Comics Magazine Company Centaur developed primarily from the
Comics Magazine Company, Inc. In 1936, comic-book entrepreneur
Everett M. "Busy" Arnold gave financial or other unspecified help to that New York City-based firm, founded by John Mahon and Bill Cook, former employees of Major
Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's
National Allied Publications (the primary forerunner of
DC Comics). The duo published the premiere issue of
The Comics Magazine (May 1936), using inventory content from National Allied's submissions. One collector/historian suggests this was in lieu of pay. Among the Comics Magazine Company's original features was
Dr. Mystic the Occult Detective (not to be confused with
Mr. Mystic of newspapers' "
The Spirit Section"). This two-page feature was by future
Superman creators
Jerry Siegel and
Joe Shuster, and was part of their
Doctor Occult continuity, with the name changed for trademark consideration. This was the beginning of a serial that introduced the villain Koth, and the Seven, that continued into DC's
More Fun Comics #14–17 (issues also designated as vol. 2 #2–5). The company's flagship title, the eponymous
Comics Magazine, premiered with a May 1936 cover date. That comic book series featured the first masked
hero in
American comics, writer-artist
George Brenner's the
Clock, in the November 1936 issue.
Ultem Publications Another entrepreneur,
Harry "A" Chesler, published
Star Comics and
Star Ranger through his own Chesler Publications, each with first issues cover-dated February 1937. These titles were soon bought out by I. W. Ullman and
Frank Z. Temerson's Ultem Publications. In September 1937, Ultem acquired the Comics Magazine Company's titles, retaining Chesler as the packager for both his own previous titles and the two that were continued from the Comics Magazine Co. Financial difficulties forced Ultem to sell some of its properties, including the Clock, to
"Busy" Arnold's Quality Comics.
Centaur Comics By January 1938, Ultem was bought out by Joe Hardie, Fred Gardner, and Raymond Kelly's
Centaur Publications, Inc., which had been publishing pulp magazines since at least 1933. Hardie, Gardner, and Kelly used this base to create Centaur Comics, which began publishing in March 1938. They also drew on the back inventory of stories to fill out the early issues of their new titles with reprints. Centaur Publications, Inc. ceased production at the end of 1940, but continued to produce comics under the name
Comic Corporation of America. Centaur ceased publication four years later, primarily due to poor
distribution, but in that period had created several colorful characters, including
Bill Everett's
Amazing Man. Everett would later go on to comics fame by introducing
Namor the Submariner to
Timely (later
Atlas Comics, then
Marvel Comics). Everett's first nationally published comic work was the cover of
Amazing Mystery Funnies No. 1 (1938).
Revival In 1992,
Malibu Comics revived several Centaur heroes—which by that time had lapsed into public domain—as the
superhero team The
Protectors. Malibu selected R. A. Jones to revamp and write the series. Included were Airman, Amazing Man, ==Characters==