XOW Logo
Publisher: Worth Carnahan
Years in Operation: 1939 - 1940
Disclose Detail
Country: Flag United States Web Site: Brands: 0 Indicia Publishers: 3 Series: 4 Printings: 18 Disclose Notes: Published books often considered to be precursors to Harvey Comics. Probably financed by distributor PDC which was active in getting many publishers off the ground in this time period.

PDC connection suspected due to Leo Greenwald, who was connected with that distributor, taking over publication of Champ Comics (formerly Champion Comics) before selling it to Harvey. Additionally, Joe Simon writes that Greenwald started Worth Publishing Co. in the first paragraph of chapter six of "My Life In Comics" (Titan Books, 2011, hardcover edition, p. 80).

Carnahan's other books were produced with Charles Quinlan (see interview with Carnahan's daughter Cynthia Woody in Comic Book Marketplace #71, titled "The Unknown Publisher: Worth Carnahan") and have often been lumped in with Holyoke due to Quinlan's later involvement with that publisher. In truth, it is only Quinlan's presence and a recycled name (Volton) for two otherwise different characters that connects them.
  Does this data need corrections? Become an editor.
Indicia Publisher Name Years in Operation Printings (Issues)
FlagBilbara Publishing Co. Inc. Disclose
Note: This company has often been erroneously tied to Holyoke and to Frank Z. Temerson's companies because Charles Quinlan was involved in this and other Carnahan ventures, and took the character name "Volton" (but not any other aspect of the character) with him to Helnit/Holyoke. Also, Bilbara's Cyclone Comics (featuring a character called Tornado Tom) appeared at the same time that one of Temerson's earlier companies produced Whirlwind Comics (featuring a character called Cyclone). Bilbara published magazines c1938 to at least the late 1940s, mostly movie and romance magazines. It is believed by some to not be owned not by Worth Carnahan, but by William M. Cotton, owner of Ideal Publications. Cyclone Comics does have ads for Bilbara's movie magazines. The possibility of Bilbara being from Cotton needs conformation and would result in removing Bilbara from the Worth Carnahan published comics.
1940 - 5
FlagHit Publishing Co. Inc. Disclose
Note: The correct name might be "Hit Publications, Inc." as no indicia have been spotted. Worth Carnahan's daughter Cynthia Woody spoke of Worth Publishing Co., Bilbara Publishing Co., and Hit Publishing Co. as her father's companies in an interview in Comic Book Marketplace #71, titled "The Unknown Publisher: Worth Carnahan"). Bilbara and Worth have been confirmed, so it seems likely that she is remembering all three correctly. Both Howard Keltner and Jerry Bails list this company as Hit Publications, Inc. However, this sort of very minor publishing company name detail has often been misreported. CGC has labeled some slabbed issues Hit Publications, but others United Features Syndicate (confusing this O.K. Comics with UFS's Okay Comics), so that does not appear to be a reliable source of confirmation.
1940 - 2
FlagWorth Publishing Co. Inc. Disclose
Note: See also Worth Publishing Co., Inc. under Harvey ( http://www.comics.org/indicia_publisher/639/ )
1939 - 1940 10

Site designed and hosted by XOWTech, Inc..
Any questions or problems with this site should be directed to REMOVE-webmaestro-THESE@xowcomics.com.

XOW, XOWComics.com, XOWTech and XOWTech.com are registered trademarks of XOWTech, Inc.
© XOWTech, Inc., 2010 - 2026. All rights reserved.

Some data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under a Creative Commons Attribution license.