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Lev Gleason Publications

Lev Gleason Publications' current logo, as of 2021.
Founded	1939 2021 (Revived)
Founder	Leverett Stone Gleason
Defunct	1956
Country of origin	United States
Headquarters location	Toronto, ON Denton, TX Former: New York City
Distribution	Diamond Comic Distributors Ingram Content Group
Key people	Lev Gleason Fadi Hakim
Publication types	Comic books Novels
Fiction genres	Superhero, Action, Adventure, Horror, Fantasy
Imprints	Comic House Comic House Archives New Friday Lev Gleason Library

Lev Gleason Incorporated, formerly known as Lev Gleason Publishing, is a Canadian comic book company founded by Leverett Stone Gleason (1898–1971).^[1] They were the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including Daredevil Comics, Crime Does Not Pay, and Boy Comics. In 2021, Lev Gleason was revived by Fadi Hakim, and acquired the former Chapterhouse Comics and characters from Anglo-American Publishing.

Lev Gleason Publications was an influential comic book publisher active from the late 1930s to the mid-1950s. Founded by Leverett Stone Gleason, a pioneer in the comic book industry, the company was best known for its crime comics, particularly the best-selling series Crime Does Not Pay (1942-1955). Gleason began his publishing career after working with Charles Max Gaines at Eastern Color Printing, which played a significant role in the early days of comic books. He labelled some of his books "illustories" to suggest they were a new, unique form.

Gleason had a keen eye for talent, hiring notable creators such as Jack Cole and Charles Biro. Biro was instrumental in shaping the company’s creative direction. Gleason and Biro worked on various genres, including superhero, mystery, romance, comedy, western, and children's comics, reflecting their readership's diverse interests​ ^[2][3]​.

Gleason's career began in 1931 as an artist and advertising director for Open Road for Boys magazine. From 1932 to around 1934, he served as advertising manager under Harry Wildenberg at Eastern Color Printing, which became a comics-publishing pioneer in 1933 with the first American comic books. Gleason later worked as an editor at United Feature, where he launched Tip Top Comics in 1936. He then became business manager at Your Guide Publications, affiliated with Gilmor's Friday, Inc. and New Friday, Inc.​ ^[4]​​ ^[5]​.

Around 1942, Gleason, then treasurer of New Friday,^[6][7] purchased the comic book series Silver Streak Comics and Daredevil Comics from the company. Under the imprint Comic House Inc., Gleason continued Silver Streak Comics with a crime comic, Crime Does Not Pay, which premiered with issue #22 in July 1942. That year, Gleason briefly published the left-wing political magazine Reader's Choice​ ^[8][9].

The success of Crime Does Not Pay led to numerous imitators and increased criticism of comic books' influence. This pressure resulted in the formation of the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers (ACMP) in 1948 to avoid external regulation, with Gleason as a founding member. The ACMP was the precursor to the Comics Code Authority, established in 1954​ ^[10].

In April 1949, Lev Gleason Publications, then located at 114 East 32nd Street in Manhattan, began publishing Tops, a comics magazine for adults. Despite its commercial success, Gleason's career was marked by controversy due to his progressive political views. As a member of the Communist Party in the 1930s, Gleason used his platform to promote social justice issues, making him a target during the post-WWII anti-communist campaigns, which contributed to the decline of his business​ ^[11][12]​.

Lev Gleason Publications went out of business in 1956. Its final publications were the teen-humor comic Jim Dandy #3 (Sept. 1956) and the children's Western comedy Shorty Shiner #3 (Oct. 1956), both published under the imprint Dandy Magazines Inc.​^[13][14]

Lev Gleason Incorporated emerged as a new entity, spearheaded by Fadi Hakim, then CEO of Chapterhouse Comics. They introduced several imprints: Comic House, Comic House Archives, Lev Gleason Library, and New Friday. These imprints manage distribution through Diamond Comics, Diamond Books, and Ingram Content Group.

The journey commenced in 2020 with the release of "American Daredevil," a comprehensive biography of Lev Gleason published by Chapterhouse Publishing and authored by Brett Dakin, Gleason’s great-nephew. The biography delves into Gleason's life and his role as a progressive activist, drawing from family archives and FBI files.

Comic House Archives is dedicated to the restoration and publication of Lev Gleason and Comely Comix's complete line of books, starting with its superhero archives, with a commitment to providing digitally restored collections for free on the company's website.

The Lev Gleason Library, inspired by Gleason’s eponymous imprint, focuses on prose works. Its first release, "Death Takes Centre Stage featuring Daredevil" by D.K. Latta, was launched in April 2021.

New Friday serves as a platform for creator-owned books, paying homage to one of Lev Gleason’s early companies. The imprint debuted with "HΩME Volume 1" by the Michaud Brothers.^[15]

The Comic House universe is a continuation of the Chapterhouse "Chapterverse", which ended with Captain Canuck Season 4: Invasion. It introduced modern versions of many iconic Lev Gleason golden age characters, including Silver Streak, Daredevil, Captain Battle, and Crimebuster. Many of the series deal with the fallout of the alien attack on earth by The Borealis, the alien race who gave Captain Canuck his powers.

• Fadi Hakim, Founder & Chief Executive Officer
• Keith WTS Morris, Publisher & Editor-In-Chief
• Joseph Eastwood, Chief Financial Officer
• Frances Bell, Controller
• Tony White, Managing Editor
• Josh Rose, Assistant Editor
• Cole Kennedy, Copy Editor
• Rian Hughes, Trade Dress Design
• Cindy Leong, Production & Design
• Andrew Thomas, Social Media Manager & Fan Relations
• Jowy Pangilinan, Convention Coordinator
• Kevin King, Archives Director

Former

• Lev Gleason, Founder & President (1939-1956)
• E.A. Piller, Vice President (?-1953)^[16]
• Gilbert G. Southwick, Advertising Director (1947--1948)^[17][18]
• Richard Comely, Editor-In-Chief, Creative Director (2015-?)
• Kalman Andrasofszky, Editor-In-Chief (?-?)
• George Zotti, Chief Creative Officer, Retail Manager (2015-?)
• Walter Durajlija, Executive Editor (?)
• Paul Gardner, Creative Director, CC Inc (?-?)
• Ryan Wilson, Desgin/Production (2015-?)
• Neil Rantala, Desgin/Production (2015-?)
• Andrew Wheeler, Director of Marketing (?-?)
• Jay Baruchel, Chief Creative Officer (2017-2020)^[19]

• Jack Cole (The Claw, Daredevil)
• Jack Binder (Daredevil, Captain Battle, Silver Streak)
• Don Rico (Daredevil)
• Charles Biro (Crimebuster, Little Wise Guys)
• Bob Wood (Crimebuster)
• Joe Simon (Silver Streak)
• William Overgard (Black Diamond)
• Kalman Andrasofszky (Captain Canuck)
• Jay Baruchel (Captain Canuck)

• Captain Canuck (2015 - Present)
  • Captain Canuck: Year One (2017)
• The Pitiful Human-Lizard (2015 - 2018)
• Northguard (2016 - Present)
• Agents of P.A.C.T. (2017)
• Fantomah (2017 - Present)
• Freelance (2017 - Present)
• Fallen Suns (2017 - Present)
• Canuck Beyond (2020 - Present)
• Captain Battle (2020 - Present)
• "The Greatest Name in Comics" Daredevil (2021 - Present)
• Silver Streak (2021 - Present)
• Equilibrium (2022 - Present)
• West Coast Canuck (2023 - Present)
• Crimebuster (2023 - Present)
• PACT Academy (Upcoming)
• Paradox Arms (Upcoming)
• Pirate Prince Sabre (Upcoming)
• The Deadly Dozen (Upcoming)
• Young Robinhood (Upcoming)
• Star Rise (Upcoming)
• Kane's Crusaders (Upcoming)
• Crime: The Casefiles of Dr. Destine (Upcoming)
• The Completely Ordinary Family Hale (Upcoming)^[20]

• Fantomesque
• Hero Business Compendium
• 1903 Manhunt
• Red Leaves
• Frog Boy
• The Pursuer
• Scratcher
• The 5100
• Home
• The Fourth Planet
• Celery Stalks
• Minerva's Map
• Blood & Motor Oil
• Frankenaut
• Overshare (Upcoming)
• 5 Hundred
• Eki
• I Escaped a Chinese Internment Camp
• Pieces of Hate
• Black Sheep (Upcoming)
• Good Bastard (Upcoming)
• Nash (Upcoming)^[21]

• American Daredevil: Comics, Communism, and the Battles of Lev Gleason (2021 Eisner nominated for Best Comics-Related Book)
• Death Takes Center Stage: A Lev Gleason Daredevil Novel
• The "I" of the Needle: A Captain Canuck Novel
• Deadly Waters: A Silver Streak Novel^[22]

• Adventures in Wonderland (1955 - 1956) 5 Issues
• Black Diamond Western (1949 - 1956) 52 Issues
• Boy Comics (1942 - 1956) 117 Issues
  • Giant Boy Book of Comics (1945) 1 Issue
  • Squeeks (1953 - 1954) 5 Issues
• Boy Loves Girl (1952 - 1956) 33 Issues
• Boy Meets Girl (1950 - 1952) 24 Issues
• Buster Crabbe (1953 - 1954) 4 Issues
• Captain Battle Comics (1941) 2 Issues
• Captain Battle Jr. (1943 - 1944) 2 Issues
• Crime and Penalty (1948) 1 Issues
• Crime and Punishment (1948 - 1955) 74 Issues
• Crime Does Not Pay (1942 - 1955) 126 Issues
  • Crime Does Not Pay Annual (1953) 1 Issue
  • Best of Crime Does Not Pay (1944 - 1952) 2 Issues
• Cutie Pie (1955 - 1956) 5 Issues
• Daredevil Comics (1941 - 1956) 134 Issues
  • Dilly (1953) 3 Issues
  • Slugger (1956) 1 Issue
• Desperado (1948 - 1949) 8 Issues
• Dime Comics (1946) 1 Issue
• Fun Yearbook (1945) 2 Issues
• Horsefeathers (1947 - 1948) 4 Issues
• Jim Dandy (1956) 3 Issues
• Lovers' Lane (1949 - 1954) 41 Issues
• Shorty Shiner (1956) 3 Issues
• Silver Streak Comics (1939 - 1946) 23 Issues
• Spooky Mysteries (1946) 1 Issue
• Tops (1949) 2 Issues
• Uncle Charlie's Fables (1952) 5 Issues^[23]

• Lev Gleason Publications at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Dakin, in Worcester, Kent, "Lev Gleason: The Family Speaks!, Brett (July 2, 2010). "American Daredevil: Comics, Communism and My Uncle Lev". The Comics Journal. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Lev Gleason's Comic House
• Kent Worcester’s book review for The Comics Journal (15 July 2020) of Brett Dakin’s “American Daredevil: Comics, Communism, and The Battles of Lev Gleason”^[1]

Category:Comic book publishing companies of the United States Category:Defunct comics and manga publishing companies Category:Crime comics

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