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Why is there no Platinum Age Forum?
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Started by World Devourer,

239 posts in this topic

Professor K

Professor K

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Posted (edited)

Just reading a little about the man who created what became DC comics, Malcolm Wheeler Nicholson. Seems they really screwed him over. 

In 1935, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson came to Independent News seeking a new distributor for the comic book projects his company, National Allied Publications, was producing. Although comic books were not Donenfeld's main field, he took on Wheeler-Nicholson, and Independent News began printing and distributing comic books. Wheeler-Nicholson brought out two comics, New Fun and New Comics—the former of historical note as the first modern comic book with all-original material, as opposed to newspaper-comic reprints with occasional, tangential new material—but it would be his third publication, Detective Comics, that would prove key. Already in considerable debt with Independent, Wheeler-Nicholson could only fund publication of Detective Comics by creating a subsidiary company—Detective Comics Incorporated—in partnership with Liebowitz.

In 1938, Donenfeld managed to remove Wheeler-Nicholson from the equation, pushing Detective Comics, Inc. into bankruptcy and buying its assets.[13] As part of the bankruptcy action, Liebowitz—now sole owner of Detective Comics Inc.—bought up Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied Publications, and Donenfeld and Liebowitz assumed control over the entire, growing comic-book publisher.

And this- 

DC's 50th-anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great cites the Great Depression as "forc[ing] Wheeler-Nicholson to sell his publishing business to Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz in 1937".[8] However, wrote comics historian Gerard Jones:

In early 1938, Harry Donenfeld send him and his wife on a cruise to Cuba to 'work up new ideas'. When they came home, the major found the lock to his office door changed. In his absence, Harry had sued him for nonpayment and pushed Detective Comics, Inc. into bankruptcy court. There a judge named Abe Mennen, one of Harry's old Tammany buddies, had been appointed interim president of the firm and arranged a quick sale of its assets to Independent News. Harry gave the major a percentage of More Fun Comics as a shut-up token and wished him well.[38]

Edited by Professor K
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Yorick

Yorick

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On 3/22/2023 at 4:13 AM, Professor K said:

Malcolm Wheeler Nicholson

Do you have a copy of DC Comic Before Superman?

Hermes Press still has a few damaged copies at a discount.  I really enjoy this book:

https://hermespress.com/collections/super-sale/products/dc-comics-before-superman-major-malcolm-wheeler-nicholsons-pulp-comics-damaged

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waaaghboss

waaaghboss

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On 2/11/2023 at 7:16 PM, Robot Man said:

I checked mine. It has 76 pages. Since there are no numbered story pages, it might be hard to know if it is complete. 

Finally found mine and im counting 72, so I'm guessing I'm missing a centerfold?  :(

 

My first and last page 

20230421_202423.thumb.jpg.5d2735a7ed35d1fb6287fa93219d4437.jpg20230421_202404.thumb.jpg.4cb74d2c086c402a8c0a0f307cc24406.jpg

 

*edit* just pulled it back out, and the story seems to follow through on the centerfold.   I'm thinking it is 72 pages?

20230421_214424.thumb.jpg.11fb6a7f83287b66d93d86ecad647df2.jpg

Edited by waaaghboss
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