King Features Syndicate

King Features is a premier producer and distributor of intellectual properties and a leader who specializes in classic character licensing and franchise development. King Features boasts one of the richest and longest-standing consumer products programs in the industry, showcasing iconic pop culture brands like the unforgettable Popeye and Olive Oyl, adventurous Flash Gordon, mysterious The Phantom, hilarious Hägar the Horrible, and many more, including Moomin, Prince Valiant, and Mandrake the Magician. In 2022, King Features brought Emmy-winning magic to Netflix Animation with The Cuphead Show! , a hit series that continues to captivate audiences worldwide. As a leader in content syndication, King Features spreads joy with timeless comics like Blondie , Beetle Bailey , Mutts , and beyond—along with columns, editorial cartoons, and captivating puzzles available globally across platforms. A proud part of Hearst Newspapers, King Features aligns with a powerhouse network of 24 daily and 52 weekly publications, including the Houston Chronicle , San Francisco Chronicle , and Times Union in Albany, while also delivering top-tier digital marketing services and directories. William Randolph Hearst burst upon the newspaper scene in 1887, turning The San Francisco Examiner into the West Coast’s largest and most controversial newspaper. Hearst established The New York Journal in 1895, and in 1896, he snatched Richard Outcault’s Yellow Kid from his rival, Pulitzer, and turned the Yellow Kid into the very first international icon of comics. Pulitzer retaliated by hiring another cartoonist to draw The Yellow Kid for him. The publishers’ fierce battle over the popular comic led bystanders to refer to sensational, screaming-headline newspaper combat as “yellow journalism.” During the 1890s, the Sunday comics section of Hearst’s newspapers became a must-have in every home. Its famous motto was as ostentatious as the section itself: “Eight Pages of Iridescent Polychromous Effulgence That Makes the Rainbow Look Like a Lead Pipe.” In 1897, Hearst hired cartoonist Rudolph Dirks to create a couple of pranksters reminiscent of Max and Moritz, famous German children’s characters. The Katzenjammer Kids were a sensation from the start, expanding into other newspapers and becoming one of the public’s best-loved comic features. Still appearing in newspapers worldwide today, it is the oldest comic strip in syndication. In 1912, Hearst’s New York Evening Journal introduced the first full page of daily comics on weekdays. Hearst’s comic features were among the first to be reprinted in book form– the precursor of the modern-day comic book. In 1912, Hearst’s International Film Service was among the pioneer animation studios, making movie stars out of the characters from the Hearst newspaper strips, including Bringing Up Father, Happy Hooligan, Maud the Mule, Krazy Kat and a raft of others. The response to the Newspaper Feature Service was so great it couldn’t grow according to demand and remain profitable. So, in 1915, Hearst hired Moses Koenigsberg to start a new syndication operation. The new syndicate was named for Koenigsberg himself: “King” is the English translation of the German “Koenig.” On Nov. 16, 1915, King Features Syndicate was incorporated. Hearst put hit after hit into newspapers as the years went by: Barney Google, Thimble Theatre (home-port of Popeye), Blondie, Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, The Phantom, Prince Valiant, and many, many more. Hearst sought out premier talent and paid handsomely. Hearst brought Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse into the funny papers. While Hearst was a skilled businessman who understood the circulation-building powers of comics, he was also one of their biggest fans. Hearst loved the “funnies” and followed them faithfully. Hearst was particularly proud of George Herriman’s Krazy Kat, which remains a favorite of cartoonists and animators around the globe. Hearst also deeply admired Hal Foster’s epic Princ