Tower Comics
Encyclopedia
Tower Comics was an American comic book
publishing company best known for Wally Wood
's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents
, a strange combination of secret agents and superheroes; and Samm Schwartz
's Tippy Teen, an Archie Andrews
clone. The comics were published by Harry Shorten and edited by Wally Wood and Samm Schwartz.
Tower Comics set themselves apart by publishing 25-cent, 64-page comics, during a time of 12-cent, 32-page comics. The comics were something of a throw-back to the Golden Age, in that they had more pages than most of their contemporaries and usually featured five or six independent stories, with all the main characters coming together for the final story of the issue, a common Golden Age plotting device used in team books such as DC Comics
's Justice Society of America
.
artist. Schwartz handled the scheduling of all the material and assignments of scripts and art other than Wood's own.
Notable creators associated with Tower included Wood, Schwartz, Dan Adkins
, Richard Bassford
, Len Brown
, Steve Skeates
, Larry Ivie, Bill Pearson, Russ Jones
, Roger Brand, and Tim Battersby-Brent. Tower Comics was part of Tower Books, a now long-defunct paperback book publisher.
The company lasted from about 1965 to 1969. At some point in the early 1980s John Carbonaro purchased the rights to the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and associated characters and published them in his JC Comics
line. In 1984, Deluxe Comics
launched their own line of new T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents stories, claiming the characters had fallen into the public domain. Carbonaro sued, and was eventually awarded full legal rights to the property. In the early 2000s DC began to reprint the original Tower stories as part of their DC Archive Editions
, and in 2010 DC began publishing a new T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents series, having announced the year before that they has secured the lawful right to do so.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
publishing company best known for Wally Wood
Wally Wood
Wallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. He was one of Mads founding cartoonists in 1952. Although much of his early professional artwork is signed Wallace Wood, he became known as Wally Wood, a name he...
's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is a fictional team of superheroes that appeared in comic books originally published by Tower Comics in the 1960s. They were an arm of the United Nations and were notable for their depiction of the heroes as everyday people whose heroic careers were merely their day jobs...
, a strange combination of secret agents and superheroes; and Samm Schwartz
Samm Schwartz
Samm Schwartz was an American comic artist best known for his work in MLJ and Archie Comics, specifically on the character Jughead Jones.Schwartz was born in Brooklyn, where he took art instruction at the Pratt Institute...
's Tippy Teen, an Archie Andrews
Archie Andrews (comics)
Archie Andrews, created in 1941 by Vic Bloom and Bob Montana, is a fictional character in an American comic book series published by Archie Comics, as well as the long-running Archie Andrews radio series, a syndicated comic strip, The Archie Show, and Archie's Weird Mysteries.-Character and...
clone. The comics were published by Harry Shorten and edited by Wally Wood and Samm Schwartz.
Tower Comics set themselves apart by publishing 25-cent, 64-page comics, during a time of 12-cent, 32-page comics. The comics were something of a throw-back to the Golden Age, in that they had more pages than most of their contemporaries and usually featured five or six independent stories, with all the main characters coming together for the final story of the issue, a common Golden Age plotting device used in team books such as 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...
's Justice Society of America
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
.
History
Tower publisher Harry Shorten "cut a dream deal with Wally Wood" in which Shorten would be the managing editor and "Wood would be granted a wide latitude of creative and business freedom devoid of a 9-to-5 office job or hefty administrative duties, and be allowed to concentrate on creating characters and concepts for an expanding line of superhero comics." When it became obvious Wood could not handle the volume of material Shorten wanted to publish, he hired Samm Schwartz, who had worked for many years as an Archie ComicsArchie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
artist. Schwartz handled the scheduling of all the material and assignments of scripts and art other than Wood's own.
Notable creators associated with Tower included Wood, Schwartz, Dan Adkins
Dan Adkins
Dan Adkins is an American illustrator who worked mainly for comic books and science-fiction magazines.-Early life and career:...
, Richard Bassford
Richard Bassford
Richard Bassford is an American illustrator who has worked in both advertising and comic books.- Biography :Raised in the New York City borough of Queens from age three, he lived successively in the neighborhoods of Maspeth, Corona and Whitestone until his marriage in 1961, when he moved to Flushing...
, Len Brown
Len Brown (comics)
Len Brown is a writer, editor, radio personality and comic book scripter, best known as the co-creator of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and Mars Attacks....
, Steve Skeates
Steve Skeates
Steve Skeates is an American comic book creator known for his work on books such as Spectre, Hawk and Dove, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Aquaman, and Namor the Sub-Mariner.-Career:...
, Larry Ivie, Bill Pearson, Russ Jones
Russ Jones
Russ Jones is a Canadian novelist, illustrator, and magazine editor, active in the publishing and entertainment industries over a half-century, best known as the creator of the magazine Creepy for Warren Publishing...
, Roger Brand, and Tim Battersby-Brent. Tower Comics was part of Tower Books, a now long-defunct paperback book publisher.
The company lasted from about 1965 to 1969. At some point in the early 1980s John Carbonaro purchased the rights to the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and associated characters and published them in his JC Comics
JC Comics
JC Comics , was a short-lived comic book company owned by John Carbonaro . JC published a few titles in the early 1980s, most notably comics featuring the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents....
line. In 1984, Deluxe Comics
Deluxe Comics
Deluxe Comics was a short-lived comic book publishing company which published one title, Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.- History :Deluxe Comics was a division of Singer Publishing, founded by David M. Singer. It lasted from 1984 to 1986....
launched their own line of new T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents stories, claiming the characters had fallen into the public domain. Carbonaro sued, and was eventually awarded full legal rights to the property. In the early 2000s DC began to reprint the original Tower stories as part of their DC Archive Editions
DC Archive Editions
DC Archive Editions, collect early, sometimes rare, comic books published by DC and other publishers into a permanent hardcover series. With more than 100 titles, this series began in 1989 with Superman Archives Vol. 1...
, and in 2010 DC began publishing a new T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents series, having announced the year before that they has secured the lawful right to do so.
Titles published
- DynamoDynamo (comics)Dynamo, in comics, may refer to:* Dynamo , a 1940s comic book character* Dynamo, one of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents* Captain Dynamo , a comic book superhero* Crimson Dynamo, the name of several Marvel Comics characters...
(4 issues, a T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents spin-off) - Fight the Enemy (3 issues, war title)
- NoMan (2 issues, a T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents spin-off)
- Teen-in (4 issues, teen comics)
- T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AgentsT.H.U.N.D.E.R. AgentsT.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is a fictional team of superheroes that appeared in comic books originally published by Tower Comics in the 1960s. They were an arm of the United Nations and were notable for their depiction of the heroes as everyday people whose heroic careers were merely their day jobs...
(20 issues, Nov. 1965–Nov. 1969) - Tippy Teen (27 issues, teen comics)
- Tippy's Friends Go-go and Animal (15 issues, teen comics)
- Undersea Agent (6 issues, minimal ties with T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents)
Paperback collections
- Dynamo, Man of High Camp (Tower Book 42-660) 1966 — reprints T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1
- NoMan, the Invisible THUNDER Agent (Tower Book 42-672) 1966 — reprints NoMan stories from T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2-5
- Menthor, the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent with the Super Helmet (Tower Book 42-674) 1966 — reprints Menthor stories from T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2-5
- The Terrific Trio (Tower Book 42-687) 1966 — reprints stories T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2,3,6