Missed It: Universal Press Hits 40th

A bunch of you have e-mailed that I totally whiffed on Universal Press Syndicate having its 40th birthday last week, and inaugurating what could be a fun series of on-line anecdotes about their history. I don't know much about the history of the syndicates over the last half-century. Certainly Universal's rise would be a huge story, if not the story. The two things that pop to mind is of course their relationship with Andrews McMeel -- which I believe was a small publishing house one of the two founders worked for that they purchased the first few years in to publish (initially) their cartoon books and eventually became a huge concern across comic strip and into a bunch of other areas -- and their run of hit strip launches from roughly 1970 to 1985: from Doonesbury (their initial hit) through Cathy through For Better Or For Worse through Calvin and Hobbes and Far Side. I think I have that roughly correct. Fascinating company, and yet another reason why Doonesbury is underrated as an historical, industry force.
 
posted 9:00 am PST | Permalink
 

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