Martin Goodman (born January 18, 1908; died June 6, 1992, Palm Beach, Florida)^[1] was an American publisher of pulp magazines, paperback books, men's adventure magazines, and comic books, launching the company that would become Marvel Comics. Events 350 - Generallus Magnentius deposes Roman Emperor Constans and proclaims himself Emperor Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Events 1508 - Maximilian I Holy Roman Emperor, is defeated in Friulia by Venetian forces; he is forced to sign a three-year Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) Palm Beach is an upscale Incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view Pulp magazines (or pulp fiction; often referred to as "the pulps" were inexpensive Fiction magazines Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. Men's adventure is a genre of Magazines that had its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s Magazines, periodicals or serials are Publications generally published on a regular schedule containing a variety of articles, generally A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc

Pulps and the Golden Age of Comics

Uncanny Tales (May 1940), one of the Red Circle pulp magazines

After traveling around the country as a young man during the Great Depression, living in hobo camps, Goodman became a salesperson for New York City publisher Paul Sampliner's Independent News, "alongside future comics publishers and rivals John Goldwater and Louis Silberkleit," as well as "Frank Armer, who helped distribute Harry Donenfeld's Detective Comics. Harry Donenfeld (1893-1965 was an American publisher who is known primarily for being the owner of National Allied Publications, which distributed Detective Detective Comics is an American comic book published monthly by DC Comics since 1937 best-known for introducing the iconic Superhero Batman ^[2][3][4] In 1931, Goodman, Silberkleit, and Maurice Coyne formed Columbia Publications, one of the earliest publishers of pulp magazines, which Goodman left in 1932, and (with borrowed money) found his own companies including Western Fiction Publishing. Pulp magazines (or pulp fiction; often referred to as "the pulps" were inexpensive Fiction magazines ^[5]

Goodman's first publication was Western Supernovel Magazine, premiering May 1933. After the first issue he renamed it Complete Western Book Magazine, beginning with cover-date July 1933. ^[6]

Goodman's business strategy involved using several corporate names for various publishing ventures, such as Red Circle. Goodman's pulp magazines included All Star Adventure Fiction Complete Western Book, Mystery Tales, Real Sports, Star Detective, the science fiction magazine Marvel Science Stories and the jungle-adventure title Ka-Zar, starring its Tarzan-like namesake. Ka-Zar is the name of two Jungle -dwelling Fictional characters The first appeared in Pulp magazines of the 1930s and was adapted for his second iteration Tarzan is a Fictional character, an archetypal Feral child raised in the African jungle by Apes who later returns to civilization only to

In 1939, with the emerging medium of comic books proving hugely popular, and the first superheroes setting the trend, Goodman contracted with newly formed comic-book "packager" Funnies, Inc. to supply material for a test comic book. "Popular press" redirects here note that the University of Wisconsin Press publishes under the imprint "The Popular Press" A superhero (sometimes rendered super-hero or super hero) is a Fictional character "of unprecedented physical prowess dedicated to acts of derring-do Funnies Inc is an influential American Comic book packager of the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of comic books. Marvel Comics #1, cover-dated October 1939 and featuring the first appearances of the hit characters the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner,^[7] quickly sold out 80,000 copies. Marvel Mystery Comics (first issue titled simply Marvel Comics) is an American Comic book series published during the 1930s-1940s period known This is a list of First appearances of artifacts characters dimensions locations species and teams in publications by Marvel Comics. The Human Torch is a Fictional character, a Marvel Comics -owned Superhero. Goodman produced a second printing, cover-dated November 1939, that then sold an approximate 800,000 copies. ^[8] With a hit on his hands, Goodman began assembling an in-house staff, hiring Funnies, Inc. writer-artist Joe Simon as editor, and the first official employee of the new Timely Publications. Joseph H Simon (born October 11, 1913) is a Jewish-American Comic book Writer, Artist, editor, and publisher Editing Language, Images or Sound through correction condensation organization and other modifications in various media Timely Comics became the umbrella name for the several paper corporations that comprised Goodman's comic-book division, which would in ensuing decades evolve into Marvel Comics. Timely Comics is the 1940s Comic book Publishing company that would evolve into first Atlas Comics, and then Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc

Marvel Comics #1, featuring the Human Torch. Art by Frank R. Paul. Frank Rudolph Paul ( April 18 1884 - June 29 1963) was an illustrator of US Pulp magazines in the Science fiction field

In 1941, Timely published its third major character, Simon & Kirby's seminal patriotic superhero Captain America, whose success led to Simon hiring his artist collaborator, future comics legend Jack Kirby, subsequently "hir[ing] inker Syd Shores to be Timely's third employee. Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg, August 28, 1917 &ndash February 6, 1994) was an American Comic book Sydney Shores ( September 4, 1913 - June 3, 1973) was an American Comic book Artist known for his work on "^[4] Simon & Kirby departed Timely after 10 issues, and Goodman appointed Stan Lee as Timely's editor, a position Lee would hold for decades. Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber; December 28, 1922) is an American Writer, editor, creator of comic book characters

With the post-war lessening of interest in superheroes, Goodman published a wider variety of genres including horror, Westerns, teen humor, crime and war comics. Horror fiction is broadly Fiction in any medium intended to scare unsettle or horrify the audience The Western is a fiction Genre seen in Film, Television, Radio, Literature, Painting and other Visual arts. Crime fiction is the Genre of Fiction that deals with Crimes their detection criminals and their motives It is usually distinguished from

The name "Timely Comics" went into disuse after Goodman began using the globe logo of the newsstand-distribution company he owned, Atlas, starting with the covers of comic books dated November 1951. This united a line put out by the same publisher and staff through 59 shell companies, from Animirth Comics to Zenith Publications. Throughout the 1950s, the company formerly known as Timely was called Atlas Comics. Atlas Comics is the 1950s Comic book Publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.

Magazines and paperback books

As the market for pulp magazines waned, Goodman, in addition to comic books, transitioned to conventional magazines — published through a concern dubbed Magazine Management Company at least as far back as 1953^[9] — and in 1949 founded Lion Books, a paperback line. ^[10] Goodman used the name Red Circle Books for the first seven titles plus an additional two later. Most were novels, but there was a smattering of mostly sports-oriented nonfiction. Goodman eventually developed two lines, the 25¢ Lion and the 35¢ Lion Library.

New American Library bought Lion in 1957, and several Lion titles were reprinted under its Signet label. New American Library (aka NAL began publishing Paperbacks in the 1940s Authors that Lion published included such notables as Robert Bloch, David Goodis and Jim Thompson. Robert Albert Bloch (April 5 1917 Chicago – September 23 1994 Los Angeles) was a prolific American Writer, primarily of crime David Goodis ( March 2, 1917 – January 7, 1967) was an American Noir fiction writer James Myers Thompson ( September 27, 1906, Anadarko, Oklahoma Territory - April 7, 1977, Los Angeles, California ^[10]

Marvel Comics

In 1961, following rival DC Comics' successful revival of superheroes a few years earlier, comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee and freelance artist Jack Kirby debuted The Fantastic Four #1, the first hit of what would become Marvel Comics. DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber; December 28, 1922) is an American Writer, editor, creator of comic book characters Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg, August 28, 1917 &ndash February 6, 1994) was an American Comic book The Fantastic Four is a fictional Superhero team appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. The newly naturalistic comics, in which superheroes bickered, worried about money and behaved more like everyday people than noble archetypes, changed the industry. Lee, Kirby, such artists as Steve Ditko, Don Heck, Dick Ayers, John Romita Sr., Gene Colan, and John Buscema, and eventually writers including Roy Thomas and Archie Goodwin, among others, ushered in a string of hit characters, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, and, in the 1970s after a false start in the '60s, the X-Men. Steve Ditko (born 2 November 1927) is an American Comic book Artist and Writer best known as the co-creator of the Don Heck ( January 2, 1929 – February 23, 1995) was an American Comic book Artist best known for co-creating Richard Bache "Dick" Ayers (born April 28, 1924, Ossining New York, United States) is a Comic book artist and Cartoonist John Romita Sr (better known as simply John Romita) (born January 24, 1930) is an Italian-American Comic-book artist best known Eugene "Gene" Colan (born September 1, 1926) is an American comic book artist. John Buscema, born Giovanni Natale Buscema (December 11 1927&ndashJanuary 10 2002 was an American Comic-book Artist and one of the mainstays Roy Thomas (born November 22 1940, Missouri, United States) is a Comic book Writer and editor, and Archie Goodwin ( September 8, 1937 &ndash March 1, 1998) was an American Comic book writer editor and artist Spider-Man is a Fictional character appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. Iron Man is a Fictional character that appears in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. This article is about the comic book character and series For all other media appearances see Hulk in other media. Daredevil is a Fictional character that appears in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 The X-Men is a team of fictional Superhero characters in Comic books published by Marvel Comics.

In the fall of 1968, Goodman sold Magazine Management to the Perfect Film and Chemical Corporation. Goodman remained as publisher^[11] until 1972. Two years later he founded a new comics company, Seaboard Periodicals, but it folded a year afterward. Atlas/Seaboard is the term Comic-book historians and collectors use to refer to the 1970s line of comics published as Atlas Comics by the American company

Perfect Film and Chemical renamed itself Cadence Industries in 1973, the first of many post-Goodman changes, mergers, and acquisitions that led to what became the 21st-century corporation Marvel Entertainment Group.

Men's magazines

Goodman's Magazine Management Company also published such men's adventure magazines as For Men Only, Male and Stag, edited during the 1950s by Noah Sarlat. Men's adventure is a genre of Magazines that had its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s As well, there was such ephemera as a black-and-white "nudie cutie" comic, The Adventures of Pussycat (Oct. The Adventures of Pussycat was a risqué black-and-white Comics feature that ran throughout various Men's adventure magazines published by Martin 1968) that reprinted some stories of the sexy, tongue-in-cheek secret-agent strip that ran in some of his men's magazines. Marvel/Atlas writers Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Ernie Hart and artists Wally Wood, Al Hartley, Jim Mooney and Bill Everett and "good girl art" cartoonist Bill Ward contributed. Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber; December 28, 1922) is an American Writer, editor, creator of comic book characters Larry D Lieber (born October 26, 1931, New York City, New York) is an American Comic book artist and writer and the younger This page is about the US comic-book writer His pseudonym is not the mathematician H Wallace Allan Wood ( June 17, 1927, Menahga Minnesota – November 2, 1981, Los Angeles California) was an American Henry Allan Hartley (October 25 1921 Kearny, New Jersey, United States –May 27 2003 Fort Myers Florida) was an American James Noel "Jim" Mooney ( August 13, 1919 &ndash March 30, 2008) was an American comic book artist best known William Blake "Bill" Everett, also known as William Blake and Everett Blake ( May 18, 1917, Cambridge Massachusetts – Good girl art ( GGA) is found in drawings or paintings which feature a strong emphasis on attractive women no matter what the subject or situation A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing Cartoons Traditionally much of this work was and still is humorous and is intended primarily for entertainment purposes William "Bill" Ward ( March 6, 1919 - November 17, 1998) was an American Cartoonist best known as one of the most ^[12][13]

By the late 1960s, these titles had begun evolving into erotic magazines, with pictorials about dancers and swimsuit models replaced by bikinis and discreet nude shots, with gradually fewer fiction stories. A bikini or two-piece is a type of women's Swimsuit, characterized by two separate parts &mdash one covering the Breasts (optionally in the case of

Another division, Humorama, published digest-sized magazines of girlie cartoons by Ward, Bill Wenzel and Archie Comics great Dan De Carlo, as well as black-and-white photos of pin-up models including Bettie Page, Eve Meyer, stripper Lili St. Cyr and actresses Joi Lansing, Tina Louise, Irish McCalla, Julie Newmar and others. Archie Comics is an American Comic book publisher known for its many series featuring the fictional teenage Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper Daniel S DeCarlo ( December 12, 1919, - December 19, 2001) was an American Cartoonist best known as the Artist A photograph (often shortened to photo) is an Image created by Light falling on a light-sensitive surface usually Photographic film or an electronic A pin-up girl or pin-up model is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as Pop culture. Bettie Mae Page (born Betty Mae Page April 22 1923 in Nashville Tennessee) is a former American model who became famous in the 1950s for Eve Meyer (December 13 1928 - March 27 1977 was an American Pin-up model, motion picture actor and later Film producer. A striptease or Exotic dance is a form of erotic entertainment usually a Dance, in which the performer known as a "stripper" gradually undresses Lili St Cyr ( June 3, 1917 or 1918 &ndash January 29, 1999) was a prominent American Burlesque Stripper Joi Lansing (born Joyce Rae Brown) ( April 6, 1929 -- August 7, 1972) was a film and television actress Movie Actress Tina Louise (born February 11, 1934) is an American model, Singer and actress. Nellie Elizabeth "Irish" McCalla ( December 25, 1928 – February 1, 2002) was Julie Newmar (born August 16, 1933) is an American actress, Dancer and Singer. Abe Goodman, a relative, headed this division. Titles included Breezy, Gaze, Gee-Whiz, Joker, Stare, and Snappy. They were published from at least the mid-1950s to mid-1960s.

In addition to men's adventure magazines and Humorama, Goodman also published many other magazines covering a plethora of topics including several male oriented glossy 5"x7" digests in the early-to-mid 1950s (e. g. Focus, Photo and Eye) prior to the development of Humorama, as well as many romance, film and television, sports and other general interest magazines spanning several decades.

Quotes

Dorothy Gallagher: "At Magazine Management, magazines were produced the way Detroit produced cars. I worked on the fan-magazine line. On the other side of a five-foot partition was the romance-magazine line. And across a corridor were the financial staples of the organization, the men's magazines — Stag, For Men Only, Male — for which, at one time or another, Mario Puzo, Bruce Jay Friedman, David Markson, Mickey Spillane and Martin Cruz Smith wrote, until they became too exalted and rich to do it anymore. Mario Gianluigi Puzo ( October 15, 1920 &ndash July 2, 1999) was a two time Academy Award -winning Italian American Bruce Jay Friedman (born April 26, 1930) is an American Novelist Screenwriter, and Playwright. David Markson is an American author born in Albany New York in 1927 Frank Morrison Spillane ( March 9 1918 – July 17 2006) better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American author of Martin Cruz Smith (né Martin William Smith) was born in Reading Pennsylvania, in 1942 I'm almost forgetting the comic-book line, where Stan Lee [co-]created Spider-Man, known to every connoisseur of classic comics". ^[14]

Adam Parfrey: "Most scribes laboring for Martin Goodman's Magazine Management firm and other repositories of adventure magazines spoke of feeling like well-compensated slaves of a very particular style ('man triumphant') that was not their own. This was not the style with which editor Bruce Jay Friedman felt most comfortable, and when editing publications for Martin Goodman he unsuccessfully tried to talk him out of running advertisements for trusses, an ad signalling the magazine's target audience: blue-collar yahoos. It would be years before he could raise his head at industry cocktail parties, when his acclaimed examples of 'black-humor fiction' were seen as appropriate material for a hipper, more monied crowd". ^[15]

Roy Thomas: "I was startled to learn in '65 that Marvel was just part of a parent company called Magazine Management. Roy Thomas (born November 22 1940, Missouri, United States) is a Comic book Writer and editor, and A lot of people from other departments went on to fame and fortune during Marvel's early days: Bruce Jay Friedman, Mario Puzo, Ernest Tidyman, and Rona Barrett". Ernest Tidyman ( January 1 1928 - July 14 1984) was a Cleveland -born American author and screenwriter best known for his Rona Barrett (born October 8, 1936) is an American Gossip columnist and businesswoman. ^[16]

List of Goodman's pulp magazines

All-American Sports and All-American Western were published by Columbia Publications. Ka-Zar is the name of two Jungle -dwelling Fictional characters The first appeared in Pulp magazines of the 1930s and was adapted for his second iteration Marvel Tales is the title of three American Comic-book series published by Marvel Comics, the first of them from the company's 1950s predecessor Atlas

Detective Star Magazine was once listed as a possible pulp publication. New research has shown this to the result of a transcription error. No such title exists.

Famous Stories was not published by Martin Goodman. There are several magazines with this title, or something similar; none were part of the Red Circle Group. The Famous Story Magazine was published in the UK by Atlas Publishing & Distributing Ltd. This firm had no connection with Goodman.

List of Goodman's humor magazines

• Best Cartoons from the Editors of Male & Stag, Magazine Management — published at least from 1973-1975)^[17]
• Breezy
• Cartoon Capers — published at least from vol. 4, #2 (1969) - vol. 10, #3 (1975)^[17]
• Cartoon Laughs — confirmed extant: vol 12, #3 (1973)^[17]
• Comedy — published at least January, 1942, a digest sized publication
• Cupid
• Gayety — published at least September, 1941
• Gaze
• Gee-Whiz
• Joker — published at least Spring, 1941
• Stare
• Snap — published at least October, 1940
• Snappy
• Zippy — published at least May, 1941

List of Goodman's men's-adventure and erotic magazines

Launched pre-1970

Male vol. 26, #3 (March 1976)

• Action Life Magazine — published at least volume 4, #4 (Nov. 1954), Atlas Magazine Pub.
• Complete Man Magazine — published at least between Sept. 1965 and April 1967, Atlas Magazines
• For Men Only — confirmed at least from vol. 4, #11 (Dec. 1957) through at least vol. 26, #3 (March 1976)

Published by Canam Publishers at least 1957), Newsstand Publications Inc. (at least 1966-1967), Perfect Film Inc. (at least 1968), Magazine Management Co. Inc. (at least 1970) ^[18]

• Male — published at least vol. 1, #2 (July 1950) through 1977 ^[19]
• Male Home Companion
• Stag — at least 314 issues published February 1942 - Feb. 1976

Published by Official Commmunications Inc. (1951), Official Magazines (Feb. 1952 - March 1958), Atlas (July 1958 - Oct. 1968), Magazine Management (Dec. 1970 to end) ^[20]

• Stag Annual — at least 18 issues published 1964-1975

Published by Atlas (1964–1968), Magazine Management (1970 – 1975) ^[20]

1970s and later

• FILM International — covering X-rated movies ^[21]

List of Goodman's true crime magazines

• Action Life Magazine — published at least volume 4, #4 (Nov. 1954), Atlas Magazine Pub.
• Complete Detective Cases — published at least between March 1941 and Fall 1954, Postal Pub. Inc.
• Leading Detective Cases — published at least May 1947, Zenith Pub. Corp.
• National Detective Cases — published at least March 1941.

List of Goodman's movie magazines

• Screen Stars — published at least October 1944.

List of Goodman's other magazines

1977 issue of Celebrity

• Celebrity — extant in at least 1977
• It's Amazing — issue #1 dated only 1949, published by Stadium Publishing.
• Movie World
• Sex Health — issue #1 dated August 1937.

Footnotes

References

• The Timely Comics Story
• A List of Pre-Golden Age Marvel Magazines
• Comic Book Artist #2 (Summer 1998): "Stan the Man & Roy the Boy: A Conversation Between Stan Lee and Roy Thomas"
• Social Security Death Index

External links

• "Louis Silberkleit, Co-Founder of Archie Comics, Dies at 81", The New York Times February 25, 1986, with correction published February 27, 1986