Post by Adminenkainen on Aug 11, 2015 17:00:13 GMT
Pick up any random comic book from Dell Comics and you might not have known that they ever published original characters, for Dell was always big into licensed characters. Indeed, some of the best-selling titles of all time were Dell's Disney comics. Before Disney entered the picture, though, there were comic strip reprints.
The origin of comic books is intrinsically tied into the history of comic strips, with the earliest comic books being composed entirely of strip reprints from the big newspaper chains. Strip reprints often did not find permanent homes, but floated from company to company as licenses expired. In this way a strip like (one of my favorites) Captain Easy might start out at Eastern, then move to Dell, and ultimately stay at Standard. Dick Tracy, Little Orphan Annie, and Gasoline Alley were other popular strips that Dell started off with the rights to reprint.
Probably because Dell was so successful in other genres, they never tried very hard at entering the superhero market. They came out with a smattering of original heroes around 1940, but none of them lasted or made an impact. 1940 was also the year Dell's license with Disney began, so after that is when Dell's fortunes really took off, with no help from the superhero genre.
Like Centaur and Chesler, Dell had its own content provider, Western. Western seemed to have had a special arrangement with Dell where they could publish the same material they sold to Dell in little books, similar to the Little Golden Books line.
The origin of comic books is intrinsically tied into the history of comic strips, with the earliest comic books being composed entirely of strip reprints from the big newspaper chains. Strip reprints often did not find permanent homes, but floated from company to company as licenses expired. In this way a strip like (one of my favorites) Captain Easy might start out at Eastern, then move to Dell, and ultimately stay at Standard. Dick Tracy, Little Orphan Annie, and Gasoline Alley were other popular strips that Dell started off with the rights to reprint.
Probably because Dell was so successful in other genres, they never tried very hard at entering the superhero market. They came out with a smattering of original heroes around 1940, but none of them lasted or made an impact. 1940 was also the year Dell's license with Disney began, so after that is when Dell's fortunes really took off, with no help from the superhero genre.
Like Centaur and Chesler, Dell had its own content provider, Western. Western seemed to have had a special arrangement with Dell where they could publish the same material they sold to Dell in little books, similar to the Little Golden Books line.
