''All-American Comics'' is a

comics anthology A comics anthology collects works in the medium of comics, typically from multiple series, and compiles them into an anthology or magazine. The comics in these anthologies range from comic strips that are too short for standalone publication to co ...

and the flagship title of

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

publisher

All-American Publications All-American Publications, Inc.The name is spelled with a hyphen per its logo (pictured) and sources includinat Don Markstein's ToonopediaArchivedfrom the original on April 15, 2012. was one of two American comic book companies that merged to fo ...

, one of the forerunners of

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. It ran for 102 issues from 1939 to 1948. Characters created for the title, including

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

, the

Atom Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements. An atom consists of a atomic nucleus, nucleus of protons and generally neutrons, surrounded by an electromagnetically bound swarm of electrons. The chemical elements are distinguished fr ...

, the

Red Tornado Red Tornado is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. As the second character to assume the identity of Red Tornado, he is the result of an android being merged with a sentient tornado by T.O. Morrow. ...

Doctor Mid-Nite Doctor Mid-Nite (or Doctor Midnight) is the name of multiple superheroes published in American comic books by DC Comics. The original version of the character was first created by writer Charles Reizenstein and artist Stanley Josephs Aschmeier in ...

, and

Sargon the Sorcerer Sargon the Sorcerer is the name of several fictional characters appearing in DC Comics. The first version of the character appeared in 1941, during the period known to fans as the Golden Age. The original incarnation of the character is John Sarge ...

, later became mainstays of the DC Comics line.

Publication history

''All-American Comics'' published 102 issues from April 1939 to October 1948. The series was an anthology which included a mixture of new material and reprints of newspaper strips.

Sheldon Mayer Sheldon Mayer (; April 1, 1917 – December 21, 1991) was an American comics artist, writer, and editor. One of the earliest employees of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied Publications, Mayer produced almost all of his comics wo ...

's Scribbly was introduced in the first issue as was

Hop Harrigan Hop Harrigan (also known as The Guardian Angel and Black Lamp) is a fictional character published by All-American Publications. He appeared in American comic books, radio serials and film serials. He was created by Jon Blummer, and was a popular ...

. The

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

was introduced by artist/creator

Martin Nodell Martin Nodell (; November 15, 1915 – December 9, 2006) was an American cartoonist and commercial artist, best known as the creator of the Golden Age superhero Green Lantern. Some of his work appeared under the pen name Mart Dellon. Biography Ea ...

in issue #16 (July 1940). He continued in the title until #102 (Oct 1948). The Golden Age

debuted in #19 (October 1940) and Mayer created the original

in #20 (November 1940).

first appeared in #25 (April 1941), while

Howard Purcell Howard Purcell (November 10, 1918 – April 24, 1981)Howard Purcell
at the Social S ...

and John Wentworth introduced

in the following month's issue.

Alfred Bester Alfred Bester (December 18, 1913 – September 30, 1987) was an American science fiction author, TV and radio screenwriter, magazine Editing, editor and scriptwriter for comics. He is best remembered for his science fiction, including ''Th ...

and

Paul Reinman Paul J. Reinman (; born Joseph Paul Reinmann, ; 2 September 1910 – 27 September 1988)Paul J. Reinmen

created the monstrous supervillain Solomon Grundy in #61 (October 1944). Other features included "

Toonerville Folks ''Toonerville Folks'' ( ''The Toonerville Trolley That Meets All the Trains'') is a newspaper comic strip feature by Fontaine Fox, which ran from 1908 to 1955. It began in 1908 in the ''Chicago Post'', and by 1913, it was syndicated nationally by ...

", "

Mutt and Jeff ''Mutt and Jeff'' is a long-running and widely popular American newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Bud Fisher in 1907 about "two mismatched wikt:tinhorn, tinhorns". It is commonly regarded as the first daily comic strip. The concept o ...

", and "

Ripley's Believe It or Not! ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals with bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''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 Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier (usually anywhere west of the Mississippi River) and typically set during the late nineteenth century. The term is generally associated with an American comic bo ...

, ''All-American Comics'' changed title and format with #103 (November 1948) to ''All-American Western''. The retitled series had

Johnny Thunder Johnny Thunder is the name of three superheroes appearing in comics published by DC Comics. A fourth character has the variant name Jonni Thunder. The character appeared in the second season of '' Stargirl'' on The CW network played by Ethan E ...

as the lead feature. It changed title and format again to ''

All-American Men of War ''Men of War'' is the name of several American comic book series published by DC Comics. For the most part, the series was a war comics anthology featuring fictional stories about the American military during World War II. The original series, ...

'' as of #127 (August–September 1952). A May 1999

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'', a ...

issue by writer

Ron Marz Ron Marz (born November 17, 1965) is an American comic book writer, known for his work on titles such as '' Batman/Aliens'', ''DC vs. Marvel'', ''Green Lantern'', ''Silver Surfer'', and ''Witchblade''. Career Marz is known for his work on ''Si ...

and artist

Eduardo Barreto Luis Eduardo Barreto Ferreyra (March 1, 1954 – December 15, 2011) was a Uruguayan artist who worked in the comic book and comic strip industries including several years of prominent work for DC Comics. All of his children are artists. Two o ...

was a part of the "

Justice Society Returns "The Justice Society Returns" is a nine issue story arc that ran through a number of comic books published by DC Comics in 1999, reviving the Golden Age superhero team, which had previously been revived in the 1980s. Publication history The comi ...

" storyline.

Features

* Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist: issues #1-59 *

: issues #16-102 * The Atom: #20-46, 48-61, 70-72 * Dr. Mid-Nite: #25-102 *

: #26-50, 60

References

External links

*
''All-American Comics''
an
''All-American Comics'' one-shot
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics {{DC Western Characters 1939 comics debuts 1948 comics endings All-American Publications titles Comics magazines published in the United States Comics anthologies DC Comics one-shots DC Comics titles Defunct American comics Golden Age comics titles Superhero comics Western (genre) comics Works by Alfred Bester