Alternative History
I.W. Comics
Dc-fandom
I.W. Comics logo
Parent company I.W. Enterprises
Status Active
Founded 1958
Founder Israel Waldman
Defunct Template:Wikidata
Country of origin United States
Headquarters location Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Distribution Worldwide
Fiction genres Superhero
Fantasy
Science fiction
Action
Adventure
Official website Template:URL

I.W. Comics (formerly known as Super Comics and I.W. Publications) is a Columbian comic book publisher best known for their superhero character Atlas, who many originally saw as a rip-off of Superman before the company agreed to collaborate with DC and have Atlas and Superman fight crime as a duo. The company is part of I.W. Enterprises. I.W. Comics originally published unauthorized reprints of other publishers' properties. Usually these companies were already out of business — but not always.

I.W. Comics publishes comics in a wide variety of genres, including crime, science fiction, Western, horror, and war. They once had cartoon animal titles before deciding to focus on superheroes entirely by 1972. Back in the 50s, company was known for its low-budget products: most of I.W.'s comics were sold in grocery and discount stores, often in "three comics for a quarter" plastic bags. The numbering of most of the company's titles is misleading, often not starting at issue #1 and skipping issue numbers. Incredibly, the company produced 118 separate titles, but only 332 individual issues — many titles only published a single issue.

The company published one comic book with original material: Marty Mouse #1 (1958), featuring talking animal stories by Vincent Fago, among others.

Some I.W./Super Comics titles used original cover art: illustrators included Jack Abel, Ross Andru, Sol Brodsky, Carl Burgos, Mike Esposito, and John Severin, with lettering by Ben Oda.

The company was close to going defunt due to copying certain artists, until the company's former owner and founder, Israel Waldman, resigned and was replaced by current owner James Rudolf.

James Rudolf taking Israel Waldman's place caused the company to make more original characters. Existing characters such as Atlas, the Mighty Atom, and the Avenger would remain faces of the company. The company's abbreviated name would also be changed from Israel Waldman Publications to Imaginative Worlds Comics. I.W.'s comic books increased in budget and were more successful, with issues being numbered correctly and more effort being put into storytelling. More people began reading their comics, and the company started making millions not too long after.

In the 1970s, shortly after the Atlas-Superman crossover comic from 1965, I.W. Comics further expanded their superhero universe by giving Atlas and Superman their own spin-off comic series (co-created by Wayne Boring and Jerry Siegel, who created Superman back in 1938), the Adventures of Atlas and Superman (1974-1985), which became hugely popular with readers. The two iconic superheroes teamed up to fight a variety of super villains, and the series cemented I.W. Comics' reputation as a major player in the comic book industry. Atlas would eventually go on to have a self-titled TV series of his own that ran from 1994-1998, along with a few video games, some of which are set in the same universe as the Adventures of Atlas and Superman.

In a major coup for the company, I.W. Comics also acquired the rights to some of the most iconic characters in the comic book world, including Spider-Man of Marvel, Thanos of DC Comics, and Batman of DC Comics in 1984. These beloved characters were given expanded storylines and movies in later years, and they quickly became some of the most popular titles in the I.W. Comics lineup. Marvel's Stan Lee would start doing artwork alongside James Rudolf for I.W.'s comic books around this time.

Today, I.W. Comics is a thriving publisher with a wide range of titles and characters to choose from, and is up there with companies like Marvel and DC. The company continues to innovate and push the boundaries of the comic book medium, and their commitment to diversity and inclusivity ensures that readers from all walks of life can find characters and stories that resonate with them.