Red Circle (publishing)
From Hey Kids Comics
| File:Red circle logo.jpg | |
| Type | umbrella name for corporate group |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Headquarters | Manhattan, New York City |
| Key people | Martin Goodman |
| Products |
magazine Books |
Red Circle is the name used to refer to American publisher Martin Goodman's group of book and pulp magazine publishing corporations.[1] Some of this group of corporations continued into Goodman's comic-book publishing arm, Timely Comics,[2][3] which would evolve by the 1960s into Marvel Comics.
Official Marvel historian Les Daniels described the name Red Circle as "a halfhearted attempt to establish an identity for what was usually described loosely as 'the Goodman group' [made] when a new logo was adopted: a red disk surrounded by a black ring that bore the phrase 'A Red Circle Magazine.' But it appeared only intermittently, when someone remembered to put it on [a pulp magazine's] cover.[4] However, pulp historian Richard Paul Hall gives Red Circle as the overall name for Goodman's pulp and book publishing company,[1] noting that, "Goodman used the Red Circle Group logo between 1937 and 1939 to promote his line."[5] Within this framework, historian Jess Nevins writes that, "Timely Publications [was how] Goodman's group [of companies] had become known; before this, it was known as 'Red Circle' because of the logo that Goodman had put on his pulp magazines...."[6]
History[edit | edit source]
In 1931, Goodman, Louis 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.[7]
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.[8]
Magazines and paperback books[edit | edit source]
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. 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.[10]
New American Library bought Lion in 1957, and several Lion titles were reprinted under its Signet label. Authors that Lion published included such notables as Robert Bloch, David Goodis and Jim Thompson.[10]
Related Goodman publishing concerns[edit | edit source]
- Humorama (mid-1950s to mid-1960s)
- Lion Books (1949–1957)
- Magazine Management Company (c. 1953–1968)
- Timely Comics/Atlas Comics/Marvel Comics (1939–present)
Imprints[edit | edit source]
Magazines[edit | edit source]
Pulp
- Atlas
- Manvis
- Red Circle Magazine
- Timely Sports Magazine
- Star Magazine[1]
Books[edit | edit source]
- Lion Books
- Lion Books
- Lion Library
- Red Circle Books[10]
Pulp magazines[edit | edit source]
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References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Hall, Richard Paul. "Red Circle' Pulps Published by Martin Goodman". PulpInfo.org. Archived from the original on August 18, 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2011. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "pi" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Daniels, Les (1991). Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics. New York: Harry N. Abrams. pp. 27 & 32–33. ISBN 0-8109-3821-9. "Timely Publications became the name under which Goodman first published a comic book line. He eventually created a number of companies to publish comics ... but Timely was the name by which Goodman's Golden Age comics were known." "Marvel wasn't always Marvel; in the early 1940s the company was known as Timely Comics, and some covers bore this shield."
- ↑ Sanderson, Peter (2007). The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City. New York City: Pocket Books. pp. 52–61. ISBN 1-4165-3141-6.
- ↑ Daniels, Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics, p. 21
- ↑ Hall, associated text embedded at red_circle_logo.jpg
- ↑ Nevins, Jess. "The Timely Comics Story". p. 3: "Antebellum" Part I". Archived from the original on August 18, 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
- ↑ Sources differ as to dates and facts surrounding these brief years. Ro (Tales to Astonish, above) writes with slightly different dates, ignoring "Columbia Publications", and talks instead of Goodman & Silberkleit forming "Western Fiction" (with emphasis added):
- "Goodman worked for Independent News alongside future comics publishers and rivals John Goldwater and Louis Silberkleit and Frank Armer, who helped distribute Harry Donenfeld's Detective Comics. In 1932, Goodman and Silberkleit left Independent News, borrowed money, and formed Western Fiction Publishing... Two years after forming Western Fiction, however, Silberkleit left."
- "In the early 1930s Louis Silberkleit, Martin Goodman, and Maurice Coyne started Columbia Publications. Martin Goo dman soon left that company and it was owned solely by Louis Silberkleit and Maurice Coyne. Columbia was one of the last pulp companies, putting out its last pulp in the late 50s..." In 1939 Silberkleit and Coyne joined John L. Goldwater to found what is now Archie Comics.
- ↑ Cottrill, Tim. Bookery's Guide to Pulps & Related Magazines 1888-1969. Bookery Press, 2005. pp 70,274.
- ↑ Wakefield, Dan, New York in the 50s (Macmillan, 1999, ISBN 0-312-19935-X), quoting Bruce Jay Friedman: "I started with Magazine Management and stayed until 1963...."
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Black, Bruce (October 2010). "Lion". BookScans.com. Archived from the original on August 18, 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
External links[edit | edit source]
- Stephensen-Payne, Phil. "Magazines > Pulp Magazines". Galactic Central Publications. Archived from the original on August 18, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2011.