St. John Publications is an American comic book publisher that during its short existence from 1947-1958 established several industry firsts, as well as a larger societal first. A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ...

The company, founded by Archer St. John, brother of a noted war correspondent, was based at 545 Fifth Avenue in New York City. A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war zone. ... Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC, City That Never Sleeps, The Concrete Jungle, The City So Nice They Named It Twice Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1676  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City...

The digest-sized "picture novel" It Rhymes with Lust (1950), an early precursor of the graphic novel. Cover art by Matt Baker and Ray Osrin.

The company's notable comics include the first 3-D comic book, Three Dimension Comics #1 (Sept. 1953 oversize format, Oct. 1953 standard-size reprint), featuring the Terrytoons movie-cartoon character Mighty Mouse. According to Joe Kubert, co-creator with the brothers Norman Maurer and Leonard Maurer, it sold an exceptional 1.2 million copies at 25 cents apiece at a time when comics cost a dime. [1]. St. John also published the second 3-D comic, the aptly named 3-D Comics, the single issue of which incongruously billed itself as "World's First!" Image File history File links Download high resolution version (503x694, 129 KB) Summary Cover, It Rhymes with Lust -- 1950 picture novel (proto-grahic novel) Image courtesy of Comicartville. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (503x694, 129 KB) Summary Cover, It Rhymes with Lust -- 1950 picture novel (proto-grahic novel) Image courtesy of Comicartville. ... Trade paperback of Will Eisners A Contract with God (1978), often mistakenly cited as the first graphic novel. ... Matthew Baker (born 23 December 1977 in Easington, County Durham) is a British television presenter. ... Stereo card image modified for crossed eye viewing. ... Mighty Mouse, the signature character of the studio. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as... A cartoon is any of several forms of illustrations, with varied meanings that evolved from one to another. ... A Mighty Mouse poster. ... Joe Kubert (born September 18, 1926, Poland) is an American comic book artist who went on to found the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. ... Norman Albert Maurer (May 13, 1926 - November 23, 1986, Los Angeles, California) was a comic book artist, and a writer, director and producer of films and TV shows. ...

Other St. John comic books included the first movie-comedian tie-in series, Abbott and Costello Comics; one of the first proto-graphic novels, the 25-cent "picture novel" It Rhymes with Lust (1950); and a five-issue series (Sept. 1953 - Oct. 1954), appearing under three titles, that introduced the enduring Kubert prehistoric hero Tor. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Graphic novel (sometimes abbreviated GN) is a term for a kind of book, usually telling an extended story with sequential art ( comics). ... Tor was a comic book drawn by Joe Kubert and written by Norman Maurer about a caveman named Tor who battles dinosaurs and other monsters. ...

Finally, St. John Publications utilized the first African-American comic-book artist in mainstream media, Matt Baker, who contributed to the ostensibly true-crime series Authentic Police Cases, the light-humor comic Canteen Kate, the romance books Cinderella Love and Teen-Age Romances, and many others. Languages Predominantly American English Religions Predominantly Christianity and Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... Matthew Baker (born 23 December 1977 in Easington, County Durham) is a British television presenter. ... True crime is a non-fiction genre in which the author uses an actual crime and real people as a point of departure. ... This article refers to the wide variety of writing called romantic. For literature from the European Romantic movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, see Romanticism: Art and Literature. ...

Archer St. John

Flying Cadet #17 (Oct. 1944), cover artist unknown. The topless woman indicates this was not a comic for little boys.

The younger brother of noted World War II correspondent Robert St. John, Archer St. John was born c. 1904 in Chicago, Illinois. Their mother Amy, a nurse, and father John, a pharmacist, moved the family to suburban Oak Park in 1910. Following the father's death in 1917 and the mother's eventual remarriage, Archer attended the St. Albans Episcopal Academy boarding school in Sycamore, Illinois. Both brothers became journalists, with Archer founding the Berwyn [Illinois] Tribune in the early- to mid-1920s. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (530x742, 160 KB) Summary Cover, Flying Cadet #17 (Oct. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (530x742, 160 KB) Summary Cover, Flying Cadet #17 (Oct. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Nickname: The Windy City, The Second City, Chi Town, City of the Big Shoulders, The 312, The City that Works Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in Chicagoland and Illinois Coordinates: Country United States State Illinois County Cook & DuPage Incorporated March 4, 1837  - Mayor... Official language(s) English Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... This article focuses on the education and regulation of nurses. ... The mortar and pestle is an international symbol of pharmacists and pharmacies. ... Illustration of the backyards of a surburban neighbourhood Suburbs are inhabited districts located either on the outer rim of a city or outside the official limits of a city (the term varies from country to country), or the outer elements of a conurbation. ... Wrights home in Oak Park, Illinois Lake Theater and shops along Lake Street. ... Sycamore is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. ... Incorporated [[{{{muni}}}]] in 1902. ...

He had left that newspaper by 1930, by which time he'd become advertising manager of the New York City-based model train maker, Lionel Trains Corporation. Among his duties, he edited the company's hobbyist magazine, Model Builder, debuting cover-dated January 1937. It included true railroad stories in its editorial mix, eventually adding such comic-bookish featurettes as "Famous Railroad Sagas". Commercialism redirects here. ... Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC, City That Never Sleeps, The Concrete Jungle, The City So Nice They Named It Twice Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1676  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City... This article needs cleanup. ... Lionel, LLC is a designer and importer of toy trains and model railroads, based in Chesterfield, Michigan and currently in bankruptcy. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ...

By the early 1940s, St. John was editor of the 17-issue magazine Flying Cadet (Jan. 1943 - Oct. 1944). Like Model Builder, it, too, mixed editorial prose with comics-style instructional featurettes. That changed with its final issue, a standard comic book that included fictional adventure ("Buzz Benson" by Maurice Whitman and George Kapitan; the remarkably progressive Lt. Lela Lang, art by Kapitan, about a female bomber pilot) and humor ("Grease Pan Gus") strips. The company — also called Flying Cadet — additionally published American Air Forces #1 (Oct. 1944), as well as some issues of Dynamic Comics and Punch Comics. A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping boobs. ...

Either editing in his off hours while continuing to work at Lionel, or having left and returned to the company — a December 1944 letter that he signed places St. John in the Lionel advertising department at that time — St. John left the model-train maker in early 1945. After acquiring a reported $400,000 in start-up financing,¹ he began publishing the comic-strip reprint comic books Comics Revue and Pageant of Comics, under his own name as publisher, in 1947. Shortly afterward, his comic-book company took on the name St. John Publications.

Mice and men

Terry-Toons Comics #61 (Oct. 1947), cover artist unknown. Note the gun gag, considered acceptable for children at the time.

St. John acquired the license to publish comics based on the movie cartoons of producer Paul Terry. The Terrytoons properties, originally adapted as comic book by Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics, included such characters as Mighty Mouse, the crows Heckle and Jeckle, Gandy Goose, and Deputy Dawg. The first such St. John comic was Mighty Mouse #5 (August 1947), its numbering taken over from the Timley run. Image File history File links Terry-Toons61. ... Image File history File links Terry-Toons61. ... Mighty Mouse, the signature character of the studio. ... Mighty Mouse, the signature character of the studio. ... Timely Comics is the 1940s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. ... Marvel Comics is an American comic book line published by Marvel Publishing, Inc. ... A Mighty Mouse poster. ... Heckle and Jeckle in Taming the Cat Heckle and Jeckle was a theatrical cartoon series created by Paul Terry, and released by his own studio, Terrytoons. ... Deputy Dawg was originally a Terrytoons cartoon character featured on the animated television series of the same name from 1959 through 1972. ...

The company expanded into licensed characters from another animation company, the joint Paramount Pictures-Famous Studios, which included the future Harvey Comics characters Casper the Friendly Ghost (unnamed in his movie 'toons to that time, and given his familiar designation in his eponymous comic-book's September 1949 premiere), Baby Huey (who premiered in that comic before his March 3, 1950, screen debut, "Quack A Doodle Do"), Little Roquefort and Little Audrey. Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ... Famous Studios was the animation studio owned by Paramount Pictures after the company foreclosed on Fleischer Studios and ousted Max and Dave Fleischer in 1942. ... Casper the Friendly Ghost in Theres Good Boos To-Night (1948). ... Casper the Friendly Ghost is the main character of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. ... Baby Huey, a gigantic infant duckling, was a creation of Paramount Pictures Famous Studios in the early 1950s, and later became a Harvey Comics title. ... Little Audrey is a fictional character, appearing in Paramount Pictures Famous Studios cartoons from 1947 to 1959. ...

Little Eva, Audrey's lesser-known replacement, was added to the publishing schedule in 1952 after the Audrey licence passed on to Harvey. Eva could be viewed as one of the company's few original comic characters of the period, although her originality is dubious at best; both Audrey and Eva may be described as literary descendants of Marjory Henderson Buell's Little Lulu. A Little Lulu comic book Little Lulu is a comic strip character, created by Marjorie Henderson Buell. ...

Continuing in the popular vein of reprinted comic strips, St. John published comic books of such gag strips as Moon Mullins and Nancy, and of the NEA syndicate's private detective adventure strip Vic Flint. This hardboiled fiction by the pseudonymous Michael O'Malley (writer Ernest Lynn and others) and artists Ralph Lane, Dean Miller, Art Sansom, and John Lane, was reprinted in the comic books Vic Flint (#1-5, Aug. 1948 - April 1949); all but the first issue of Fugitives from Justice (#1-5, 1953); and some issues of Authentic Police Cases (#1-38, 1948-1955). Moon Mullins, by Frank Willard, ran as a daily and Sunday comic strip from 1923 to 1991. ... Nancy is an American daily comic strip written and drawn by Ernie Bushmiller. ... United Media is large editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States, owned by The E.W. Scripps Company. ... A private investigator, or PI, is a person who undertakes investigations. ... Hardboiled crime fiction is a uniquely American style pioneered by Dashiell Hammett, refined by Raymond Chandler, and endlessly imitated since by writers such as Mickey Spillane. ...

St. John entered the new field of romance comics with Hollywood Confessions #1 (Oct. 1949), a title that metamorphosed two issues later into Hollywood Pictorial, and then shifted from comic book to movie magazine (Hollywood Pictorial Western) with issue #4 (March 1950). Notably, this was the first of what would become a line of St. John magazines.

The company introduced several other, mostly short-lived original series from 1948 through 1953, including a rare, for the company, superhero series, Zip-Jet, starring a yellow-clad "supersonic enemy of evil." That and the two St. John series titled Atom-Age Combat (see in Bibliography, below) directly reflected the era's Cold War "nuclear jitters" and popular-culture fascination with the breaking of the sound barrier. St. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Popular culture, or pop culture, (literally: the culture of the people) consists of widespread cultural elements in any given society. ... U.S. Navy F/A-18 at transonic speed. ...

Pioneering "picture novel"

In 1950 — more than 20 years before Gil Kane & Archie Goodwin's Blackmark and almost 30 before Will Eisner's A Contract with God and Don McGregor & Paul Gulacy's Sabre — St. John helped pioneer the medium that would become known as the graphic novel. The digest-sized, adult-oriented "picture novel" It Rhymes with Lust was a film noir-influenced slice of steeltown life starring a scheming, manipulative redhead named Rust. Touted as "an original full-length novel" on its cover, the book by pseudonymous writer "Drake Waller" (Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller), penciler Matt Baker and inker Ray Osrin, was sold at newsstands. It proved successful enough to lead to an unrelated second picture novel, The Case of the Winking Buddha by pulp novelist Manning Lee Stokes and illustrator Charles Raab. Showcase #22 (Oct. ... Archie Goodwin (September 8, 1937 – March 1, 1998) was an American comic book writer, editor, and artist. ... Blackmark is a 1971 Bantam Books paperback that is arguably the first graphic novel. ... William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an acclaimed American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. ... Cover A Contract with God is a graphic novel by Will Eisner, its full title being A Contract with God: and Other Tenement Stories. ... Donald F. McGregor (born June 15, 1945, Rhode Island, United States) is an American comic book writer, and the author of one of the first graphic novels. ... Paul Gulacy is an American Comic Book Artist. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Szabla. ... Trade paperback of Will Eisners A Contract with God (1978), often mistakenly cited as the first graphic novel. ... Original cover to It Rhymes with Lust, one precursor of the graphic novel. ... This still from The Big Combo (1955) demonstrates the visual style of film noir at its most extreme. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Pseudonym. ... Arnold Drake was an American writer of comic books notable for his work on Deadman, for which he was given the Bill Finger Award, and on Doom Patrol. ... Leslie Elson Waller (1923—), author, the son of Ukranian immigrants, was born in Chicago, Illinois, April 1, 1923. ... Matthew Baker (born 23 December 1977 in Easington, County Durham) is a British television presenter. ... A typical newsstand in New York City. ... Pulp Fiction is an Academy Award-winning 1994 film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote the screenplay with Roger Avary. ...

List of St. John comic books

3-D Comics #2 (Nov. 1953 edition with 3-D cover). Art by Joe Kubert.

Image File history File links 3-D_Comics_n2_Nov53. ... Image File history File links 3-D_Comics_n2_Nov53. ... Joe Kubert (born September 18, 1926, Poland) is an American comic book artist who went on to found the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. ...

Cartoon-character series

• Adventures of Mighty Mouse
• Casper the Friendly Ghost
• Heckle and Jeckle
• Little Audrey # 1-24, 1948-1951.
• Little Eva
• Little Roquefort Comics
• Mighty Mouse
• Paul Terry's Comics
• Paul Terry's Mighty Mouse
• Terry-Toons Comics #60-86 (Sept. 1947 - May 1951; continued from Timely Comics' run)
• Terry-Toons Comics (1952 series)
• Three Dimension Comics #1, featuring Mighty Mouse

A Mighty Mouse poster. ... Casper the Friendly Ghost is the main character of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. ... Heckle and Jeckle in Taming the Cat Heckle and Jeckle was a theatrical cartoon series created by Paul Terry, and released by his own studio, Terrytoons. ... Little Audrey is a fictional character, appearing in Paramount Pictures Famous Studios cartoons from 1947 to 1959. ... Mighty Mouse, the signature character of the studio. ... Mighty Mouse, the signature character of the studio. ... Timely Comics is the 1940s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. ...

Comic-strip reprint series

• Moon Mullins
• Mopsy
• Nancy and Sluggo
• Vic Flint

Moon Mullins, by Frank Willard, ran as a daily and Sunday comic strip from 1923 to 1991. ... Nancy is an American daily comic strip written and drawn by Ernie Bushmiller. ...

Movie-comedian series

• Abbott and Costello Comics  #1-40 (Feb. 1948 - Sept. 1956)
• Laurel and Hardy Comics  #1 (March 1949 - ?)
• Three Stooges  #1-7 (Sept. 1953 - Oct. 1954); on St. John's Jubilee Publications imprint

This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Moe Howard, Curly Howard and Larry Fine The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act in the early to mid 20th century. ...

Original series

• 1,000,000 Years Ago (a.k.a. One Million Years Ago)  #1, featuring Tor; continued as:

• 3-D Comics  #2

three eds.: standard & oversize, Oct. 1953; standard w/3-D cover, some different content, Nov. 1953; featuring Tor; continued as:

• Tor  #3-5

• Anchors Andrews  #1 (Jan. 1953); continued as:

• Anchors the Salt Water Daffy #2-4 (March-July 1953); continued as:

• Approved Comics  #-12 (1953-1954)

Showcase series featuring generally one issue each of series including Crime on the Run, Daring Adventures, Fightin' Marines, Flyboy, The Hawk, Invisible Boy, Kid Cowboy, Northwest Mounties, and Western Bandit Trail. Approved Comics also name of a St. John imprint.

• Atom-Age Combat  #1-5 (June 1952 - April 1953)
• Atom-Age Combat Vol. 2, #1 (Feb. 1958)
• Authentic Police Cases  #1-38 (Feb. 1948 - March 1955; sporadically included Vic Flint comic-strip reprints)
• Basil the Royal Cat  #1-4 (Jan.-Sept. 1953)
• Blue Ribbon Comics  #1-3 (Feb.-Aug. 1949); on St. John's Blue Ribbon imprint; continued as:

• Teen-Age Diary Secrets  #4-9; continued as:
• Diary Secrets  #10-30 (Feb. 1952 - Sept. 1955)

• Canteen Kate  #1-3 (June-Nov. 1952)
• Cinderella Love  #12-15 (Oct. 1953 - Aug. 1954, continued from Ziff-Davis run) See also Romantic Love
• Crime Reporter  #1-3 (August-Oct. 1948)
• Daring Adventures  #7-18
• Double Trouble  #1-2 (Nov. 1957 - Feb. 1958)
• Fugitives from Justice  #1-5 (Feb.-Oct. 1952; last four issues included Vic Flint comic-strip reprints)
• The Hawk  #8-12 (Sept. 1954 - May 1955; continued from Ziff-Davis run; reportedly no #5-7 published)
• Hollywood Confessions  #1-2 (Oct. 1949 - ?); continued as:

• Hollywood Pictorial  #3 (Jan. 1950); continued as:
• Movie magazine Hollywood Pictorial Western #4 (March 1950)

• The House of Terror #1 (Oct. 1953; 3-D comic)
• Kid Cowboy #11 & 14 (Winter 1952/53 & June 1954; continued from Ziff-Davis run; reportedly no #12-13 published)
• Little Eva  #1-31 (May 1952 - Nov. 1956)
• Little Eva 3-D  #1-2 (Oct.-Nov. 1953)
• Meet Miss Pepper  #5-6 (April-June 1954; continues from Lucy, The Real Gone Gal; further info n.a.)
• Northwest Mounties  #1-4 (Oct. 1948 - July 1949); on St. John's Jubilee Publications imprint
• Romantic Marriage  #18-24 (continued from Ziff-Davis run); continues as:

• Cinderella Love  #25-29 (see also Cinderella Love above)

• Son of Sinbad  #1 (Feb. 1950)
• Secret Missions  #1 (Feb. 1950 one-shot)
• Strange Terrors  #1-7 (June 1952 - March 1953)
• Teen-Age Romances  #1-45 (Jan. 1949 - Dec. 1955); on St. John's Approved Comics imprint
• The Texan  #1-15 (Aug. 1948 - Oct. 1951); continues as:

• Fightin' Marines  #15 (Aug. 1951), #2-12 (Oct. 1951 - March 1953); continues as Charlton Comics title

• Tip Top Comics
• Wartime Romances  #1-18 (July 1951 - Nov. 1953)
• Weird Horrors  #1-9 (June 1952 - Oct. 1953); continues as:

• Nightmare  #10-13 (? - Aug. 1954); continues as:
• Amazing Ghost Stories  #14-16 (? - )

• Western Bandit Trails  #1-3 (Jan.-July 1949); on St. John's Jubilee Publications imprint
• Whack  #1-3 (Oct. 1953 - May 1954; 3-D comic)
• Wild Boy of the Congo  #9-15 (Oct. 1953 - June 1955; continues from Ziff-Davis run; reportedly no #10 published)
• World’s Greatest Stories  #1-2 (? - May 1949); on St. John's Jubilee Publications imprint
• Zip-Jet  #1-2 (Feb.-May 1953)

Ziff-Davis Inc. ... Big C logo, used from Sept. ...

Footnotes

• Note 1: Vincent Fago interview, Alter Ego Vol. 3, #11 (Nov. 2001)

References

• Comicartville Library: "Archer St. John & The Little Company That Could", by Ken Quattro
• The Grand Comics Database
• 1950s 3-D Comic Book Checklist
• Vic Flint (fan page)

External links

• Ray Zone, Pioneer of 3-D Conversion
• TheColumnists.com: John Stanley (May 5, 2000): "Do You Remember 3-D Comic