Private company

Tower Comics

Defunct American comic book publisher

Tower Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1965 to 1969, best known for Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, a strange combination of secret agents and superheroes; and Samm Schwartz's Tippy Teen, an Archie Andrews clone. The comics were published by Harry Shorten and edited by Schwartz and Wood. Tower Comics was part of Tower Publications, a paperback publisher at that point best known for their Midwood Books line of soft-core erotic fiction aimed at male readers.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1965Founded1
  • HeadquartersNew York City1

Tower Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1965 to 1969, best known for Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, a strange combination of secret agents and superheroes; and Samm Schwartz's Tippy Teen, an Archie Andrews clone. The comics were published by Harry Shorten and edited by Schwartz and Wood. Tower Comics was part of Tower Publications, a paperback publisher at that point best known for their Midwood Books line of soft-core erotic fiction aimed at male readers.2

The story

Founded by Harry Shorten in 1965.1

Tower publisher Harry Shorten "cut a dream deal with Wally Wood" in which Shorten would be the managing editor and "Wood would be granted a wide latitude of creative and business freedom devoid of a 9-to-5 office job or hefty administrative duties, and be allowed to concentrate on creating characters and concepts for an expanding line of superhero comics".

When it became obvious Wood could not handle the volume of material Shorten wanted to publish, he hired Samm Schwartz, who Shorten knew from both men's many years at Archie Comics. Schwartz handled the scheduling of all the material and assignments of scripts and art other than Wood's own. Schwartz's Tippy Teen, an Archie-style comic about the adventures of a spunky teenaged girl, ran 27 issues. Tippy Teen and its spin-off, Go-Go and Animal, featured many stories drawn by Schwartz, as well as contributions from moonlighting Archie artists like Harry Lucey and Dan DeCarlo.

Other notable creators associated with Tower included Dan Adkins, Gil Kane, Reed Crandall, Steve Ditko, Richard Bassford, Len Brown, Steve Skeates, Larry Ivie, Bill Pearson, Russ Jones, Roger Brand, and Tim Battersby-Brent.

In 1968, Tower Publications itself was sold to Vanderbilt Tire & Rubber Company, who was also owner of a rival and dormant comic book publisher American Comics Group.

From Wikipedia’s article on Tower Comics, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Leadership

Who has led Tower Comics, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Products and brands

Fight the Enemy (3 issues, Aug. 1966 – Mar. 1967) – war title

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (20 issues, Nov. 1965 – Nov. 1969) – and spin-off titles:

Dynamo (4 issues, Aug. 1966 – June 1967)

NoMan (2 issues, Nov. 1966 – Mar. 1967)

Read the full text

Undersea Agent (6 issues, Jan. 1966 – Mar. 1967) – minimal ties with T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents

Tippy Teen (26 issues, Nov. 1965 – Oct. 1969) – teen comics; includes the unnumbered Tippy Teen Special Collector's Edition (Nov. 1969); and spin-off titles:

Teen-in (4 issues, Summer 1968 – Fall 1969)

Tippy's Friends Go-go and Animal / Tippy's Friend Go-Go (15 issues, Aug. 1966 – Oct. 1969)

Paperback collections

Dynamo, Man of High Camp (Tower Book 42–660) 1966 – reprints T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1

NoMan, the Invisible THUNDER Agent (Tower Book 42-672) 1966 – reprints NoMan stories from T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2–5

Menthor, the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent with the Super Helmet (Tower Book 42-674) 1966 – reprints Menthor stories from T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2–5

The Terrific Trio (Tower Book 42-687) 1966 – reprints stories T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2, 3, 6

From Wikipedia’s article on Tower Comics, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. 1965Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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