American Comics Group Explained

American Comics Group
Founder:Benjamin W. Sangor
Headquarters:45 West 45th Street, New York City[1]
Country:United States
Keypeople:Richard E. Hughes
Fred Iger
Harry Donenfeld
Publications:Comic books
Genre:Superheroes, science fiction, horror, crime, mystery, romance
Imprints:B & I Publishing Co., Inc.
B. & M. Distributing Co., Inc.
Best Syndicated Features, Inc.
Creston Publications Corp.
Culver Publications
Custom Comics, Inc.
La Salle Publishing Co.
Michel Publications, Inc.
Milt Gross, Inc.
Modern Store Publications
Modern Store Publishing
Preferred Publications, Inc.
Regis Publications, Inc.
Scope Magazines, Inc.
Titan Publishing Co. Inc.

American Comics Group (ACG) was an American comic book publisher started in 1939 and existing under the ACG name from 1943 to 1967.[2] It published the medium's first ongoing horror-comics title, Adventures into the Unknown.[3] [4] ACG's best-known character was the 1960s satirical-humor hero Herbie Popnecker, who starred for a time in Forbidden Worlds. Herbie would later get his own title and be turned into a "superhero" called the Fat Fury.

Founded by Benjamin W. Sangor,[5] ACG was co-owned by Fred Iger from 1948 to 1967.[6] Iger's father-in-law, Harry Donenfeld, head of National Periodical Publications (later known as DC Comics), was also a co-owner in the early 1960s (though Donenfeld was severely incapacitated and out of the business after an accident in 1962).[7] ACG was distributed by Independent News Company, which also distributed by (and was part of the same company as) DC.

History

Origins

The company evolved out of a company owned by Sangor. In the mid-1930s, Sangor and Richard E. Hughes began to produce a short-lived prepackaged comics supplement for newspapers. In 1939, the Sangor Shop (as it was informally known) began producing comics for Sangor's son-in-law Ned L. Pines. The Sangor Shop produced the characters and stories of The Black Terror, Pyroman, and Fighting Yank for Pines' Nedor Comics and produced most of the comics for Pines until 1945.[8]

Independent publishing

In 1943, ACG started to publish its own work under such names as B&I Publishing, Michel Publications and Regis Publishing. It acquired the publisher Creston Publications in 1943, making Creston into an ACG imprint.[9] By 1948, it was publishing comics under the name of American Comics Group. Its titles were typical of the times, including horror, crime, mystery, romance, and talking animal comics. In 1948, it began publishing the long-running horror title Adventures into the Unknown.[10] This was the first of a trilogy of ACG horror/supernatural titles that also included Forbidden Worlds (1951–1967) and Unknown Worlds (1960–1967).

In 1949, ACG began publishing two long-running romance titles, Romantic Adventures (later changed to My Romantic Adventures), and Lovelorn (later changed to Confessions of the Lovelorn). Both titles lasted into the 1960s.

The company survived the 1954 Senate subcommittee hearings on the dangers of comic books, even retaining its somewhat diluted horror title Adventures into the Unknown. However, in 1955 ACG canceled four long-running humor titles: the talking-animal series Giggle Comics and Ha Ha Comics, and the teen-humor titles Cookie and The Kilroys.

An October 1, 1952 "Statement of the Ownership, Management, and Circulation" published in ACG's Forbidden Worlds #15 gave its publisher's name as “Preferred Publications, Inc., 8 Lord St., Buffalo, New York” and the owners as Preferred Publications and "B. W. Sangor, 7 West 81st Street, New York, N. Y." The editor was listed as “Richard E. Hughes, 120 West 183rd St., New York, N. Y.” and the business manager as "Frederick H. Iger, 50 Beverly Road, Great Neck, Great Neck, L. I., N. Y."[11] An October 1, 1950, statement published in ACG's Cookie #29 gives identical data, with the exception of the publisher and co-owner being listed as "Michel Publications, Inc. 420 DeSoto Ave., St. Louis 7, Mo.”[12]

Almost all stories after 1957 were written by editor Hughes under a variety of pseudonyms. Besides the satirical superhero the Fat Fury, other ACG superheroes of the period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books included Magicman (starting in Forbidden Worlds #125), Nemesis in Adventures into the Unknown (starting with #154),[13] and John Force, Magic Agent, in his own title in 1962, then later in Unknown Worlds (#35, 36, 48, 50, 52, 56), with a few stories in Forbidden Worlds (#124, 145) and Adventures into the Unknown (#153, 157).

By 1967, the company had ended publication, except for its commercial comics division, Custom Comics, established in 1950, which lasted until the early 1980s doing work for a variety of clients such as the A. C. Gilbert toy company,[14] Montgomery Ward, Tupperware, and the United States Air Force.[15]

Titles

Imprints

Source:[16]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. [Senate Committee on the Judiciary]
  2. Web site: GCD :: Publisher :: American Comics Group . 2024-02-08 . www.comics.org.
  3. Book: Goulart, Ron . Great American Comic Books . Ron Goulart . . 1986 . 0-8092-5045-4 . 256.
  4. News: Nolan . Michelle . Adventures into the Comic Book Unknown!: ACG's Innovation Gave Birth to a Genre! . Comic Book Marketplace . 2 . 47 . May 1997. 13–17.
  5. Web site: Sangor, Ben . Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999 . Jerry . Bails . Jerry Bails . Hames . Ware . https://web.archive.org/web/20120318012936/http://www.bailsprojects.com/bio.aspx?Name=SANGOR%2C+BEN . March 18, 2012 . live .
  6. http://www.bailsprojects.com/bio.aspx?Name=IGER%2c+FRED "Iger, Fred"
  7. http://www.bailsprojects.com/bio.aspx?Name=DONENFELD%2c+HARRY "Donenfeld, Harry"
  8. Web site: Don Markstein's Toonopedia: The American Comics Group . 2023-06-13 . www.toonopedia.com.
  9. Book: Wright, Nicky . The Classic Era of American Comics . . 2000 . 121 . 978-0-8092-9966-9.
  10. http://www.comics.org/series/598/ Adventures Into the Unknown (American Comics Group, 1948 Series)
  11. Web site: Full text of Forbidden Worlds 015 . . December 23, 2012.
  12. Web site: Full text of Cookie 029 . . December 23, 2012.
  13. http://toonopedia.com/nemesis.htm Nemesis
  14. Boyd. Jane E.. Science as Adventure. Distillations Magazine. 2015. 1. 3. 24–25.
  15. Book: Simon. Philip R.. Adventures into the unknown archives.. 2012. Dark Horse Books. Milwaukie, Or.. 978-1595829306. 9. 1st. 2 December 2015.
  16. http://www.comics.org/publisher/185/indicia_publishers/ American Comics Group indicia publishers

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