Columbia Features was a syndication service that operated from 1953 to 1994. Originally located in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, The syndicate specialized in comic strips based on licensed characters such as

Smokey the Bear Smokey Bear is an American campaign and advertising icon of the U.S. Forest Service. In the Wildfire Prevention Campaign, which is the longest-running public service announcement campaign in United States history, the Ad Council, the United Sta ...

Bat Masterson Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was born to ...

, and

Nero Wolfe Nero Wolfe is a brilliant, obese and eccentric fictional armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery (fiction), mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Montenegro and keeps his past murky. He lives in a luxurious brownstone on West ...

. Notable Columbia Features comic strip creators included

Murphy Anderson Murphy C. Anderson Jr. (July 9, 1926 – October 22, 2015) was an American comics artist, known as one of the premier inkers of his era, who worked for companies such as DC Comics for over fifty years, starting in the Golden Age of Comic Books in ...

Otto Binder Otto Oscar Binder (; August 26, 1911 – October 13, 1974) was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books. He is best known as the co-creator of Supergirl and for his many scripts for '' Captain Ma ...

Henry Boltinoff Henry Boltinoff (February 19, 1914 – April 26, 2001) was an American cartoonist who worked for both comic strips and comic books. He was a prolific cartoonist and drew many of the humor and filler strips that appeared in National Periodical c ...

Jerry Grandenetti Charles J. "Jerry" Grandenetti (April 15, 1926 – February 19, 2010) was an American comic book artist and advertising art director, best known for his work with writer-artist Will Eisner on the celebrated comics feature "The Spirit", and for h ...

France Herron Francis Edward Herron (July 23, 1917 – September 2, 1966) was an Americans, American comic book writer and editor active in the 1940s–1960s, mainly for DC Comics. He is credited with co-creating Captain Marvel Jr. and the Red Skull, as well a ...

Fran Matera Francis A. "Fran" Matera (December 9, 1924 – March 15, 2012) was an American comic strip artist best known for his King Features Syndicate adventure strip ''Steve Roper and Mike Nomad'' from 1984 to 2004. In addition to his extensive experien ...

Mike Roy Joseph Michel Roy (1921–1996) was a Canadian comic book and comic strip artist, working during the Golden Age of Comic Books and the Silver Age of Comic Books. He is best known for his stories about Native Americans. Biography Born in Queb ...

, and Don Sherwood. Irene Corbally Kuhn, a pioneering female journalist, was a columnist for Columbia Features in the 1970s.

History

One of Columbia's first strips was also one of its longest-running features: ''Jes' Smith'' by Johnny Pierotti, which ran from 1953 to 1973. The syndicate debuted a number of strips in 1955, including the long-running ''The Mountain Boys'' by Paul Webb. Beginning in 1955 and continuing until his death in 1966, writer

worked on a number of strips for Columbia Features. He started with the daily strips '' Davy Crockett, Frontiersman'' and ''

'' — staying on the Davy Crockett strip until 1959, when he became the writer of the ''

Rip Tide A rip tide, or riptide, is a strong offshore current that is caused by the tide pulling water through an inlet along a barrier beach, at a lagoon or inland marina where tide water flows steadily out to sea during ebb tide. It is a strong tidal flo ...

'' and ''

'' strips. ''Bat Masterson'' was illustrated by

Howard Nostrand Howard Nostrand (May 13, 1929Nostrand, Howard. "Nostrand by Nostrand", ''Graphic Story Magazine'' #16 (Summer 1974), p. 18–August 1, 1984)Bob Powell Bob Powell (né Stanley Robert Pawlowski; While gives Stanislav Pavlowsky, and gives Stanislav Pavlowsky, Bails and Ware note: "family name corrected by his son, Seth R. Powell July 2006." October 2, 1916

. (Notably, Nostrand was assisted n backgroundsby future

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

superstar

Neal Adams Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and recognition for Sup ...

who had just graduated from the

School of Industrial Arts The High School of Art and Design is a career and technical education high school in Manhattan, New York City, New York State, United States. Founded in 1936 as the School of Industrial Art, the school moved to 1075 Second Avenue in 1960 and more ...

; it was among his first professional art jobs.) The Davy Crockett strip, though not a success, was notable for the fact that

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gre ...

ghosted the art in the early months of 1956. Both ''Nero Wolfe'' and ''Rip Tide'' ran until 1972. Columbia's ''

'' strip, by "Wes Wood" (most likely the team of

Paul S. Newman Paul S. Newman (April 29, 1924 – May 30, 1999) was an American writer of comic books, comic strips, and books, whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s. Credited in the '' Guinness Book of World Records'' as the most prolific comic-book wr ...

and Mo Gollub),Holtz, Allan
"Obscurity of the Day: Smokey the Bear,"
''Stripper's Guide'' (April 05, 2016). only ran for three years, and is considered highly derivative of the much more popular strip '' Mark Trail''. Columbia Features' last big syndication success was with

's '' Stoker the Broker'', which debuted in 1960 and was syndicated until 1985, although at some point it moved to the

Washington Star Syndicate ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the Washington ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday Sta ...

.Apeldoorn, Ger. The Fabulous Fifties, June 20, 2011.
/ref> In 1968, Columbia syndicated 45 features to approximately 1,000 newspapers; at that point William H. Thomas was president of the company. Joseph M. Boychuk was president of Columbia Features in 1980; Helen Staunton was an editor around that same time. The company had gotten out of the comic strip business by the 1980s, focusing instead on syndicating the work of its

columnists A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short essay ...

. Robert Ferguson, formerly managing editor of

Tribune Media Services Tribune Content Agency (TCA) is a syndication company owned by Tribune Publishing. TCA had previously been known as the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate (CTNYNS), Tribune Company Syndicate, and Tribune Media S ...

, acquired Columbia Features in 1987,''Editor & Publisher'' (Aug. 8, 1992), p. 30. selling it in 1992 to Bruce Brown, who retained Ferguson as editor. By 1994 the syndicate's offices were located in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. '' Editor & Publisher'' reported the company had gone out of business in 1994.Editorial Staff
"Columbia Features said to have folded,"
''Editor & Publisher'' (March 26, 1994), p.32.

Strips and panels

* ''

Akwas Akwas by Mike Roy is a Sunday only adventure comic strip which ran from June 14, 1964, to March 28, 1965, and was syndicated through 1972. It featured the Native American character Akwas in realistic historical adventures set before Christopher ...

'' by

(1964–1965) — weekly strip with topper strip ''Indian Lore and Crafts''Roy entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928 to 1999.'' Accessed Oct. 26, 2018. * ''Bannister Babies'' by Constance Bannister (1972) — thrice-weekly gag panel * ''

'' (September 7, 1959–April 1960) written by

and drawn by

(Dec. 1959–April 1960), with color by

Marie Severin Marie Severin (; August 21, 1929 – August 29, 2018) was an American comics artist and colorist best known for her work for Marvel Comics and the 1950s' EC Comics. She is an inductee of the Will Eisner Comics Hall of Fame and the Harvey Awards ...

* '' Davy Crockett, Frontiersman'' (June 20, 1955–1959) originally by Jay McArdle, with

, and later Jim Christiansen * ''Helen Homemaker'' by Gean & Lloyd Birmingham (1968–1973) — weekly strip * ''Hoo-Dunnit'' by Fred Lamb (1976) — gag panel * ''Jes' Smith'' by Johnny Pierotti (1953–1973) * ''The Mountain Boys'' by Paul Webb (c. 1955–c. 1975) * ''Our Ever Changing World'' by

and

(1958–1960) * ''

'' (1955–1972) by France Herron (1955) &

(1956–1957), Mike Peppe (1956–1957)

(1957–1959), and Jim Christiansen (1957–1972)Christiansen entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928 to 1999.'' Accessed Oct. 26, 2018. * ''Rip Tide'' (1956–1972) by John Broome (1956–1957),

(1959–1966), and

* ''

'' by "Wes Wood" (

and Mo Gollub) (June 16, 1957–March 26, 1960)Holtz, Allan
"Obscurity of the Day: Smokey the Bear,"
''Stripper's Guide'' (April 05, 2016). * '' Stoker the Broker'' by

(1960–1985) — later distributed by the

* ''Will Chance'' (1958-1962) by Norman Miller, Jim Gordon, and Don SherwoodSherwood entry
Lambiek's ''Comiclopedia''. Accessed Oct. 26, 2018.

References

{{reflist Comic strip syndicates Mass media companies established in 1953