Featured below are Golden Age comic books from well-known pulp magazine publishers of the 1930s and 1940s. They include Battle Stories, Complete Love Magazine, Startling Comics, Thrilling Comics, War Comics, and Western Love Trails. Publishers include Hillman Periodicals, Ace Magazines, Standard, Fawcett, and Dell. Nearly half of the titles featured were published by Fiction House alone, including Fight Comics, Ghost Comics, Indians, Jungle Comics, Planet Comics, and Wings. Information to the right includes date of establishment, publishing company, 1-2 major editors, and the total # of issues published. Sample issues of Adventures Into The Unknown (Fall 1948), Speed Comics (Jul. 1940), and Weird Comics (Aug. 1940) are included here for comparison. To view and download 1000s of Golden Age comic books from the Public Domain, visit The Digital Comic Museum.
For Paul Lopes's "Pulp Logic and the Rise of the American Comic Book," click here.
Adventures Into The Unknown | Est. in 1948 | American Comics Group (ACG) | Edited by Richard Hughes | Total Issues: 174.
Battle Stories | Established in 1952 | Fawcett Publications | Edited by Anonymous | Total Issues: 11.
Crime Detective Comics | Established in 1948 | Hillman Periodicals | Edited by Edward Cronin | Total Issues: 32.
Complete Love Magazine | Est. in 1951 | Ace Magazines | Edited by Aaron and Rose Wyn | Total Issues: 34.
Fight Comics | Established in 1940 | Fiction House, Inc. | Edited by Malcolm Reiss | Total Issues: 86.
Ghost Comics | Established in 1951 | Fiction House, Inc. | Edited by J.F. Byrne | Total Issues: 11.
Indians | Est. in 1950 | Fiction House, Inc. | Edited by Anonymous | Total Issues: 17.
Jungle Comics | Established in 1940 | Fiction House, Inc. | Edited by Malcolm Reiss | Total Issues: 163.
Planet Comics | Established in 1940 | Fiction House, Inc. | Edited by Malcolm Reiss | Total Issues: 73.
Speed Comics | Established in 1939 | Brookwood Publishing Co. | Edited by Anonymous | Total Issues: 11.
Startling Comics | Established in 1940 | Standard Comics | Edited by Anonymous | Total Issues: 53.
Thrilling Comics | Established in 1940 | Standard Comics | Edited by Anonymous | Total Issues: 80.
War Comics | Established in 1940 | Dell Publishing Co. | Edited by Anonymous | Total Issues: 4.
Weird Comics | Established in 1940 | Fox Publications, Inc. | Edited by Anonymous | Total Issues: 20.
Western Love Trails | Est. in 1949 | Ace Magazines | Ed. by Aaron and Rose Wyn | Total Issues: 3.
Wings Comics | Established in 1940 | Fiction House, Inc. | Edited by Malcolm Reiss | Total Issues: 124.
According to US Copyright law (Title 17, US Code), these items are now in the Public Domain, since their original copyright registrations were not renewed after 28 years (Public Law 60-349, Section 23). In countries outside the United States, however, copyright restrictions may still apply.