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Creators Syndicate

{{Short description|American media distributor}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Creators

| logo = CreatorsSyndicate-logo.jpg

| logo_size = 220px

| type = Print and digital syndicate

| foundation = February 13, 1987

| founder = Richard S. Newcombe

| key_people = Richard S. Newcombe - Founder/CEO; Jack Newcombe - President; Melissa Lin - Vice President of Business Affairs; Marianne Sugawara - Vice President of Operations; Simone Slykhous - Managing Editor

| location = Hermosa Beach, California, U.S.

| industry = News articles, News Columns, Comics

| homepage = [http://www.creators.com creators.com]

}}

Creators Syndicate (also known as Creators) is an American independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns to daily newspapers, websites, and other digital outlets. When founded in 1987, Creators Syndicate became one of the few successful independent syndicates founded since the 1930s and was the first syndicate to allow cartoonists ownership rights to their work. Creators Syndicate is based in Hermosa Beach, California.

History

File:Creators Syndicate Building.jpg]]

Creators Syndicate was founded on February 13, 1987, following the December 24, 1986-announced sale of the Irvine, California-based News America Syndicate to King Features Syndicate, a print syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation.{{cite news |page=4 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=February 13, 1987 |title=Popular Advice Columnist Ann Landers Joins Tribune |access-date=August 18, 2012|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/02/13/popular-advice-columnist-ann-landers-joins-tribune/}}{{cite news|page=4F |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |date=October 16, 1986 |author=Jeff Rowe |title=Murdoch News America Group Is Up for Sale |access-date=August 18, 2012|url=https://apnews.com/439a044b39d61bc1c695957af237bc99}} The pending sale of News America Syndicate, which was first reported by Advertising Age in October 1986,{{cite news |page=2D |newspaper=South Florida Sun-Sentinel |date=October 21, 1986 |title=2 New York Papers Deny Merger Rumor |author=United Press International |access-date=August 18, 2012 |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-10-21/business/8603040097_1_daily-news-president-rupert-murdoch-magazine |archive-date=July 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704105017/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-10-21/business/8603040097_1_daily-news-president-rupert-murdoch-magazine |url-status=dead }} prompted 36-year-old News America Syndicate president Richard S. Newcombe to leave NAS in January 1987 and use financial backing from London-based publisher Robert Maxwell to form Creators Syndicate before the close of the NAS sale.{{cite news |page=34 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 14, 1987 |title= A Superhero For Cartoonists?|author=Katina Alexander |access-date=August 18, 2012|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/14/business/a-superhero-for-cartoonists.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm}}{{cite journal |page=46 |journal=Editor & Publisher |date=January 17, 1987|volume= 120|title=Richard S. Newcombe leaves top exec post at NAS |author= David Astor}}

Ann Landers, then the world's most widely syndicated newspaper columnist, also announced that she was leaving NAS to join the newly formed Creators Syndicate.{{cite journal|page=58 |journal= Editor & Publisher |date=February 14, 1987|volume= 120|title=King-News America deal finalized |author= David Astor}} Within a month, Creators Syndicate acquired the syndication rights to the enormously popular comic strip B.C.,{{cite news |page=16 |newspaper=Newsday |date=April 26, 1987 |title=This Boss Lets Artists Own Comic Strips |author=Thomas Collins |access-date=August 18, 2012 |url=http://www.creators.com/pdf/april261987.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722003051/http://www.creators.com/pdf/april261987.pdf |archive-date=July 22, 2012 |url-status=dead }} and a few months after that acquired the syndication rights to the cartoon works of Herblock, an American editorial cartoonist and author known for his commentary on domestic and foreign policy.

Milton Caniff was another of several important cartoonists who had tried unsuccessfully to secure rights to their creations. In 1946, he walked away from the enormously popular Terry and the Pirates comic strip because his syndicate insisted that they own his creation. After Creators Syndicate was founded, Caniff sent Newcombe a postcard saying, “To put it on the record: Hooray!!!"{{Cite journal|date=7 March 1987|title=Strong opinions about a new syndicate|journal=Editor & Publisher}} Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mike Peters told Editor & Publisher magazine, "It's long overdue that syndicates realize a new day is here. Indentured servitude went out in the 1500s." Johnny Hart, creator of B.C. and The Wizard of Id, called Creators “a history-making venture in syndication." Bil Keane, creator of The Family Circus, described Creators Syndicate as "the first breath of fresh air the syndicates have had in 100 years of existence."{{Cite journal|date=21 March 1987|title='B.C.' comic joining Ann Landers at CS|journal=Editor & Publisher}} The New York Times ran a story about Newcombe with the headline, “A Superhero for Cartoonists?”{{Cite news|title=A Superhero for Cartoonists|date=14 June 1987|work=The New York Times}} Today, largely as a result of Creators Syndicate, all syndicates grant cartoonists ownership rights to their work.

In 1991 Creators Syndicate took over Heritage Features Syndicate, part of The Heritage Foundation.{{Cite journal|date=16 February 1991|title=Creators Syndicate to take over Heritage|journal=Editor & Publisher}} In 2008 Creators Syndicate acquired the Copley News Service, a wire service that distributed news, political cartoons, and opinion columns.{{Cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2008/05/creators_syndicate_buys_copley.html|title=Creators Syndicate buys Copley News Service|access-date=2016-07-01}}{{cite news |newspaper=The Oregonian |date=May 29, 2008 |at=Business News |title=Creators Syndicate buys Copley News Service |author=Jim Hays |access-date=August 18, 2012|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2008/05/creators_syndicate_buys_copley.html}}

In 2011 Jack Newcombe became president of Creators Syndicate,Press release. [https://www.creators.com/press/jack-newcombe-named-president-coo-of-creators-syndicate "JACK NEWCOMBE NAMED PRESIDENT/COO OF CREATORS SYNDICATE,"] Creators.com (July 12, 2011). and together with Rick Newcombe started Creators Publishing and Sumner Books, which have published more than 150 titles.

In 2012, after 25 years of operating in the city of Los Angeles, Creators Syndicate moved to nearby Hermosa Beach because of a tax dispute with the city.Newcombe, Rick. [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124718265362620253 "Why We'll Leave L.A.: The business climate is worse than the air quality.,"] The Wall Street Journal (July 10, 2009).

Since 2012, Creators has expanded its business to include Creators Publishing, Alpha Comedy, a literary and lifestyle magazine, a political website, a podcast network, and Sumner Books, an e-book and audiobook publishing company.

Creators Syndicate strips and panels

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=Discontinued strips=

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Political cartoonists

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References

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External links

  • {{Official website}}
  • [http://www.creators.com/about-creators.html Creators Syndicate] in the News
  • [http://www.outloudopinion.com Podcasts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211020406/http://outloudopinion.com/ |date=2021-02-11 }} of Creators Syndicate articles

{{Creators Syndicate Comics}}

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Category:Comic strip syndicates

Category:Companies based in Los Angeles

Category:Publishing companies established in 1987

Category:Print syndication