ure ▁and ▁drama ▁also ▁became ▁popular . ▁ ▁Th in ▁period ical s ▁called ▁com ic ▁books ▁appeared ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 3 0 s , ▁at ▁first ▁repr int ing ▁newspaper ▁com ic ▁stri ps ; ▁by ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁de cade , ▁original ▁content ▁began ▁to ▁domin ate . ▁ ▁The ▁success ▁in ▁ 1 9 3 8 ▁of ▁Action ▁Comics ▁and ▁its ▁lead ▁hero ▁Super man ▁marked ▁the ▁beginning ▁of ▁the ▁Golden ▁Age ▁of ▁Com ic ▁Books , ▁in ▁which ▁the ▁super h ero ▁genre ▁was ▁prominent . ▁In ▁the ▁UK ▁and ▁the ▁Commonwealth , ▁the ▁DC ▁Thom son - created ▁D andy ▁( 1 9 3 7 ) ▁and ▁Be ano ▁( 1 9 3 8 ) ▁became ▁successful ▁humor - based ▁titles , ▁with ▁a ▁combined ▁circul ation ▁of ▁over ▁ 2 ▁million ▁copies ▁by ▁the ▁ 1 9 5 0 s . ▁Their ▁characters , ▁including ▁" D ennis ▁the ▁Men ace ", ▁" Des perate ▁Dan " ▁and ▁" The ▁Bash ▁Street ▁K ids " ▁have ▁been ▁read ▁by ▁gener ations ▁of ▁British ▁school bo ys . ▁The ▁com ics ▁originally ▁experiment ed ▁with ▁super h ero es ▁and ▁action ▁stories ▁before ▁sett ling ▁on ▁hum orous ▁stri ps ▁featuring ▁a ▁mix ▁of ▁the ▁Am alg am ated ▁Press ▁and ▁US ▁com ic ▁book ▁styles . ▁ ▁The ▁popular ity ▁of ▁super h ero ▁com ic ▁books ▁decl ined ▁following ▁World ▁War   II , ▁while ▁com ic ▁book ▁sales ▁continued ▁to ▁increase ▁as