View source for Frank Jay Markey Syndicate

{{Short description|Former print syndication service}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Frank Jay Markey Syndicate
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| native_name_lang = <!-- Use ISO 639-1 code, e.g. "fr" for French. For multiple names in different languages, use {{lang|[code]|[name]}}. -->
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| industry = [[Comic strip syndication]]
| founded = c. {{start date and age|1936| | }}
| founders = Frank J. Markey
| defunct = c. {{end date and age|1950| | }}
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| hq_location =
| hq_location_city = [[New York City]]
| hq_location_country = [[United States|U.S.]]
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| products = Comic strips
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The '''Frank Jay Markey Syndicate''' was a small [[print syndication]] service that distributed [[comic strips]] and columns from the mid-1930s to c. 1950. Although small in size, the syndicate distributed strips by a number of notable cartoonists, including [[Ed Wheelan]], [[Rube Goldberg]], [[Boody Rogers]], and [[Frank Borth]]. The syndicate also provided material for the burgeoning [[comic book]] industry, for companies like [[Quality Comics]] and [[Columbia Comics]].
== History ==
Founder Frank Jay Markey was originally an executive with the [[McNaught Syndicate]];<ref>Goulart, Ron. ''Comic Book Culture: An Illustrated History'' (Collectors Press, Inc., 2000), p. 85.</ref> he formed the syndicate to distribute his own column, eventually adding comic strips as well.<ref>Holtz, Allan. [https://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2018/10/obscurity-of-day-ken-stuart.html "Obscurity of the Day: Ken Stuart,"] ''Stripper's Guide'' (Oct. 10, 2018).</ref> The company's first strip was [[Rube Goldberg]]'s ''Lala Palooza'',<ref>Markstein, Don. [http://toonopedia.com/palooza.htm "Lala Palooza,"] ''Toonpedia''. Accessed Jan. 5, 2018.</ref> followed by Bill Walsh and [[Ed Wheelan]]'s ''Big Top''.<ref>[http://www.bailsprojects.com/%28S%28suyw1d45osg1djvdokq11s55%29%29/bio.aspx?Name=WHEELAN%2c+ED Whelan entry], ''Who's Who of American Comic Book Artists, 1928–1999''. Accessed Jan. 5, 2018.</ref><ref>[https://www.lambiek.net/artists/w/wheelan_e.htm "Edgar Wheelan (1888 - 1966, USA),"] ''Lambiek's Comiclopedia''. Accessed Jan. 5, 2018.</ref>
In 1937, the Markey syndicate partnered with two other syndicates, the [[McNaught Syndicate]] and the [[Register and Tribune Syndicate]], as well as with entrepreneur [[Everett M. "Busy" Arnold]], to provide material for Arnold's ''[[Feature Funnies]]''.<ref name=steranko-92>Steranko, Jim (1972). ''The Steranko History of Comics 2''. Reading, Pennsylvania: Supergraphics. p. 92. {{ISBN|0-517-50188-0}}.</ref> In 1939, [[Cowles Media Company]] (the Register and Tribune Syndicate's corporate owner) and Arnold bought out the McNaught and Markey interests.<ref name=chs>{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927212535/http://www.chs.org/comics/quality.htm |archivedate=September 27, 2007|title=Quality Comic Group: A Brief History|publisher= [[Connecticut Historical Society]] |url=http://www.chs.org/comics/quality.htm}}</ref>
In 1940, Markey and the McNaught Syndicate made a similar partnership with artist/editor [[Vin Sullivan]] to form [[Columbia Comics]].<ref>Booker, M. Keith, editor. "Big Shot Comics," in ''Comics Through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas'' (ABC-CLIO, 2014), p. 36.</ref>
The Markey syndicate made a bit of a splash in 1947 with [[Frank Borth]]'s sea adventure daily strip ''Ken Stuart'' in 1947, but the strip was out of syndication a few years later,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/borth_frank.htm|title=Frank Borth|website=lambiek.net|accessdate=7 April 2018}}</ref> and with it went the syndicate.
== Frank J. Markey Syndicate strips and panels ==
* ''Big Top'' by Bill Walsh and [[Ed Wheelan]] (1937–1938)
* ''Bouford'' by [[Frank Borth]] (1949)<ref name=Borth>[http://www.bailsprojects.com/%28S%28suyw1d45osg1djvdokq11s55%29%29/bio.aspx?Name=BORTH%2c+FRANK Borth entry], ''Who's Who of American Comic Book Artists, 1928–1999''. Accessed Jan. 5, 2018.</ref>
* ''Honey Dear'' by Johnny Devlin (December 6, 1937–August 27, 1938)<ref>Jay, Alex. [https://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2018/06/ink-slinger-profiles-by-alex-jay-johnny.html "Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Johnny Devlin,"] ''Stripper's Guide'' (June 11, 2018).</ref>
* ''Ken Stuart'' by [[Frank Borth]] (1947–1950)<ref name=Borth />
* ''Lala Palooza'' by [[Rube Goldberg]] (1936–c. 1939)
* ''Sparky Watts'' by [[Boody Rogers]] (April 29, 1940–May 9, 1942)<ref>Markstein, Don. [http://toonopedia.com/sparkywa.htm "Sparky Watts,"] ''Toonpedia''. Accessed Jan. 5, 2018.</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Comic strip syndicates]]
[[Category:Companies based in New York City]]
[[Category:Publishing companies established in the 1930s]]