American Comics Group

American Comics Group
Founded1939; 85 years ago (1939)
FounderBenjamin W. Sangor
Defunct1967; 57 years ago (1967)
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters location45 West 45th Street, New York City[1]
Key peopleRichard E. Hughes
Fred Iger
Harry Donenfeld
Publication typesComic books
Fiction genresSuperheroes, science fiction, horror, crime, mystery, romance
ImprintsB & I Publishing Co., Inc.
B. & M. Distributing Co., Inc.
Best Syndicated Features, Inc.
Creston Publications Corp.
Culver Publications
Custom Comics, Inc.
La Salle Publishing Co.
Michel Publications, Inc.
Milt Gross, Inc.
Modern Store Publications
Modern Store Publishing
Preferred Publications, Inc.
Regis Publications, Inc.
Scope Magazines, Inc.
Titan Publishing Co. Inc.
Forbidden Worlds featuring Herbie Popnecker, one of ACG's most successful titles. Artwork by Ogden Whitney.

American Comics Group (ACG) was an American comic book publisher started in 1939 and existing under the ACG name from 1943 to 1967.[2] It published the medium's first ongoing horror-comics title, Adventures into the Unknown.[3][4] ACG's best-known character was the 1960s satirical-humor hero Herbie Popnecker, who starred for a time in Forbidden Worlds. Herbie would later get his own title and be turned into a "superhero" called the Fat Fury.

Founded by Benjamin W. Sangor,[5] ACG was co-owned by Fred Iger from 1948 to 1967.[6] Iger's father-in-law, Harry Donenfeld,[6] head of National Periodical Publications (later known as DC Comics), was also a co-owner in the early 1960s (though Donenfeld was severely incapacitated and out of the business after an accident in 1962).[7] ACG was distributed by Independent News Company, which also distributed by (and was part of the same company as) DC.

  1. ^ Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Juvenile Delinquency: Comic Books. Motion Pictures. Obscene and Pornographic Materials. Television Programs. Greenwood Press, 1969. 47. Retrieved on January 25, 2011. "American Comics Group, 45 West 45th Street, New York, NY"
  2. ^ "GCD :: Publisher :: American Comics Group". www.comics.org. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
  3. ^ Goulart, Ron (1986). Great American Comic Books. Contemporary Books : Chicago, Illinois. p. 256. ISBN 0-8092-5045-4.
  4. ^ Nolan, Michelle (May 1997). "Adventures into the Comic Book Unknown!: ACG's Innovation Gave Birth to a Genre!". Comic Book Marketplace. Vol. 2, no. 47. pp. 13–17.
  5. ^ Bails, Jerry; Ware, Hames (eds.). "Sangor, Ben". Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Archived from the original on March 18, 2012.
  6. ^ a b "Iger, Fred" at Bails, Ware
  7. ^ "Donenfeld, Harry" at Bails, Ware