General Features

General Features Corporation was a syndication service that operated from 1937 to 1974. It was founded by S. George Little and billed itself in the early 1950 as "America's Leading Independent Syndicate." By 1967, General Features distributed 80 columns, comic strips, and editorial features."Times Mirror Company And General Features,"
''New York Times'' (January 4, 1967), p. 84.

Don Markstein of ''Toonpedia'' characterized General Features as "a small newspaper syndicate that handled more columns than comics (but also had at least one other comic of note, '' Jeff Cobb''), and had none that made a significant mark on the world."

History

General Features Corp. debuted in 1937 with three weekly comic strips (with alliterative titles): Bill Seidcheck's ''Betty Brighteyes'', Ed Brennon's ''Bing and His Buddies'', and Larry Whittington's ''Daisy Daily and Dotty Dawn''. Little ran General Features Corp. for six years before suspending operations to serve in the military during World War II.

Little re-started the company in 1946. Jerry Costello was an editorial cartoonist for General Features during the years 1946–1949. The syndicate also distributed ''Be Smart'', an illustrated fashion feature, in the late 1940s.

The syndicate's longest-running strips all launched in the 1950s, with the most notable comic strips being Robert Morgan & Pete Hoffman's ''Why We Say'' (1950–1978), a single-panel strip that explained word and phrase origins in laypersons' terms; the "Air-Western-Adventure Strip" ''Gene Autry'', produced beginning in 1952 through an arrangement with Whitman Publishing;Knoll, Erwin. "New Autry Strip Has Cowboys, Spies, Space," ''Editor & Publisher'' (July 26, 1952)
Archived at ''Stripper's Guide''
and Hoffman's '' Jeff Cobb'', which debuted in 1954 and ran for two decades.

Mell Lazarus, later to have much success with his strip ''Momma'', created two children's strips for General Features, ''Li'l Ones'' and ''Wee Women'', both of which debuted in 1955 and ended in 1974 (with the later work of Jim Whiting). John Henry Rouson had a number of strips with General Features, including ''Ladies Day'' and the long-running ''Boy and Girl'' and ''Little Sport''.

The last new strip to debut with General Features was Phil Evans & Tom Cooke's space adventure strip ''Drift Marlo'', which started syndication in 1961. From that point forward, the syndicate stuck with strips that had begun their runs in the 1950s.

In early 1967, General Features was sold to the Los Angeles Times Mirror Company for an estimated $1 million. Rex Barley, manager of the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, took over as president of General Features Corp.

Former board chairman S. George Little died in 1974,"S. GEORGE LITTLE, 71, PUBLISHER, WRITER,"
''New York Times'' (June 21, 1974), p. 40. and that year General Features Corp. was fully absorbed into the L.A. Times Syndicate; many of General Features' strips ended their runs concurrently.

Strips and panels

* ''Ad Libs'' by Jim Whiting and Len Bruh (1957–1972)
''Lambiek's Comiclopedia''. Accessed Oct. 25, 2018.
* ''Bert 'n' Gert''by Jack Levin (1954) — continuation of the strip ''Hands 'n' Faces''
* ''Betty Brighteyes'' by Bill Seidcheck (1937–1942) — weekly strip
* ''Bing and His Buddies'' by Ed Brennon (1937–1942) — weekly strip
* ''Boy and Girl'' by John Henry Rouson (1956–1974)
''Lambiek's Comiclopedia''. Accessed Oct. 25, 2018.
* ''Clifford'' by Gene Bilbrew (1951–1952) — weekly strip featuring a character created by Jules Feiffer as a backup feature in Will Eisner's ''The Spirit'' comics
* ''Cotton Woods'' by Ray Gotto (1955–1957)
* ''Daisy Daily and Dotty Dawn'' by Larry Whittington (1937–1942) — weekly strip
* ''Don Winslow of the Navy'' by Frank Victor Martinek and John Jordan (1953–July 30, 1955) — acquired from the Bell-McClure Syndicate
* ''Drift Marlo'' by Phil Evans & Tom Cooke (1961–1964) — continued in self-syndication by Evans & Cook until 1966Cooke entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books: 1928–1999''. Accessed Oct, 25, 2018. or possibly 1971Markstein, Don

''Toonpedia''. Accessed Oct. 26, 2018.
* ''Gene Autry'' (September 8, 1952–1955) originally by Phil Evans & Tom Cooke, and later by Tom Massey, Pete Alvorado, Mel Keefer, and Albert Stoffel (as "Bert Laws")
* ''The Handy Family'' (1950–1966) originally by Walter B. Gibson and later by Lloyd Birmingham
* ''Headline Hopping'' by Oliver H. "Ollie" Crawford (c. 1951–1952)
* '' Jeff Cobb'' by Pete Hoffman (June 28, 1954–1974)''Jeff Cobb''
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on October 8, 2016. — continued until 1978 by Los Angeles Times Syndicate
* ''Ladies Day'' by John Henry Rouson
* ''Li'l Ones'' by Mell Lazarus (1955–1965)Lazarus entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books: 1928–1999''. Accessed Oct, 25, 2018. and then Jim Whiting (1966–1974)
* ''Little Sport'' by John Henry Rouson (1948–1952, 1955–1976) with a stint by Henry Scarpelli (1952–1955)
* ''Mr. Tweedy'' by Ned RiddleForan, Chris
"GREEN SHEET, THROWBACK THURSDAY: COMICS EDITION: 'Mr. Tweedy,' the Green Sheet's long-running lovable loser,"
''Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel'' (March 23, 2016). (1954– 1974) — continued until 1988 by L.A. Times Syndicate
* ''Oliver'' (late 1940s)
* ''Wee Women'' originally by Mell Lazarus (c. 1955–1964) and then Jim Whiting (1964–1974)
* ''Why We Say'' by Robert Morgan and Pete Hoffman (1950–1974) — continued until 1978 by L.A. Times Syndicate

References

{{reflist

Comic strip syndicates
Companies based in New York City
Mass media companies established in 1937