Richard S. Newcombe

After graduating from Georgetown University in 1972, Newcombe worked as an advertising copywriter at Leo Burnett Worldwide and then as a sales manager in Chicago with Success Motivation Institute, based in Waco, Texas. He studied at night for an MBA degree at the graduate business school at the University of Chicago. He also worked in sales at David H. Sandler & Associates in Baltimore. From 1974 to 1978, Newcombe worked as a reporter and editor at United Press International.

In 1978, Newcombe became vice president and general manager of the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, and in 1984, he was named president of News America Syndicate, which then was the third-largest syndicate in the world and owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Three years later, Newcombe left News America Syndicate to form Creators Syndicate, an American independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns to daily newspapers and websites. Creators Syndicate was founded in Los Angeles on February 13, 1987, and moved to Hermosa Beach,[2][3][4] California, in 2012.

Creators Syndicate revolutionized the syndication industry by being the first to offer cartoonists ownership rights to their work. The industry standard before Creators’ founding was for the company to own the rights to their cartoonists’ creations — the name, characters and likenesses. Rudolph Dirks created the hugely successful comic strip, The Katzenjammer Kids, which first appeared in print in 1897. In 1912, Dirks challenged William Randolph Hearst for ownership rights to his comic strip, and ultimately Hearst prevailed, which set the tone for the industry until Creators Syndicate’s founding.

Milton Caniff was another of several important cartoonists who had tried unsuccessfully to secure rights to their creations. In 1946, he walked away from the enormously popular Terry and the Pirates comic strip because his syndicate insisted that they own his creation. In 1947 he created Steve Canyon because Marshall Field III, who owned the Chicago Sun and its syndicate, allowed him to own the rights to his comic strip. This was one of the very few exceptions at that time. After Creators Syndicate was founded, Caniff sent Newcombe a postcard saying, “To put it on the record: Hooray!!!"[5]

Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mike Peters told Editor & Publisher magazine, "It's long overdue that syndicates realize a new day is here. Indentured servitude went out in the 1500s." Johnny Hart, creator of B.C. and The Wizard of Id, called Creators “a history-making venture in syndication.” Bil Keane, creator of The Family Circus, described Creators Syndicate as “the first breath of fresh air the syndicates have had in 100 years of existence.”[6] The New York Times ran a story about Newcombe with the headline, “A Superhero for Cartoonists?”[7] Today, largely as a result of Creators Syndicate, all syndicates grant cartoonists ownership rights to their work.

Within a few months of forming his media company, Newcombe had acquired the syndication rights to Ann Landers,[2] then the world's most widely syndicated newspaper columnist,[2] the comic strip B.C. by Johnny Hart,[8] and the political cartoons of Herblock,[4] The Washington Post’s legendary editorial cartoonist. In addition to Herblock, Newcombe has also worked with Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonists Bill Mauldin, Michael Ramirez, Paul Conrad, Mike Luckovich, Paul Szep, Doug Marlette and Steve Breen. Other award-winning political cartoonists include Chip Bok, Steve Kelley, Chuck Asay, Bob Gorrell, John Deering, Steve Benson and Gary Varvel.

Over the years, Newcombe and Creators has syndicated some of the most important figures of our time, including Pope John Paul II, Richard Nixon, Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Nancy Reagan, Henry Kissinger, Erma Bombeck, Art Buchwald, Joyce Jillson, Jeane Dixon, Sydney Omarr, Carl Rowan, Robert Novak, Dan Quayle and Oliver North. Newcombe also has syndicated Bill O'Reilly, Molly Ivins, Larry Kudlow, John Stossel, Hunter S. Thompson, Arianna Huffington, Tony Kornheiser, Patrick Buchanan, Thomas Sowell, Walter E. Williams, Michelle Malkin, Mona Charen, Ben Carson, Star Parker, Mark Shields and Susan Estrich. Other columnists include Alexander Cockburn, Robert Scheer, David Nyhan, Brent Bozell, Tony Snow, Tony Blankley, Eric Breindel, Chandra Bozelko and Benazir Bhutto.

In addition to B.C., Creators comic strips include The Wizard of Id, One Big Happy, Speed Bump, Chuckle Brothers, Agnes, Ballard Street, Liberty Meadows, Rubes, The Other Coast, Archie, Long Story Short, Batman, Zorro, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. He also syndicated The Far Side internationally.

In 2008 Creators Syndicate acquired the Copley News Service, a wire service that distributed news, political cartoons, and opinion columns.[9] In 1991 Creators Syndicate took over Heritage Features Syndicate, which was part of the conservative Heritage Foundation based in Washington, D.C.[10]

In 2011 Jack Newcombe became President of Creators Syndicate,[11] and together with Rick Newcombe started Creators Publishing and Sumner Books, which have published more than 150 titles. One of their best sellers is What I Believe by Ben Carson, which includes an introduction by Rick Newcombe. One of Sumner Books most successful projects is the "Stories of Success" series by best-selling author Horatio Alger, which have particular appeal to homeschooling parents.

After 25 years of operating in the city of Los Angeles, Creators Syndicate moved to nearby Hermosa Beach because of a tax dispute with the city. In 1992 Creators and the city had a series of hearings to determine the category of tax classification for the company. Once that was determined, Creators stayed in Los Angeles. But in 2007, the city said it changed its mind and wanted Creators moved to a much higher tax classification retroactively for five years with interest and penalties.[12]

Newcombe gave Arianna Huffington her start as a syndicated columnist in 1996 but they parted ways in 1998 after Sheila Lawrence, widow of U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland Larry Lawrence, filed a $25 million lawsuit against the columnist, the syndicate and some of their clients.[13]