Quality Comics
|
|
Crack_Comics_1.jpg
Blackhawk_12.jpg
Hit_Comics_1.jpg
Plastic_Man_17.jpg
Feature_Comics_77.jpg
The_Spirit_10.jpg
There have been two comic book publishing companies by the name Quality Comics. The earliest was a US-based company that operated from 1939 to 1956 and was an influential creative force in the Golden Age of comic books.
The US company was started by Everett M. "Busy" Arnold, a printer who saw the rapidly rising popularity of the comic book medium and decided to join the industry. He began by buying out the title, Feature Funnies, and added new titles which became the basis of the company.
Characters published by the company included:
- Plastic Man
- Blackhawk
- Doll Man
- Kid Eternity
- Phantom Lady
- Uncle Sam
- Black Condor
- Torchy
- Alias the Spider
- Miss America
Talents associated with the company included:
By the mid 1950s, interest in their stable of characters had declined considerably. After a foray into other genres such as war, humor and horror, the company ceased operations in December, 1956. Many of their properties were sold to National Periodical Publications (now DC Comics) which chose to keep only a few titles running, such as Blackhawk and GI Combat.
Over the decades, other Quality characters were revived, including Plastic Man and a group of other characters in the short-lived 1970s series Freedom Fighters.
Today, other than Plastic Man (who has been a member of the Justice League and has his own ongoing series), most of the characters are at most occasionally-used supporting characters in the DC Universe.
Some Quality Comics titles, including Blackhawk and Plastic Man, have been reprinted by DC, while lesser known ones have been reprinted by AC Comics.
List of titles published by Quality Comics
- All Humor Comics #1-17 (1946-1949)
- The Barker #1-15 (1946-1949)
- Blackhawk #9-157 (1944-1956; formerly Uncle Sam Quarterly #1-8; #158-273 published by DC Comics, 1957-1983)
- Bride's Romance #1-23 (1953-1956)
- Broadway Romances #1-3 (1950)
- Buccaneers #19-27 (1950-1951; formerly Kid Eternity #1-18)
- Buster Bear #1-10 (1953-1955)
- Campus Loves #1-5 (1949-1950)
- Candy #1-64 (1947-1956)
- Crack Comics #1-62 (1940-1949; Crack Western #63 onward)
- Crack Western #63-84 (1949-1953; formerly Crack Comics #1-62; Jonesy #85 onward)
- Diary Loves #2-31 (1949-1953; formerly Love Diary #1; G.I. Sweethearts #32 onward)
- Doll Man #1-47 (1941-1953)
- Exotic Romances #22-38 (1955-1956; formerly True War Romances #1-21)
- Exploits of Daniel Boone #1-6 (1955-?)
- Feature Comics #21-144 (1939-1950; formerly Feature Funnies #1-20, published by Harry A. Chesler Comics, 1937-1939)
- Flaming Love #1-6 (1949-1950)
- Forbidden Love #1-4 (1950)
- Gabby #11; issue numbering restarts, 2-9 (1953-1954; formerly Ken Shannon)
- G.I. Combat #1-43 (1952-1956; #44-281 published by DC Comics, 1957-1987)
- G.I. Sweethearts #32-45 (1953-1955; formerly Diary Loves #2-31; #46 onward Girls in Love)
- Girls in Love #46-57 (1955-1956; formerly G.I. Sweethearts #32-45)
- Heart Throbs #1-46 (1949; #47-146 published by DC Comics, 1957-1972; Love Stories, #147-152, 1972-1973)
- Hit Comics #1-65 (1940-1950)
- Hollywood Diary #1-5 (1949-1950)
- Hollywood Secrets #1-6 (1949-1950)
- Jonesy #85; issue numbering restarts, 2-8 (1953-1954; formerly Crack Western #1-84)
- Ken Shannon #1-10 (1951-1953; Gabby #11 onward)
- Kid Eternity #1-18 (1946-1949; Buccaneers #19 onward)
- Lady Luck #86-90 (1949-1950; formerly Smash Comics #1-85)
- Love Confessions #1-54 (1949-1956)
- Love Diary #1 (1949; Diary Loves #2 onward)
- Love Letters #1-51 (1949-1956)
- Love Scandals #1-5 (1950)
- Love Secrets #32-56 (1953-1956)
- Marmaduke Mouse #1-65 (1946-1956)
- Military Comics #1-43 (1941-1945; Modern Comics #44 onward)
- Modern Comics #44-102 (1945-1950; previously Military Comics #1-43)
- National Comics #1-75 (1940-1949)
- Plastic Man #1-64 (1943-1956)
- Police Comics #1-127 (1941-1953)
- Range Romances #1-5 (1949-1950)
- Robin Hood Tales #1-6 (1956; #7-14 published by DC Comics, 1957-1958)
- Secret Loves #1-6 (1949-1950)
- Smash Comics #1-85 (1939-1949; Lady Luck #86 onward)
- The Spirit #1-22 (1944-1950)
- T-Man #1-38 (1951-1956)
- Torchy 1-6 (1949-1950)
- True War Romances #1-21 (1952-1955; Exotic Romances #22 onward)
- Uncle Sam Quarterly #1-8 (1941-1943; Blackhawk #9 onward)
- Untamed Love #1-5 (1950)
- Web of Evil #1-21 (1952-1954)
- Wedding Bells #1-19 (1954-1956)
- Yanks in Battle #1-4 (1956)
External link
- AC Comics (http://www.accomics.com/accomicsgoldenage/quality.htm)