National Comics Publications

National Comics Publications (NCP; later known as National Periodical Publications Inc. or simply National) was an American comic book publishing company. It was the direct predecessor of modern-day DC Comics.

National Periodical Publications Inc.

Formerly	National Comics Publications (1946–1961)
Company type	Subsidiary[1] (1967–1977)
Industry	Publishing
Predecessors	National Allied Publications (1935–1936) Nicholson Publishing (1936–1938) Detective Comics (1936–1946) All-American Publications (1939[2]: 147 –1946)
Founded	September 30, 1946; 78 years ago (September 30, 1946)
Founder	Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson Harry Donenfeld Jack Liebowitz
Defunct	1977; 48 years ago (1977)
Fate	Rebranded as DC Comics in 1977
Successor	DC Comics
Headquarters	New York City, U.S.
Products	Comic books
Parent	Kinney Services Inc. (1967–1972) Warner Communications (1972–1977)

History

Cover art of the first comic book by National Comics Publications

The corporation was originally two companies: National Allied Publications Inc. (also known as National Allied Newspaper Syndicate Inc.^[3] and later Nicholson Publishing Co., Inc.^[4]) which was founded by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1935^[5][6][7] to publish New Fun,^{[note 1]} the first American comic book with all-original material rather than comic strip reprints, and Detective Comics Inc.,^[6] which was founded on December 31, 1936^[8] by Wheeler-Nicholson with Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz to publish Detective Comics.^[9] Wheeler-Nicholson fell into deep debt to Donenfeld and Liebowitz, and in 1938, Donenfeld and Liebowitz petitioned Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied into bankruptcy and seized it, and as a result, Liebowitz took over and folded National Allied into Detective Comics.^{[10][11]: 20 [12]}

Max Gaines' All-American Publications and Detective Comics Inc. merged to become National Comics Publications Inc.^[13] on September 30, 1946.^{[14][11]: 50 [15]} National Comics was renamed "National Periodical Publications Inc." in 1961.^{[11]: 102 [16][17]}

Despite the official names "National Comics" and "National Periodical Publications", the company began branding itself as "Superman-DC" in the early 1940s.^[18]

In 1967, National Periodical Publications was purchased by Kinney National Services.^[19] In 1977, the company changed its name to DC Comics.^[20]

See also

• National Comics Publications, Inc. v. Fawcett Publications, Inc.

Notes

1. 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,...."