Gold Key Comics was an imprint of Western Printing . It was created in 1962, when Western Publishing decided to stop publishing its comic book properties through Dell Comics.
Gold Key featured a number of licensed properties and several original titles. It maintained decent sales numbers thoughout the 1960s, thanks to its offering many titles based upon popular TV series of the day, as well as an extensive amount of titles based upon both Walt Disney Studios and Warner Brothers animated properties. It was also the first company to publish comic books based upon Star Trek. However, in the 1970s, Gold Key fell victim to plunging sales numbers, as the comic industry in general experienced a downswing. Gold Key was among the hardest hit in part due to the fact that most of its properties were licensed. By 1984, Gold Key was out of business, though Western continued to publish a number of former Gold Key titles under the Whitman Comics imprint for a time.
Three of Gold Key's original characters: Magnus the Robot Fighter, Doctor Solar and Turok, Son of Stone were later used to launch the Valiant Universe.
Selected titles
External Links
Toonapedia's Article on Gold Key Comics
