All-American Comics
All-American Comics is a comics anthology and the flagship title of comic book publisher All-American Publications, one of the forerunners of DC Comics. It ran for 102 issues from 1939 to 1948. Characters created for the title, including Green Lantern, the Atom, the Red Tornado, Doctor Mid-Nite, and Sargon the Sorcerer, later became mainstays of the DC Comics line.
All-American Comics

Sheldon Mayer · Public domain
- Date
- 1939
- Publisher
- All-American Publications
- Language
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
All-American Comics is a comics anthology and the flagship title of comic book publisher All-American Publications, one of the forerunners of DC Comics. It ran for 102 issues from 1939 to 1948. Characters created for the title, including Green Lantern, the Atom, the Red Tornado, Doctor Mid-Nite, and Sargon the Sorcerer, later became mainstays of the DC Comics line.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for All-American Comics. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q1471388 · wikipedia · All-American Comics
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Schedule — Monthly: • 1–49, #71–102 Eight times a year: • 50–66 Bi-monthly: • 67–70 • Ongoing — y • Publisher — All-American Publications • Date — April 1939 – October 1948 • Issues — 102 • Writers — Alfred Bester, Bill Finger, Sheldon Mayer, Bill O'Connor • Artists — Ben Flinton, Sheldon Mayer, Martin Nodell, Paul Reinman • Editors — All-American Comics: Max Gaines (#1–41) Sheldon Mayer (#42–80) Julius Schwartz (#81–102) All-American Western: Julius Schwartz (#103–126) • Subcat — All-American Publications • Sort — All-American Comics
Publication history
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's Scribbly was introduced in the first issue as was Hop Harrigan. The Golden Age Green Lantern was introduced by artist/creator Martin Nodell in issue #16 (July 1940). He continued in the title until #102 (Oct 1948). The Golden Age Atom debuted in #19 (October 1940) and Mayer created the original Red Tornado in #20 (November 1940). Doctor Mid-Nite first appeared in #25 (April 1941), while Howard Purcell and John Wentworth introduced Sargon the Sorcerer in the following month's issue. Alfred Bester and Paul Reinman created the monstrous supervillain Solomon Grundy in #61 (October 1944). Other features included "Toonerville Folks", "Mutt and Jeff", and "Ripley's 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, All-American Comics changed title and format with #103 (November 1948) to All-American Western. The retitled series had Johnny Thunder as the lead feature. It changed title and format again to All-American Men of War as of #127 (August–September 1952). A May 1999 one-shot issue by writer Ron Marz and artist Eduardo Barreto was a part of the "Justice Society Returns" storyline.
Features
Features
• Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist: issues #1-59 • Green Lantern: issues #16-102 • The Atom: #20-46, 48-61, 70-72 • Dr. Mid-Nite: #25-102 • Sargon the Sorcerer: #26-50, 60
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United States
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.All-American Comics.
- 2.Mitchell, Kurt. American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944. TwoMorrows Publishing. 26. 2019. 978-1605490892.
- 3.Wallace, Daniel. DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. 24. 2010. 978-0-7566-6742-9.
- 4.Markstein, Don. Hop Harrigan. Don Markstein's Toonopedia. 2005.
- 5.Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 32: "Alan Scott underwent an unexpected career change into the costumed hero Green Lantern in a story by creator Martin Nodell (using the pseudonym 'Mart Dellon') and writer Bill Finger".
- 6.Benton, Mike. Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History. Taylor Publishing Company. 147. 1992. 0-87833-808-X.
- 7.Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 33: "Writer Bill O'Connor and artist Ben Flinton revealed the Atom in a short, six-page story, though the non-superpowered character soon went on to bigger things".
- 8.Markstein, Don. The Atom. Don Markstein's Toonopedia. 2008.
- 9.Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 33: "The Red Tornado was the first outright super hero parody at DC, and she was also one of the company's first prominent female characters".
- 10.Markstein, Don. The Red Tornado. Don Markstein's Toonopedia. 2009.
- 11.Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 37: "April's All-American Comics #25 saw the costumed hero Doctor Mid-Nite make his first appearance".
- 12.Markstein, Don. Dr. Mid-Nite. Don Markstein's Toonopedia. 2008.
- 13.Markstein, Don. Sargon the Sorcerer. Don Markstein's Toonopedia. 2008.
- 14.Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 47: "Green Lantern faced a monstrous foe in All-American Comics #61. Solomon Grundy was a zombielike strongman...His origin, recounted in a story by writer Alfred Bester and artist Paul Reinman, involved the corpse of a murdered man".
- 15.Markstein, Don. Toonerville Folks. Don Markstein's Toonopedia. 2007.
- 16.Markstein, Don. Mutt and Jeff. Don Markstein's Toonopedia. 2006.
- 17.Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 59: "All-American Comics became All-American Western with this issue [#103], and Johnny Thunder leaped out from a backdrop of comic pages on the cover to announce the radical transition".
- 18.All-American Western.
- 19.All-American Men of War.
- 20.All-American Comics one-shot.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Comics and comic art
9,920 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- All Rounder MeguruSeries
- All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy WonderSeries
- All Star ComicsSeries
- All Winners ComicsSeries
- All-New X-MenSeries
- All-Star SupermanSeries
- All-Star WesternSeries
- Allan “Sols” SalisburyArtist
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a copy of All-American Comics?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.