National Periodical Publications Inc.[2] (also known as NCP or simply National) was an American comic book publishing company. It was the direct predecessor of modern-day
DC Comics.
History
The corporation was originally two companies: National Allied Publications Inc. (also known as National Allied Newspaper Syndicate Inc.)[3] which was founded by
Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1934[4][5][6] to publish New Fun,[note 1] the first
American comic book with all-original material rather than
comic strip reprints, and Detective Comics Inc.,[5] which was founded on December 31, 1937[7] by Wheeler-Nicholson with
Harry Donenfeld and
Jack Liebowitz to publish Detective Comics. Wheeler-Nicholson fell into deep debt to Donenfeld and Liebowitz, and in early January 1938, Donenfeld and Liebowitz petitioned Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied into bankruptcy and seized it.[8][9]: 20
National Allied and Detective Comics Inc. merged to become National Comics Publications Inc. on September 30, 1946,[10] absorbing
Max Gaines'
All-American Publications as well.[9]: 50 [11] National Comics was renamed National Periodical Publications Inc. in 1961.[9]: 102 [12][13]
^The company debuted in 1935 with the
tabloid-sized New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1 with a
cover date of February 1935;
New Fun #1 (Feb. 1935) at the
Grand Comics Database. The entry notes that while the logo appears to be simply Fun, the
indicia reads, "New FUN is published monthly at 49 West 45th Street, New York, N.Y., by National Allied Publications, Inc.; Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, President ... Inquiries concerning advertising should be addressed to the Advertising Manager, New FUN,...."
^Booker, M. Keith (2014). Comics Through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press. p. 7.
ISBN978-0313397509.
^Marx, Barry,
Cavalieri, Joey and Hill, Thomas (w), Petruccio, Steven (a), Marx, Barry (ed). "Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson: DC Founded" Fifty Who Made DC Great: 5 (1985), DC Comics
^Thomas, Roy (2000). All-Star Companion: An Historical and Speculative Overview of the Justice Society of America. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 13.
ISBN1893905055. By 1938 Major had faded into history...
^"Young April 12, 1948 Findings of Facts". Scribd. Retrieved 11 December 2016. DETECTIVE COMICS, INC. was a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of New York, and was one of the constituent corporations consolidated on September 30, 1946, into defendant NATIONAL COMICS PUBLICATIONS, INC.
^Jones, Gerard (2004). Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book. New York: Basic Books. p. 223.
ISBN0465036562.
^Thompson, Maggie; Dean, Michael; Frankenhoff, Brent; Greenholdt, Joyce; Miller, John Jackson (1995). Comics Buyer's Guide 1996 Annual.
Krause Publications. p. 81.
ISBN0873414063. Beginning as National Allied Publications in 1935 [sic] and becoming National Allied Newspaper Syndicate the next year, it changed to National Comic [sic] Publications in 1946 and National Periodical Publications in 1961...