike strongman...His origin, recounted in a story by writer Alfred Bester and artist Paul Reinman, involved the corpse of a murdered man".^
  15. Don Markstein. Toonerville Folks Don Markstein's Toonopedia, 2007^
  16. Don Markstein. Mutt and Jeff Don Markstein's Toonopedia, 2006, retrieved 2017-10-16^
  17. Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 59: "All-American Comics became All-American Western with this issue [#103], and Johnny Thunder leaped out from a backdrop of comic pages on the cover to announce the radical transition".^
  18. {{gcdb series|id= 532|title= ''All-American Western''}}^
  19. {{gcdb series|id= 864|title= ''All-American Men of War''}}^
  20. {{gcdb series|id= 7092|title= ''All-American Comics'' one-shot}}^