Vin Sullivan

For the footballer, see Vinny Sullivan.
Vin Sullivan
Born Vincent Sullivan
June 5, 1911
Died February 3, 1999(1999-02-03) (aged 87)
Manhasset, New York
Nationality American
Area(s) Penciller, Editor, Publisher
Notable works
Superman acquisition
Detective Comics #1 cover
Columbia Comics
Awards Inkpot Award, 1993

Vincent "Vin" Sullivan (June 5, 1911 – February 3, 1999)[1] was a pioneering American comic book editor, artist and publisher.

Detective Comics #1 (March 1937). Cover art by Sullivan.

As an editor for National Allied Publications,[2] the future DC Comics, he was responsible for buying Superman from creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and edited that archetypcal superhero in his 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.[3]

References

  1. Vincent Sullivan, Social Security number 056-01-8826, at the Social Security Death Index via FamilySearch.org
  2. Gerard Jones, Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book (Basic Books, 2004; trade paperback ISBN 978-0-465-03657-8)
  3. "Vince Sullivan, Original DC Editor, Passes Away" (Press release). DC Comics via SequentialTart.com. February 10, 1999. Archived from the original on July 19, 2013. Requires scrolldown to item. NOTE: Both the press release and the Social Security Death Index, which confirms a June 1911 birth, erroneously give his age at death in February 1999 as 88; he was 87 and eight months.


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