Red Circle (publishing)

Red Circle is the name used to refer to American publisher Martin Goodman's group of book and pulp magazine publishing corporations. Some of this group of corporations continued into Goodman's comic-book publishing arm, Timely Comics,  which would evolve by the 1960s into Marvel Comics.

Official Marvel historian Les Daniels described the name Red Circle as "a halfhearted attempt to establish an identity for what was usually described loosely as 'the Goodman group' [made] when a new logo was adopted: a red disk surrounded by a black ring that bore the phrase 'A Red Circle Magazine.' But it appeared only intermittently, when someone remembered to put it on [a pulp magazine's] cover. However, pulp historian Richard Paul Hall gives Red Circle as the overall name for Goodman's pulp and book publishing company, noting that, "Goodman used the Red Circle Group logo between 1937 and 1939 to promote his line." Within this framework, historian Jess Nevins writes that, "Timely Publications [was how] Goodman's group [of companies] had become known; before this, it was known as 'Red Circle' because of the logo that Goodman had put on his pulp magazines...."

History
In 1931, Goodman, Louis Silberkleit, and Maurice Coyne formed Columbia Publications, one of the earliest publishers of pulp magazines, which Goodman left in 1932, and (with borrowed money) found his own companies including Western Fiction Publishing.

Goodman's first publication was Western Supernovel Magazine, premiering May 1933. After the first issue he renamed it Complete Western Book Magazine, beginning with cover-date July 1933.

Magazines and paperback books
As the market for pulp magazines waned, Goodman, in addition to comic books, transitioned to conventional magazines — published through a concern dubbed Magazine Management Company at least as far back as 1953 — and in 1949 founded Lion Books, a paperback line. Goodman used the name Red Circle Books for the first seven titles plus an additional two later. Most were novels, but there was a smattering of mostly sports-oriented nonfiction. Goodman eventually developed two lines, the 25¢ Lion and the 35¢ Lion Library.

New American Library bought Lion in 1957, and several Lion titles were reprinted under its Signet label. Authors that Lion published included such notables as Robert Bloch, David Goodis and Jim Thompson.

Related Goodman publishing concerns

 * Humorama (mid-1950s to mid-1960s)
 * Lion Books (1949–1957)
 * Magazine Management Company (c. 1953–1968)
 * Timely Comics/Atlas Comics/Marvel Comics (1939–present)

Magazines
Pulp
 * Atlas
 * Manvis
 * Red Circle Magazine
 * Timely Sports Magazine
 * Star Magazine

Books

 * Lion Books
 * Lion Books
 * Lion Library
 * Red Circle Books

Pulp magazines

 * Adventure Trails
 * All Baseball Stories
 * All Basketball Stories
 * All Football Stories
 * All Star Detective Stories
 * All Star Fiction / All Star Adventure Fiction / All Star Adventure Magazine
 * American Sky Devils
 * The Angel Detective
 * Best Detective
 * Best Love Magazine
 * Best Sports Magazine
 * Best Western / Best Western Novels
 * Big Baseball Stories
 * Big Book Sports
 * Big Sports Magazine
 * Children's Book Digest
 * Complete Adventure Magazine
 * Complete Detective
 * Complete Sports / Complete Sports Action Stories for Men
 * Complete War Novels
 * Complete Western Book Magazine
 * Cowboy Action Novels
 * Detective Mysteries
 * Detective Short Stories
 * Dynamic Science Stories
 * Five Western Novels
 * Gunsmoke Western
 * Justice (digest)
 * Ka-Zar / Ka-Zar the Great
 * Marvel Science Stories / Marvel Tales / Marvel Stories / Marvel Science Fiction
 * Modern Love
 * Modern Love Stories
 * Mystery Tales


 * Quick Trigger Western Novels Magazine
 * Ranch Love Stories
 * Real Confessions
 * Real Love
 * Real Mystery Magazine / Real Mystery
 * Real Sports
 * Romantic Short Stories
 * Secret Story
 * Six-Gun Western
 * Sky Devils
 * Sports Action
 * Sports Leaders Magazine
 * Sports Short Stories
 * Star Detective Magazine
 * Star Sports Magazine
 * 3-Book Western (digest)
 * Three Western Novels / Three Western Novels Magazine
 * Top-Notch Detective
 * Top-Notch Western
 * True Crime / True Crime Magazine
 * Two Daring Love Novels
 * Two-Gun Western Novels Magazine / Two-Gun Western / Two-Gun Western Novels / 2-Gun Western
 * Uncanny Stories
 * Uncanny Tales
 * War Stories Magazine
 * Western Fiction Magazine / Western Fiction Monthly / Western Fiction
 * Western Magazine (Digest)
 * Western Novelettes
 * Western Short Stories
 * Western Supernovel
 * Wild West Stories & Complete Novel Magazine
 * Wild Western Novels / Wild Western Novels Magazine