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A significant breakthrough was their early adoption of niche genres such as Westerns, detective stories, romance, and sci-fi. The Western adventures of Buffalo Bill, especially, gained legendary status and contributed to mythologizing the American frontier.
In 1915, they pioneered the Detective Story magazine, dedicated exclusively to crime and mystery novels, laying the groundwork for what would become the golden age of detective fiction. The creation of recurring heroes, such as The Shadow in 1931, exemplified how the publisher transitioned from serialized serials to beloved, iconic characters—an early form of what we now recognize as comic book heroes.