 | |
| Founded | 1939; 86 years ago (1939) |
|---|---|
| Founder | Benjamin W. Sangor |
| Defunct | 1967; 58 years ago (1967) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | 45 West 45th Street,New York City[1] |
| Key people | Richard E. Hughes Fred Iger Harry Donenfeld |
| Publication types | Comic books |
| Fiction genres | Superheroes, science fiction, horror, crime, mystery, romance |
| Imprints | B & I Publishing Co., Inc. B. & M. Distributing Co., Inc. Best Syndicated Features, Inc. Creston Publications Corp. Culver Publications Custom Comics, Inc. La Salle Publishing Co. Michel Publications, Inc. Milt Gross, Inc. Modern Store Publications Modern Store Publishing Preferred Publications, Inc. Regis Publications, Inc. Scope Magazines, Inc. Titan Publishing Co. Inc. |
American Comics Group (ACG) was anAmerican comic bookpublisher started in 1939 and existing under the ACG name from 1943 to 1967.[2] It published the medium's first ongoinghorror-comics title,Adventures into the Unknown.[3][4] ACG's best-known character was the 1960s satirical humor heroHerbie Popnecker, who starred for a time inForbidden Worlds. Herbie would later get his own title and be turned into asuperhero called theFat Fury.
Founded byBenjamin W. Sangor,[5] ACG was co-owned byFred Iger from 1948 to 1967.[6] Iger's father-in-law,Harry Donenfeld,[6] head ofNational Periodical Publications (later known as DC Comics), was also a co-owner in the early 1960s (though Donenfeld was severely incapacitated and out of the business after an accident in 1962).[7] ACG was distributed byIndependent News Company, which also distributed by (and was part of the same company as) DC.
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The company evolved out of a company owned by Sangor. In the mid-1930s, Sangor andRichard E. Hughes began to produce a short-lived prepackaged comics supplement for newspapers. In 1939, theSangor Shop(as it was informally known) began producing comics for Sangor's son-in-lawNed L. Pines. The Sangor Shop produced the characters and stories of TheBlack Terror,Pyroman, andFighting Yank for Pines'Nedor Comics and produced most of the comics for Pines until 1945.[8]
In 1943, ACG started to publish its own work under such names asB&I Publishing,Michel Publications andRegis Publishing. It acquired the publisherCreston Publications in 1943, making Creston into an ACG imprint.[9] By 1948, it was publishing comics under the name of American Comics Group. Its titles were typical of the times, includinghorror,crime, mystery,romance, andtalking animal comics. In 1948, it began publishing the long-running horror titleAdventures into the Unknown.[10] This was the first of a trilogy of ACG horror/supernatural titles that also includedForbidden Worlds (1951–1967) andUnknown Worlds (1960–1967).
In 1949, ACG began publishing two long-running romance titles,Romantic Adventures (later changed toMy Romantic Adventures), andLovelorn (later changed toConfessions of the Lovelorn). Both titles lasted into the 1960s.
The company survived the1954 Senate subcommittee hearings on the dangers of comic books, even retaining its somewhat diluted horror titleAdventures into the Unknown. However, in 1955 ACG canceled four long-running humor titles: the talking-animal seriesGiggle Comics andHa Ha Comics, and the teen-humor titlesCookie andThe Kilroys.
An October 1, 1952 "Statement of the Ownership, Management, and Circulation" published in ACG'sForbidden Worlds #15 gave its publisher's name as “Preferred Publications, Inc., 8 Lord St., Buffalo, New York” and the owners as Preferred Publications and "B. W. Sangor, 7 West 81st Street, New York, N. Y." The editor was listed as “Richard E. Hughes, 120 West 183rd St., New York, N. Y.” and the business manager as "Frederick H. Iger, 50 Beverly Road,Great Neck, Great Neck,L. I., N. Y."[11] An October 1, 1950, statement published in ACG'sCookie #29 gives identical data, with the exception of the publisher and co-owner being listed as "Michel Publications, Inc. 420 DeSoto Ave.,St. Louis 7, Mo.”[12]
Almost all stories after 1957 were written by editor Hughes under a variety of pseudonyms. Besides the satirical superhero theFat Fury, other ACG superheroes of the period known as theSilver Age of Comic Books includedMagicman (starting inForbidden Worlds #125),[13]Nemesis inAdventures into the Unknown (starting with #154),[14] andJohn Force, Magic Agent, in his own title in 1962, then later inUnknown Worlds (#35, 36, 48, 50, 52, 56), with a few stories inForbidden Worlds (#124, 145) andAdventures into the Unknown (#153, 157). ACG's superheroes failed to catch on. Sales ofForbidden Worlds andAdventures into the Unknown slumped after superheroes were put into their pages, and Hughes responded by dropping the entire ACG superhero line and returning both series to their original fantasy formula in the Winter of 1967.[13]
By 1968, the company had ended publication, except for its commercial comics division,Custom Comics, established in 1950, which lasted until the early 1980s doing work for a variety of clients such as theA. C. Gilbert toy company,[15]Montgomery Ward,Tupperware, and theUnited States Air Force.[16]
Source:[17]
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