 | |
| Parent company | Dell Publishing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1929; 97 years ago (1929) |
| Founder | George T. Delacorte, Jr. |
| Defunct | 1973; 53 years ago (1973) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | New York City |
| Key people | Helen Meyer |
| Publication types | Comic books |
| Fiction genres | Licensed material |
Dell Comics was thecomic book publishing arm ofDell Publishing, which got its start inpulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.[1] In 1953, Dell claimed to be the world's largest comics publisher, selling 26 million copies each month.[2]
Its first title wasThe Funnies (1929), described by theLibrary of Congress as "a short-lived newspapertabloid insert" rather than a comic book.[3] Comics historianRon Goulart describes the 16-page,four-color,newsprint periodical as "more a Sunday comic section without the rest of the newspaper than a true comic book. But it did offer all original material and was sold onnewsstands".[4] It ran 36 weekly issues, published Saturdays from January 16, 1929, to October 16, 1930.[5] The cover price rose from 10¢ to 30¢ with issue #3.[6] This was reduced to a nickel from issue #22 to the end.[6]
In 1933, Dell collaborated withEastern Color Printing to publish the 36-pageFamous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics, considered by historians the first true American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of the most lucrative branches of magazine publishing".[7][8] It was distributed through theWoolworth'sdepartment store chain, though it is unclear whether it was sold or given away; the cover displays no price, but Goulart refers, either metaphorically or literally, to the publisher "sticking a ten-cent pricetag [sic] on the comic books".[9]
In early 1934, Dell published the single-issueFamous Funnies: Series 1, also printed by Eastern Color. Unlike its predecessor, it was intended from the start to be sold rather than given away.[10][11]
In 1936, the company partnered withMcClure Syndicate in which Dell would finance and distribute publications that McClure would produce and edit on behalf of then-company executiveMax Gaines and editorSheldon Mayer. Among the titles Gaines oversaw wereThe Comics,Popular Comics andThe Funnies.[12][13] Gaines would leave McClure, and by extension, Dell in 1939, in order to set upAll-American Publications with a distribution/partnership agreement at DC.[14]
The company formed a partnership in 1938 withWestern Publishing, in which Dell would finance and distribute publications that Western would produce. While this diverged from the regular practice in the medium of one company handling finance and production and outsourcing distribution, it was a highly successful enterprise with titles selling in the millions. Most of the Dell-produced comics done for Western Publishing during this period were under theWhitman Comics banner (later also used byGold Key Comics); notable titles includedCrackajack Funnies (1938–1942) andSuper Comics (1938–1949).
Comic book historian Mark Carlson has stated that at its peak in the mid-1950s, "while Dell’s total number of comic book titles [was] only 15% of those published, it control[ed] nearly a third of the total market. Dell [had] more million-plus sellers than any other company before or since".[15]
Dell Comics was best known for its licensed material, most notably theanimated characters fromWalt Disney Productions,Warner Bros.,Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, andWalter Lantz Studio, along with many movie and television properties such as theLone Ranger,Tarzan,Felix the Cat,Howdy Doody,Yogi Bear and otherHanna-Barbera characters.
From 1938 to 1962, Dell's most notable and prolific title was the anthologyFour Color.[16] Published several times a month, the title (which primarily consisted of standalone issues featuring various licensed properties) saw more than 1,300 issues published in its 23-year history. It often served as a try-out title (much like DC'sShowcase) and thus the launching pad for many long-running series, a number of which (such asThe Twilight Zone) were continued not by Dell, butGold Key Comics, the competing company formed when Western ended its partnership (see below).
Responding to pressure from theAfrican-American community, the characterLil' Eightball (who appeared in a handful ofWalter Lantz cartoons in the late 1930s and in those initial appearances constituted what animation and comics historianMichael Barrier described as being a "grotesquely stereotypical black boy") was discontinued as one of the featured characters in the Lantz anthology comic bookNew Funnies; the last appearance of the character was in the August 1947 issue.[17]
In 1948, Dell refused an invitation of membership in the nascentAssociation of Comics Magazine Publishers. The association had been formed to pre-empt government intervention in the face of mounting public criticism of comic books. Dell vice-president Helen Meyer toldCongress that Dell had opted out of the association because they didn't want their less controversial offerings to serve as "an umbrella for the crime comic publishers".[18] When theComics Code was formed in 1954 in reaction toWertham'sSeduction of the Innocent, Dell again refused to join and instead began publishing in its comics a "Pledge to Parents" that promised their editorial process "eliminates, rather than regulates, objectional [sic] material" and concluded with the now classic credo "Dell Comics Are Good Comics."
Bart Beaty in his bookFredric Wertham and the Critique of Mass Culture describes a concerted campaign by Dell against publication of Wertham'sSeduction of the Innocent to the extent of recruiting several of the companies that it licensed characters from (including Warner Brother Cartoons, the Lone Ranger Inc. and Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc.) to send letters of protest to Wertham's publisherStanley Rinehart.[19]
Dell in this period even burnished its image by taking out full-page ads in theSaturday Evening Post in late 1952 and early 1953 that emphasized the wholesomeness of its comics.[2]
From mid-1950 to Spring 1959 Dell promoted subscriptions to its non-Disney titles with what it called the Dell Comics Club. Membership was automatic with any one year subscription to such titles and came with a certificate of membership plus a group portrait of the most prominent non-Disney characters published by Dell. Dell also offered various subscription premiums during the 1940s and 1950s (in some cases these were prints of covers or other character artwork and in one instance acel from a Warner Brothers cartoon) in whatMark Evanier has dubbed a coordinated concerted "aggressive subscription push"[20] and offered the option of an illustrated note or card be sent to the recipients of a gift subscription for birthdays or Christmas.[21]
Multi-year subscriptions were also available (in the case ofWalt Disney's Comics and Stories, at one point in the 1940s subscriptions for up to five years were offered).[22][23]
In 1961, Dell issued two atypical, comic-book like paperbacks without coloring, with cardboard covers and heavier-weight paper than standard comics, and selling for one dollar when most comic books were 12 cents: the 116-pageThe Flintstones on the Rocks[24] and the 117-pageHuck & Yogi Jamboree[25][26] One historian describes the latter as "a collection of drawings with text (there’s not a word balloon to be found). But there are drawings that are sequential which tell stories.... [T]his was intended for Huck and Yogi’sadult fans. Of which there apparently were more than a few, given the format and high price — $1!"[27]
In 1961, Dell became the first comic book company to increase its cover prices, raising the prices to fifteen cents; this was soon lowered to twelve cents.[28] In 1962 the partnership with Western ended, with Western taking most of its licensed properties and its original material and creating its own imprint,Gold Key Comics.[1]
While most of the talent who had worked on the Dell line continued at Gold Key, a few creators likeJohn Stanley stuck with Dell and its new line. Dell also drew new talent to its fold, such asFrank Springer, Don Arneson, andLionel Ziprin.
Dell Comics continued for another 11 years with licensedtelevision andmotion picture adaptations (includingMission: Impossible,Ben Casey,Burke's Law,Doctor Kildare,Beach Blanket Bingo) and a few generally poorly received original titles. Among the few long lasting series from this time include the teen-comicThirteen Going on Eighteen (29 issues, written by John Stanley),Ghost Stories (37 issues, #1 only written by John Stanley),Combat (40 issues),Ponytail (20 issues),Kona Monarch of Monster Isle (20 issues),Toka the Jungle King (10 issues), andNaza Stone Age Warrior (9 issues).[29] Dell additionally attempted to do superhero titles, includingNukla,Superheroes (starring theFab 4, as the group's name was spelled on covers),[30][31]Brain Boy, and a critically ridiculed[citation needed] trio of titles based on the Universal Pictures monstersFrankenstein,Dracula andWerewolf that recast the characters as superheroes.
Dell Comics ceased publication in 1973,[32] with a few of its former titles moving toGold Key Comics.[citation needed]
Dell was acquired byDoubleday in 1976.[33] Doubleday was acquired byBertelsmann in 1986, who formedBantam Doubleday Dell as its US subsidiary.[34] Bertelsmann acquiredRandom House in 1998 and renamed its US business after the acquisition.[35] After the merger, Bantam was merged with Dell Publishing.[36] In 2001, Random House purchased Golden Books' book publishing properties[37] effectively reuniting the remnants of Dell andWestern Publishing. Bantam Dell became part of the Random House publishing group in 2008.[38]Ballantine Books was merged with Bantam Dell in 2010.[39] In 2013, Random House merged with Penguin to formPenguin Random House.[40]
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After Dell ceased publication, a number of its obscure characters were brought back inindependent comics. In August 2016, InDELLible Comics was formed in tribute to the public domain characters orphaned by Dell. In July 2017,All-New Popular Comics #1 was published, and was #1 in its category onAmazon upon release. Founded and edited by the team of Jim Ludwig, David Noe and Dærick Gröss Sr., the first issue featured some original characters as well as stories and cameos with many Dell characters.
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