National Publications was one of the companies that would later become DC Comics

DC Comics

DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

. The corporation was originally two companies: National Allied Publications (founded by Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson

Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson

Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson was an American pulp magazine writer and entrepreneur who pioneered the American comic book, publishing the first such periodical consisting solely of original material rather than reprints of newspaper comic strips...

 in 1934 to publish the first American comic book

American comic book

An American comic book is a small magazine originating in the United States and containing a narrative in the form of comics. Since 1975 the dimensions have standardized at 6 5/8" x 10 ¼" , down from 6 ¾" x 10 ¼" in the Silver Age, although larger formats appeared in the past...

 with all-original material rather than comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

 reprints) and Detective Comics.

They two merged in the 1930s to become National Comics (later National Periodical Publications). In 1945, National Publications purchased All-American Publications

All-American Publications

All-American Publications is one of three American comic book companies that combined to form the modern-day DC Comics, one of the world's two largest comics publishers...

, a company with which it shared offices and some business relationships.