Vin Sullivan

Who was Vin Sullivan?

Vincent "Vin" Sullivan was a pioneering American comic book editor, artist and publisher.

As an editor for National Allied Publications, 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, 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, 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.