Four Color
This article is about the comic book series; a separate article is available about the four color theorem.
Four Color was an extremely prolific American comic book series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. In total, approximately 1,375 issues were published, usually with multiple titles released every month. The first 25 issues are known as "series 1"; at that point, the numbering began again and "series 2" began. An exact accounting of the actual number of unique issues produced is difficult because occasional issue numbers were skipped, although the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide nonetheless lists well over 1,000 individual issues. It currently holds the record for most issues produced of an American comic book; its nearest rivals, Action Comics and Detective Comics, both still publishing monthly issues after more than 65 years, only recently passed their 800th issues.
Unlike most comic book series of the day, which were either devoted to one character, or were collections of stories, Four Color instead devoted each individual issue to different characters. One issue might feature a popular cartoon character, while the next might be an adaptation of a popular movie or TV series. Most Four Color titles featured licensed properties; relatively few original characters were created for the line. The first Four Color comic featured comic strip and movie serial hero Dick Tracy; the last (issue number 1,354, series 2) was based upon the TV series Calvin and the Colonel.
Many Four Color titles, if they proved popular enough, would often spin-off ongoing, independent series of their own, usually published by Dell or Gold Key Comics, and the issue numbering of these spin-offs often took into account any previous Four Color issues. Four Color also published many of the first comics featuring characters licensed from Walt Disney.
Identifying Four Color comics can be a challenge, as only issues published between c.1940 and 1946 actually carried the title Four Color Comics on the cover.
The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic books: cyan, magenta, yellow and black.