No, National Allied/National/DC existed before 1938. National Allied/National was founded in 1935 and Detective Comics, where the DC name comes from, was published in 1937.
I meant the Superman story. Companies routinely bought the rights. If Joe & Jerry don't sell, there's no Supes. :eek:

That likely means Cap Marv becomes the icon, & survives, because DC can't sue.:eek:
What if they succeeded in their original plan of selling it to a newspaper syndicate as a comic strip?
That could be interesting... Supes went through a fair bit of evolution before he hit his OTL form. Would he be nearer The Phantom? Would that doom him to obscurity?

Come to think of it, would (could) DC claim the rights anyhow, as work product? IIRC, Jerry & Joe were working for DC at the time (on Dr Occult).
 
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"One of the main characters has a black sidekick that becomes popular and is not a stereotype?" Lee Falk did newspaper comic strips for King Features and created both the character of Mandrake the Magician and the Phantom. Mandrake had black sidekick Lothar the strongest man in the world who was probably based on Umbopa from H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mine and would develope beyond being a slight caricature. The Phantom by the 1940's was set in Africa with the character when he was not globe trotting fighting crime lived with a tribe of pygmies called the the Bandar their chief being Guran who was his best friend. While Guran was not usually seen outside the adventures set in the African jungle and was first drawn a bit stereotypical he also became a fully featured character by the 60's. It is possible that King features who had their newspaper strips reprinted as comic books by other companies and became very popular in New Guinea, Pacific Isands & India realized the potential market among African Americans in the States tweaked their roles so they were more prominent and realistic years earlier.
 
Come to think of it, would (could) DC claim the rights anyhow, as work product? IIRC, Jerry & Joe were working for DC at the time (on Dr Occult).
Siegel & Shuster had the idea for Superman (in one form or another) since 1932, some three years before they started working for DC.
 
Siegel & Shuster had the idea for Superman (in one form or another) since 1932, some three years before they started working for DC.
I have read that. The final form took more than a bit of tuning, tho, not least (AIUI) the death of Jerry's father. By the time you get to OTL Supes, they're at DC. If they get a strip earlier, he's very likely not the character we all know, & that very much puts him in reach of The Phantom--& that's pretty stiff competition.

If they get one of the earliest incarnations, there's a very good chance the strip bombs. (Absent them coming up with something akin X-Men or DP.)
 
I have read that. The final form took more than a bit of tuning, tho, not least (AIUI) the death of Jerry's father. By the time you get to OTL Supes, they're at DC. If they get a strip earlier, he's very likely not the character we all know, & that very much puts him in reach of The Phantom--& that's pretty stiff competition.

If they get one of the earliest incarnations, there's a very good chance the strip bombs. (Absent them coming up with something akin X-Men or DP.)
After reading this it sounds like 1) Superman was almost completely fleshed out by 1935 before the published their first comic, Dr. occult and 2) they where doing freelance work when Dr. Occult was published.
 
What if Carl Barks' career had ended early? His second marriage to Clara Balke from 1938 to 1951 was an unhappy one due to Balke's alcoholism, with her often physically abusing him and wrecking his belongings, so it's not inconceivable that an accidental step too far could have either killed or incapacitated Barks. If we take an early date for this happening, it would mean that the characters of Scrooge McDuck, Gladstone Gander, Gyro Gearloose, the Beagle Boys, Magica de Spell and several other less significant Donald Duck universe characters would never come to being. (I think the title "the Good Duck Artist" might go to Tony Strobl in this case.)
 

marktaha

Banned
Not going to happen at DC.
The editors at DC refused to allow Fero Lad in the Legion of Superhero to be a black man during his death by the Suneater in the 60's.

What company that did Superheroes , would risk doing a non stereotype black sidekick?
Would southern states allow the comic to be sold?
Since he always wore a helmet...
 
I always wonder. What would have happened if Timely had come about a year or two earlier than IOTL. Would Jerry and Joe have sold Superman to them instead?
 
For one this:
bob_kane_s_original_batman_by_phil_cho_d324ffi-pre.jpg

I have long had a fascination with this Batman and their alternate universe in the multiverse. Because it's Batman but not and it offers a totally blank slate where you could maybe borrow elements of the real Batman mythos but also make up anything too. Maybe we should do a collab on the site. 🤔
 
I have long had a fascination with this Batman and their alternate universe in the multiverse. Because it's Batman but not and it offers a totally blank slate where you could maybe borrow elements of the real Batman mythos but also make up anything too. Maybe we should do a collab on the site. 🤔
I've had the idea of this version of Batman being a project between Bob Kane and Stan Lee, where Stan Lee would use elements of Timely's Angel.
 
True but for our purposes we could make him Bruce Grayson: former circus trapeze artist turned international playboy who fights gangsters around the globe. Possibly using his traveling circus as cover.
I wish to make a correction to my previous statement about Stan Lee and the Angel. I meant to say that my idea involved Bob Kane working with Stan Lee using elements from Father Time:
Larry Scott (I think the Bruce Wayne name was Bill Finger's idea) is introduced as he works against time to save his wrongfully accused father from being hanged, but he is only seconds too late to prevent his father's death. Donning a mask and wielding a pair of wing, Larry takes on the name Bat-Man and seeks to make time work against criminals, rather than the innocent.
 
What if National periodical never acquired the rights to Quality comics characters, or merged with All American comics
 
What if National periodical never acquired the rights to Quality comics characters, or merged with All American comics
We would need to change the events that lead to the CCA to save Quality but maybe having All-American being as successful as National/DC could change things.
 
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