Fox Universe

Features Comics (In Universe)

The Features Syndicate was founded in 1881 by two brothers, Waldo and Pieter Ulvemann. Located in Chicago, the Syndicate's original publications were a local Danish and German language newspaper, with an English section, and a bunch of licenced cartoon strips. Within three years "The Features" was mostly English language, and filled with strips from local talents.

In 1885, while on holiday out west, Waldo witnessed a gunfight between The Tumbleweed Kid and some bank robbers, which gave him the idea to expand into pulps, and thus began the "True Life Tellings" Range, which included "Western Thrillers" and "Western Outlaws".

Finding success and for the first time, national distribution, The Features Syndicate grew its line of pulps and cartoon strip features, buoyed by the brothers' active policy of seeking out and printing real life adventures of masked western heroes and others. By the early 1900's they had even employed Jed Adams, the aging ex gunfighter known as the Waco Kid to write stories of his exploits and those of the men and women of his acquaintance who rode the west until the climatic events of 1886.

By the time Jed vanished in 1920, the company, now known simply as Features Syndicate had expanded from Western and Crime into Fantasy, Scienti-Fiction (the original term), Adventure and other genres. They also continued a healthy line of strip books dominated by Funny Animals and all the other types of strips.

After Pieter's death in 1931, Waldo's eldest son, Victor convinced his father to let him lead a branch office in New York City. A born showman, blusterer and part time conman, Victor was the perfect ambassador for a new line of "funny books". The New York office produced a line of lurid fantasy and some over sexualised pulp, often finding unlicenced orphaned material to adapt. Especially popular were the highly re-edited works of an obscure female writer of medievil fantasy based on the legendary Golden Knight. Written in the late 1700's the originals had fallen out of print by the time Victor got his hands on them.

Waldo's last act as Chairman of Features Syndicate before his death in 1936 was to rein in his son, settling several lawsuits, including a payoff to a female descendant of the writer Elise D'Chambroise and making sure proper licences were issued for established works. In that same year the stage magicians/adventurers Yarko and Zanzibar were approached for permissions to retell their adventures. The 1935 debuting masked avenger known as The Mystery Man however, was untraceable so Victor, mindful of the conditions of his father's will, based text stories on somewhat verifiable news reports.

In 1937, Victor changed his name to Wolfe and the company temporarily became Wolfe Features Syndicate, a change that was to last until 1939, when Victor was forced to declare bankruptcy after several more costly lawsuits. He managed to save his company by bringing in investors, but at the cost of giving up his majority shares and reverting the name to Features Syndicate.

1939 was also the debut of Wonderman and other masked men of mystery such as Green Mask, The Flame, The Blue Beetle and others. Victor's new partner, EIC Lou Weisinger created a new line of comic books and thereafter the company as a whole was known variously as Features Syndicate or Features Comics. The partnership of two men of gregarious and showboating character proved a success. Where Victor had a tendency to over rule his writers and editors and go too far, Lou knew how to straddle the line.

Under Lou's editorship, a new arrangement took off. Licenced and paid for stories of adventurers were somewhat more (but not totally) accurate, while unlicenced stories from real life were strictly controlled through newspaper reports and other sources. Features coined the phrase "Home of the real life science heroes" and outclassed rival companies whose fictional masked men and women didn't sell quite so much as the exploits of favourites like Wonderman, Samson, The Black Fury, Marga and others.