The Creation of DC Comics

Written by Samuel Phineas Upham

In February of 1935, a new magazine was hitting shelves. New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine was a creation from the mind of entrepreneur Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. The book came to define the size of so-called “Golden Age” comics before the label evolved into the now iconic “Action Comics.”

Detective Comics debuted in 1937. It was a serial collection of mysteries that culminated in the debut of America’s favorite caped crusader, Batman. Wheeler-Nicholson was nowhere to be found by 1939. He had gotten the company into some financial troubles and had to bring on a partner just to get Detective Comics #1 published.

Action Comics was first released in June of 1938, with Superman at the helm. It was the first comic to tell stories of so-called superheroes, and the company quickly tried to capitalize on this trend with new characters including Sandman. In fact, Action Comics #1 sold in 2010 to an anonymous buyer for the amount of $1 million, which was to date the largest transaction for a comic book in history.

The comics industry entered the golden age and DC rebranded itself in 1940 to Superman-DC. The name was too long, and readers began colloquially calling them “DC Comics” until the name stuck in 1977. DC dabbles in everything from superheroes to horror and romance. It briefly ran a World War II era comic about a haunted tank, and enjoyed success with several science fiction titles.

Samuel Phineas Upham is an investor from NYC and SF. You may contact Samuel Phineas Upham on his Samuel Phineas Upham website