Chronology of Milestone Events 1933 Maxwell Gaines and Harry Wildenberg of Eastern Color Printing, working with Dell Publishing, publish Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics, considered to be the first American comic book. 1935 Retired cavalry Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, through his company, National Allied Publications (which would eventually become DC Comics), pub- lishes its first comic book: New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine. 1937 National Allied Publications publishes Detective Comics #1. 1938 Superman is introduced in Action Comics #1, by the creative team of Jerry Siegel and Joel Schuster, through National Allied Publications. Superman represents the first “superhero.” 1939 Batman is introduced in Detective Comics #27 by the creative team of Bob Kane and Bill Finger, through Detective Comics/National Allied Publications. Timely Comics is established by magazine publisher Martin Goodman. Marvel Comics #1 is published by Timely Comics, introducing the original Human Torch, created by Carl Burgos. 1940 Fantomah is introduced in the pages of Jungle Comics #2 by Fletcher Hanks, through Fiction House. Fantomah is widely considered to be the first female superhero. The New York City World’s Fair celebrates “Superman Day.” To commemorate the event, National Allied Publications presents New York World’s Fair Comics #1. The Adventures of Superman debuts as a radio program running three to five 15-minute episodes per week. Upon cancellation in 1951, the program had aired 2,088 episodes. Robin the Boy Wonder is introduced in Detective Comics #38 by the creative team of Bill Finger and Bob Kane through DC Comics, becoming comics’ first teenage sidekick.
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