 | |
| Genre | Superhero,adventure,funny animal,humor |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1939; 86 years ago (1939) |
| Founder | Max Gaines |
| Defunct | 1944; 81 years ago (1944) |
| Fate | Merged intoNational Comics Publications in 1946 |
| Successor | National Comics Publications |
| Headquarters | 225Lafayette Street New York City, U.S. |
Key people | Harry Donenfeld Jack Liebowitz |
| Products | Comic books |
All-American Publications, Inc.[note 1] was one of twoAmerican comic book companies that merged to form the modern-dayDC Comics, one of the two largest publishers of comic books in the United States.Superheroes created for All-American include the originalAtom,Flash,Green Lantern,Hawkman, andWonder Woman, all in the 1940s'Golden Age of Comic Books.
Max Gaines, future founder ofEC Comics, formed All-American Publications in 1939 after successfully seeking funding fromHarry Donenfeld,[1]: 147 CEO of bothNational Allied Publications (publisher ofAction Comics and other titles) and sister companyDetective Comics, Inc. (publisher of thenamesake comic book). AsGerard Jones writes of Donenfeld's investment:
Harry had agreed on one condition: that [Gaines] take [Detective Comics partner]Jack Liebowitz on as his partner. ... Jack would be tempted to leave and form a competing company if there was nothing to hold him. And it may well have been a way for Harry to keep Gaines under control; since Jack was still drawing a salary and significant bonuses from Detective Comics and [self-distributorship]Independent News, he wouldn't let Gaines take off on his own or act against the interests of the other companies. ... Gaines became the principal and Jack Liebowitz the minority owner of All-American [Publications].[1]: 164
While All-American, at 225Lafayette Street inManhattan, was physically separated from DC's office space uptown at 480Lexington Avenue, it used the informal "DC" logo on most of its covers for distribution and marketing reasons. In 1944,[1]: 223 [2] Gaines sold his share of the company to Liebowitz by June 1945,[3] keeping onlyPicture Stories from the Bible as the foundation of his own new company, EC. As Jones describes:
Gaines saw the end of the superhero fad coming and wanted to get into something more durable, like children's books and magazines. ... In 1944, he decided he'd had enough. He let Jack Liebowitz buy him out with a loan from Harry.... Liebowitz promptly orchestra the merger of All American Comics and Detective Comics intoNational Comics, of which he was the junior partner, vice president, and publisher. Next he took charge of organizing National Comics, Independent News, and their affiliated firms into a single corporate entity,National Periodical Publications".[1]: 223
At the end of 1944, but shortly before the merger, Gaines first rebranded All-American with its own logo, beginning with books cover-dated February 1945:All-Flash #17,Sensation Comics #38,Flash Comics #62,Green Lantern #14,Funny Stuff #3, andMutt & Jeff[note 2] #16, and the following month'sAll-American Comics #64 and the hyphenlessAll Star Comics #24.[4][5] Liebowitz later merged his and Donenfeld's companies into National Comics Publications by September 30, 1946.[1]: 223
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During All-American's existence, much cross-promotion took place between the two editorially independent companies, so much so that the first appearance of theJustice Society of America, inAll Star Comics #3 (Winter 1940/41), included in its roster All-American characters the Atom, the Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman, and the National charactersDoctor Fate,Hour-Man (as it was then spelled), theSpectre, and theSandman — creating comics' firstintercompany crossover,[6][note 3] with characters from different companies interacting — although National's Sandman, Spectre and Hour-Man had previously appeared in solo adventures inAll Star Comics #1 (Summer 1940).
With Gaines as editor, assisted bySheldon Mayer, All-American Publications launched its flagship seriesAll-American Comics with an April 1939 premiere. Like many comics of the time,All-American debuted with a mix ofnewspapercomic strips, reprinted in color, and a smattering of original, comic-strip-like features. Among the strips were three hits of the era:Mutt and Jeff,[note 2] byAl Smith ghosting for strip creatorBud Fisher;Skippy, byPercy Crosby; andToonerville Folks byFontaine Fox. New content includedScribbly, a semiautobiographical Mayer feature about a boy cartoonist.All-American Comics lasted 102 issues through October 1948.
Also debuting that month wasMovie Comics ("A full movie show for 10 cents"), featuring simple adaptations of movies using painted movie stills, as well ascartoonistEd Wheelan's popularMinute Movies comics. The first of its six issues through Aug. 1939 adapted no fewer than five films:Son of Frankenstein,Gunga Din,The Great Man Votes,Fisherman's Wharf, andScouts to the Rescue.
The next two comics wereMutt & Jeff,[note 2] which ran 103 issues from Summer 1939 - June 1958; and the company's superhero debut,Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940), which introduced the super-speedster title character, created by writerGardner Fox and artistHarry Lampert, as well as the Golden Age Hawkman and future Hawkgirl, by Fox and artistDennis Neville, andJohnny Thunder, by scripter John Wentworth and artist Stan Aschmeier, among other features.
The Golden Age Green Lantern, fromBatman writerBill Finger and artistMartin Nodell, debuted inAll-American Comics #16 (July 1940), followed by the original Atom, created by Bill O'Connor and penciler Ben Flinton, inAll-American #19 (Nov. 1940). Wonder Woman was introduced in a nine-page story inAll Star Comics #8 (Dec./Jan. 1941/1942), the product of psychologistWilliam Moulton Marston (under thepseudonymCharles Moulton) and Max Charles Gaines, and drawn by artistHarry G. Peter.
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It was perhaps inevitable that the two firms would merge, and it happened in 1944 when Liebowitz bought out Gaines' share.
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