This is the compendium of cartoonists offered by King Features Syndicate in 1949. As the introduction said: “To a newspaper customer, the name ‘King Features Syndicate’ is a little line in agate type at the bottom of his favorite column or in he corner of his favorite comic. To the trade, KFS is a mammoth, world-blanketing enterprise, the largest syndicate in the world and a vital adjunct of the Hearst newspaper organization.”

Indeed. They had the most popular feature on the planet – “Blondie,” which ran in 1211 papers and “virtually cannot be sold anywhere else in this country.”  But not everyone ran Brick Bradford – for good reason, if you ask me – and  not everyone knew about some up-and-comers like Dick Wingert. This book was compiled to let editors know the range of King offerings, and many of the illustrations here were drawn just for this volume.

Each artist has two pages – a drawing and a biography with photo. You’ll have the option of skipping the bios if you wish, but I recommend them; how else would you know that the artist who drew Mandrake, the dapper magician, had spent a few minutes examining the mirror?