Dark Circle Comics
Dark Circle Comics is an imprint of Archie Comic Publications, Inc. Under its previous name, Red Circle Comics, it published non-humor characters, particularly superheroes in the 1970s and 1980s.
It was a digital imprint from 2012 to 2014, and in 2015, it was converted back to a print imprint and was completely revamped as Dark Circle Comics, featuring darker and more mature content than previous incarnations of Archie's superhero line.
The term "Red Circle characters" is also used to refer to Archie Comics' superheroes, including such characters as the Black Hood, The Shield, the Wizard, the Hangman, The Fly, Flygirl, The Comet, The Web, Jaguar, and the Fox.
These characters were previously published when Archie Comics was MLJ Magazines, then published under various Archie imprints: Archie Adventure Series, Radio Comics/'Mighty Comics Group, Red Circle Comics' and the Red Circle Comics digital imprint.
Archie licensed their Red Circle characters to DC Comics in the early 1990s under the DC imprint Impact Comics, and then again from 2007 to 2011, when DC attempted to integrate them into the DC Universe. When this failed, the characters reverted to Archie Comics, which launched the imprint digitally. The company retired this in late 2014; the line was relaunched as the Dark Circle Comics imprint in 2015.
Publication history
MLJ Magazines
MLJ's first comic book published in November 1939 was Blue Ribbon Comics, with the first half of the magazine in full color and the second half in red and white tints.In January 1940, Pep Comics debuted with the Shield, created by writer and managing editor Harry Shorten and artist Irv Novick. The Shield was one of the first superheroes with a costume based upon United States patriotic iconography, first appearing 14 months earlier than Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's Captain America.
MLJ's Golden Age heroes also included the Black Hood, who also appeared in pulp magazines and a radio show; and The Wizard, who shared a title with the Shield. Top-Notch Comics was launched in December 1941.
The Archie character soon dominated MLJ publications, pushing out the superheroes. For instance, at first, the cover feature of Pep Comics was The Shield; he and The Hangman shared the cover with Archie in Pep Comics #36. Archie increasingly was given the cover until issue #51, when he took over the cover permanently. The company was later renamed after the character.
MLJ superhero titles
- Black Hood Comics - 11 issues; continues from Laugh Comics / Laugh
- Blue Ribbon Comics - 22 issues; also known as Blue Ribbon Mystery Comics
- Hangman Comics - 8 issues; numbering continues from Special Comics, and numbering continues with Black Hood Comics
- Jackpot Comics - 9 issues
- Pep Comics - 64 issues; becomes all-humor after issue #65
- Sam Hill Private Eye - 7 issues
- Shield-Wizard Comics - 13 issues
- Top Notch Comics - 27 issues; numbering continues with Top Notch Laugh Comics and Laugh Comix
- Zip Comics - 47 issues; became mostly humor after issue #35
- Adventures of the Dover Boys - 1 issues
- Black Swan Comics - 1 issues; Reprint for other MLJ Comics
Archie Adventure Series
Mighty Comics / Radio Comics
The Mighty Comics Group imprint took over the Adventure titles in the mid-1960s as general imitation of Marvel Comics and the Batman TV show camp; Superman creator Jerry Siegel was brought in to be the imprint's main writer, along with Marvel Comics artist Paul Reinman. The shift to the Mighty imprint included changing the title Adventures of The Fly into Fly Man.The first issue of Fly Man, #31, brought the company its first super hero team, The Mighty Crusaders, made up of Fly Man, a newly revived version of The Shield, The Black Hood, and a newly revived version of The Comet. The Mighty Crusaders spun off into their own title after three Fly Man appearances. The Wizard and the Hangman, who had been heroes during their MLJ publication, became recurring villains. In The Mighty Crusaders #4, many of the old MLJ heroes made cameo appearances. In November 1966, with issue 40, Fly Man changed its name again to Mighty Comics, which featured various Mighty super-heroes in rotating solo adventures until its cancellation ten issues later. Similarly, the final issue of Mighty Crusaders was taken over by a solo adventure of Steel Sterling. The Mighty Comics Group line was cancelled in late 1967. Several stories from this period were published in the mass-market paperback High Camp Super-Heroes by Belmont Books in 1966, which featured an introduction by Siegel, as well as in a 1966 deluxe special, Super Heroes Versus Super Villains.
Red Circle Comics
Red Circle Comics was launched in the early 1970s as a fantasy/horror imprint, but switched over to superheroes in the 1980s.The line was first used to publish Chilling Adventures in Sorcery in October 1973, which for its first two issues was called Chilling Adventures in Sorcery as Told by Sabrina. With the third issue, the title was renamed and published under Red Circle Comics. The name "Red Circle" was based on the previous business that Michael Silberkleit's father had with Martin Goodman, with Gray Morrow as editor. With issue number 6 Chilling Adventures was renamed Red Circle Sorcery and lasted until issue number 11.
Red Circle published one issue of The Super Cops in July 1974. Shortly thereafter, Mad House was published under the Red Circle Comics line starting with issue number 95. This ended after number 97, when the title reverted to being a standard Archie humor title.
In 1978 and 1979, Archie published two digests collecting their superhero materials from the 1960s. The first was titled Archie's Super Hero Special. The second issue was titled Archie's Super Hero Comic Digest Magazine, and is notable for publishing the previously unpublished revamp of the Black Hood done by Gray Morrow and Neal Adams. There was nothing on their covers to indicate they were Red Circle titles; only the interior indicia indicated the publisher.
In the 1980s, Archie made a concerted effort to reuse its superheroes. The first appearance was in JC Comics's JCP Features #1, which reprinted the new Black Hood materials that appeared in Archie Super Hero Comic Digest Magazine #2. In March 1983, the Red Circle brand was resurrected with first issue of a new volume of Mighty Crusaders. That title lasted 13 issues and led to many new titles under the Red Circle Comics banner, including The Fly, Black Hood, Lancelot Strong, The Shield, The Original Shield, Blue Ribbon and The Comet. Though this 1980s incarnation featured Rich Buckler's work prominently, it also featured contributions from others, including artists Jim Steranko, Alex Toth, Steve Ditko, Rudy Nebres, Alan Weiss, Carmine Infantino, Dick Ayers, John Severin and Pat Boyette.
Archie Adventure Series revival
With the February 1984 issues, the Red Circle line was renamed the Archie Adventure Series, reviving the name from the company's superhero line of the early 1960s. During this period, the company published, as either Red Circle or Archie Adventure, a comic-book tie-in to Remco's ManTech Robot Warriors toy line, a Katy Keene Special, and an issue of Thunder Bunny. By September 1985, the entire line that originated with Red Circle had been cancelled.In 1988, however, with Archie's acquisition of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles license, the Archie Adventure Series returned as the imprint behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, which ran 72 issues until October 1995. In the late 1980s, Archie Adventure Series published The Adventures of Bayou Billy, based on a popular video game, and in the early 1990s the imprint published Mighty Mutanimals, a superhero team comic spun off from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.