National Comics Publications (NCP; later known asNational Periodical Publications Inc. or simplyNational) was an American comic book publishing company. It was the direct predecessor of modern-dayDC Comics.
The corporation was originally two companies:National Allied Publications Inc. (also known asNational Allied Newspaper Syndicate Inc.[3] and laterNicholson Publishing Co., Inc.[4]) which was founded byMalcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1934[5][6][7] to publishNew Fun,[note 1] the firstAmerican comic book with all-original material rather thancomic strip reprints, andDetective Comics Inc.,[6] which was founded on December 31, 1936[8] by Wheeler-Nicholson withHarry Donenfeld andJack Liebowitz to publishDetective Comics.[9] Wheeler-Nicholson fell into deep debt to Donenfeld and Liebowitz, and in 1938, Donenfeld and Liebowitz petitioned Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied into bankruptcy and seized it, and as a result, Liebowitz took over and folded National Allied into Detective Comics.[10][11]: 20 [12]
Max Gaines'All-American Publications and Detective Comics Inc. merged to become National Comics Publications Inc.[13] on September 30, 1946.[14][11]: 50 [15] National Comics was renamed "National Periodical Publications Inc." in 1961.[11]: 102 [16][17]
Despite the official names "National Comics" and "National Periodical Publications", the company began branding itself as "Superman-DC" in the early 1940s.[18]
^The company debuted in 1935 with thetabloid-sizedNew Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1 with acover date of February 1935;New Fun #1 (Feb. 1935) at theGrand Comics Database. The entry notes that while the logo appears to be simplyFun, theindicia reads, "New FUN is published monthly at 49 West 45th Street, New York, N.Y., by National Allied Publications, Inc.; Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, President ... Inquiries concerning advertising should be addressed to the Advertising Manager, New FUN,...."
^Marx, Barry,Cavalieri, Joey and Hill, Thomas (w), Petruccio, Steven (a), Marx, Barry (ed). "Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson: DC Founded"Fifty Who Made DC Great: 5 (1985), DC Comics
^Wallace, Daniel; Dolan, Hannah (2010). "1930s".DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 17.ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9.The launch ofDetective Comics defined [Malcolm] Wheeler-Nicholson's young comics company and set it on an ascendant path within the industry...His smart business decision to partner with businessmen Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz onDetective Comics guaranteed that his company's third title would at least be solvent.
^Thomas, Roy (2000).All-Star Companion: An Historical and Speculative Overview of the Justice Society of America. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 13.ISBN1893905055.By 1938 Major had faded into history...
^"Young April 12, 1948 Findings of Facts".Scribd. Retrieved11 December 2016.DETECTIVE COMICS, INC. was a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of New York, and was one of the constituent corporations consolidated on September 30, 1946, into defendant NATIONAL COMICS PUBLICATIONS, INC.
^Jones, Gerard (2004).Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book. New York: Basic Books. p. 223.ISBN0465036562.
^Thompson, Maggie; Dean, Michael; Frankenhoff, Brent; Greenholdt, Joyce; Miller, John Jackson (1995).Comics Buyer's Guide 1996 Annual.Krause Publications. p. 81.ISBN0873414063.Beginning as National Allied Publications in 1935 [sic] and becoming National Allied Newspaper Syndicate the next year, it changed to National Comic [sic] Publications in 1946 and National Periodical Publications in 1961...
