The Very First Big 3

The idea of The Big 3 is something numerous comic book companies have used as a headliner for their main heroes. DC started out with their All-American Publications had Green Lantern, Flash, and Wonder Woman, but eventually it became the Trinity consisting of Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman when merged with National Periodical Publications. Marvel's Big 3 would change over the decades depending on the character's popularity, for instance if you asked someone in the 90s who their Big 3 was back then they'd probably pick Punisher, Venom, and Wolverine, although their mainstay troika is Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor. Subsequently, Malibu's Ultraverse would have their own versions of Marvel's Big 3 with Hardcase, Prototype, and Prime. Wildstorm even had their own team actually called The Big 3 made of Mr. Majestic, Maximum Man, and The High. But the kickoff point for the concept started in the titular comic book from Fox Features Syndicate in 1940. This was brainstormed by Fox's unscrupulous Victor S. Fox who already had a shady career before he ripped off Superman with his own bootleg version called Wonder Man. After DC Comics sued for copyright infringement, Victor went on to form his own publishing company, and first beginning in the same office building that DC started out in, so there was some serious saber rattling between these two rivals. Victor Fox had been a crooked entrepreneur with a criminal record, but that didn't stop him from digging into DC Comics' foundation when they were breaking ground and borrowed numerous ideas from them. The Big 3 comic itself took a trio of their bestselling superheroes and gave them their own comic that included The Flame from Wonderworld Comics, Samson from Fantastic Comics, and the original Blue Beetle from Mystery Men. Each hero was popular enough on their own, especially Blue Beetle who even had his own radio show, but The Big 3 gave all these heroes their own single title. The Big 3 didn't only have its three spotlight characters, but also included other backup stories starring characters like Cosmic Carson, Stardust, V-Man, Wing Turner, and the original Dr. Doom. The only thing wrong with the title is that it's not all that truthful in what it's trying to sell as it features all three of these characters on the front giving buyers the illusion that it might have this Holy Trinity actually working together as a single team, but in reality, it just had them each on their own separate adventures. Victor Fox came up with the idea of The Big 3 when he heard DC was planning on forming their first superhero team that eventually became the Justice Society, so he beat them to the punch with his made-up team which was only a superhero triple-feature with some backup stories. The Big 3 went on for a total of seven issues with the final one replacing Samson as one of the 3 with V-Man, so their original lineup didn't even make it all the way to then end of its run without reshuffling the deck.