Magazine Enterprises was an American

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 ...

publishing company Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

lasting from 1943 to 1958, which published primarily

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

humor Humour ( Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids i ...

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

, and

children's A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

comics, with virtually no

superheroes A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

. It was founded by

Vin Sullivan Vincent Sullivan (June 5, 1911 – February 3, 1999Vincent Sullivan
at the

, an editor at

Columbia Comics Columbia Comics Corporation was a comic book publisher active in the 1940s whose best-known title was '' Big Shot Comics''. Comics creators who worked for Columbia included Fred Guardineer, on ''Marvelo, the Monarch of Magicians''; and Ogden Whi ...

and before that the editor at

National Allied Publications National Comics Publications (NCP; later known as National Periodical Publications Inc. or simply National) was an American comic book publishing company. It was the direct predecessor of modern-day DC Comics. History The corporation was origin ...

, the future

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 ...

. Magazine Enterprises' characters include the jungle goddess Cave Girl, drawn by

Bob Powell Bob Powell (né Stanley Robert Pawlowski; While gives Stanislav Pavlowsky, and gives Stanislav Pavlowsky, Bails and Ware note: "family name corrected by his son, Seth R. Powell July 2006." October 6, 1916

, and

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple superheroes or antiheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

, a

horror fiction Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defin ...

-themed Western avenger created by writer

Ray Krank Ray or RAY may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), the bony or horny spine on ray-finned fish Science and mathematics * Half-line (geometry) or ray, half of a line split at an ...

and artist

Dick Ayers Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...

in 1949; after the trademark lapsed, Ayers and others adapted it as

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

' non-horror but otherwise near-identical Western character

in 1967. Magazine Enterprises should not be confused with the same-name

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

company that published

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

magazines from at least 1946 to 1960.

Publication history

In late 1947, Superman creators

Jerry Siegel Jerome "Jerry" Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/ Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./ Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He was the co-creator of ...

and

Joe Shuster Joseph Shuster ( ; July 10, 1914 – July 30, 1992) was a Canadian-American comic book artist best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with Jerry Siegel, in ''Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938). Shuster was involv ...

collaborated once again with editor Vin Sullivan, who had worked with the writer-artist team during their nascent days freelancing for National Allied Publications, the future

. The duo had decamped to Magazine Enterprises after leaving National Allied (by then called National Comics) and suing to regain the rights to Superman and their later creation,

Superboy Superboy is an identity used by several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to ''Adventure Comics'' and other series ...

. Siegel and Shuster brought most of their studio's artists with them, except for 1950s Superman penciler

Wayne Boring Wayne Boring (June 5, 1905 – February 20, 1987) was an Americans, American Comics artist, comic book artist best known for his work on Superman from the late 1940s to 1950s. He occasionally used the pseudonym Jack Harmon. Biography Early life a ...

, and created the new character Funnyman, a slapstick-comedian hero. Both as a comic book and as a

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

, however, the character failed to find an audience. Magazine Enterprises' best-known character may be

, a horror-themed

avenger created by writer

and artist

in 1949. After the trademark lapsed, Ayers and others adapted it as

' non-horror but otherwise near-identical Western character

in 1967. The company's two superhero characters were the Avenger, created by writer

Gardner Fox Gardner Francis Cooper Fox (May 20, 1911 – December 24, 1986) was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC ...

and artist

in ''The Avenger'' #1 (March 1955), with Bob Powell drawing the character's three subsequent issues and all four covers; and the aptly named Strong Man, an unmasked, super-strong hero in a jungle-print

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...

outfit. The Avenger was one of the very few traditional, costumed superheroes created during the period before superheroes' revival in what historians and fans call the

Silver Age of Comics The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books, the Silver ...

, beginning 1956. Other original characters include the jungle goddess Cave Girl, drawn by

, and the

talking animal A talking animal or speaking animal is any non-human animal that can produce sounds or gestures resembling those of a human language. Several species or groups of animals have developed forms of communication which superficially resemble verbal ...

canine hero Hot Dog, created by cartoonist George Crenshaw and unrelated to the later

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the village of Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jug ...

character of that name. Among the company's publications were licensed

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and TV comics featuring comedian

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

; suave actor

Dick Powell Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility and successfully transform ...

; and the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

television series ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'', starring

Richard Greene Richard Marius Joseph Greene (25 August 1918 – 1 June 1985) was a noted English film and television actor. A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series ...

. Additionally, ''Little Miss Sunbeam Comics'' starred the blond, pig-tailed mascot of Sunbeam Bread. Since the copyright to Magazine Enterprises' comics do not appear to have been renewed, they evidently fell into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

in accordance with copyright laws at the time. Beginning in the 1980s,

AC Comics AC Comics (formerly known as Paragon Publications and Americomics) is a comic book publishing company started by Bill Black.

issued reprint titles of Magazine Enterprises material, along with those of other defunct publishers of that era. As well, AC revived the Avenger as a guest star in ''

FemForce ''Femforce'' is a comic book published by AC Comics that began publication in 1985, detailing the adventures of the titular team: the "Federal Emergency Missions Force" or "Femforce", some of them original creations, while others originated in th ...

'' #19 (1989; no cover date), then creating a new series. Ghost Rider reprints appeared in 1999 with the character renamed the Haunted Horseman.

Titles by genre

Children's

*'' Clubhouse Rascals'' *''

Ding Dong A Ding Dong is a chocolate cake produced and distributed in the United States by Hostess Brands and in Canada from Vachon Inc. under the name King Dons; in some U.S. markets, it was previously known as Big Wheels. With the exception of a brief p ...

'' *''The Pixies'' *'' Koko and Kola'' *''Little Miss

Sunbeam A sunbeam, in meteorological optics, is a lightbeam, beam of sunlight that appears to radiate from the position of the Sun. Shining through openings in clouds or between other objects such as mountains and buildings, these beams of light scatter ...

Comics'' *''Mighty Atom'' (child superhero, not the anime character) *'' Mighty Atom and the Pixies'' *'' Muggsy Mouse'' (1951 and 1954 series) *'' Tom-Tom and Itchi the Monk'' *'' Tom-Tom, The Jungle Boy'' *'' Tick Tock Tales'' *'' Vacation Comics''

Crime

*''Dick Powell'' a.k.a. ''Star Parade Presents

'' *''I'm A Cop'' *''

Kerry Drake ''Kerry Drake'' is the title of a comic strip created for Publishers Syndicate by Alfred Andriola as artist and Allen Saunders as uncredited writer. It debuted on Monday, October 4, 1943, replacing Norman Marsh's '' Dan Dunn'', and was syndicat ...

Detective Cases'' *''The Killers'' *''

Manhunt Manhunt may refer to: Search processes * Manhunt (law enforcement), a search for a dangerous fugitive * Manhunt (military), a search for a high-value target by special operations forces or intelligence agencies Social organisations * Manhun ...

'' *''Mysteries of

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

'' *''

Undercover Girl ''Undercover Girl'' is a 1950 American crime film noir directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Alexis Smith and Scott Brady. Plot A woman joins the police and tries to pursue her father's killers by assuming an undercover identity. Cast * Alexi ...

Historical adventure

*''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

'' (1955–1957; see also Movie/TV, below) *'' Dan'l Boone''

Humor

*''The Brain'' *'' Dogface Dooley'' *''

Dotty Dripple ''Dotty Dripple'' was an American gag-a-day comic strip, originally started by Jeff Keate & Jim McMenamy on June 26, 1944, but was taken over by Buford Tune on October 16, and continued for the next thirty years. The strip was distributed by Pu ...

'' *''Hot Dog'' *''

Comics''

Jungle

*''Africa'' *'' Cave Girl'' *'' Thun'da''

Misc.

*''

A-1 Comics ''A-1 Comics'' is a Golden Age comics publication that began in 1944 and ended in 1955, lasting 139 issues. Only the first 17 issues carried the title "A-1" on the cover. Issues #18 and up used the feature as the book title with different numberin ...

'' :Rotating anthology sometimes used as an alternate title/issue number; for example, ''Hot Dog'' #3 was also ''A-1 Comics'' #24; ''Danger is Their Business'' #11 (the only issue of that title published) was also ''A-1 Comics'' #50; ''Home Run'' #3 (the only issue of that title published) was also ''A-1 Comics'' #89; and ''Ghost Rider'' #1-14 was also ''A-1'' #27, 29, 31, 34, 37, 44, 51, 57, 69, 71, 75, 80, 84 & 112. *'' Extra Comics''

Movie/TV

*''The Adventures of

'' (1957; see also Historical Adventure, above) *''Keen Teens'' *''Movie Thrillers'' See also: ''Dick Powell'' (Crime), ''Jimmy Durante Comics'' (Humor), ''Tim Holt'' (Western)

Romance

*''Dream Book of Love'' *''Dream Book of Romance'' *''Romantic Picture Novellettes''

Science fiction

*'' Jet Powers'' *'' Major Inapak the Space Ace'' a.k.a. ''Space Ace''

Sports

*'' Pride of the Yankees''

Superhero

*''The Avenger'' *'' Funnyman'' *''

Strong Man {{disambig *Ring name of American professional wrestler Jon Andersen *Strong Man, a cartoon superhero in '' The Mighty Heroes'' ...

War

*''The American Air Forces'' *''United States Marines''

Western

*''Badmen of the West!'' (1953–1954) *''

Best of the West ''Best of the West'' is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 1981 through August 1982. Synopsis The Old West spoof featured the misadventures of Sam Best (Joel Higgins), a Civil War veteran who becomes a marshal in Copper Creek ...

'' (1951–1954) *'' Black Phantom'' (1954) *'' Bobby Benson's B-Bar-B Riders'' (1950–1953) *''Cowboys 'N' Injuns/Cowboys and Indians'' (1946–1952) *''

Durango Kid Charles Robert Starrett (March 28, 1903 – March 22, 1986) was an American actor, best known for his starring role in the ''Durango Kid'' westerns. Starrett still holds the record for starring in the longest series of theatrical features: ...

'' (1949–1955) *''

'' (1950–1954) *''Great Western'' (1953–1954) *''Guns of Fact and Fiction'' (1948) *'' Red Hawk'' (1953) *''Red Mask'' (1954–1957)Red Mask
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on January 5, 2017. *'' Straight Arrow'' (1950–1956) *''Straight Arrow's Fury'' (1954) *''

Tim Holt Charles John "Tim" Holt III (February 5, 1919 – February 15, 1973) was an American actor. He was a popular Western star during the 1940s and early 1950s, appearing in forty-six B westerns released by RKO Pictures. In a career spanning more ...

'' (1948–1954) *'' Trail Colt'' (1949) *'' White Indian'' (1953–1955)

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control Comic book publishing companies of the United States Defunct comics and manga publishing companies Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Publishing companies based in New York City Publishing companies established in 1943 Publishing companies disestablished in 1958 1943 establishments in New York (state) 1958 disestablishments in New York (state) American companies established in 1943