Origins In 1922,
The Des Moines Register publisher
Gardner Cowles, Sr.' son
John Cowles Sr. launched the Register and Tribune Syndicate (the family also owned the
Des Moines Tribune). The manager was Henry Martin, who served in that capacity until 1960.
Jane Arden was the syndicate's first breakout hit, launching in 1927 and eventually running until 1968. Charles E. Lounsbury became the syndicate's chief editor in 1930,
Supplier to comic books In 1937 the Register and Tribune Syndicate partnered with two other syndicates, the
McNaught Syndicate and the
Frank Jay Markey Syndicate, as well as with entrepreneur
Everett M. "Busy" Arnold, to provide material to the burgeoning
comic book industry; many of the syndicate's strips found their way into Arnold's
Feature Funnies. In 1939,
Cowles Media Company (the syndicate's corporate owner, formed in 1935) and Arnold bought out the McNaught and Markey interests.
The Spirit Section In the 1940s,
Will Eisner's
The Spirit debuted as the main feature of a 16-page Sunday supplement known colloquially as "The Spirit Section". Launched June 2, 1940, this was a
tabloid-sized newsprint comic book sold as part of eventually 20 Sunday newspapers with a combined circulation of as many as five million copies. In a 2004 interview, Eisner elaborated on the origins of the supplement: The Spirit Section generally included two other, four-page strips (initially
Mr. Mystic and
Lady Luck), plus filler material. Eisner was the editor, but also wrote and drew most entries — after the first few months, he had the uncredited assistance of writer
Jules Feiffer and artists
Jack Cole and
Wally Wood, though Eisner's singular vision for the strip was a unifying factor. The Spirit Section continued until October 5, 1952.
Later years Bil Keane's television-themed panel
Channel Chuckles was launched in 1954; he debuted
The Family Circus in 1960.
Bob Barnes'
The Better Half debuted in 1956. The
Old West-themed
Tumbleweeds launched in September 1965. That same year, the syndicate broke new ground when it picked up
Morrie Turner's
Wee Pals, the first comic strip syndicated in the United States to have a cast of diverse ethnicity, dubbed the "Rainbow Gang." Beginning in 1977, the syndicate was the unofficial home of
Marvel Comics strips, including
The Amazing Spider-Man (1977–1986; continued by King Features),
Conan the Barbarian (1978-1982),
Howard the Duck (1977–1978), and
The Incredible Hulk (1978–1982). In 1985, the syndicate was merged into its parent
Cowles Media Company. In 1986, the syndicate was sold to
Hearst Publications for $4.3 million, becoming a division of
King Features Syndicate. == Register and Tribune Syndicate strips and panels ==