Jack Liebowitz; Publisher Introduced Superman

Jack Liebowitz, 100, the comic book publisher who first put Superman on the newsstands. After starting Detective Comics in 1937, Liebowitz and his partner, Harry Donenfeld, introduced the character Batman in May 1939. They also started Action Comics, whose first issue presented the story of the super being from the planet Krypton. A copy of that June 1938 comic currently sells for more than $5,000. Superman went on to become a popular radio program in the 1940s, a TV program in the 1950s and major motion pictures decades later. Liebowitz was also a partner in a sister company, All American Comics, whose roster of characters included The Flash, Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern. All American Comics merged with Detective Comics in 1944. Born in the Ukraine in 1900, Liebowitz emigrated to New York 10 years later. After working as a magazine distributor, he joined Donenfeld to print glossy covers for a handful of Depression-era comic books. DC comics became National Periodical Publications in 1961 with Liebowitz as president. He remained in that position until the firm was bought by Kinney National Services in 1967. Kinney acquired Warner Bros. the next year and formed Warner Communications. Liebowitz was a board member of Warner Communications and then Time Warner until 1991. On Monday in Great Neck, N.Y.