Four Color

Four Color, also known as Four Color Comics and Dell Four Color, is an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic books (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black at the time). The first 25 issues (1939–1942) are known as "series 1". In mid-1942, the numbering started over again, and "series 2" began. After the first 100 issues of the second series, Dell stopped putting the "Four Color Comic" designation on the books, but they continued the numbering system for 20 years. More than 1,000 issues were published, usually with multiple titles released every month. An exact accounting of the actual number of unique issues produced is difficult because occasional issue numbers were skipped and a number of reprint issues were also included. Nonetheless, the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide lists well over 1,000 individual issues, ending with #1354. Comics historian Alberto Becattini cites 1332 issues. It currently holds the record for most issues produced of an American comic book title; its nearest rival, DC's Action Comics, reached the 1,000-issue milestone in 2018. However, the actual volume ended at 904 issues, before rebooting. Four Color published many of the first licensed Disney comics; about 20% of the Four Color issues were devoted to Disney characters.