Associated Newspapers, Inc. was a print syndication service of columns and comic strips that was in operation from 1912 to c. 1966.
In 1912, he resigned his interest in H. H. McClure and Co. and joined the newly formed Associated Newspapers Syndicate.
[4] From 1924 to c. 1926 the syndicate distributed a semi-weekly series of "human interest" cartoons by a rotating cast of artists, including C. D. Batchelor, Sid Greene, Frank Moser, Robert Ripley, and John Terry.
[8] Eastern Color neither sold this periodical nor made it available on newsstands, but rather sent it out free as a promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from Procter & Gamble soap and toiletries products.
[9][10] Eventually, Gaines and Eastern Color collaborated in 1934 to publish the ongoing title Famous Funnies, which ran for 218 issues using a mixture of newspaper strip reprints and some original material, and is considered the first true American comic book.