Superhero with most comic book appearances in Golden Age? 1 1

[Pantodude]

I was surprised to learn that Dick Grayson's Robin has more comic book appearances than Batman during the Golden Age through 1956 (considering Detective Comics, Batman, World's Best Comics, World's Finest Comics, and Star Spangled Comics #65 onward).  Batman was solo in only Tec27-37 before Grayson's debut in Tec38, but Grayson's Robin was solo in more Star Spangled Comics issues, so perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised. 

But that made me wonder which superhero had the most GA comic book appearances among all publishers (DC, Timely, etc)?  Ideally there's a site ranking by # of appearances?     

Edited July 29, 2022 by Pantodude

[MAR1979]

My guess is Captain Marvel or Superman - but it could very well be Robin....

[sfcityduck]

Superman by far if you count Superboy.  He regularly appeared in Action, Superman, World’s Finest, More Fun then Adventure (as Superboy), Superboy, and did a variety of appearances in other title and many promotional comics.

My guess is Captain Marvel has the most appearances for a non-DC superhero, but Subby, Plastic Man, and Doll Man might be contenders for a top 5 spot.  (I do not count Phantom.)

[sfcityduck]

On 7/29/2022 at 6:56 AM, MAR1979 said:

My guess is Captain Marvel or Superman - but it could very well be Robin....

Superman, even excluding Superboy, has more GA appearances than Robin.

[aardvark88]

On 7/29/2022 at 7:01 AM, sfcityduck said:

My guess is Captain Marvel has the most appearances for a non-DC superhero, but Subby, Plastic Man, and Doll Man might be contenders for a top 5 spot.  (I do not count Phantom.)

Hard to count the 'Phantom' as he had so many foreign (e.g. Australian) issues, and was a costumed hero in an USA comic b4 'Action Comics' #1.

[MattTheDuck]

On 7/29/2022 at 6:41 AM, Pantodude said:

I was surprised to learn that Dick Grayson's Robin has more comic book appearances than Batman during the Golden Age through 1956 (considering Detective Comics, Batman, World's Best Comics, World's Finest Comics, and Star Spangled Comics #65 onward).  Batman was solo in only Tec27-37 before Grayson's debut in Tec38, but Grayson's Robin was solo in more Star Spangled Comics issues, so perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised. 

But that made me wonder which superhero had the most GA comic book appearances among all publishers (DC, Timely, etc)?  Ideally there's a site ranking by # of appearances?     

That is a bit of a mind twister.  I suppose they received a lot of positive feedback from kids about a "kid" character like Robin so figured out they should feature him more.

Edited July 29, 2022 by MattTheDuck

[Pantodude]

On 7/29/2022 at 12:11 PM, MattTheDuck said:

I suppose they received a lot of positive feedback from kids about a "kid" character like Robin so figured out they should feature him more.

Probably, as I read sales of Detective Comics immediately doubled due to Tec38.  

[Pantodude]

So perhaps the podium could be Superman, Robin, and Captain Marvel in some order, but now I'm intrigued by how Plastic Man, Subby, and Doll Man, as well as Batman, come out of it.  I hope there is a site that notes each GA superhero's total appearances in GA comics.      

[Professor K]

On 7/29/2022 at 2:05 PM, Pantodude said:

So perhaps the podium could be Superman, Robin, and Captain Marvel in some order, but now I'm intrigued by how Plastic Man, Subby, and Doll Man, as well as Batman, come out of it.  I hope there is a site that notes each GA superhero's total appearances in GA comics.      

I've never seen one but that would be nice. I doubt there is. My Final Answer would be Superman considering he had a nice head start on most others.

[Professor K]

After doing some brief and not thorough "research" I think the answer would be Robin. He was in about 65 issues of Star Spangled from issues 65 to 130. 

If you count Superboy and Superman as being the same character I believe they/he would have the most . Between a few More Fun issues, plus Superboy and Adventure comics, Superboy has at least 150 GA appearances.

[Pantodude]

Thanks for all the comments so far.  For now, looks like Robin, but Superman IF you include Superboy, which is kind of unfair.  Robin must be crying "FOUL!" if Superboy was introduced as a direct result of the success of Robin (which is surely the case, since Robin started the sidekick craze, after all)!     

Edited September 30, 2023 by Pantodude

[Mmehdy]

captain marvel

[HouseofComics.Com]

This reminds me of some research in a CBM marketplace report where the advisor said that by 1980 or something, Richie Rich had more appearances than Batman.

There probably weren't many months where Superman had three GA appearances but Captain Marvel would if CMA and Marvel Family came out the same month.

[Cat-Man_America]

Best guess would be Captain Marvel. He hit the stands bi-weekly for quite awhile as the featured character in Whiz Comics, his own s/t comic, with the Marvel Family titles, etc.  

Superman was so jealous, he turned Kryptonite green with envy then sued the big red cheese!  

[sfcityduck]

On 7/29/2022 at 11:05 AM, Pantodude said:

So perhaps the podium could be Superman, Robin, and Captain Marvel in some order, but now I'm intrigued by how Plastic Man, Subby, and Doll Man, as well as Batman, come out of it.  I hope there is a site that notes each GA superhero's total appearances in GA comics.      

Grand Comic Database.  

I'm guessing: Superman, Robin, Batman, Captain Marvel.  For the five spot, probably Subby. While Plastic Man had long runs in Police (100 issues) and Plastic Man (64 issues) and a few other appeararnce, Subby was in MMC (92 issues), Sub-Mariner (42 issues), Human Torch, All-Winners, All-Select and I'm sure other titles. My gut says Subby beats out Plas.

[rjpb]

A quick check of GCD shows at least 405 Captain Marvel appearances, not including the reprint/remaindered giants, cover only appearances or giveaways (some of which had original material). I'm guessing that might be more than Superman alone (though not if you count Superboy), unless if you start counting giveaways. If you include the Superman-Tim books, I'm guessing Superman far eclipses everyone else in giveaway appearances in the GA.

[rjpb]

On 7/30/2022 at 12:44 AM, sfcityduck said:

Grand Comic Database.  

I'm guessing: Superman, Robin, Batman, Captain Marvel.  For the five spot, probably Subby. While Plastic Man had long runs in Police (100 issues) and Plastic Man (64 issues) and a few other appeararnce, Subby was in MMC (92 issues), Sub-Mariner (42 issues), Human Torch, All-Winners, All-Select and I'm sure other titles. My gut says Subby beats out Plas.

Why Subby and not The Human Torch? Torch appeared in 48 issues of Captain America in addition to MMC and the same anthology titles that Subby was in. I wonder if Toro's Young Allies appearances exceed the number of issues he doesn't appear with The Human Torch in other titles? He could possibly be the Timely character with the most appearances. 

[sfcityduck]

On 7/30/2022 at 8:47 AM, rjpb said:

Why Subby and not The Human Torch? Torch appeared in 48 issues of Captain America in addition to MMC and the same anthology titles that Subby was in. I wonder if Toro's Young Allies appearances exceed the number of issues he doesn't appear with The Human Torch in other titles? He could possibly be the Timely character with the most appearances. 

Subby appeared in MPFW and Namora, and lasted longer in Atlas revival. Toro was not in early MMC as his first appearance was HT 2. But I have not counted them up.
 

I wonder if Bucky beats out CA? CA may only be 4 or 5 on the Timely/Atlas list.

[rjpb]

On 7/30/2022 at 9:41 AM, sfcityduck said:

Subby appeared in MPFW and Namora, and lasted longer in Atlas revival. Toro was not in early MMC as his first appearance was HT 2. But I have not counted them up.
 

I wonder if Bucky beats out CA? CA may only be 4 or 5 on the Timely/Atlas list.

Namora,  MPFW, and the additional Atlas revival issues add up to 8 added appearances. I'd forgotten that Torch was in #19 and the Atlas revival issues of Cap so that makes 52 issues (unless some were skipped between 21-67) vs. 38 Subby appearances in Human Torch. Subby was also in 3 issues of Cap, and 9 of Blonde Phantom, while Torch was in 4 issues of Subby and 3 of Young Allies and 2 issues of Mystic (2nd series). I think that puts Torch slightly ahead, but I might be missing something.

Toro wasn't in the first 17 issues of MMC, nor HT 1, and some later issues of both when Sun Girl replaced him, but he was in 17 issues of YA with no Torch, and at least 10 other books with Young Allies stories (and no Torch stories), so he might surpass HT. Thinking about the length of Cap's run, and his USA and MMC appearances, Captain America might still give Torch and Toro a race.