'' #1 (March 1937)Cover art by Sullivan As an editor for
National Allied Publications, the future
DC Comics, he was the first editor on stories featuring
Superman from creators
Jerry Siegel and
Joe Shuster, beginning with that archetypal
superhero's
first appearance, in
Action Comics #1 (1938), and in the following year's
Superman, the first
American comic book devoted to a single character. In addition, Sullivan drew the premiere cover of
Detective Comics, the series that in issue #27 launched the hit character
Batman. After leaving National in 1940, Sullivan was hired by the
McNaught Newspaper Syndicate to form a new comic book publishing house. This became the Columbia Comic Corporation (
Columbia Comics), where Sullivan launched the superhero omnibus
Big Shot Comics, publishing early work by
Gardner Fox,
Creig Flessel, and
Ogden Whitney, among others. Columbia Comics' several superhero features included
Skyman. Unhappy with the reluctance of the owners to develop more original series. Sullivan left Columbia in 1943 and formed
Magazine Enterprises. This company lasted until 1958, after which Sullivan left comics. Sullivan was a guest at the August 1998
Comic-Con International in
San Diego, California, where he was reunited with some of his former colleagues. He died six months later due to
cancer. ==References==