Quote:
You have to remember, as far as all sellers were concerned, superheroes were dead, a fad whose time had passed. DCs hero books were driven by three properties, Superman (and Superboy by extension), Batman, and Wonder Woman. They survived because they were the first of their kind, and the successes that everyone else piggybacked off of.
That's being a bit generous. Batman & Robin managed to hold their own in the 1950's with both Batman and Detective Comics surviving the decade (World's Finest likely owes it's survival more to Superman than Batman & Robin). Wonder Woman lost Sensation comics and Comic Cavelcade, and the only reason her bi-monthly solo title survived was because DC would have lost the rights to the character if it had been canceled. Superman, thanks partly to the George Reeves TV show, is the ONLY superhero to thrive in the 1950's.

As for why the Atlas heroes failed, it just wasn't the right time for superheroes to make a return. 1959-1963 were the prime years for their revival.