Chronicle Features

Last updated
Chronicle Features
FormerlyChronicle Features Syndicate
Type Subsidiary
Industry Print syndication
Founded1962 (1962)
Defunctc. 1998;25 years ago (1998)
Fateacquired by Universal Press Syndicate
Headquarters870 Market Street,
San Francisco, California
,
U.S.
Key people
Stanleigh Arnold
Stuart Dobbs
ProductsComic strips, newspaper columns
Owners San Francisco Chronicle

Chronicle Features was the syndication arm of the San Francisco Chronicle . Syndicating comic strips, newspaper columns, and editorial features, it operated from 1962 to c. 1998. The syndicate was known for the offbeat comic strips it championed, such as Gary Larson's The Far Side , Dan Piraro's Bizarro , and the editorial cartoons of Ted Rall. The service was acquired by Universal Press Syndicate in 1997 and went defunct soon after.

Contents

Long-time Chronicle employee Stanleigh Arnold was the syndicate's first general manager, holding that job until his 1982 retirement. He brought on Phil Frank's Farley and Larson's Far Side . Stuart Dodds, an original employee of the syndicate, rose to sales manager and then editor/general manager, expanding the company's focus from columns to features and comic strips. [1]

History

The Chronicle Features Syndicate was formed in 1962 to syndicate the San Francisco Chronicle's star columnists. [2] Chronicle Features' first comic strips were Dan O'Neill's Odd Bodkins and Bill Weber's Doctor Funshine, both launched in 1963. Doctor Funshine lasted four years, [3] but O'Neill's more successful Odd Bodkins had a tumultuous end in 1970 that coincided with O'Neill's activities with the underground comix group the Air Pirates. [4]

Phil Frank's Farley began in 1975 as Travels With Farley (a play on John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley ). [5] Farley began as a nationally syndicated strip with Chronicle Features, [6] but Frank missed the "timeliness and joy of doing local politics" and, dissatisfied with the four-to-six week lead time required of syndication, in 1985 switched to working exclusively for the Chronicle, which enabled him to quickly mine local events — usually overnight — for his satire.

In 1985, Gary Larson left Chronicle Features for the much larger rival Universal Press Syndicate (UPS). The Far Side was replaced with Dan Piraro's Bizarro , but in 1995 Piraro also left Chronicle Features for UPS.

In 1995, Ted Rall's syndicated cartoons won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. A year later, however, Rall also left for UPS, prompting general manager Dodd to say, "There's sort of a path between us and Universal, and I'd like the grass to grow for a while." [7] That same year, Chronicle Features turned down the chance to syndicate Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks , which went on to great success with UPS. [8]

In 1996 Chronicle Features outsourced their sales to UPS rival United Media; Dodd claimed, "We now offer the editorial intimacy of a small syndicate and the marketing power of a large one." [7] Nonetheless, a year later Chronicle Features was acquired by the Universal Press Syndicate, [9] and absorbed by UPS circa 1998. (In 2011, UPS's parent company Universal Uclick took over the syndication of United Media's 150 comic strips and features). [10]

Chronicle Features strips and panels

Editorial cartoonists

Columnists

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Far Side</i> Comic strip by Gary Larson

The Far Side is a single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Chronicle Features and then Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from December 31, 1979, to January 1, 1995. Its surrealistic humor is often based on uncomfortable social situations, improbable events, an anthropomorphic view of the world, logical fallacies, impending bizarre disasters, references to proverbs, or the search for meaning in life. Larson's frequent use of animals and nature in the comic is popularly attributed to his background in biology. The Far Side was ultimately carried by more than 1,900 daily newspapers, translated into 17 languages, and collected into calendars, greeting cards, and 23 compilation books, and reruns are still carried in many newspapers. After a 25-year hiatus, in July 2020 Larson began drawing new Far Side strips offered through the comic's official website.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan O'Neill</span> American cartoonist

Dan O'Neill is an American underground cartoonist, creator of the syndicated comic strip Odd Bodkins and founder of the underground comics collective the Air Pirates.

<i>Bizarro</i> (comic strip) Cartoon by Dan Piraro

Bizarro is a single-panel cartoon written and drawn by cartoonist Dan Piraro and later by cartoonist Wayne "Wayno" Honath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Piraro</span> American cartoonist, painter, writer, and performer (born 1958)

Daniel Charles Piraro is a painter, illustrator, and cartoonist best known for his syndicated cartoon panel Bizarro. Piraro's cartoons have been reprinted in 16 book collections. He has also written three books of prose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Media</span>

United Media was a large editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States, owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, that operated from 1978 to 2011. It syndicated 150 comics and editorial columns worldwide. Its core businesses were the United Feature Syndicate and the Newspaper Enterprise Association.

United Feature Syndicate (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media from 1978 to 2011, and is now a division of Andrews McMeel Syndication. United Features has syndicated many notable comic strips, including Peanuts, Garfield, Li'l Abner, Dilbert, Nancy, and Marmaduke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newspaper Enterprise Association</span> American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service

The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news service to the Scripps Howard News Service; it later evolved into a general syndicate best known for syndicating the comic strips Alley Oop, Our Boarding House, Freckles and His Friends, The Born Loser, Frank and Ernest, and Captain Easy / Wash Tubbs; in addition to an annual Christmas comic strip. Along with United Feature Syndicate, the NEA was part of United Media from 1978 to 2011, and is now a division of Andrews McMeel Syndication. The NEA once selected college All-America teams, and presented awards in professional football and professional [NBA] basketball.

Universal Press Syndicate (UPS), a subsidiary of Andrews McMeel Universal, was an independent press syndicate. It distributed lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and other content. Popular columns include Dear Abby, Ann Coulter, Roger Ebert and News of the Weird. Founded in 1970, it was merged in July 2009 with Uclick to form Universal Uclick.

Farley was an American comic strip written and drawn by Phil Frank, which appeared daily in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Adventures of Patsy was an American newspaper comic strip which ran from March 11, 1935, to April 2, 1955. Created by Mel Graff, it was syndicated by AP Newsfeatures. The Phantom Magician, an early supporting character in the strip, is regarded by some comics historians as among the first superheroes of comics.

Art's Gallery is a daily comic strip by Art Finley which lasted from 1962 to 1981. It was featured in the San Francisco Chronicle during its run and was syndicated by Chronicle Features from 1962 to 1977, when it moved to Universal Press Syndicate until 1981. The strip consisted of 19th-century woodcut panels from the Chronicle's archives, to which Finley added humorous and contemporary captions.

A comic strip syndicate functions as an agent for cartoonists and comic strip creators, placing the cartoons and strips in as many newspapers as possible on behalf of the artist. A syndicate can annually receive thousands of submissions, from which only two or three might be selected for representation. In some cases, the work will be owned by the syndicate as opposed to the creator. The Guinness World Record for the world's most syndicated strip belongs to Jim Davis' Garfield, which at that point (2002) appeared in 2,570 newspapers, with 263 million readers worldwide.

Uclick LLC was an American corporation selling "digital entertainment content" for the desktop, the web and mobile phones. Uclick operated several consumer websites, including the comic strip and editorial cartoon site GoComics and the puzzle and casual game sites ThePuzzleSociety.com and UclickGames.com.

<i>The Washington Post</i> Writers Group

The Washington Post Writers Group (WPWG), a division of The Washington Post News Service & Syndicate, is a press syndication service composed of opinion journalists, editorial cartoonists, comic strips and columnists. The service is operated by The Washington Post.

<i>The Strange World of Mr. Mum</i>

The Strange World of Mr. Mum was a surreal humor comic panel by Irving Phillips which was published from May 5, 1958, to 1974. At its peak, it appeared daily in 180 newspapers in 22 countries. Initially distributed by the Hall Syndicate, it was later handled by the Field Newspaper Syndicate. A Sunday edition began October 4, 1959.

Allan Holtz is a comic strip historian who researches and writes about newspaper comics for his Stripper's Guide blog, launched in 2005. His research encompasses some 7,000 American comic strips and newspaper panels. In addition to his contributions to Hogan's Alley and other publications about vintage comic strips, he is the author of American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide (2012). He is a resident of Tavares, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrews McMeel Syndication</span> American content syndicate

Andrews McMeel Syndication is an American content syndicate which provides syndication in print, online and on mobile devices for a number of lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and cartoons and various other content. Some of its best-known products include Dear Abby, Doonesbury, Ziggy, Garfield, Ann Coulter, Richard Roeper and News of the Weird. A subsidiary of Andrews McMeel Universal, it is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. It was formed in 2009 and renamed in January 2017.

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Editors Press Service (EPS) (later known as Atlantic Syndication) was a print syndication service of columns and comic strips that was in operation from 1933 to 2010. It was notable for being the first U.S. company to actively syndicate material internationally. Despite surviving for more than seven decades, EPS was never a large operation, characterized by comic strip historian Allan Holtz as a "hole-in-the-wall outfit."

References

  1. ↑ Nordling, Lee. Your Career in the Comics (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1995), p. 234.
  2. ↑ "The Chronicle Publishing Company, Inc. History," Funding Universe. Accessed Dec. 15, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Holtz, Allan. "Obscurity of the Day: Doctor Funshine," Stripper's Guide (October 9, 2017).
  4. ↑ Albright, Thomas. "The creator of ‘Odd Bodkins’ tries to keep his message pure while avoiding the censorship that would erase him," Rolling Stone (SEPTEMBER 3, 1970).
  5. ↑ Liberatore, Paul. "Cartoonist Phil Frank dies at 64," Archived 2014-02-03 at the Wayback Machine Marin Independent Journal (Sept. 13, 2007).
  6. 1 2 Taylor, Michael. "Stanleigh Arnold -- Prescient Chronicle Editor," San Francisco Chronicle (May 30, 1997).
  7. 1 2 "Rall switches and Siporin is signed,"] Editor & Publisher (July 20, 1996). Archived at The Free Library.
  8. ↑ Parker, Lonnae O'Neal "STRIP TEASE," The Washington Post (August 20, 1997).
  9. ↑ Astor, Dave. "Creators Syndicate to Purchase Copley News Service," Archived 2018-12-16 at the Wayback Machine Editor & Publisher (May 28, 2008).
  10. ↑ Universal Uclick to Provide Syndicate Services for United Media, PR Newswire, February 24, 2011.
  11. ↑ Holtz, Allan. "Obscurity of the Day: Art's Gallery," Stripper's Guide (Nov. 5, 2012).
  12. ↑ Press release. "BIZARRO WINS GENESIS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CARTOON," King Features website (March 25, 2004).
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Editor & Publisher Mystery Strips," Stripper's Guide. Accessed Dec. 15, 2018.
  14. ↑ McCarthy, Susan (21 December 1999). "Gary Larson". Salon .
  15. ↑ O'Neill entry, Who's Who of American Comics Books, 1928–1999. Accessed Dec. 15, 2018.
  16. ↑ McKerrow, Steve. "Need more 'Quality Time'? Check the comics," Baltimore Sun (June 14, 1993).
  17. ↑ Holtz, Allan. "Obscurity of the Day: Quality Time," Stripper's Guide (November 26, 2014).
  18. ↑ Biography on the Ted Rail website
  19. ↑ The Provacative Pen of Lucius Beebe, Esq., p. vii.
  20. ↑ Carvalho, John. "Cynthia Tucker," Encyclopedia of Alabama. Accessed Dec. 15, 2018.
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