Editing Quality Comics

{{Short description|1937–1956 American comic book publisher}}
{{for|the United Kingdom comic book publisher formed in 1982|Quality Communications}}
{{Infobox company
| name         = Quality Comics
| founded      = 1937
| defunct      = December 1956
| founder      = [[Everett M. "Busy" Arnold]]
| image        = 
| logo_caption = 
| hq_location  = [[New York City]], U.S.
| key_people   = [[Eisner & Iger]]
| parent       = Comic Magazines, Inc.
| divisions    = 
| products     = [[Comic book]]s
| topics       = 
| genre        = Superhero, war, humor, romance, horror
| url          = 
| predecessor  = Comic Favorites, Inc.
}}
'''Quality Comics''' was an [[American comic book]] [[publishing]] company which operated from 1937 to 1956 and was a creative, influential  force in what historians and fans call the [[Golden Age of Comic Books]].

Notable, long-running titles published by Quality include ''[[Blackhawk (DC Comics)|Blackhawk]]'', ''[[Feature Comics]]'', ''[[G.I. Combat]]'', ''[[Heart Throbs]]'', ''[[Military Comics]]''/''[[Military Comics|Modern Comics]]'', ''[[Plastic Man]]'', ''[[Police Comics]]'', ''[[Smash Comics]]'', and ''[[Spirit (comics character)|The Spirit]]''. While most of their titles were published by a company named '''Comic Magazines''', from 1940 onwards all publications bore a logo that included the word "'''Quality'''". Notable creators associated with the company included [[Jack Cole (artist)|Jack Cole]], [[Reed Crandall]], [[Will Eisner]], [[Lou Fine]], [[Gill Fox]], [[Paul Gustavson]], [[Bob Powell]], and [[Wally Wood]].

==History==
Quality Comics was founded by [[Everett M. Arnold]], a printer who saw the rapidly rising popularity of the comic book [[mass media|medium]] in the late 1930s. Deducing that [[Great Depression|Depression-era]] audiences wanted established quality and familiar [[comic strips]] for their hard-earned dimes, in 1937 the enterprising Arnold formed Comic Favorites, Inc. (in collaboration with three newspaper [[syndicate]]s: the [[McNaught Syndicate]], the [[Frank J. Markey Syndicate]], and Iowa's [[Register and Tribune Syndicate]]).<ref>{{ cite book |last=Steranko |first=Jim |title=[[The Steranko History of Comics|The Steranko History of Comics 2]] |year=1972 |publisher=Supergraphics |location=Reading, PA |page=92 }}</ref>

Comic Favorites, Inc.'s first publication was ''Feature Funnies'', which began primarily with color reprints of hit strips from all three co-owning syndicates (including ''[[Joe Palooka]]'', ''[[Mickey Finn (comic strip)|Mickey Finn]]'', and ''[[Dixie Dugan]]'' [all three from McNaught]) alongside a small number of original features.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kooiman |first1=Mike |last2=Amash |first2=Jim |title=Quality Companion, The |date=November 2011 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |location=Raleigh, NC |isbn=978-1-60549-037-3 |page=8 }}</ref> The original material came from various sources, including the company's in-house staff and freelancers (from the first issue)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kooiman |first1=Mike |last2=Amash |first2=Jim |title=Quality Companion, The |date=November 2011 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |location=Raleigh, NC |isbn=978-1-60549-037-3 |pages=8, 11 }}</ref> and the [[Eisner & Iger]] shop (from issue #3).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kooiman |first1=Mike |last2=Amash |first2=Jim |title=Quality Companion, The |date=November 2011 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |location=Raleigh, NC |isbn=978-1-60549-037-3 |pages=9–10 }}</ref>

A frequent point of confusion is whether and how comic packaging shop [[Harry "A" Chesler]] was involved with the company's early days. Several sources<ref>{{cite book|last=Benton|first=Mike|title=The Comic Book in America, Updated Edition|year=1989|publisher=Taylor Publishing Company|location=Dallas, TX|isbn=0-87833-835-7|pages=142}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Beerbohm|first=Robert Lee|title=The Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide|year=2006|publisher=Gemstone Publishing|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-375-72108-3|edition=37th |author2=Richard D. Olson |editor=Robert M. Overstreet|page=386}}</ref> list Chesler as the publisher of ''Feature Funnies'', but the only primary source to mention Chesler is an interview with Arnold in which he describes purchasing content from the shop for ''Military Comics'' and ''Police Comics'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Steranko|first=Jim|title=The Steranko History of Comics 2|year=1972|publisher=Supergraphics|location=Reading, PA|pages=92–93}}</ref> neither of which began until 1941. An interview with Will Eisner quoted in ''The Quality Companion'' indicates that Arnold did not always own Comic Favorites, Inc., but the authors of that reference were unable to find any corroborating evidence amidst a large volume of evidence to the contrary.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kooiman |first1=Mike |last2=Amash |first2=Jim |title=Quality Companion, The |date=November 2011 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |location=Raleigh, NC |isbn=978-1-60549-037-3 |page=208 }}</ref>

In 1939, Arnold and the owners of the Register & Tribune Syndicate's parent company, brothers [[John Cowles Sr.]] and [[Gardner Cowles Jr.]], bought out the McNaught and Markey interests. Arnold became 50% owner of the newly formed Comic Magazines, Inc., the corporate entity that would publish the Quality Comics line. That year Quality released ''Smash Comics'' #1 (Aug. 1939), the company's first comic book with exclusively new material.

Initially buying features from [[Eisner & Iger]], a prominent "packager" that produced comics on demand for [[publishers]] entering the new medium, Quality introduced such [[superheroes]] as [[Plastic Man]] and [[Kid Eternity]], and non-superhero characters including the [[aviator]] hero [[Blackhawk (DC Comics)|Blackhawk]]. Quality also published comic-book reprints of [[Will Eisner]]'s "[[Spirit (comics character)|The Spirit]]", the seven-page lead feature in a weekly 16-page, tabloid-sized, [[newsprint]] comic book, known colloquially as "The Spirit Section", distributed through Sunday [[newspapers]].
[[Image:CrackComics5.jpg|thumb|''Crack Comics'' #5 (Sept. 1940), first use of the "Quality Comic Group" logo (to right of "COMICS"). Cover art by [[Gill Fox]].]]
The name Quality Comics debuted on the cover of ''[[Crack Comics]]'' #5 (Sept. 1940; see at right). "Seemingly never an official publishing title," the Connecticut Historical Society noted, "the Quality Comics Group is a trademarked name (presumably taking its name from Stamford's nickname of 'the Quality City') encompassing Comic Favorites Inc., E.M. Arnold Publications, Smash Comics, and any other imprints owned by Arnold".<ref name=chs>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927212535/http://www.chs.org/comics/quality.htm|archive-date=September 27, 2007|title=Quality Comic Group: A Brief History|publisher=[[Connecticut Historical Society]]|url=http://www.chs.org/comics/quality.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> A 1954 federal document<ref>Archive of [https://web.archive.org/web/20091027160127/http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8580/kefauver.html ''Comic Books and Juvenile Delinquency Interim Report of the Committee on the Judiciary Pursuant to S. Res. 89 and S. Res. 190'']. [http://www.reocities.com/Athens/8580/kefauver.html Reocities archive of original] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027160127/http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8580/kefauver.html |date=2009-10-27 }}.</ref> noted that the Quality Romance Group, owned by Everett M. and Claire C. Arnold, with an office at 347 Madison Avenue, in New York City, published two titles as Arnold Publications, Inc., two titles as Comic Favorites, Inc., and 14 titles as Comic Magazines, Inc.

By the mid-1950s, with [[television]] and [[mass market paperback|paperback books]] drawing readers away from comic books in general and superheroes in particular, interest in Quality's characters had declined considerably. After a foray into other genres such as [[war comics|war]], [[humor]], [[Romance comics in the United States (1946–1975)|romance]] and [[horror fiction|horror]], the company ceased operations with comics cover-dated December 1956.

==Continuation of characters at other publishers==
Many of Quality's character and title trademarks were sold to [[National Comics Publications]] (now [[DC Comics]]), which chose to keep only four series running: ''[[Blackhawk (DC Comics)|Blackhawk]]'', ''[[G.I. Combat]]'', ''[[Heart Throbs]]'' (each for another 100 or more issues), and ''[[Robin Hood Tales]]'' (for 8 issues). 

There has been much confusion over whether the original Quality Comics and their characters are in [[public domain]]. The original copyrights for Quality's publications were never renewed, leaving them in the public domain. The trademarks to the characters were sold to DC, which has periodically published stories with them to renew copyright.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kooiman|first1=Mike|last2=Amash|first2=Jim|title=The Quality Companion|date=November 2011|publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing|location=Raleigh, NC|isbn=978-1-60549-037-3|pages=32–33}}</ref>

Over the decades, DC revived other Quality characters. [[Plastic Man]] has starred in several short-lived series starting in 1966,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comics.org/search/advanced/process/?target=series&method=icontains&logic=False&keywords=&order1=date&order2=series&pub_name=DC&country=us&series=Plastic+Man|title="Plastic Man" series search|publisher=Grand Comics Database}}</ref> as well as a [[The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show|Saturday morning cartoon]] from 1979–1981.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kooiman|first1=Mike|last2=Amash|first2=Jim|title=The Quality Companion|date=November 2011|publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing|location=Raleigh, NC|isbn=978-1-60549-037-3|page=34}}</ref> The character went on to become a member of the [[Justice League]] in the 1990s.

According to DC canon, the Quality characters, before the 1985-1986 DC revamping event called ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'', existed on two separate realities in the [[DC Multiverse]]: '''Earth-Quality''' and '''Earth-X'''.<ref>''Official Crisis on Infinite Earths Cross-Over Index'' (DC Comics, 1986).</ref> While Earth-Quality followed much the same history as the main Earths, Earth-X was radically different from most Earths, in that [[World War II]] continued there until 1973, enabling the [[Freedom Fighters (comics)|Freedom Fighters]] to continue their fight against the Nazis. Following the Crisis, the Quality characters are transported to the main universe.

New, successor versions of the characters [[Black Condor]] and [[The Ray]] were introduced in 1992. Both were recruited into the Justice League. The new Ray had his own 1994–1996 series and occasionally appears as a reserve Justice League member. Yet another version of the Ray was introduced in 2011.

Some Quality Comics titles, including ''Blackhawk'' and ''Plastic Man'', have been reprinted by DC, while lesser-known ones have been reprinted by [[AC Comics]].

==Characters/features==
{{Main|List of Quality Comics characters}}
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
*[[List of Quality Comics characters##711|#711]]
*[[Spider (DC Comics)|Alias the Spider]]
*Atomictot<ref>[http://toonopedia.com/atomctot.htm Atomictot] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20120718004914/http://toonopedia.com/atomctot.htm |date=2012-07-18 }} from the original on April 7, 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Nevins |first1=Jess |title=Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes |date=2013 |publisher=High Rock Press |isbn=978-1-61318-023-5 |page=14}}</ref>
*[[Black Condor]]
*[[Blackhawk (DC Comics)|Blackhawk]]
*[[Blue Tracer]]
*[[Bozo the Iron Man]]
*[[Captain Triumph]]
*[[Clock (comics)|The Clock]]
*Destiny
*[[Doll Man]]
*Espionage
*[[Firebrand (DC Comics)|Firebrand]]
*Ghost of Flanders
*[[Human Bomb]]
*[[Invisible Hood]]
*[[Jester (Quality Comics)|Jester]]
*[[Kid Eternity]]
*[[Lady Luck (comics)|Lady Luck]]
*[[Madam Fatal]]
{{col-break}}
*[[List of Quality Comics characters #Magno the Magnetic Man|Magno the Magnetic Man]]
*[[Manhunter (comics)|Manhunter]]
*[[Merlin the Magician (comics)|Merlin the Magician]]
*[[Midnight (DC Comics)|Midnight]]
*[[Miss America (DC Comics)|Miss America]]
*[[Mouthpiece (comics)|Mouthpiece]]
*[[Neon the Unknown]]
*[[Phantom Lady]]
*[[Plastic Man]]
*[[Max Mercury|Quicksilver]] (later DC's Max Mercury)
*Raven
*[[Ray (comics)|Ray]]
*[[Red Bee (comics)|Red Bee]]
*[[Red Torpedo]]
*[[Spider Widow]]
*[[Spirit (comics character)|Spirit]]
*Stormy Foster
*[[Torchy (comics)|Torchy]]
*[[Uncle Sam (comics)|Uncle Sam]]
*[[Wildfire (Carol Vance Martin)|Wildfire]]
*[[Wonder Boy (comics)|Wonder Boy]]

{{col-end}}

==List of titles published by Quality Comics==
Quality published comics from 1939 to 1956.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.comics.org/publisher/67/|title=GCD :: Publisher :: Quality Comics|website=www.comics.org}}</ref>{{multiple image
  | direction = vertical
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  | image1    = MilitaryComicsNo21.jpg
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  | image3    = NationalComics26.jpg
  | image4    = HitComicsNumber25.jpg
  | image5    = SmashComicsNumber43.jpg
  | image6    = HitComicsNo19.jpg
  | image7    = SpiritNo18.jpg
}}
*''All Humor Comics'' #1–17 (1946–1949)
*''The Barker'' #1–15 (1946–1949)
*''[[Blackhawk (DC Comics)|Blackhawk]]'' #9–107 (1944–1956; formerly ''Uncle Sam Quarterly'' #1–8;<ref>As new periodical titles were subject to an expensive registration fee by the [[U.S. Postal Service]] to receive a [[United States Postal Service#Periodicals|second-class mail]] permit, Golden Age comic book publishers frequently continued the numbering of old titles on new ones, hence one comic book title "becoming" another with completely unrelated content.</ref> ''Blackhawk'' #108–273 subsequently published by [[DC Comics]], 1957–1983)
*''Bride's Romance'' #1–23 (1953–1956)
*''Broadway Romances'' #1–5 (1950)
*''Buccaneers'' #19–27 (1950–1951; formerly ''[[Kid Eternity]]'' #1–18)
*''Buster Bear'' #1–10 (1953–1955)
*''Campus Loves'' #1–5 (1949–1950)
*''Candy'' #1–64 (1947–1956)
*''[[Crack Comics]]'' #1–62 (1940–1949; ''Crack Comics[Ashcan]'' #1)
*''Crack Western'' #63–84 (1949–1953; formerly ''Crack Comics'' #1–62; ''Jonesy'' #85(1) 2-8)
*''Diary Loves'' #2–31 (1949–1953; formerly ''Love Diary'' #1; ''G.I. Sweethearts'' #32-45 Girls in Love #46-57)
*''[[Doll Man]]'' #1–47 (1941–1953)
*''Egbert'' #1-20 (1946–1950)
*''Exotic Romances'' #22–31 (1955–1956; formerly ''True War Romances'' #1–21)
*''Exploits of Daniel Boone'' #1–6 (1955–1956)
*''[[Feature Funnies]]'' #1–20 (1937–1939);<ref>Per Andrews, Henry, at [http://www.comics.org/indicia_publisher/128/ Quality Comics : Comic Favorites, Inc. (Indicia Publisher)] at the [[Grand Comics Database]]: "Contrary to what is often reported, there is no evidence that Harry 'A' Chesler was ever an owner of this company or in any way a 'pre-Quality' publisher. He is not mentioned anywhere in ''Feature Funnies'' #1 or #2, and the earliest available statement of ownership (from #16) lists Everett M. Arnold, Frank J. Markey, Henry P. Martin, Jr. and Frank J. Murphy as co-owners."</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kooiman |first1=Mike |last2=Amash |first2=Jim |title=Quality Companion, The |date=November 2011 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |location=Raleigh, NC |pages=207–8,216 }}</ref> ''[[Feature Comics]]'' #21-144 (1939–1950)
*''Flaming Love'' #1–6 (1949–1950)
*''Forbidden Love'' #1–4 (1950)
*''Gabby'' #11; issue numbering restarts,<ref>Such renumbering occurred when the U.S. Postal Service discovered a new title distributed under old numbering; the publisher was then forced to not only pay the registration fee, but also to list the correct issue number.</ref> #2–9 (1953–1954; formerly ''Ken Shannon'' #1-10)
*''[[G.I. Combat]]'' #1–43 (1952–1956; #44-288 subsequently published by [[DC Comics]], 1957–1987)
*''G.I. Sweethearts'' #32–45 (1953–1955; formerly ''Diary Loves'' #2–31; #46 onward ''Girls in Love'' #46-57)
*''Girls in Love'' #46–57 (1955–1956; formerly ''G.I. Sweethearts'' #32–45)
*''[[Heart Throbs]]'' #1–46 (1949; #47–146 subsequently published by [[DC Comics]], 1957–1972; retitled ''Love Stories'', #147–152, 1972–1973)
*''Hickory'' #1-6 (1949–1950)
*''Hit Comics'' #1–65 (1940–1950)
*''Hollywood Diary'' #1–5 (1949–1950)
*''Hollywood Secrets'' #1–6 (1949–1950)
*''Intrigue'' #1 (1955)
*''Jonesy'' #85; issue numbering restarts, 2–8 (1953–1954; formerly ''Crack Western'' #1–84)
*''Ken Shannon'' #1–10 (1951–1953; ''Gabby'' #11 onward)
*''[[Kid Eternity]]'' #1–18 (1946–1949; ''Buccaneers'' #19 onward)
*''[[Lady Luck (comics)|Lady Luck]]'' #86–90 (1949–1950; formerly ''Smash Comics'' #1–85)
*''Love Confessions'' #1–54 (1949–1956)
*''Love Diary'' #1 (1949; ''Diary Loves'' #2 onward)
*''Love Letters'' #1–51 (1949–1956)
*''Love Scandals'' #1–5 (1950)
*''Love Secrets'' #32–56 (1953–1956)
*''[[List of Quality Comics characters#Marmaduke Mouse|Marmaduke Mouse]]'' #1–65 (1946–1956)
*''Military Comics'' #1–43 (1941–1945; ''Modern Comics'' #44 onward)
*''Modern Comics'' #44–102 (1945–1950; previously ''Military Comics'' #1–43)
*''[[National Comics (series)|National Comics]]'' #1–75 (1940–1949)
*''[[Plastic Man]]'' #1–64 (1943–1956)
*''[[Police Comics]]'' #1–127 (1941–1953)
*''Range Romances'' #1–5 (1949–1950)
*''[[Robin Hood (DC Comics)|Robin Hood Tales]]'' #1–6 (1956; #7–14 subsequently published by [[DC Comics]], 1957–1958)
*''Secret Loves'' #1–6 (1949–1950)
*''[[Smash Comics]]'' #1–85 (1939–1949; ''Lady Luck'' #86 onward)
*''[[Spirit (comics character)|The Spirit]]'' #1–22 (1944–1950)
*''T-Man'' #1–38 (1951–1956)
*''[[Torchy (comics)|Torchy]]'' 1–6 (1949–1950)
*''True War Romances'' #1–21 (1952–1955; ''Exotic Romances'' #22 onward)
*''[[Uncle Sam (comics)|Uncle Sam Quarterly]]'' #1–8 (1941–1943; ''Blackhawk'' #9 onward)
*''Untamed Love'' #1–5 (1950)
*''Web of Evil'' #1–21 (1952–1954)
*''Wedding Bells'' #1–19 (1954–1956)
*''Yanks in Battle'' #1–4 (1956)

==See also==
*[[Everett M. "Busy" Arnold]]
*[[Eisner & Iger]]
*[[Infinite Crisis]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{gcdb publisher|id=67|title=Quality Comics}}
*{{comicbookdb|type=publisher|id=169|title=Quality Comics}}

==External links==
*Archive of [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927212535/http://www.chs.org/comics/quality.htm  "Quality Comic Group: A Brief History"] at the Connecticut Historical Society. [http://www.chs.org/comics/quality.htm Original page].
*[http://www.herogoggles.com/Quality-Heroes.html Quality's Superheroes & Villains Encyclopedia]
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[[Category:Quality Comics| ]]
[[Category:DC Comics imprints]]
[[Category:Defunct comics and manga publishing companies]]
[[Category:Comic book publishing companies of the United States]]
[[Category:1937 establishments in New York City]]
[[Category:Publishing companies established in 1937]]
[[Category:Lists of comics by publisher|Quality Comics]]
[[Category:Companies based in New York City]]