| DC's "Other" Comics |
American Comics Group
|
American Comics Group |
|
|
| The American Comics Group was an obscure comics publisher whose main claim to fame was that it managed to hang on almost to the end of the sixties, never quite making the big time, but always having a few titles on the stands. For most of this time it appeared to be a one man operation, staffed solely by editor Richard Hughes. It's relationship to DC/National is also cloudy and controversial. A lot of the following information came from a series of articles Michael Vance wrote in the Comics Buyers' Guide and later collected into a book, Forbidden Adventures. Some of it comes from Men of Tommorrow by Gerard Jones. And the usual gang of kibitizers from the Grand Comic Book Database (Steve Rowe, Michael Feldman, Jerry Bails, Robert Beerbohm) contributed information. All opinions given are mine, however, and probably can't be changed. Factual errors will be thankfully corrected. Comments | |||
|
|
|||
| Fred Iger works for Robert Maxwell on the Superman radio program before going into the army. | |||
|
|
|||
| Ben Sangor opens up a comic shop targetted to getting work in comic books for moonlighting animation artists working for the Fleisher Studios. Richard Hughes (Leo Rosenbaum) was the editorial director. Material was supplied to Pines, DC, Rural Home and LaSalle. Among the features created were the Black Terror by Richard Hughes and Dave Gabrielson and Fighting Yank by Hughes and Jon Blummer both featured in Ned Pines' Nedor Comics line. Ned Pines was Ben Sangor's son-in-law. | |||
| May | Richard Hughes creates Fighting Yank for Pines' Startling Stories. | ||
|
|
|||
| Feb | Richard Hughes creates theBlack Terror for Pines' America's Best Comics. | ||
| Oct | Pines' Coo Coo Comics debuts featuring Richard Hughes' Super Mouse. | ||
|
|
|||
 |
Oct | Ben Sangor decides to use the shop to publish his own comics under the Creston Publishing Co label, with Gerald and Andrew Albert as co-owners. They apparently have the paper allotment. He gets funding from his old Gin Rummy partner, Harry Donenfeld. Ha Ha and Giggle are their first titles. Eventually there would be many companies: including Creston, Michel, B & I and Best Syndicated Features. All would be distributed by Donenfeld's Independent News. |  |
|
|
|||
| Gerald and Andrew Albert sell their interest in Creston to Harry Donenfeld (says Michael Vance). Editor Richard Hughes begins soliciting material from a west coast group of animators headed by Jim Davis. These same animators are supplying strips to DC. | |||
| Mar | The Duke and the Dope begins in Giggle Comics 6. | ||
| Jun | Superkatt by Dan Gordon begins in Giggle Comics 9. Also a Columbia Pictures cartoon series, although the only one I know of was made in 1947. That's Superkatt on the cover of Giggle 26 to the right. |  |
|
|
|
|||
| Spr | National offers Real Screen Comics, featuring the Columbia Animated Characters Fox and Crow. The material is provided by Creston's California shop headed by Jim Davis. Fox and Crow is drawn by its creator Bob Wickersham. Hubie Karp is the main writer. | ||
 |
May | R. B Lefingwell's Topsy Turvy features the first appearance of Dan Gordon's Cookie. It is unclear as to whether this should count as an ACG title. Lefingwell was a "surrogate publisher" of comics only insofar as he had a war paper allotment that he could allocate for another publisher's use. | |
| Aug | First appearance Spencer Spook in Giggle Comics 21. by Hubie Karp and Ken Champin according to Ron Frantz. |  |
|
|
|
|||
| Fred Iger marries Sonia Donenfeld. He becomes business manager of American Comics Group. | |||
 |
Apr | Cookie begins in his own comic from Michel (a Sangor Company). 55 issues. | |
|
|
|||
| May | TeePee Tim begins in Ha Ha 41. | ||
 |
Jun | The Kilroys 54 issues- advertised in National titles. | |
| Jul | Hi-Jinx, a teen age funny animal comic, begins. 7 issues. |  |
|
| Dec | Moon Mullins Six issues of newspaper reprints | ||
|
|
|||
| Sangor stops acting
as a shop for other publishers. . ACG purchases its art directly
from the artists. Former middle- man, Jim Davis, goes to work directly
for National, drawing Fox and Crow.
Business Manager Fred Iger buys into the companies' ownership (per Steve Rowe). |
|||
 |
Aug | Lovelorn- 51 issues | |
 |
Fall | Blazing West-
20 issues. Features Injun Jones, Tenderfoot, and Buffalo Belle
Adventures into the Unknown- 1st Horror comic? Most of the first and second issue were written by Frank Belknap Long (per Steve Rowe/Will Murray) |
 |
|
|
|||
| Fred Iger listed on DC ownership statements from 1949-1961 | |||
|
Feb | American Comics Group bullet begins appearing on covers. | |
| Mar | Romantic Adventures 67 issues |  |
|
 |
Aug | Spy and Counterspy #1 features Jonathan Kent, Counterspy. | |
| Sep | Funny Films- 29 issues. Featuring Puss An Boots, Blunderbunny, Who Doodit and Alkali Ike. |  |
|
 |
Dec | Spy Hunters #3 -24, formerly Spy and Counter-Spy. | |
|
|
|||
| Feb | Search for Love- 2 issues | ||
 |
Oct | Operation Peril- 16 issues. Features the Time Travelers, Danny Danger by Leonard Starr and Typhoon Tyler. | |
| Nov | Hooded Horseman intro in Blazing West 14 |  |
|
|
|
|||
| Mar | Soldiers of Fortune- 13 issues: featuring Captain Crossbones by Sheldon Moldoff, Ace Carter and Lance Larson |  |
|
| Jun | Leonard Furman becomes assistant editor and writer as recorded in Adv into the Unknown 20. First story 'The Raven Sisters". (appears in Out of the Night 3) Furman continued to work for them until Fall 1957. | ||
 |
Jul | Forbidden Worlds 145 issues | |
|
|
|||
 |
Feb | Out of the Night
- 17 issues.
Hooded Horseman 21-27 (formerly Blazing West) featured work by Ogden Whitney and Leonard Starr. |
 |
 |
Sep | Dizzy Dames-
with covers by Ogden Whitney. 6 issues. Introducing Moronica by Owen Fitzgerald,
Knothead Nancy by Lynn Karp, and Screwball Sal by Brown and Gantz.
Skeleton Hand- 6 issues |
 |
|
|
|||
| Ben Sangor dies. Frances Sangor, his widow, is listed as co-owner for the next year. | |||
| Jun | From the Committee on
Evaluation of Comic Books report June 1953: (supplied by Lee Randall)
B. & M. Distributing Co. 45 West 45th Street, New York, N. Y.; Dizzy Dames , Skeleton Hand Best Syndicated Features, Inc., 45 East 45th Street, New York, N. Y.: Adventures Into the Unknown , Romantic Adventures, Spy-Hunters , The Kilroys. (This address must be wrong.) Creston Publications, Inc., 45 West 45th Street, New York, N. Y.: Giggle Comics, Ha Ha Comics, Soldiers of Fortune. Michel Publications, Inc., 45 West 45th Street, New York, N. Y.: Cookie, Funny Films, Lovelorn, Operation: Peril, The Hooded Horseman Preferred Publications, Inc., 45 West 45th
Street, New York, N. Y.: Forbidden Worlds
|
||
|
|
|||
 |
Jan | Hooded Horseman
18-20 (formerly Out of the Night).
Adventures into the Unknown 51 introduces a fake 3-D effect called TrueVision. |
 |
 |
Jul | Commander Battle
and the Atomic Sub- 7 issues by Kenneth Landau.
The Clutching Hand- one issue. |
 |
| Aug | Last TrueVision Adventures
into the Unknown.
Lovelorn becomes Confessions of the Lovelorn 52 thru 114 (6/60) |
 |
|
|
|||
| cc | Harry Donenfeld and Fred Iger buy out Frances Sangor's share of the company (per Steve Rowe). | ||
| Jan | Adv into the Unknown 61- last pre code issue | ||
 |
Feb | Young Heroes
35 replaces Forbidden Worlds- 3 issues
HaHa becomes TeePee Tim: Heap Funny Indian Boy 100-102 |
 |
 |
May |
Giggle becomes Spencer Spook for two issues 101-102 |
|
| Jun | Adv into the Unknown 63 returns, now with Comics Code approval. | ||
| Oct | Forbidden Worlds returns starting again with 35 | ||
|
|
|||
| Aug | My Romantic Adventures 68 to 138 (3/64) adds My to original title | ||
|
|
|||
| Richard Hughes becomes sole writer for ACG, using hoards of pseudonyms, fake pictures and fake biographies to give the impression of a large staff of contributors. Only one story after this date is known not to actually have been written by Hughes. | |||
|
|
|||
 |
Dec | "Herbie's Quiet Saturday Afternoon" appears in Forbidden Worlds 73, by Richard Hughes (Shane O'Shea) and Ogden Whitney. | |
|
|
|||
| Aug | Unknown Worlds- 57 issues |  |
|
|
|
|||
 |
Jan | Midnight Mystery- 7 issues | |
| Mar | "Herbie and the Spirits" in Forbidden Worlds 94 | ||
| Dec | Herbie appears in "1000 Years Ago in 1962" in Unknown Worlds 20. | ||
|
|
|||
| Jan | John Force, Magic Agent- 3 issues. Art by Paul Reinman |  |
|
| Somewhere around here Fred Iger and Sonia Donnefeld get a divorce and Fred later marries Irwin Donenfeld's, ex-wife Arlene. | |||
|
|
|||
| Mar | Herbie in Forbidden Worlds 110 | ||
 |
Sep | First Herbie Cover: Forbidden Worlds 114 | |
| Oct | |||
| Nov | 2nd Herbie cover Forbidden Worlds 116 |  |
|
|
|
|||
 |
Apr | Herbie gets his own comic. Herbie went on to win Comics Fandom's Alley Award as Best Humor Comic of 1964 and 1965. | |
|
|
|||
| Jan | Magicman debuts in Forbidden Worlds 125 by Chic Stone |  |
|
 |
Feb | Nemesis begins in Adventures
into the Unknown 154 by Pete Costanza
February, 1965 Harry Donenfeld dies after a long illness. |
|
| Mar | Herbie becomes a super-hero in "Make Way for the Fat Fury." Herbie 8. |  |
|
 |
Dec | ACG's three "heroes" "team-up" for the only time in Herbie 14. | |
|
|
|||
| Sonia Iger now listed as Sonia Mondschein on National's Statements of Ownership. | |||
| Jul | Nemesis meets Magicman in Forbidden Worlds 136. Of course they already met six months ago. |  |
|
| Sep | Last Nemesis in Adv
into the Unknown 168.
Last Magicman in Forbidden Worlds 138. |
||
|
|
|||
| Feb | last Herbie (23) | ||
| Mar | Gasp 4 issues |  |
|
| Aug | Last Gasp 4.
Last Forbidden Worlds 145. Last Unknown Worlds 57. Last Adventures into the Unknown 174. |
||
 |
|
 |
